eietogtlln nett below emits I of child by ;view Root; ah; Gen, u, 1111,14,4 nv the pewit; 'eareinfesi h mty, andthehi il; but the dl earth are fotit body, and imp i, and all tif life and ial: their oteo new families at tin It midnight,al day, do auh lens I Ito sly it is by ;twin Them are hid lead), m i mid bebaw f mankind, na rely, a diete nods withnue d fish, hutch an and families on. tale time is dits; le ever booth' Ieties, tagtme I shall ldriait But if wends the frosts sods ',plod and fug as bola e of man aladl their ira 1 'tiles byMil labours, adi gitltont ad tow will ó afSw'ers short pletiol Coca cur dal be aupP°i QUESTION I.- 247 a full recompence for the incessant labours of life? Does it bear any proportion to the length of toil, pain and hazard, and the tiresome fatigues of our spirits and our limbs, wherewith the provisions of life are procured ? Moses acquaints us indeed, that man even in his innocent and blessed state was placed in a noble and lovely garden, and was appointed to dress it: This was no curse, but a wise appointment of the God of nature by intermingled labour and exercise to preserve our health and vigour. But when the same writer comes to introduce the toil and fatigues we are forced to sustain, in order to secure us from starving, when he speaks of eatingour bread in the sweat of our brows ; siren. iii. 17-19. he acknowledges this to be ano- ther of the curses of God for the sin of man, and it is scattered all round the globes. V. Consider the character, temper and quality of mankind in general, even the multitudes of millions of mankind in 'all nations, with regard to religion and virtue, and then it will be bard to persuade ourselves that these are creatures, who enjoy the favour of their Maker as his children, or bear the image of their commonFather in knowledge and goodness, as his original and native offspring ought to do. I grant there are here and there some few persons who are restored to some degrees of con- formity to him that made them : they are become his children by repentance and return to God, by a divine change passed upon their natures, and they enjoy a share of his special love : But the'bulk of the world are of another stamp and character, and sufficiently slaexv there is some sinful and fatal contagion spread st It is strange that any man should say, in this sentence of God, Gen. iii. 15-19. " no curse is pronounced upon either Adam's body, soul or posterity ; that the sorrow of child -bearing is not inflicted as a curse; that the labours of life were encreased, but not as a curse ; and that this death was not a curse, &c." I would fain ask, what is a curse, if some natural evil pronounced and executed upon a person, or thing, be not so, especially 'when it is pronounced upon the account of sin, and comes from God himself as supreme governor and judge? And even the curse on the ground falls properly on the man who tilla it. It is granted, that all these may be sanctified by the covenant of grace to good people, and turned to their advantage. The wisdomof God can turn curses into blessings; Gen. i. 20. Deut. xxiii. 5. Yet the original pronunciationand in- fliction of these evils was designed as a curse, or punishment for sin, as it is written, Gal. iii, I0. .Cursed qs :every one who continueth not in all things, &c. And I think it will appear evidently ro every one who with commonsense and without prejudicereads the history of the fall of man in Gen, iii. 16 -19. And that deathwas designed as a curse on man for sin, is evident ; for Christ suffered Mir curse for us ; Gal. iii. 03. It is granted also, that God might in Noah's time take off, perhaps, some part of the curse from theground, Gen. o. 29. and bless it with greater fruitful- ness ; hemight renew his blessing on propagation, Gen: ix. I. and many other blessings may he added : But still the cursesof hard toil and sweating, of pain- ful child-herring, and of death, may be, and are actually continued through all generations, though some blessings may be mingled with them And this is sufficient to answer all these objections. See more, question VIII. at the 'end.
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