chances of falling, instead of one; since the only effect of that transaction was, to secure confirmation and eternal life to man, upon condition of Adam's temporary obedience; instead of the race being held to a perpetual probation, in Adam and in themselves. To complain of being held responsible for Adam's sin, is, to object to being held to obedience at all; since, in any case, Adam's sin was our sin; the forces which are in us,- -the nature which we inherit from him, is the very nature which, in him, rebelled; the same, not in kind, merely,-but, as flowing continuously from him to us.

The nature of the life promised, remains to be considered. Death, the penalty of the law, we have seen to have signified, 37. The life the wrath of God exercised against sin. Correlapromised. tive to this is the meaning of the word, life, as used to express the promise of the covenant. The idea designed by it, is not that of continued existence, merely; nor, in fact, has it, otherwise than by implication, reference to the continuance of existence, at all; but, to the favour of God, and the happiness which it must convey to the creature on whom he smiles. This was the meaning of the word, and the essential matter of the covenant, as addressed to Adam. So the Psalmist declares, “In his favour is life."-Psalm xxx. 5. Hence the language of our Saviour:-"This is life eternal; that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."-John xvii. 3. The same definition is illustrated, by the contrast stated by John the Baptist:-"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."-John iii. 36. As the elements which appear in the infliction of the penal sanction of the law differ according to the variety of the natures that suffer; so, on the other hand, the favour of God, which is expressed by the one word, life, develops, in its action, elements of happiness, differing according to the diversity of the natures in which it is realized. The life, or blessedness, enjoyed by the angelic hosts under the smile of their Creator, varies thus circumstantially from that which would have been realized by man in continued innocency; this, again, differs from that to

which redeemed men are called; and none of these is altogether similar to that of the incarnate Word, who says of himself, "As the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself."-John v. 26.

The promise secured the continual smile of God, resting upon and prospering Adam, in body and soul, in his labours and enjoyments, in his possessions and pursuits, in his person, his family, and his race; in time, till the close of his probation; and more richly still in a blessed eternity, where, confirmed in holiness, and translated from earth, he should possess the unspeakable joys of God's presence forever. Hedged in by God's favour, he would have been free alike from evil or alarm. Whilst every enjoyment had been complete, and every pleasure perfect, no sorrow had occurred, to mar his satisfaction, nor anxiety, to moderate it. In short, the promise secured to him the omnipotent favour of his Creator, resting upon and blessing him, in every element of his being, and all the compass and eternal continuance of his existence.

To Adam's body, the favour of God, pledged in the covenant, secured the enjoyment of perfect and perpetual health, unalloyed by sickness or pain, and unexposed to accident,-the perfection. of all his members and of the exercise of all his senses, adapted and attuned, as they were, to appreciate and enjoy the harmonies of surrounding nature, as it smiled in the light of God's favour,the elasticity and the zest of unfailing youth,―unwearying vigour, exempt from the exhaustion of toil, and the debility of hunger, and at length, without dissolution or return to dust, transformation and immortality in heaven.

To his mind, it pledged unerring knowledge of all that was requisite, either for the performance of his duties, the enjoyment of God's blessings, or preparation for the higher employments and more exalted joys of heaven,-perfect freedom from aberration or obscurity, continual growth of all his capacities in their exercise, and entire freedom from those apprehensions and alarms, that disquietude and disappointment, and those multiplied sources of mental affliction, which the curse has infused into the cup of life.

But especially did the covenant seal all spiritual blessings to Adam. This involved the perpetual vigour and continual growth of all the features of God's image in his soul,-free and unreserved communion with his condescending and beneficent Creator, and final confirmation in holiness, termination of the state of trial, and translation to a higher sphere,—to life in heaven,―to that mansion, of which it is written, "In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."-Psalm xvi. 11.

CHAPTER X.

ADAM THE COVENANT HEAD OF THE RACE.

THUS far we have viewed Adam as an individual, personally the object of God's creative and providential power and care, 1. Proof of sustaining to his Maker relations of peculiar priAdam's head- vilege and responsibility, by gift and covenant. ship. But, did we stop here, we should have exceedingly inadequate conceptions of his real position, in transacting with God; and of the true extent of the responsibilities which he sustained, and the ruin which he incurred by his sin. In creating, his Maker endowed him with a prolific constitution; and in the blessing pronounced upon him at his creation, prior to any of the external actions by which the covenant of nature was formally sealed, he was ordained to multiply,—to become, of one, the myriads of the human race. In all God's dealings. with him, he is regarded in this light, as the root and father of a race who should proceed from him. They, by virtue of this derivative relation to him, were contemplated by God, as, in him their head, parties in all the transactions which had respect to the covenant. Thus, they sinned in his sin; fell in his apostasy; were depraved in his corruption; and in him became children of Satan and of the wrath of God.

By the phrase, covenant head, we do not mean that Adam was by covenant made head of the race; but that, being its head, by virtue of the nature with which God had endowed him, he stood as such in the covenant. Adam sustained in his person two distinct characters, the demarcation of which must be carefully observed, if we would attain to any just conclusions, as to the relation he held toward us, and the effects upon us of his actions. First, in him was a nature of a specific character, the common

endowment of the human race; and transmissible to them, by propagation, with their being. Again, he was an individual person, endowed with the nature thus bestowed on him in common with his posterity. Personal actions, and relations of his, which did not affect his nature, were peculiar to him as a private person. But such as affected his nature, with him, and to the same extent, involved all those to whom that nature was given, in its bestowal on him. He was endowed, as we have seen, with knowledge, righteousness and holiness; and with a liberty of will, which, whilst fully competent to stand in untarnished and perpetual holiness and rectitude, was free and unrestricted in the power of apostatizing from God, and embracing sin instead of holiness. Any exertion of his will or powers, the effect of which had been to strengthen holy principles within him, affecting as it would his nature, would have been imputed to those who in him were partakers in his native holiness. Any act of his will, or exertion of any of the powers of his being, the tendency of which had been to weaken those principles in his nature, would have been in like manner imputed. On the contrary, actions which bore no relation to such effects as these, were personal to the actor, and not imputed to others. To the former class belonged acts of obedience to God, such as tilling the ground, observing the Sabbath, and worshipping God,acts, which, by the force of habit, gave increasing strength to the holy nature in which he was created; or any want of watchfulness in view of the dangers which were at hand, or failure to seek divine strength to uphold him in integrity. To the latter class of actions pertained such as partaking of food, and indulging in nightly slumber,-acts which had no special moral character, and exerted no plastic influence on his nature.

Adam was thus constituted, and the covenant was engraved on his heart and nature, as he was a propagative being, the father of the race. As thus engraved, it is actually transmitted to us, although the transgression has abrogated its power as a covenant of life. It follows inevitably, from these facts, that it was given to Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity,that he was in it their representative; receiving the covenant