CREATION
OF MAN.
Gen.
i. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image,
after
our likeness.
THOUGH
men
constantly trace their origin to
their
immediate parents, and frequently to their
remoter
ancestors, yet they rarely consider When, or
How
they first came into existence, or Whether any
change
has taken place in their nature since they
came
out of their Creator s hands. That there was
a period
when no such creature as man existed, even
reason
itself would teach us ; for every effect must
proceed
from some cause : and therefore the forma
tion of
man, however remotely we trace his origin,
must,
in the first instance, have been the product
of
some intelligent Being, who was eternally selfexistent.
But
we are not left to the uncertain
deductions
of reason : God has been pleased to
reveal
unto us (what could not otherwise have been
known
a
)
the time and manner of our creation, toge
ther
with the state in which we were created. And
these
are the subjects which we would now propose
for
your consideration :
I.
The circumstances of our creation
a
Heb. xi. 3.
VOL.
I. B
o
GENESIS, I. 26. [l.
We
may not unprofitably notice somewhat respect
ing
the time
[Five days
had been occupied in reducing to order the
confused
chaos, and in furnishing the world with whatever
could
enrich or adorn it. On the sixth, God formed man,
whom
he reserved to the last, as being the most excellent of
his
works ; and whose formation he delayed, till every thing
in this
habitable globe was fitted for his accommodation. It
is
not for us to inquire why God chose this space of time for
the
completion of his work, when he could as easily have
formed
it all in an instant : but one instructive lesson at least
we
may learn from the survey which he took of every day s
work
; it teaches his creatures to review their works from day
to
day, in order that, if they find them to have been good,
they
may be excited to gratitude; or, if they perceive them
to
have been evil, they may be led to repentance. At the
close
of every day, God pronounced his work to be "
good:"
but
when man was formed, and the harmony of all the parts,
together with
the conduciveness of each to its proper end,
and
the subserviency of every part to the good of the whole,
were
fully manifest, then he pronounced the whole to be
rcry
good." From this also we learn, that it is not one
work
or two, however good in themselves, that should fully
satisfy
our minds ; but a comprehensive view of all our works,
as
harmonizing with each other, and corresponding with all
the
ends of our creation.]
In
the manner of our creation there is something
worthy
of very peculiar attentionfin
the
formation of all other things God merely exer
cised
his own sovereign will, saying,
"
Let there be light,"
"
Let such and such things take place." But in the creation
of
man we behold the language of consultation ;
"
Let us
make
man." There is not the least reason to suppose that
this
was a mere form of speech, like that which obtains
among
monarchs at this day; for this is quite a modern
refinement
: nor can it be an address to angels ; for they had
nothing
to do in the formation of man : it is an address to
the
Son, and to the Holy Ghost, both of whom co-operated
in
the formation of Him who was to be the master-piece of
divine
wisdom and power 1
.
This appears from a still more
striking expression,
which occurs afterwards; where God
says,
"
Now man is become like one of us, to know good
and
evil c
."
And it is confirmed in a variety of other
b
The work of Creation is ascrihed to Jesus Christ, John i. 1 3.
and
to the Holy Ghost, Gen. i. 2. Job xxvi. 13. and xxxiii. 4.
c
Gen. iii. 22.
1
CREATION OF MAN. 8
passages,
where God, under the character of our " Creator"
or
"
Maker,"
is spoken of in the plural number d
.
We
must not however suppose that there are three Gods :
there certainly
is but One God ; and His unity is as clear as
his
existence : and this is intentionally marked in the very
verse following
our text; where the expressions, "us" and
"
our"
are turned into "he" and "his:"
"
God created man
in his
own image ; in the image of God created he him."
Here,
then, we may see an early intimation of the Trinity
in
Unity ; a doctrine which pervades the whole Bible, and is
the
very corner-stone of our holy religion. And it is deserv
ing
of particular notice, that, in our dedication to our Creator
at
our baptism, we are expressly required to acknowledge
this
mysterious doctrine, being "
baptized
in the name of the
Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost ."]
The
text informs us further respecting,
II.
The state in which we were created
There was
some " likeness " to God even in the
nature
of man. " God is a spirit," who thinks, and
wills,
and acts. Man also has a spirit, distinct from
his
body, or from the mere animal life : he has a
thinking, willing
substance, which acts upon matter
by
the mere exercise of its own volitions, except
when
the material substance on which it operates is
bereft of
its proper faculties, or impeded in the use
of
them. But the image of God in which man was
formed,
is, properly, two-fold :
1.
Intellectual
["
God is a God of knowledge." He has a perfect dis
cernment
of every thing in the whole creation. Such, too,
was
Adam in his first formation. Before he had had any
opportunity
to make observations on the beasts of the field
and
the birds of the air, he gave names to every one of them,
suited
to their several natures, and distinctive of their proper
characters.
But it was not merely in things natural that
Adam
was so \vell instructed : he doubtless had just views of
God,
his nature and perfections : he had also a thorough
knowledge
of himself, of his duties, his interests, his happi
ness.
There was no one thing which could conduce either to
his
felicity or usefulness, which was not made known to him,
as far as
he needed to be instructed in it. As God is light
d
See Job xxxv. 10. Isaiah liv. 5. Eccl. xii. 1. These are all
plural in the original.
e
Matt, xxviii. 19.
GENESIS, I. 26
GENESIS,
I. 26. -
L.wio
nf darkness f
,
so was Adam,
concerned
to know.]
2.
Moral-
,ess
is no less characteristic of the Deity than wislo
ni
vss LC^ -
>
f* i, i i -\
3m
1 loves every thing that is good, and infinitely abhors
t
, that is evil. Every one of His perfections is
In
this respect, also, did man bear a resemblance to
his
Maker. " God made him upright*. As he had a view
the
commandment in all its breadth, so had
^confor
mity
to it in all his dispositions
and
actions. He felt no
reluctance
in obeying it: his will was in perfect unison with
the
will of his Maker. All the inferior appetites were in
habitual subjection
to his reason, which also was m subjec
tion to
the commands of God. We are told respecting the
Lord
Jesus Christ, that he was the image of Godh
,
the
imao-e of the
invisible God 1
,"
"the
express image of his
pemm
k " What the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, was upon
earth,
that was man in Paradise "
holy,
harmless, unde-
1
That
man s resemblance to his Maker did indeed consist in
these
two things, is manifest ; because our renewal after the
divine imao-e
is expressly said to be in knowledge, and in
true
holiness". Well, therefore, does the Apostle say ol
man,
that " he is the image and glory of God ."]
INFER
1.
What an awful change has sin brought into
the
world!
[Survey
the character before drawn : and compare it with
men
in the present state :
"
How is the gold become dim,
and
the fine gold changed!" Men are now enveloped in
darkness,
and immersed in sin. They "know nothing as
they
ought to know," and do nothing as they ought to do it.
No* words
can adequately express the blindness of
^
their
minds,
or the depravity of their hearts. Yet all this has
resulted
from that one sin which Adam committed in Para
dise.
He lost the divine image from his own soul; and
"begat
a son in his own fallen likeness:" and the streams
that
have been flowing for nearly six thousand years from
that
polluted fountain, are still as corrupt as ever. O that
we
habitually considered sin in this light, and regarded it as
the
one source of all our miseries !]
f
1 John i. 5. R Eccl. vii. 29. h 2 Cor. iv. 4.
Col.
i. 15. k II eb. i. 3. i Heh. vii. 26.
m
Col. iii. 10. n Eph. iv. 24. 1 Cor. xi. 7.
CREATION
OF MAN.
1.]
2.
What a glorious change will the Holy Spirit
effect in
the hearts of all who seek Him !
[In
numberless passages, as well as in those before
cited
p
,
the Holy Spirit is spoken of, as "renewing" our
souls,
and making us "new creatures q
."
What Adam was
in
Paradise, that shall we be, " according to the measure of
the
gift of Christ."
"
Instead of the thorn shall come up
the
fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtletree
1
."
He will " open the eyes of our understanding," and
cause us
to "know all
things"
that are needful for our salva
tion
8
:
and at the same time that he " turns us from darkness
unto
light, lie will turn us also from the power of Satan unto
God
:"
"
He will put his laws in our minds, and write them in
our
hearts*." Let not any imagine that their case is despe
rate
; for He who created all things out of nothing, can easily
create
us anew in Christ Jesus : and he will do it, if we only
direct
our eyes to Christ: "We all beholding as in a glass
the
glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from
glory
to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord 11
."]
3.
What obligations do we owe to the ever-blessed
Trinity
!
[If
we looked no further than to our first creation, we
are
infinitely indebted to the sacred Three, for making us the
subject of
their consultation, and for co-operating to form us
in
the most perfect manner. But what shall we say to that
other
consultation, respecting the restoration of our souls ?
Hear, and be
astonished at that gracious proposal,
"
Let us
restore
man to our image."
"
I,"
says the Father, " will par
don and
accept them, if an adequate atonement can be found
to
satisfy the demands of justice."
"
Then on me be their
guilt,"
says his only dear Son :
"
I will offer myself a sacri
fice
for them, if any one can be found to apply the virtue of
it
effectually to their souls, and to secure to me the purchase
of
my blood."
"
That shall be my charge," says the blessed
Spirit:
"I gladly undertake the office of enlightening, re
newing,
sanctifying their souls ; and I will "
preserve every
one
of them blameless unto thy heavenly kingdom." Thus,
by
their united efforts, is the work accomplished ; and a way
of
access is opened for every one of us through Christ, by
that
one Spirit, unto the Father x
.
O let every soul rejoice
in
this Tri-une God ! and may the Father s love, the grace of
Christ,
and the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all
evermore
! Amen.]
P
See notes m and n a 2 Cor. v. 17. r Isai. Iv. 13.
s
1 John ii. 20, 27. * Heb. viii. 10. u 2 Cor. iii. 18.
x
Eph.
ii. 18.
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