QUESTION XII. 315 dreds of years after the day in which they first sinned, since the express word of threatening consigned them over to death im- mediately, In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt die ; Gen. ii. 17. It is true, such a reprieve as this was necessary in order ' to the peopling of the world, and the propagationof mankind in their successive generations ; for had Adam and Eve died in the daywhen they sinned, the human nature would have been at an end, and have perished from this earth for ever : But it is most probably owing to the schemeof mercy, and the new cove- nant built upon the merit of Christ, that Adam and Eve were not destroyed that very daj', and that God permitted a race of men to cover the face of the earth. So that every son and daughter of Adam, who isborn into this world, is some proof that the extensive merit of the death of Christ reaches to them for some purposes. II. It is owing to the superabundant merit of the obedience and sufferings of Christ, that the earth is appointed still and ordered to produce such a variety of supports and comforts for mankind in their successive generations, and that all the vegeta- ble and animal powers on this earth, arenot universally blastedby the curse : All die blessings of nature and providence that spring up from the earth, that descend from theheavens, that are brought forth or dispersed by the sun and the moon and the clouds, that are enjoyed and tasted by the sons and daughters of men in this world, are probably derived from this fountain of the blood of Christ ; and in this sense perhaps, he may be said to taste death for every man. And let it be observed, that these blessings reach to whole nations where we have but little reason to believe God has any chosenfavourites, any of his own beloved children, any that are actually regenerated, adopted and sanctified to himself by special grace. Yet methinks every thing round about us: seems to speak, that God has not utterly and absolutely aban- doned all mankind, to certain and necessary guilt and misery, besides the few whom he haschosen and secured to be certain sub- jects of his Son's kingdom Every divine monument and instance of bounty and blessing round about us, seems to teach us that God is upon terms of grace and reconciliation with all the rebel race of his creature man. III. That Mankind have thecommon faculties of nature con- tinued to them, is to be ascribed to the undertaking of Christ: That they have the use of their senses and their limbs in any measures of health, ease, vigour, and activity ; for these were all forfeited by sin, and included in the word death. All this is owing probably to Christ. And that they haveany exercise of reason, that they have" any measures of wisdom or prudence amongst them in the conduct of their affairs, may be ascribed also to the same spring, and perhaps this was designed iu that
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