Of the CREATION of man
John Gill
Man was made last of all the
creatures, being the chief and masterpiece of the whole creation on earth, whom
God had principally and first in view in making the world, and all things in
it; according to that known rule, that what is first in intention, is last in execution; God proceeding in his works as artificers in
theirs, from a less perfect to a more perfect work, till they come to what they
have chiefly in view, a finished piece of work, in which they employ all their
skill; and which, coming after the rest, appears to greater advantage. Man is a
compendium of the creation, and therefore is sometimes called a microcosm, a
little world, the world in miniature; something of the
vegetable, animal, and rational world meet in him; spiritual and corporal
substance, or spirit and matter, are joined together in him; yea, heaven and
earth centre in him, he is the bond that connects them both together; all
creatures were made for his sake, to possess, enjoy, and have the dominion
over, and therefore he was made last of all: and herein appear the wisdom and
goodness of God to him, that all accommodations were ready
provided for him when made; the earth for his habitation, all creatures for his
use; the fruits of the earth for his profit and pleasure; light, heat, and air
for his delight, comfort, and refreshment; with everything that could be wished
for and desired to make his life happy.
Man was
made on the sixth and last day of the creation, and not before; nor were there
any of the same species made before Adam, who is therefore called "the
first man Adam": there have been some who have gone by the name of
Praeadamites, because they held there were men before Adam. So the Zabians
held; and speak of one that was his master; and in the last century one
Peirerius wrote a book in Latin {1}, in favour of the same
notion; which has been refuted by learned men over and over. It is certain,
that sin entered into the world, and death by sin, by one man, even the first
man Adam; from whom death first commenced, and from whom it has reigned ever
since, #Ro 5:12,14. Now if there were men before Adam, they must have been all
alive at his formation; there had been no death among them; and if they had been of any long standing before him, as the notion
supposes, the world, in all probability, was as much peopled as it may be now;
and if so, why should God say, "Let us make man", when there must be
a great number of men in being already? And what occasion was there for such an
extraordinary production of men? Why was Adam formed out of the dust of the
earth? and Eve out of one of his ribs? and these two coupled
together, that a race of men might spring from them, if there were men before?
But it is certain that Adam was the first man, as he is called; not only with
respect to Christ, the second Adam; but because he was the first of the human
race, and the common parent of mankind; and Eve, the mother of all living; that
is, of all men living. The apostle Paul says, that God "has made of one
blood", that is, of the blood of one man, "all
nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth", #Ac 17:26 and this
he said in the presence of the wise philosophers at Athens, who, though they
objected to the new and strange deities, they supposed he introduced, yet said
not one word against that account he gave of the original of mankind. But what
puts this out of all question, with those that believe the divine revelation, is, that it is expressly said, that before Adam was
formed, "there was not a man to till the ground", #Ge 2:5.
Man was made after, and upon a
consultation held concerning his creation; "Let us make man", #Ge
1:26 which is an address, not to second causes, not to the elements, nor to the earth; for God could, if he would, have commanded
the earth to have brought man forth at once, as he commanded it to bring forth
grass, herbs, trees, and living creatures of all sorts, and not have consulted
with it: nor is it an address to angels, who were never of God's privy council;
nor was man made after their image, he being corporeal, they incorporeal. But
the address was made by Jehovah the Father to, and the
consultation was held by him, with the other two divine Persons in the Deity,
the Son and Spirit; a like phrase see in #Ge 3:22 11:7 Isa 6:8 and such a
consultation being held about the making of man, as was not at the making of
any of the rest of the creatures, shows what an excellent and finished piece of
work God meant to make. Concerning the creation of man, the following things may be observed.
1. The author of his creation,
God; "So God created man", #Ge 1:27. Not man himself; a creature
cannot create, and much less itself; nor angels, for then they would be
entitled to worship from men, which they have refused, because their fellow servants, and it might be added, their fellow creatures.
But God, who is the Creator of the ends of the earth, was the Creator of the
first man, and of all since; for we are all his offspring, and therefore are
exhorted to "remember our Creator", #Ec 12:1 or "Creators";
for so it is in the original text; for as there were more concerned in the
consultation about man's creation, so in the creation of him; and the same that were in the one, were in the other, even Father,
Son, and Spirit; hence we read of God our Makers in various passages of
scripture, #Job 35:10 Ps 149:2 Isa 54:5 that God the Father, who made the
heavens, earth, and sea, and all that in them are, made man among the rest, and
particularly made him, will not be questioned; nor need there be any doubt
about the Son of God; since "without him", the
eternal Word, "was not anything made that was made"; then not man;
and if all things were made and created by him, whether visible and invisible,
then man was made by him, who must be reckoned among these all things, #Joh
1:1-3 Col 1:16. The character and relation of an husband to the church, more
particularly belongs to Christ; and her husband is expressly said to be her
maker, #Isa 54:5 compare also #Ps 95:6-8 with #Heb 3:6,7.
Nor is the Holy Spirit to be excluded from the formation of man, who had a
concern in the whole creation, #Ge 1:3 Job 26:13 Ps 33:6 and to whom Elihu
particularly ascribes his formation, #Job 33:4 and why not the first man made
by him also? yea, the act of breathing into man the breath of life, when he
became a living soul, seems most agreeable to him, the Spirit and Breath of God; and who has so great a concern in the
re-creation, or renovation of man, even in his regeneration. Wherefore the
three divine Persons should be remembered as Creators, and be feared,
worshipped, and adored as such; and thanks be given them for creation,
preservation, and for all the mercies of life, bountifully provided by them. It
is pretty remarkable that the word "created" should
be used three times in one verse, where the creation of man is only spoken of;
as it should seem to point out the three divine Persons concerned therein, #Ge
1:27.
2. The constituent and
essential parts of man, created by God, which are two, body and soul; these
appear at his first formation; the one was made out of the dust, the other was breathed into him; and so at his dissolution, the
one returns to the dust from whence it was; and the other to God that gave it;
and, indeed, death is no other than the dissolution, or disunion of these two
parts; "the body without the Spirit is dead"; the one dies, the other
does not.
2a. First,
The body, which is a most "wonderful" structure, and must appear so
when it is considered, with what precision and exactness every part is formed
for its proper use, even every muscle, vein, and artery, yea, the least fibre;
and that every limb is set in its proper place, to answer its designed end; and
all in just symmetry and proportion, and in a subserviency to the use of each
other, and for the good of the whole: to enter into a
detail of particulars, more properly belongs to anatomy; and that art is now
brought to such a degree of perfection, that by it most amazing discoveries are
made in the structure of the human body {2}, as the circulation of the blood,
&c. so that it may well be said of our bodies, as David said of his,
"I am fearfully and wonderfully made", #Ps 139:14. The erect posture
of the body is not to be omitted, which so remarkably
distinguishes man from the four footed animals, who look downward to the earth;
and by which man is fitted and directed to look upward to the heavens, to
contemplate them, and the glory of God displayed in them; and even to look up
to God above them, to worship and adore him, to praise him for mercies
received, and to pray to him for what are wanted; as well as instructs
men to set their affections not on things on earth, but on things in heaven;
and, indeed, it is natural for every man, whether in any great distress, or
when favoured with an unexpected blessing, and when he receives tidings that
surprise him, whether of good or of bad things, to turn his face upwards. In
the Greek language man has his name anyrwpov {3}, from turning and looking
upwards.
The body of man is very fair
and beautiful; for if the children of man, or of Adam, are fair, as is
suggested, #Ps 45:2 then most certainly Adam himself was created fair and
beautiful; and some think he had the name of Adam given him from his beauty;
the root of the word, in the Ethiopic {4} language, signifies to be fair and
beautiful; and though external beauty is a vain thing to
gaze at, and for men to pride themselves with, in this their fallen state, when
God can easily by a disease cause their beauty to consume away as a moth; yet
it is a property and quality in the composition of man at first not to be
overlooked, since it greatly exceeds what may be observed of this kind in the
rest of the creatures.
The body of man was also
originally made immortal; not that it was so of itself, and in its own nature,
being made of the elements of the earth, and so reducible to the same again;
and was supported, even in the state of innocence, with corruptible food; but
God, who only has immortality, conferred it on the body of man; so that if he had never sinned, his body would not have been mortal, or
have died: nor is it any objection to it, that it was supported with food; for
God could have supported it with or without food, as long as he pleased, or for
ever: he could have supported it with food, not to take notice of the tree of
life, which some think was designed as the means of continuing man's life
perpetually, if he had not sinned; but without that, as God
could and did support the body of Adam with food, even when it became mortal,
through sin, for the space of nine hundred years and more; he could have
supported it for the space of nine thousand, and so onward, had it been his
pleasure; and therefore there can be no difficulty in conceiving that he could
have supported it in an unfallen state, when it had the gift of immortality, in
the same way for ever. Besides, God could, by a new act of
his special grace and goodness, have translated Adam to heaven, or to an higher
state of life, to greater nearness and communion with him, and supported his
body without food for ever; as the bodies of Enoch and Elijah, translated, that
they should not see death; and have been some thousands of years supported
without food; and as the body of Christ is, and the bodies of the saints that rose at his resurrection are; and all the bodies
of men, after the resurrection, will be; and it is most clear from the word of
God, that death did not arise from a necessity of nature; but from sin:
"Sin entered into the world, and death by sin--and, through the offence of
one, many be dead--the wages of sin is death"--yea, it is expressly said,
"the body is dead because of sin", #Ro 5:12,15 6:23 8:10
and, indeed, to what purpose was that threatening given out, "In the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die", #Ge 2:17 if man of necessity
must have died, whether he had sinned or not? as say the Pelagians and
Socinians {5}; and which, if they could, they would maintain, in order to avoid
the force of the argument, in favour of original sin, they deny, from death
being the fruit, effect, and punishment of the sin of Adam.
But now, though this body was so wonderfully and beautifully formed and gifted
with immortality, yet it was made out of the dust of the earth, #Ge 2:7 that
is, macerated with water, and so properly clay; hence man is said to be made
out of the clay, and the bodies of men to be like bodies of clay; and to have
their foundation in the dust, #Job 4:18 13:12 33:6 Isa 64:8. Hence some think
that Adam had his name from "adamah", earth, out
of which he was formed, red earth, as Josephus {6} calls it; as in Latin he is
called "homo", from "humus", the ground. And this is an
humbling consideration to proud man, and especially in the sight of God, when
compared with him; and still more, as this clay of his is now, through sin,
become frail, brittle, and mortal; and his dust, sinful dust and ashes, #Ge
18:27 and it may serve to take down the haughtiness and
pride of some men, who vaunt over their fellow creatures, and boast of their
blood, and of their families, when all are made out of one mass and lump of
clay, and of one blood all the nations of men are formed.
2b.
Secondly, The soul is the other part of man created by God; which is a
"substance", or subsistence; it is not an accident, or quality,
inherent in a subject; but is capable of subsisting of itself; it is not a good
temperament of the body, as some have fancied; nor is it mere thought; it is
indeed a thinking substance, in which thought is, and is exercised by it, but
is distinct from it; it cannot be a mere quality, or
accident, because that is not properly created, at least by itself, but is
concreated, or created with the subjects in which it is; whereas the spirit of
man is formed or created of God within him, #Zec 12:1 it is itself the subject
of qualities, of all arts and sciences, and in its depraved state, the subject
of vices, and of virtues and graces; it is an inhabitant of the body, dwells in
it, as in a tabernacle, and removes from it at death, and
exists in a separate state after it; all which show it is a substance, or
subsistence of itself. It is not a corporal {7} but a "spiritual"
substance; not a body, as Tertullian {8}, and others, have thought; but a spirit,
as it is often called in scripture, #Ec 12:7 Mt 26:41 Ac 7:59. And the souls of
men are called the spirits of all flesh, to distinguish them from angelic
spirits, which are not surrounded with flesh, as the
spirits of men are, #Nu 16:22. The soul is immediately breathed from God, as
Adam's soul was; and in it chiefly consists the image of God in man, and
therefore trust be a spirit, as he is, though in a finite proportion, a created
spirit; it is also "immaterial"; it does not consist of flesh, and
blood, and bones, as the body does, and so is "immortal", and dies
not when that does; when that goes to the dust, the soul
returns to God: the body may be killed by men, but not the soul; when they have
killed the one, they can proceed no farther; the soul survives the body, and
lives for ever {9}, it consists of various powers and faculties, the
understanding, will, &c. and performs various operations of life, either
immediately by itself, or mediately by the organs of the body, in the
vegetable, animal, and rational way; and therefore is
called the "spirit", or "breath of lives", #Ge 2:7 and yet
is but one; for though sometimes mention is made of soul and spirit, as if they
were distinct, #1Th 5:23 Heb 4:12 yet this only respects the superior and
inferior powers and faculties of one and the same soul; for otherwise the
scriptures always represent man as having but one soul; and this is created by
God; it is not uncreated, as he is; nor is it created by
angels, as some have fancied; nor of itself; nor is it generated by and derived
from immediate parents. The soul of Adam was most certainly created of God, and
immediately, and breathed into him; and the same may be believed of the soul of
Eve; for it cannot be thought that that was contained in, and educed out of the
rib, from which her body was made; but that when that was
made, God breathed into her the breath of life, as he did into Adam; and there
is no reason why the souls of all men should not be made, or created, in like
manner.
Some have been, and are of
opinion, that the souls of men are "ex traduce", as Tertullian;
or generated by and derived from their parents, with their bodies. But against
this it may be observed, that Christ was made in all things like unto us,
having a true body and a reasonable soul; which soul of his could not be
generated by and derived from his parents, not from a father, because he had
none, as man; nor from his mother, for then she, being a sinful woman, it must
have been infected and defiled with the contagion of sin,
the corruption of nature; whereas he was holy and harmless, without spot and
blemish. Moreover, if souls are by natural generation from their immediate
parents, they must be derived either from their bodies, or from their bodies
and souls, or from their souls only; not from their bodies, for then they would
be corporeal, whereas they are not; not from both bodies
and souls; for then they would be partly corporeal, and partly incorporeal,
which, they are not; not from their souls only, for as an angel is not generated
by an angel, so not a soul by a soul. Besides, if the souls of men are derived
from the souls of parents, it is either from a part of them, or from the whole;
not from a part, for then the soul would be partible and divisible, as matter
is, and so not immaterial; and as not a part, so neither
can their whole souls be thought to be communicated to them, for then they
would have none, and perish; to such absurdities is this notion reducible.
Besides, what is immaterial, as the soul is, can never be educed out of matter;
if the soul is generated out of the matter of parents, then it is and must be
material; and if material, then corruptible; and if corruptible, then mortal;
and it is a maxim, that what is generated, may be
corrupted; and if the soul may be corrupted, then it is not immortal; the
doctrine of the soul's immortality, becomes indefensible by this notion; for if
this be admitted, the other must be relinquished {10}. But what puts this
matter out of all doubt is, the distinction the apostle makes between the
"fathers of our flesh", and the "Father of spirits", #Heb
12:9. Man consists of two parts, of "flesh" and
"spirit", body and soul; the former the apostle ascribes to immediate
parents, as instruments thereof; and the latter to God, as the Father, Author,
and Creator of it. Nor is it an objection of any moment, to the soul being of
the immediate creation of God, that then a man does not generate a man: to
which it may be replied, that he may be said to generate a man, though strictly
speaking he only generates a part of him; as when one man
kills another, he is truly said to kill a man, though he only kills his body;
so a man may be said to generate a man, though he only generates the body; from
whence in this case man is denominated. Moreover, as in death, the whole man
may be said to die, because death is a dissolution of the whole, though each
part remains; so the whole man may be said to be generated,
because in generation there is an union and conjunction of the parts of man;
though one part is not generated, yet because of the union of the parts, the
whole is said to be so. Nor is it an objection of greater weight, that man does
not do what other creatures do, generate the whole of their species; as a horse
a horse, not only the flesh, but the spirit of it; since it is not at all
derogatory to man, but it is his superior excellency, that
his soul is not generated as the spirit of a beast is, but comes immediately
from the hand of God. Such who are otherwise right in their notion of things,
give into this, in order to get clear of a difficulty attending the doctrine of
original sin, and the manner of its propagation, which they think is more
easily accounted for, by supposing the soul derived from parents by natural generation, and so corrupted; but though this is a difficulty
not easily to be resolved, how the soul coming immediately from God, is
corrupted with original sin; it is better to let this difficulty lie
unresolved, than to give up so certain a truth, and of so much importance, as the
doctrine of the immortality of the soul is; which, as has been seen, must be
given up, if this notion is received; but there are ways and methods
for the clearing of this difficulty, without being at the expense of the loss
of such an important truth; as will be shown when we come to treat of the
doctrine of original sin. ln the meanwhile, let us take it for granted, that
souls are of God's immediate creation; the making of them he claims to himself;
"The souls that I have made", #Isa 57:16 Jer 38:16.
The souls of men were not made
in eternity, but in time. The pre-existence of all human souls before the world
was, is a notion held by Plato among the heathens, and espoused by Origen,
among Christians; but is exploded by all wise, thoughtful, and judicious men;
for whatsoever was before the world was, is eternal; if souls were
created before the world, then they are eternal; whereas there was nothing
before the world but God, to whom eternity only belongs, #Ps 90:2 nor were
souls created together, as angels were; but they are created one by one, when
their bodies are prepared to receive them; they are not created without the
body, and then put into it; but they are formed in it; "Who formeth the
spirit of man within him", #Zec 12:1 not brought
yurayen, from without, as Aristotle {11} expresses it; but when the embryo is
fit to receive it, it is created by God, and united to it; but how it is
united, and what is the bond of that union, we must be content to be ignorant
of; as well as of the particular place of its abode, whether diffused through
the whole body, as some think, or has an apartment in the brain, or has its
seat in the heart, which is most likely, and most agreeable
to scripture, and to that known maxim, that the heart is the first that lives,
and the last that dies.
3. The difference, of sex in
which man was created, is male and female, #Ge 1:27 that is, man and woman; not
that they were created together; though on the same day,
and perhaps not long one after the other: the male was created first, and out
of him the female, as the apostle says, "Adam was first formed, then
Eve", #1Ti 2:13 which he observes, to show that the woman should not usurp
authority, over the man, since he was before her; and by which it appears, that
"the man was not created for the woman, but the woman for the man",
as he elsewhere asserts, #1Co 11:9 and therefore ought to
be in subjection to him: nor were they made out of the same matter, at least
not as in the same form; their souls, indeed, were equally made out of nothing,
out of no preexistent matter, but their bodies differently: the body of Adam
was formed out of the dust of the earth, and the body of Eve out of a rib of
Adam, though both originally dust and clay, to which they both returned: the woman was very significantly made out of man's rib; not out of
the upper part of man, lest she should be thought to have a superiority over
him; nor out of the lower part of man, lest she should be despised and trampled
upon; but from a rib of him, to signify that she should be by his side, a
companion of him, and from a part near his heart, and under his arm, to show
that she should be the object of his love and affection,
and be always under his care and protection: and thus being "flesh of his
flesh", as he himself owned, it became him to nourish and cherish her as
his own flesh. Man is a social creature, and therefore God in his wisdom
thought it not proper that he should be alone, but provided an help meet for
him, to be a partner and companion with him, in civil and religious life; and
in this difference of sex were they created for the sake of
procreation of children, and of the propagation of their species, in their
successive offspring, to the end of the world; and there were but one male and
one female, at first created, and which were joined together in marriage by the
Lord himself, to teach, that but one man and one woman only are to be joined
together at one time in lawful wedlock; and these two, male and female, first created, were made after the same image; for the word man
includes both man and woman; and Adam was a name common to them both in their
creation, and when said to be made after the image of God, #Ge 1:26,27 5:1,2
which image, as will hereafter be seen, lies much in righteousness and
holiness. Now God made man, that is, both man and woman, upright; but they,
Adam and Eve, sought out many inventions, sinful ones, and
so lost their righteousness: nor is it any objection to the woman being made
after the image of God, part of which lies in dominion over the creatures, as
will hereafter be observed, that she is in subjection to the man; for though
her husband ruled over her, yet she had equal dominion with him over the
creatures. Which leads on to consider,
4. The image of God, in which
man was created; "God, said, Let us make man in our image, and after our
likeness--so God created man in his own image", #Ge 1:26,27. Whether image
and likeness are to be distinguished, as by Maimonides {12}, the one respecting
the substantial form of man, his soul; the other certain accidents
and qualities belonging to him; or whether they signify the same, is not very
material; the latter seems probable; since in #Ge 1:27 where image is
mentioned, "likeness" is omitted; and, on the contrary, in #Ge 5:1
the word "likeness" is used, and "image" omitted. Now
though this is only said of man, that he is made after the image and likeness
of God {13}, yet he is not the only creature so made;
angels are like to God, and bear a resemblance to him, being spirits,
immaterial, immortal, and invisible, and are also righteous and holy in their
nature, and are sometimes called Elohim; yet the image of God in man, differs
in some things from theirs: as that part of it especially, which lies in his
body, and in his connection with and dominion over the creatures; and yet he is
not in such sense the image of God, as Jesus Christ the Son
of God is, who is the image of the invisible God, yea, the express image of his
Father's Person, having the same divine nature and perfections he has; but man,
though there was in him some likeness and resemblance of some of the
perfections of God; which are called his imitable ones, and by some
communicable; as holiness, righteousness, wisdom, &c. yet these perfections are not really in him, only some faint shadows of
them, at least not in the manner and proportion they are in God, in whom they
are infinite, in man finite; and though the renewed and spiritual image of God
in regenerate persons; which is of an higher and more excellent kind than the
natural image of God in Adam, is called a partaking of the divine nature, #2Pe
1:4 yet not to be understood as if any partook of the
nature and essence of God, and the perfections of it; only that that is wrought
in them, and impressed on them, which bears some resemblance to the divine
nature. The seat of the image of God in man, is the whole man, both body and
soul; wherefore God is said to create man in his image; not the soul only, nor
the body only; but the whole man, #Ge 1:27 5:1. Even as the whole man, soul and
body, are the seat of the new and spiritual image of God in
regeneration and sanctification; The very God of peace sanctify you wholly;
which the apostle immediately explains of their whole spirit, and soul and
body, being preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; when
and at the resurrection of the dead, the saints will most fully appear to bear
the image of the heavenly One, #1Th 5:23 #1Co 15:49.
4a. First, The first man was
made in the image of God in his "body" in some respect; hence this is
given as a reason why the blood of a man's body is not to be shed, because,
"In the image of God made he man", #Ge 9:6 though this image must not be thought to consist in the lineaments and figure of
man's body; this would be to conceive of him as altogether such an one as
ourselves, and as the Anthropomorphites do; who, because they find bodily
members ascribed to God in scripture, as eyes, hands, &c. fancy that he has
a body like ours, and that our bodies are like his; but, as Job says, "Hast
thou eyes of flesh?" #Job 10:4. No; he has not; and
the same may be observed of other members ascribed unto him; for we are not to
entertain such gross notions of God as if he was corporeal, or that man was
like unto him in the structure of his body; not but that there, is something
divine and majestic in the countenance of man, in comparison of brute
creatures; and what is super excellent to them, is the erectness of his
posture, as has been before observed; which fits and
directs him to look up to God, whereby he has a nearness to him, and communion
with him, through which he becomes more like unto him. And it may be observed,
that the perfections of God, many of them, are represented by the members of
the human body; as his omniscience and all-seeing providence by
"eyes", which go to and fro throughout the whole earth. His
omnipresence and close attention to the petitions of his
people, and readiness to help and assist them, by "ears" open to
their cries; and his might and power to deliver, protect, and defend them, by
an arm and hand; and his pleasure and displeasure, by his face being towards
good men, and against bad men; with others that might be added. Some qualities
in the body of the first man, he had from God, which made him in some sense like unto him: such as "immortality"; for not
only the soul of man breathed into him, was immortal, but his body also, as has
been before observed; and in this there was in him some likeness to God, who
only hath immortality, in the highest sense of it. Likewise "righteousness"
and holiness, another branch of the divine image, as will be hereafter taken
notice of; of which the body, as well as the soul, is the
seat; for as that is defiled, since the fall, with the corruption of nature; so
before, it was pure and holy; as when sanctified by the Spirit of God, it
becomes a temple, in which he dwells; and particularly at the resurrection,
when it is raised a powerful, incorruptible, spiritual, and glorious body,
saints will then awake in the likeness of God, and appear to bear the image of
the heavenly One, as in soul so in body; and whereas
another branch of this image lies in dominion over the creatures, that is
chiefly exercised by the organs of the body. To say no more, I see no
difficulty in admitting it; that whereas all the members of Christ's human body
were written and delineated in the book of God's eternal purposes and decrees,
before they were fashioned, or were in actual being; and God prepared a body
for him in covenant, agreeable thereunto; or it was
concluded in it, he should assume such a body in the fulness of time, #Ps
139:16 #Heb 10:5. I say, I see no difficulty in admitting that the body of Adam
was formed according to the idea of the body of Christ in the divine mind; and
which may be the reason, at least in part, of that expression; "Behold,
the man is", or rather "was, as one of us"; and so as Eve was
flesh of Adam's flesh, and bone of his bone, the members of
Christ are also flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone, #Ge 3:22 2:23 Eph
5:30. But,
4b. Secondly, The principal
seat of the image of God in man, is the soul, which was immediately breathed of
God into man, and so bears the greatest resemblance of him;
and thus the spiritual image of God, stamped in regeneration and renovation, is
chiefly seated in the soul; "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind",
#Eph 4:23. And this appears,
4b1. In the
nature of the soul, which is spiritual, immaterial,
immortal,
and invisible, as God is; God is a Spirit, most
simple and
uncompounded; more so than any created spirit can
be supposed
to be; yet the soul, which is often called a
spirit, bears
some likeness to him: he is expert of all
matter, and
only hath immortality; and so the soul is not a
material
being, but a spirit, it has not flesh and bones, as
a body has;
and is not capable of being brought to the dust
of death, or
to be killed: and as no man has seen God at any
time, he is
the King eternal, immortal, and invisible; so
the soul is
not to be seen; who ever saw his own soul, or
the
soul of another? Moreover, the soul carries some shadow
of likeness
to God in its powers and faculties, being
endowed with
understanding, will, and affections; which are,
in some
respects, similar to what is in God; or there is
that in God
which these are a faint resemblance of; and
though
it consists of various faculties, there is but one
soul; as God,
though his perfections are many, and his
Persons
three, yet there is but one God.
4b2. The
image of God in the soul of man, of the first man
particularly,
appeared in the qualities of it; especially in
its wisdom,
knowledge, and understanding, and in its
righteousness
and holiness; for if the spiritual image in
regeneration
consists in these things, though in a higher
and more
excellent manner, and of a superior nature; it may
be
reasonably thought, the natural image of God in man
consisted of
these things in a natural way; see #Col 3:10
#Eph 4:24.
4b2a. It lay
in knowledge and understanding. Adam, in his state
of
innocence, had a large share of natural knowledge; he
knew much of
himself, both of the, constitution of his body,
and the
powers of his mind; he knew much of the creatures
made and
given for his use, and over which he had the
dominion, and
to whom he gave names suitable to their
nature;
he had a large knowledge of God, as his Creator and
Benefactor in
a natural way, through the creatures; for if
God, and the
perfections of his nature, are in some measure
to be known
from his works by the light of nature, now man
is fallen,
and so as to be left without excuse; a much
greater
degree of knowledge of him, must man unfallen be
supposed to
have: and who, doubtless, had knowledge of a
Trinity of
Persons in the Godhead, since they were so
manifestly
concerned in the creation of all things, and
particularly
in his own; and this seems necessary, that he
might
yield that worship and adoration which was due from
him to each
of them; but then he knew nothing of Christ, as
Mediator,
Redeemer, and Saviour; this was not revealed to
him until
after his fall, nor did he need it before; on
which it was
made known to him, that the seed of the woman
should
bruise the serpent's head, and be the Saviour of him
and his
posterity: nor did he know anything of pure,
spiritual,
and evangelic truths, and which were not suitable
to the state
in which he was; such as justification by the
righteousness
of Christ; pardon of sin through his blood;
atonement
by his sacrifice; and eternal life, as the free
gift of God
through him: these were things his eye had not
seen, nor his
ear heard of, nor did it enter into his heart
to conceive
of before his fall, and the revelation of them
to him, which
was made upon that; but then he knew all
things
necessary to be known by him; all things natural,
moral, and
civil; yea, he had some things revealed to him,
and which he
knew under a prophetic spirit; some things
past, as the
formation of Eve out of his rib; and, no doubt,
his own
formation, and the manner of it; and the whole
creation,
and the order of it, in six days; and other things
to come, as
that Eve should be the mother of all living; and
that
marriage, as it was appointed, would be continued in
the world for
the propagation of his species.
4b2b.
The image of God in Adam, further appeared in that
rectitude,
righteousness, and holiness, in which he was
made; for
"God made man upright"; a holy and righteous
creature, #Ec
7:29 which holiness and righteousness were, in
their kind,
perfect; his understanding was free from all
error
and mistakes; his will biased to that which is good;
his
affections flowed in a right channel, towards their
proper
objects; and there were no sinful motions and evil
thoughts in
his heart; nor any propensity and inclination to
that which is
evil; and the whole of his conduct and
behaviour
was according to the will of God. And this
righteousness
of his was natural, and not personal and
acquired; it
was not obtained by the exercise of his free
will; it was
lost, but not got that way; had it been
personal, and
acquired his own power, and made up of acts of
his
own, when lost, it would only have been lost for
himself; and
his posterity would have had no concern in it;
but it was
the righteousness of his nature, it was
co-created,
or created with it, and so common to it; and had
he stood in
it, would have been propagated to his posterity;
but,
on the contrary, he sinning, whereby his nature was
defiled, a
corrupt nature is propagated instead of it. The
papists, and
those of the same complexion with them, say
that Adam was
created in his pure naturals; their meaning
is, that he
was created neither holy nor unholy; neither
righteous
nor unrighteous; but capable of being either the
one or the
other, as he made use of the power of his
free will. This
notion is advanced in favour of man's
free will,
and to weaken the doctrine of original sin.
4b2c.
This image also lies in the freedom of the will, and the
power of it.
As God is a free agent, so is man; and as the
freedom of the
divine will does not lie in an indifference
and
indetermination to good and evil, but is only to that
which is
good; so was the will of man in his state of
integrity:
as likewise the will of the good angels and
glorified
saints. And man had a power to obey the will of
God, and do
his commands; and as he had not only a positive
law given him
to abstain from the forbidden fruit, as a
trial of his
obedience; so he had the moral law written on
his
heart, as the rule of his obedience, and had power and
ability to
keep it; for as it was required of him to love
the Lord his
God with all his heart, and soul, and strength;
so he could,
if he would, have performed the same; and such
strength and
ability were due unto him, from the laws of
creation;
for if God required of him obedience to his holy
law, it was
but fit and right that he should give him a
conformity of
nature and will to it, and power to obey it;
though, he
was not obliged to give him grace and strength to
persevere,
nor to render him impeccable and immutable;
wherefore,
leaving him to the mutability of his will, he
sinned, and
fell from his former estate, which on that
account is
called "vanity", #Ps 39:5.
4b3. The
image of God in the whole man, soul and body, or in his
person,
lay in his immortality, natural to his soul, and
conferred on
his body; and also in his dominion over the
creatures;
for this was the end God proposed in the creation
of him, that
he might have dominion over the beasts of the
field, the fowls
of the air, and the fishes of the sea; and
accordingly
all were put in subjection to him; see
#Ge 1:26,28
Ps 8:6-8 in which he resembled God, the Governor
of the
universe; and hence kings, governors, and civil
magistrates
are called gods, because they bear such a likeness
to him, #Ps
82:6.
4b4. And
lastly: this image lay in the blessedness of man, in his
original
state; for as God is God over all and blessed, and
is the
blessed and only Potentate; so man, in a lower sense,
was blessed
above all the creatures; having an healthful
constitution,
an immortal body, and everything grateful and
suitable to
it; and a soul knowing, wise, holy, just, and
good; and he
placed in the most delightful spot in the whole
globe, with
all the profusion of nature about him, and all
creatures
subject to him, enjoying communion with God,
through
the creatures, though but in a natural way; and God
was pleased
sometimes to appear to him, and talk with him;
and yet man,
being thus in honour, abode not long, but
became like
the beasts that perish; so that we may look back
and see from
what an high estate man is fallen, and to what
a
low estate sin has brought him, by means of which he is
come short of
the image and glory of God, in which he was
created; and
yet may adore the grace and wisdom of God,
which has
brought us into a more excellent state by Christ;
a state more
spiritual, firm, and secure. Adam's knowledge
was
natural knowledge; his holiness and righteousness
natural holiness
and righteousness; the covenant made with
him a natural
covenant; the communion he had with God was in
a natural
way; and all his benefits and blessings natural
ones: but
believers in Christ are blessed with all spiritual
blessings
in him, and have a spiritual image stamped upon
them, which
can never be lost; and into which they are
changed from
glory to glory, till it becomes perfect.
{1} Sepher Cosri, par. l. s.
61. p. 27.
{2} See
Nieuwentyt's Religious Philosopher, vol. 1.
{3} Vide Platonem in Cratylo.
{4} Vide Ludolpb. Hist.
Ethiop. l. 1. c. 15.
{5} Socinus de Statu primi
hominis ante lapsum, s. 8, 9, 10. & de Servatore, par. 3. c. 8. & par.
4. c. 6.
{7} Aristotle says, that thn
quchn aswmaton, Laert. l. 5. in Vita ejus.
{8} De Resurrectione Carnis,
c. 17.
{9} The arguments proving the
immortality of the soul are reserved to the doctrine of a future state, and the
resurrection of the body to be considered with them.
{10}
"Nam de mortalibus non potest quicquam nisi mortale generari",
Lactant. de Opificio Dei. c. 19.
{11} De Generat. Animal. l. 2.
c. 3.
{12} Moreh Nevochim, par. 1.
c. 1.
{13} So Plato de Republ. l. 6.
p. 682 from Homer represents the human form as yeoeidhv,
for Homer often speaks of one man and another as yeoeikelov and yeoeidhv,
Iliad. 1. v. 131. and 2. 623. and 3. 16. and 6. 290. Eurysus the Pythagorean
says, that the Maker in making man used himself as an exemplar, Apud Clement.
Alex. Stromat. l. 5. p. 558.