4 288 Rum s sn REoovERY, &c: come upon him, if he disobeyed his Maker. Upon the whole therefore, it is highly rational to conclude, that if man had con-' tinued innocent, his pleasures would have been increased, and kis llfè immortal. ,VI. This covenant is justly supposed to reach to his poste- rity, and include his offspring as well as himself in this manner, viz. if man continued in his state of obedience, and thereby con- firmed or advanced himself in the image and favour of his Ma- ker, and secured immortal life to himself; by his obedience dur- ing the appointed time of his trial, he should also propagate his offspring perhaps in that established or advanced degree of the divine image and favour, or at least in the security of immortal life and happiness to them : But if man should bring-a sinful taint and vicious disorder upon his nature, and diseases and death upon his animal body, by tasting some forbidden pleasure, and sinning against God, that lie should'not only lose this image and favour of God himself with all his privileges, but that the should beget his offspring in his own sinful likeness, and in his own un- happy circumstances, despoiled of the image and favour of God, and of the privileges which their father enjoyed during his inno- cency. Now there is no injustice in this appointment Because lifeás well as death was contained in the covenant ; and the ad- vantages which were to be enjoyed by the obedience of the first man, and his posterity, were as great or greater than the disad- vantages which should attend his disobedience. And as there was no injustice in it, so it maybe proved, that it was au instance of divine goodness to mankind : For when one man was set up as a common head of multitudes, he must be supposed to have so much the stronger obligations upon his mind toobedience, io order topreserve and secure the happiness. of those multitudes, which should spring from him as well as his own, and which would be involved in his misery, in case he disobeyed. No single person standing the test of obedience to obtain his own single happiness, can be supposed to llave an equal motive to diligence and watchfulness, and duty, with that man who was entrusted both with his own welfare, and with the welfare of millions. And besides, it was a further instanceof divine goodness as well as wisdom, to entrust that very man with the fate of man- kind, who was to be the father and fountain of all their race c For all the kind endearing thoughts that arise from the relation of a father, must add abundant weight to the obligations and the solicitudes which lay upon him to continue in his state of inno- cence and obedience. If he had merely been appointed to be the representative of millions who were no way a-kin to him, it must have lain with much concern upon the heart of a good and innocent man, as the first man was, to oblige him to watchfulness
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