i I SUNDAY READING THE FALL OF ADAM, OUR FIRST PARENT; ]Vilh some Account if the CREATION of the 1VORLD; ■ Ae hwpy State of Man in Paradise, and also the Sin and !l """ 6 Msery which have entered since the Full. 7o which are added, toe Remarks respecting our Lord Jesus Christ, who 5s the Second Adam, and the only Savi ur ot this Worku ,lln ^stotheChea r : v epositorv ter Moral and &*fcgrous Tracts,; IHATpu tl a ^ d 42 » Long-Lank, West-SviitfiM.d nd Batu a R j D ' No - 1 9o,Piccadilly j London. EvS.H AZARD, Bath a H ' 190 CADILLY ' LoNDON, • T > rS H iZAKJL) > ^nandCo ^ Bool and theri proceed to m sub J ect * which is the formation of Adam. ft ft ( 4 ) and his fall. << In the beginning,'' says the < • ture that is, in the beginning of the L* ,p race) « God created the heavens and 2 °' 0111 « and the parth was without form and i /J is, it was without regular shape or ord v2 darkness was on the face of the deep an ? Spirit of God moved on the face bf ihe'wj And God said, let there he light ml there * ; l^ght; and God saw the fight that it was jJ! « And God called the light, day-and the dark' " ness called he night— and the evening and tie " morning were the first day," The world having been thus made and brought into order on the first day, God proceeded on the second to make the firmament, that is, the air and atmosphere, by which be divided the waters which were on the earth from the watery clouds whb were above it. On the third day, (the earth having been as yei , covered over with one universal sea) the waters were commanded to gather themselves together into one place, so that the dry land might appear, and at the same time the trees and herbs were cre- ated. On the fourth day, God made those two great Jights — the sun. or the greater light, to rule k day, and tne moon, or the lesser light to i** night. He made the stars also. . . On the fifth, all those living creatures whicbeij ther swim in the sea, or fly in the air, were ea into existence. And on the sixth, the cattle arid living ^ which walk or creep on the earth* ■ i 5 > i i(i no w, last of all, was made man, the lord of There 5 rQaderfei creation. 6 w is evidently a plan in this procedure of . A] m 'iffhty T))«j earth was first made, and next i' ^d then man ; just as an house is first built ■r,;!iKi then the inhabitant walksinto it* BuUet^aKcr^ t-^e notice of the manner in which t;,eii);]kii)Lv of man \kf noken of. When God made ' ; hi I e merely, "Let there be light, and " When he made the beasts, he •; : :^e earth bring forth the living (ik after its kind ; " but when man was about to fecj'eated, the Almighty is represented as saying, '•Let us make man in our image, and after our "likeness"— and it is added, '* let him have domi- nion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl "of the air, and oyer the cattle, and over all the ! r earth. So God created man in his own image; " in the ima/re of God created he him, male and " female created he them." What a being of dignity then is man ! he was seated in the very i image of his maker, and after 'lis likeness ! the powers of thought, of reason, of pagination, and of memory, are wonderful powers, ley are possessed by the Creator in their full per- son, and they have been communicated in a su #le degree to man the creatures also, though ^ in like manner to the brutes. Let it then/ be «iWed, that all these bespeak the divine v Ap$ man. But that remarkable expression, being made in the image of God, seems also laently to imply, that man was first made like to in respect to purity and holiness. The de- original God, reasn!° T ht ' P ossesses much of those powers of wn and thought vyhicjf were spoken of; and if ( ■* ) man had been endowed with these mlu created in a state of wickedness, he'miXfK beer properly have been said to be made ir it n ni0re of the devil, than in the holy likeness ofhf^ ator. God then made man upright first forefathers came out of his CreatorS?' was pure and holy like Him that made was created," as the apostle expresses it, ^fat image of God in righteousness and true holiness*' Here let my readers stop to contemplate th pleasing subject of this fair creation of God W read that God now « looked down on every thine " which he had made— and behold it was very » good;"— that is, every thing answered the end for which it was created, and every thing was per- feet in its kind. The earth was not that disorder- ed place which since the fall it has become. The herbs and the trees yeilded freely their increase, Blight, and mildew, and famine, and scarcity, and poverty, and want were as yet unknown. Death had not entered with its attendant train of sorrows, sicknesses and pains. Adam, and his partner Eve dwelt peacefully in the garden of Eden, which they were employed to cultivate. -All nature smiled around them, and was drest, no doubt, in its most beautiful attire. Every thing was exactly suited to aribrd them happiness, and this favoured pair, without angry passions, without undue sel- fishness,- without anxiety or distrust, and without murmur or complaint, enjoyed the good which Goo 4 had given them, and lived in favourwith their Maker. Mve now to describe a inost melancholy U W ° their condition. It has pleased the all m . w hen he made man, to appoint a ,is Sal 'for him, which was msant to serve no cert3 ' " » test of his love and obedience.— His fhfconsisted in is being forbid to eat of one tree , ria lconsK> garden of Eden, f l^ntd The Tree of Knowledge of Good S while the fruit of all the rest of the trees miffhtbe freely eaten. . v. We have all of us onr trials somewhat in the amc manner now-thtis, for instance, we may eat the food which is our own, and which is wholesome for us-rwe may take the rest which is necessary to refresh the body— we may indulge pur natural af- fections and inclinations in the manner which God has ordained but then we must not carry any thing to excess, and those are a number of things which we may in no case do. Oh ! let us not take any forbidden pleasure, though it is put within our reach, but let us remember that it is placed there for the trial of our faith ; just as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was placed within fcf fight of Adam's eye, and within the reach of his ami. « And God said to Adam, in the da^ that ftoueatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." The scriptures proceed to tell us that Eve was: Attempted by the serpent, (namely, by the devil :IS is commonly supposed,) who ?aid to her, in di* [ ect contradiction to God, that if she mi] her hus- W sh uuld eat of the foibi4#n fm% "they ' sh ould not die, but should become as g<> ; , knowing m and evil."—- She then seeing the h ait was pi and njuch to be. desired to make one wise, ( 8 ) gathered some of it, and cave it u i which he did eat.- it to her hi^ Oil wretched Adam, how art thn» * thou Last believed in the enemy 8^** God himself, being tempted d Ah Hho was made to be a meet help ?<£ E \^ % gold become dross, and thine honour ^ ^ dust a„d thy glory departed from thee' ^ Adam by nnsactrenouncedhisalWianceto^ and broke .the condition on which thlfa^J Maker had been suspended, and therefore th S which had been threatened remained now tot 3 ecuted— In the day that thou eatest thereof * ™ been said ) thou shall surely die." What tins threaded death meant, the words do not, perhaps, destinctly shew. They must, however be necessarily understood to imply, that he should forfeit his natural life, and be deprived of that hap- py state of existence, which, while obedient, he was intitled to enjoy— and that, instead of this, he should come under the curse of God. Here, however, the New Testament also comes in aid, forit teaches us, that " sin having thus entered the world, and death by sin — death in this manner passed upon all men, for that all have sinned , and that through thii one man, judgment came upon all men to con- demnation." Thus did Adam fall— by aiming to be asGoA he lost his former rank as man, and by wickedly listening to the temptation of the devil, he appears to have become a sharer in his guilt, and conse- quently also in his condemnation, , Soon afier this event, our first parents are • scribed as athamed to meet the eye of God* ( 9 > A tn them, as he was wont to do, in the | M P 1h £ ev hid hemselvcs among the trees and , f arden / Mh-v felt ashamed, because they we le 1 s ffsin and Shame, it may be remarked, en- J " , '• ^ the world together. '^'Ttte Lord God said. Hast thou eaten of | '; A 1 whereof I commanded thee jfc* thou I " ' ' st not eat ? And the man said, the woman I I £lf tnou gavest to be with me, she gave me of j " SS5 afif ^ by this expression, meant | cast the blame on God who had g^faim ioman that had proved hta tempter, and be a - so casts the blame partly on Eve, wh^e she i the same self justifying spirit, replies to God, .hoi bechargesner with the guilt, " Ihe serpent be- ? " miiled me and I did eat." . Our first parents, as we may plainly see, weie ; | now become poor fe uilty sinners— they were cus- u posed to palliate and justify their crime, and thus | to add sin to sin, just as is now the way with ail wicked men. They also became, after this time, M of the dread of God, instead of the love ot Him, and disposed to say to Him, as Peter did to our Saviour, when first called to by Him, f Deparc j from mp fnr T 3 sinful man.O Lord." our Saviour, when first called to by mm, ^ uep«u from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." God immediately proceeds to pronounce thy following curse upon them, " Unto the woman he " said, 1 will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy * conception ; in sorrow shalt thou bring forth " children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, * aad he shall rule over thee."—" And unto Adam * he said— Because thou hast barkened to the "voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree whereof I commaded thee that thou shouldest ft it t . *< 4 ( f< < i ft it « thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of Vfl to ? In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eaf lS? thou return unto the ground, for out St * thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto du 11 thou return. And the Lord sent him fort * the land of Eden to till the ground from i * he was taken. So he droveout the Z a „i? placed at the east of the garden of Ede'n he rubims and a flaming sword, which tunned every way to keep the way of the tree of life Such is the history of the fall; and soon after- wards we read that iniquity began to prevail in the wond. Csin, tne first born son of Adam, became the murderer of his brother. The whole earth was filled with violence. « God looked down on the children of men, to see if there were any that were righteous, but all flesh had corrupted his way before the Lord, and every imagination of mans heart was only evil continually, insomuch, that God is said (speaking after the manner of men) to have grieved him at his heart, and to have re* pen ted that he ni^e man." After bearing with the rebellious offspring of Adam for about two thousand years, it pleased the Almighty to drown the workl with a flood, the fa- mi.'yof Noah alone being excepted, who was fca$ righteous. The great cities of Sodom and Go- morrah, and Tyre and Sidon were after this de- stroyed for their wickedness. In order that true religion might be maintains nt least amor^f one people, God separate*! to hi*' • P ie nation of the Jews, and made a eo- I self the sing ^ ^ d gaye them hls i aws> am j I vena lfSv miracles among them. But eve ft 1 wl Tv, orovoked him to wrath, and proved re- 1 ^, md unbelieving. 1 >fgS it Phased God in Ins infinite mercy, | liiko this lost and rained world,- his Son Je- I t0S rhrkt as he had foretold he would do, even at gSme oftfeftHbf^^ when that | L which has been already spoken of, was de- 1 o need, Ged, who in the 'midst of Judgment re- I nenibers mercy, had also declared, that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, a promise which implies, that one sprung from the | woman should come to destroy the power of the I serpent or evil spirit, and to triumph over him. I The Jews, who had before persecuted the pro- j phets, that had been sent unto them, persecuted also Jesus Christ, and proceeded to put him tu death, Having thus filled up the measure of their iniquities, their city was take and trodden down of the Gentiles, their people was led captive or- destroyed, and they have become a by word and 3 proverb among the nations unto this day, as had ■ been foretold, But have then the other nations of the world bn better than the Jews? No, the heathens around them were sq wicked and abominable, that the Jews were ordered to cut them off. And since the publishing of Christianity in the world, how has wickedness prevailed in it ! Read whatever history you will, you will read an account of little than the vices and follies of our race, And what ■ulSP (. 12 ) a wicked world it is that we now live different is it from that peaceful happy p' H . which. we some time ago discrioed i Avii ' be said, that " the thorn and the thistle h - s up in it," Ever/ wl ere, a as;! we see Sffi ^ fall; for. what are all the ^fi** tgift tocher with: the blpody rev^utCS take place 1Wl states ;,what . are the coniikX power among.tne great, and, all the compS *** repmmg among the men of low degree - 3 are the jcucjsond quarrels in pfiiy^ ftnnihM the _rndi!o-p, ft ndevil 6 peakmg„«ie' fraudand iS' the* impurity and the drunkenness; the irreiitn J and prophanpss, as well as th.e corruption : m oh Christianity itsel.f~v.hat are alt these but ^ many consciences .;Off,th,e fall, of Ad^m. and so many proofs of that corrupt) . natiue..,wiucli has de- scended tp all his children..,.. . t As the wocld has.becoaaesinful, no wonder " that it haslbecome miserable ajso. ' it is. ftstnessed, at thisnday,- with so many j.eyiis, ,-bcpause it has so much that ia offensive agaiustGpd in it; "* for the Lord di-as/za, (Controversy with.- it."., Andiit is one part of his appqijnt.niepL { also^ that men's ^n evi passions shall be a plague both to thenasej\;$ u -to each, othar.-^ Death has } been-seflt u^ffa world, .for ever since. the deiys f ;of ,Adam, , that p* lence : has been; ; e^ecu^ng, Dust, tltou n4 what 3, .m$l^nch9 ,tr TnVP1 ° ' in? ° ( f race ' i day of Future judgment afflict our guilty , . ^^Mpertanl to be grounded in this llist '"' y . hv f 'lowed from it This story which S stand tt the first pages of our It leads the way t > all Christum truth, and ^,Mf Tour other re.igious knowledge WlU £ u e For how sM we ever learn the ^ ; ny change in our character and con- £ unless we first know that the natural state in ' I Y ourselves as children of Adam is al- 2er fallen and corrupt. We must therefore be born again. >Ve have an old man withm us, which by the meansof Christianity, is to be put oil ; and we have to put on '-thai new man, wnicn is crated after the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness. If men see not this natural cor- ruption in themselves, and in the world around them, the reason of it is, that there is no light in them. They understand not the nature of real good and evil. Let such read the scriptures, there they will find thafeeven the best men that ever lived have acknowledged their own natural corruption, saying, vvit-i one' voice, that they were " born in sin and shapen in iniquity, and that they were by na- ture thetchildreu ci' wrath even as others." Let them study also the law of God : let them examine themselves by each of the Ten Command me nts explained as our Saviour has taught us to explain 'hem; and if they be not wilfully blind, they wiil thus learn the same lesson which the Fall of Adam, and the historv of the world, both ancient and modern, unite to teach us. They will learn, Mean, the corruption of their own nature, and the necessity which thence arise for A tion which has been provided r " at Nen„ Christ. lF or Christ i s P ? ^nd 3 Adam brought upon us the curse in"' ^ come down to us with the blessing « ft* to Adam all die, even so in Christ 1 „ , 1,(1 » ia " alive the first man ut ' a '' be "earthy-the second w S the LovIT I have borne the ma<°e fT ^ " soaho shall we bear the ima'e e f h . •** ,In all our religious eneunie? M t »