The Retired Mans Meditations, Chapter 5
CHAP. V.
Concerning the Creation of Man, on the ſixth Day.
WEE have already treated of the excellency and raiſedneſs of being, given unto Angels, who in their inviſibility ſhadow forth the glory of the Father. And we have conſidered them as repreſented under the light of the firſt day, as it ſtood divided from the darkneſs, like a glorious heaven; which light God called day, in compariſon of that darkneſs which he called night. This darkneſs or night ſeems by the coherence of the verſes fitly to repreſent the Earth, conſidered as that Chaos or confuſed lump, without form, and void, from whence God produced the bodily and viſible frame of the firſt world, with all the hoaſts and generations thereof (precedent unto, and uſhering in the creation of man) after he had ſet up the Angels in a ſeparatedneſs of being from it; which viſible frame of things ſo produced, was to ſerve as an outward book of the creatures, to make intelligible unto man the inviſible things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, through ſuch earthly characters (as ſo many kinds of voices in the world, none of which wanted their ſignification, or proper uſe for the ſervice of man, in his dutiful ſerving of God) ſhadowing out the witneſs of the ſecond in the Trinity, which is the image of God in a viſible adminiſtration to the ſenſe and diſcerning of the natural being of the creature. Foraſmuch then as by the progreſs made by God as yet in the creation, whilſt the intellectual life of Angels, and ſenſual life of other parts of the creation were brought forth and continued in ſo vaſt a diſtance and ſeparation as heaven and earth, ſo that the harmony and conſiſtency of both ſeemed yet to be wanting, God in his infinite wiſdom (to ſhadow and type out the finiſhing and compleating work which the operation of the Holy Ghoſt gives to the witneſs of the Father and of the Son) was pleaſed on the ſixth day to create man, and in his conſtitution and building to provide a joynt conſiſtency of both theſe excellencies and perfections together: for man in his rational ſoul was made an aſſociate to Angels, and in his bodily or animal life, equal to beaſts that periſh: and in the joynt, harmonious exerciſe of both theſe in one, was that in a total ſum, which the other two were in a ſeparate and divided condition.
Hence it is, that man by his creation is ſo made in the image of God, as to anſwer and repreſent the operations of the Trinity: who put forth (as it were) a holy and divine combination in their workmanſhip to draw the earthly ſhadow of their perfections upon man in his creation, who is made by them to conſiſt of ſpirit, ſoul and body, 1 Theſſ. 5. 25. But man conſidered as thus bearing the image of God, is made ſimply to be, receiving thoſe properties and operations that are eſſential to him as a man: and therefore is in another ſenſe created in Gods image, when he is made naturally righteous and holy in all the operations of this his being.
This we are taught by the Scripture, Gen. 1. 26. 27. compared with Gen. 2. 7. (if carefully minded by us) where we may find man created in Gods image in a twofold reſpect; Firſt, in the eſſential properties and operations that are incident and appertaining to him as he is a man, conſiſting in the life of ſpirit, ſoul and body: wherein he is made to bear the ſimilitude and reſemblance of God in the divine eſſential properties and operations, ſo as in a creature-being to be the earthly figure and ſimilitude of the Trinity, who therefore ſaid, Let us make man in our image: and let him have dominion and ſoveraignty over the creatures, bearing our likeneſs in his very make and conſtitution, retaining this ſhadow of us, as that which he can never quite loſe, without ceaſing to be a man.
And for this reaſon it is that God ſaies, Gen. 9. 5. 6. he will require the blood of mans life at the hands of every beaſt and at the hand of every mans brother: for in the image of God made he man; which, if it ſhould only refer to that image of God which man bears as he continues holy and righteous, it would expoſe men in their corrupt ſtate, to the ſame fear which Cain, that whoſoever found them might kill them, and be unaccountable.
Secondly, man, by the ſame act of Gods workman-ſhip, is the image of God as he bears the ſimilitude of Gods righteouſneſs and holineſs (ſhining forth in Chriſts firſt appearance) rendering him meet for communion with God: in which conſiſted the puritie and perfection of the firſt Adam (who was the figure and type of Chriſt himſelf according to the fleſh, the promiſed ſeed that was to come, and to be made like unto us in all things ſin only excepted) and as ſuch he was the ſhadowy Temple and firſt Sanctuary wherein divine worſhip and ſervice was to be performed according to the tenor of the firſt covenant. This was effected, when God breathed into him the breath of life, and made him to become a living ſoul, as appears Gen. 2. 7. compared with 1 Cor. 15. 45, 48, 49.
The image of God in this latter ſenſe, ſet up in man, may (as experience ſhews) ſuffer change in a twofold reſpect, either as that which (as it ought) will wax old, vaniſh away, prove as the morning dew, yea, have no glory at all, in compariſon of that which excels and is to follow, 2 Cor. 3. 10. or elſe as that which will be ſwallowed up of corruption, and changed into a body of ſin and death, is the wages of mans diſobedience, and fruit of Gods diſpleaſure for the ſame.
In this ſenſe we are to underſtand man to be made in a mutable and corruptible ſtate, as having that ſet up in him and given to him, through the well or evil ordering whereof, he may either loſe and juſtly be deprived of it, in a way of Gods diſpleaſure, or exchange it for a ſecond and more excellent appearance of God, the glory that is to follow, wherein this alſo is comprehended; and made perfect and durable.
And that we may the better underſtand the nature of this changeable ſtate, wherein man is found under the firſt Covenant, and ſee the weakneſs and faultineſs thereof, comparatively with that which is deſigned by God unto man, wherein to fix and reſt, it will be needful for us to be more particular in deſcribing, firſt, what man is in his eſſential properties and operations, in that make and conſtitution communicated to him by the Trinity, in his creation: and then to ſhew what was the nature of the communion and converſe with God, which he was thereby fitted and qualified unto, in order to grow up to be perfected in by the means for that end given him by God, if the fault were not his own, as it is written, Thy deſtruction O man, is of thy ſelf.
Man then, as he bears the image of the Trinity, is conſtituted of ſpirit, ſoul and body, as his eſſential parts: which, whatever ſuſpenſion of exerciſe or temporary alteration any of them may have, do never ſuffer annihilation, but make up the proper diſcriminating form of man, by which he ſtands diſtinguiſhed from all other the works of Gods hands in both worlds.
And thus, firſt, man is created ſpirit, and made to ſubſiſt in his head, Chriſt Jeſus, before the foundation of the world, as we have already ſhewed, where he ſtands comprehended in the life of Chriſts natural perfection, as he is the Father of ſpirits; in like manner, by way of compariſon, as in reference to his fleſhly ſeed, all the poſterity of Adam ſtood in the loyns of their common parent, from the time of his creation. Yet this is not the ſtate of mans ſpirit made perfect, but is only a firſt degree of his being, which is the foundation laid by God to mans exerciſe of a bodily and ſpiritual life and operation, incident and eſſential to him as a man, whether he become a veſſel of honour or diſhonour: So that in this ſtate of a created ſpirit, man had a being in his head before he was brought forth in the exerciſe either of his ſenſual or rational life: and is rather comprehended in his head, then actually and perfectly apprehending or enjoying: in reſpect of which firſt ſtate and inviſibility of being, he is a dark ſhadow of the witneſs of the Father.
Secondly, man is to be conſidered in his bodily frame, as he is made, of the duſt of the ground, and had the breath of life breathed into him by God, through which he became a living ſoul.
This breathing of the breath of life by God into mans noſtrils, doth declare firſt, Gods bringing the ſoul of man into the actual being and exerciſe of its ſenſual life (which till then lay hid in mans ſpirit) by the means whereof he is furniſhed with a capacity of receiving and taking in, by the organs of ſenſe, the knowledge of things proper to him as a man: which though it be his weaker and inferiour part, yet is firſt in motion, in order to yield its ſervice and ſubjection to the rational and ſuperiour part.
This life, which the ſoul leads and manages by actuating and informing the ſenſes, & ſerving herſelf of them, is that whereby the report of things from without is let in upon mans reaſon, which is for the moſt part ſo prevalent, as if the ſoul were abſolutely and intirely dependent upon and neceſſitated unto the uſe of the ſenſes, in reſpect whereof ſome have thought very groundleſly, that it hath either ſlept or ceaſed to be, upon the laying down of the body. By this firſt exerciſe of a living ſoul in man, is figured out the witneſs of the Son.
Thirdly, the ſpirit of man is the foundation and ſpring unto a rational, ſpiritual, or intellectual exerciſe of life, wherein he is capable of aſſociating with Angels, and becoming their equal, even in his natural capacity of a man: which alſo was actually ſet up in Adam by that act of Gods breathing into him the breath of life, and was as the ſuperiour, ruling part in man, obtaining the place of Lord, Ruler, and Husband unto his firſt, inferiour, and ſenſual part, which in its actings was to be dependent upon and ſubſervient unto this, in all uſefulneſs and harmony. Thus in a myſtical ſenſe man was made Male and Female in the ſame perſon, through the ſetting up this two-fold exerciſe of life and operation of ſoul in him, ſenſual and rational.
This ſecond ſort of operation is mans higher and nobler part, and ſhews moſt the man in it; the other diſtinguiſhes the man very little from the beaſt, but that the countenance of man looks upward, and the face of the beaſt downward. The exerciſe of life in this higher and more raiſed part of man, Adam obtained at firſt in perfection, and had it in its compleat ſtature, ſo far as it was capable, during its aſſociation with its mortal body, and while it was on this ſide the ſtate of being made perfect in ſpirit, and equal to Angels, Luke 20. 36. by laying down the body in the grave; either to good Angels, when they become the ſpirits of juſt men made perfect; or to evil Angels, when they are the ſpirits of wicked men, grown up to the height of their natural ſtature in ſpirit; and by vertue of that perfect exerciſe of the rational and intellectual part which Adam had in the body, he had a capacity to take in the knowledge and diſcerning of things immediatly from the inward viſion repreſented to him by the miniſtry of Angels; he had alſo an intuitive proſpect into the nature of all viſible and bodily things in their cauſes, without being beholding to the report given by his ſenſes; and as a fruit hereof, we do find Gen. 2. 19, 20. That Adam gave names to every living creature according to their nature, by vertue of this his intuitive knowledge which he exerciſed in a way independent upon his ſenſual part, the property of this his ſpiritual and rational part being to act, as in the body, or as out of the body, that is to ſay, to ſerve it ſelf of the uſe of its bodily ſenſes, or not, according as they conduce to the furthering and bettering him, in his true and right diſcerning of things; man then hath a perfect, compleat, intellectual and rational life ſpringing up in him, which is ſo far from being leſſened or interrupted by death, and the laying down of the uſe of his bodily life for a time, that it never comes to its full and mature perfection until then, and as a conſequence hereof, the body be re-aſſumed incorruptible. In this property and operation of humane life, man bears the figure and image of the witneſs of the Holy Ghoſt.
Thus we have deſcribed what man is, in his eſſential parts and operations, in order to fit him for that communion and converſe with God, deſigned unto him by the two Covenants; unto the firſt of which he was actually and perfectly qualified, as he became a living ſoul, and did bear the image of God, in and upon his natural man, as the firſt Adam, being of the earth, earthy. But unto the other, man by his creation was no otherwiſe qualified and prepared, then as he was ſet up in ſuch a being as was capable, by a farther workmanſhip of God to arrive unto and attain the glory and everlaſting perfection of the new and ſecond covenant: without which, all that was done unto him yet, by what he had received from God in his creation, if left to his own freewill, would but redound to his greater miſery, and more righteous condemnation, before the judgement ſeat of Chriſt, through his own default.
This finiſhing and compleating work of God upon man was reſerved to be Miniſtred to him on the ſeventh day, whereby a far higher and more exalted capacity of mind and operation was to be added to him for the enabling him unto an everlaſting happy and compleat communion with God. This is that which in his firſt ſtate was wanting, and could not be obtained by him but as the free gift of God, then propounded to him in the tree of life.
This ſecond and laſt ſtate of perfection held forth unto man from the beginning, in the tree of life, in the midſt of the Paradiſe of God, is deſcribed by the Apoſtle Paul. 1 Cor. 15. 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49. where he ſets it up in contra-diſtinction to the firſt and earthly make of man by his creation (ſhewing it to be that life and immortality which is brought to light in Chriſt as the laſt Adam, the Lord from heaven and quickning ſpirit) calling it the ſpiritual body (as that in which the power of this endleſs life was comprehended) comparatively with the natural body, wherein the perfection of Adams mutable and corruptible life conſiſted, ſaying plainly, that there is this ſpiritual body and heavenly image in the laſt Adam, as well as that natural body and earthly image in the firſt: howbeit that is not firſt which is ſpiritual but that which is natural, and afterwards that which is ſpiritual: the firſt being the life of perfection that was found in the earthly Adam: the other being that which was brought to light in the heavenly by his reſurrection from the dead: and therefore as is the earthly, ſuch are they that are earthly; and as is the heavenly, ſuch are they alſo that are heavenly. And in reference unto ſuch as are the right heirs of ſalvation, it is ſaid, as they have born the image of the earthly, ſo ſhall they alſo bear the image of the heavenly, and have their natural or vile bodies changed and faſhioned like unto his glorious body, by him who through his mighty power is able to ſubdue all things uno himſelf.
And if we deſire to be ſatisfied how this change and tranſlation out of the one perfection and image into the other is to be effected; he poſitively aſſerts, that it is brought upon man as the fruit of Chriſts reſurrection, or Miniſtry of Gods ſecond appearance, by and in him, which rends the firſt veil, and brings down the firſt Tabernacle of the natural body into the grave with Chriſt, whence it ſprings up clothed upon with this houſe from heaven, its ſpiritual body, by means whereof, this corruptible puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on immortality, and death and the grave are ſwallowed up in victory.
This change and tranſlation was (as we have ſaid) propounded unto Adam as the end of his creation, and was figured out to him in the tree of life; and by the twofold exerciſe of life and ability of mind, ſet up in their perfection in in him by creation, he was indued with a power improveable in the uſe of the means God afforded him, to be at leaſt in a tendency unto ſo glorious an end, and diſpoſed in ſuch a poſture and frame of ſpirit as God required in him by the firſt covenant, in order to this farther work which on the ſeventh day God would make known and impart to him.
What God herein required from man, was ſignified unto him by the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and the prohibition accompanying the ſame, which was, not to eat of the fruit of that tree.
In this tree of knowledge of good and evil man had the ſight of himſelf in the exerciſe of his natural life and operations appertaining unto him as he became a living ſoul; in the well or evi uſe whereof he might arrive unto the experience of the ſupream good held forth to him as the end of his creation, the endleſs life that was to follow; or elſe he might come by the forfeiture of the preſent good he enjoyed, to know the evil of a much worſe condition then at firſt he had: for the avoiding of which, and to continue in a poſture meet to receive the other, God required him in the ſtate of innocency to abide in a waiting frame of ſpirit, as a ſojourner and ſtranger in the midſt of his preſent enjoyments in the earthly Paradiſe, that ſo through his patient forbearance from taking up his Reſt, or terminating his delight in ſeen things, he might preſerve in himſelf an unengaged, unprejudiced ſpirit to what was yet behind of the counſel of God to be communicated to him, as to a more excellent attainment and inheritance to be exhibited to him in the light of the approaching day of the Lord, the beamings forth whereof, as conſidered in type, were already preſent.