6. Man as He Was

The original man was the rational and moral pinnacle of the earthly system. Naturally, or as he came from God's hand, he was the perfection of all earthly creations and institutions. In the elements of his constitution, he was partly heavenly and earthly, made of earthly material as to his body, but possessing spiritual intelligence and divine life. Made to know and enjoy his Creator, and to have fellowship with all that is divine, spiritual, and material in the whole universe, he was capable of an almost limitless variety of enjoyments.

And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Gen 1:26-27. Man, then, was a companion of his Father and Creator, capable of admiring, worshiping, and enjoying God. Having made the earth for him, God was fully glorified in all his earthly works when they made man happy, grateful, and thankful to himself. Man, then, in his natural state, was not merely an animal, but an intellectual, moral, pure, and holy being.

His position or state in this creation was that of a lord tenant. The earth is, indeed, the Lord's; but he gave it to man on a very easy and generous lease; and so it became his property. He was, therefore, a free and responsible agent, capable of managing his estate and paying his rent; and consequently was capable of virtue and vice, happiness and misery. For freedom, virtue, and happiness, it was appropriate and necessary to place him under a law; for where there is no law, there can be no liberty, virtue, or happiness. The law became a test of his character, a guarantee of his continued enjoyment of the life and property which God had leased to him on the condition of his obedience to that command.

So that the temptation to disobedience might be weak, and the motive to obedience strong, single, and pure, the command given here was simple, positive, and clear. It could not be a moral command, because other reasons than simple submission to the will of his Lord and King might have worked together and prevented the display of pure loyalty by which his character was to be tested and his future fortunes governed. It was therefore a positive law. The requirement was so minimal as to present the least conceivable restraint upon liberty of thought and action, and yet it was the most infallible test of his loyalty. The Adamic constitution was therefore admirably designed and suited to happiness. It placed only one restriction in the way of universal liberty, and that at such a distance as to make the circle of his free and unrestrained movements within a single step of the last outpost of all intellectual, moral, and sensible enjoyment. The whole earth was his to use, one single fruit alone excepted. Truly, God was supremely good and kind to man in his unique condition and state. "You made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you put all things under his feet: — all sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes through the paths of the sea. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8:5-9.