Page:An Exposition of the Old and New Testament (1828) vol 1.djvu/60

28 of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

We have here the second part of the sixth day's work, the creation of man, which we are, in a special manner, concerned to take notice of, that we may know ourselves. Observe,

I. That man was made last of all the creatures, that it might not be suspected that he had been, any way, a helper to God in the creation of the world: that question must be for ever humbling and mortifying to him, Where wast thou, or any of thy kind, when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job 38. 4. Yet it was both an honour and a favour to him, that he was made last; an honour, for the method of the creation was, to advance from that which was less perfect to that which was more so; and a favour, for it was not fit he should be lodged in the palace designed for him, till it was completely fitted up and furnished for his reception. Man, as soon as he was made, had the whole visible creation before him, both to contemplate, and to take the comfort of. Man was made the same day that the beasts were, because his body was made of the same earth with their's; and while he is in the body, he inhabits the same earth with them: God forbid that by indulging the body and the desires of it, we should make ourselves like the beasts that perish!

II. That man's creation was a more signal and immediate act of divine wisdom and power than that of the other creatures. The narrative of it is introduced with something of solemnity, and a manifest distinction from the rest: hitherto, it had been said, Let there be light, and Let there be a firmament; or, "Let the earth, or waters, bring forth such a thing;" but now the word of command is turned into a word of consultation, "Let us make man, for whose sake the rest of the creatures were made: this is a work we must take into our own hands." In the former, he speaks as one having authority, in this as one having affection, for his delights were with the sons of men, Prov. 8. 31. It should seem as if this were the work which he longed to be at; as if he had said, "having at last settled the preliminaries, let us now apply ourselves to the business, Let us make man." Man was to be a creature different from all that had been hitherto made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth, must be put together in him, and he must be allied to both worlds. And therefore God himself not only undertakes to make, but is pleased so to express himself, as if he called a council to consider of the making of him; Let us make man. The three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about it, and concur in it, because man, when he was made, was to be dedicated and devoted to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Into that Great Name we are, with good reason, baptised, for to that Great Name we owe our being. Let them rule man, who said. Let us make man.

III. That man was made in God's image, and after his likeness; two words to express the same thing, and making each other the more expressive; image and likeness denote the likest image, the nearest resemblance of any of the visible creatures. Man was not made in the likeness of any creature that went before him, but in the likeness of his Creator; yet still, between God and man there is an infinite distance. Christ only is the express image of God's person, as the Son of his Father, having the same nature. It is only some of God's honour, that is put upon man, who is God's image, only as the shadow in the glass, or the king's impress upon the coin. God's image upon man consists in these three things, 1. In his nature and constitution, not those of his body, (for God has not a body,) but those of his soul. This honour indeed God has put upon the body of man, that the Word was made flesh, the Son of God was clothed with a body like unto our's, and will shortly clothe our's with a glory like unto his. And this we may safely say, That he by whom God made the worlds, not only the great world, but man the little world, formed the human body, at the first, according to the platform he designed for himself in the fulness of time. But it is the soul, the great soul, of man, that does especially bear God's image. The soul is a spirit, an intelligent, immortal spirit, an influencing active spirit, herein resembling God, the Father of Spirits, and the Soul of the world. The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. The soul of man, considered in its three noble faculties, understanding, will, and active power, is perhaps the brightest clearest looking-glass in nature, wherein to see God. 2. In ''his place and authority. Let us make man in our image, and let them have dominion.'' As he has the government of the inferior creatures, he is, as it were, God's representative, or viceroy, upon earth; they are not capable of fearing and serving God, therefore God has appointed them to fear and serve man. Yet his government of himself by the freedom of his will, has in it more of God's image than his government of the creatures. 3. In his purity and rectitude. God's image upon man consists in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, Eph. 4. 24. Col. 3. 10. He was upright, Eccl. 7. 29. He had an habitual conformity of all his natural powers to the whole will of God. His understanding saw divine things clearly and truly, and there were no errors or mistakes in his knowledge: his will complied readily and universally with the will of God, without reluctancy or resistance: his affections were all regular, and he had no inordinate appetites or passions: his thoughts were easily brought, and fixed, to the best subjects, and there was no vanity or ungovernableness in them. All the inferior powers were subject to the dictates and directions of the superior, without any mutiny or rebellion. Thus holy, thus happy, were our first parents, in having the image of God upon them. And this honour put upon man, at first, is a good reason why we should not speak ill one of another, Jam. 3. 9, nor do ill one to another, Gen. 9. 6, and a good reason why we should not debase ourselves to the service of sin, and why we should devote ourselves to God's service. But how art thou fallen, O son of the morning! How is this image of God upon man defaced! How small are the remains of it, and how great the ruins of it! The Lord renew it upon our souls by his sanctifying grace!

IV. That man was made male and female, and blessed with the blessing of fruitfulness and increase. God said. Let us make man, and immediately it follows, So God created man; he performed what he resolved. With us, saying and doing are two things; but they are not so with God. He created him male and female, Adam and Eve; Adam, first out of earth, and Eve out of his side. ch. 2. It should seem that of the rest of the creatures, God made many couples, but of man, did not he make one? (Mal. 2. 15.) though he had the residue of the Spirit: whence Christ gathers an argument against divorce, Matth. 19. 4, 5. Our first father, Adam, was confined to one wife; and if he had put her away, there was no other for him to marry, which plainly intimated that the bond of marriage was not to be dissolved at pleasure. Angels were not made male and female, for they were not to propagate their kind, (Luke 20. 34...36.) but man was made so, that the nature might be propagated, and the race continued. Fires and candles, the luminaries of this lower world, because they waste, and go out, have a power to light more; but it is not so with the lights of heaven, stars do not kindle stars. God