490 THE GLORY OF CHRIST AS' GOD-MAN. abled to draw more particular inferences from these scriptures concerning the deity of Christ and hisappearances before his in- carnation. Whosoever will read the four first chapters of Genesis with due attention, will find a very plain and easy representation of the great God, first creating all things, and afterwards appear- ing to Adam, Eve, and Cain, and conversing with them with a human voice, and very probably in a human shape too. I ant well assured that any common reader who begins the bible with- out prejudices or prepossessions of any kind, would naturally frame this idea under the words and expressions of Moses, the sacred writer. In the first place, God represents his own design of creating man in this manner, viz. Gen. i. 26. And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, 88c. Verse 27. So God created man after his own image: in the image of God created he him ; male and female created he them ; And God blessed them and said unto them, be fruitful andmultiply, 8çc. Verse 29. And God said, behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, to you it shall be for meat, and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, 8rc. Now it is very probable, that when God had made man, he appeared to him in man's own shape, and thus made it known to Adam, that he had formed him in his own image, even as to his body; that is, in such a form or figure as God himself did, and would frequently assume, in order to converse with man : And perhaps God also might acquaint Adam with the natural and moral perfections of his own soul, viz. knowledge, righteousness and holiness, wherein the resembled his Maker, and bare his like- ness, as well as that God himself sometimes assumed the figure of a man. Let it be noted here also, that when God blessed some part of the animal creation, it is expressed only, God said, but not to them as hearers, be fruitful and multiply, as verse 22. that is, God put forth a divine volition or command concern- ing the multiplication of inferior creatures ; but he spake toAdam and Eve directly as his hearers, and most likely with a human voice, for he said unto them, Be fruitful andmultiply; and told them that he had given them the fruits of the earth tor their food, and that he had given it also to the fowls and the beasts : Whereas God is not said to speak thus concerning food to the beasts or to the fowls themselves, but only told Adam what he had appointed for their common food, This looks a human ap- pearance conversing with him, and will appear more evidently in what follows: Gen. ii. 16. And the Lord Godcommanded the man, saying, of every tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat but the tree
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=