in the power of those things to explain themselves may be seen in the case of many who, though surrounded with the various productions of his hand, and, after making them the subject of their study, have failed to connect them with a supreme intelligent First Cause. They have been charmed with the wonders they have beheld, but have lost sight of the Almighty Being to whom they were to be ascribed.

Now, of all the works which God performed when he created this world, there were none at once so great and glorious as man, whom he made in his own image; nor are there any relations so important as those in which he placed our first parents. In whatever light Adam is considered, he is a manifestation of the wisdom, power, and goodness of the Deity. Without the assistance of Inspired Truth, however, he would have been but very imperfectly understood, both in his nature and state, and the design for which he was created. Apart from this source of information, our attention at the best would have been in danger of being confined to him as he was in himself, and as connected with the time and circumstances in which he sprung into existence, and not so much in connection with any ulterior purpose; but here we are taught that in what God did, in creating Adam, and constituting him the head of the human race, he had some other end in view than simply to produce a creature differing from all others, or to appoint one to exercise authority over the rest of the works of his hands. This appears to have been nothing less than to give to the world a representation of the person and

character of his own equal Son, who was to make his appearance on the earth in the fulness of time.

That Adam was a type of Christ is too clear from the Scriptures to admit of doubt; but considerable difference of opinion has existed among commentators, and other writers, as to the extent to which he was designed to be considered in that character. So many are the points of resemblance between our great progenitor and the man Christ Jesus, that a parallel might be carried to considerable length: hence, those who have been guided in their illustrations by likeness more than a strict regard to a scriptural authority have dwelt largely upon them. Thus M'Ewen treats of him as the first Man-the first Father-the first Lord-the first Husband-and the first Covenant-head.* Dr. Hunter considers that Adam prefigured Christ in the constitution of his nature; and says, "In Adam an immaterial immortal spirit was united to a material earthly body, to constitute one perfect living man; in Christ the human nature was united to the divine, to constitute one perfect life-giving Saviour." He also compares them as to the temptations to which each was subject. Mather goes still further, and says, that as he was a type himself, so he had several types belonging to him.‡

It is true that Adam, like Christ, was in a particular sense the son of God; for while the manner in which the former was produced was * Grace and Truth, p. 2.

+ Hunter's Sacred Biog., vol. i., p. 19.

Figures or Types of the Old Testament, p. 65, 66.

peculiar and unexampled, so the conception and birth of the latter was a new thing in the earth. That many useful lessons may be learnt from thus comparing the two, will not be denied; but perhaps it may be fairly questioned if anything of the kind was ever intended by the Holy Ghost.

It would appear, by a careful attention to the subject, that the very utmost that can be claimed for Adam, upon the authority of Scripture, as a type of Christ, is a prefiguration of him in three respects. First, in regard to the dominion he possessed; secondly, in his matrimonial alliance with Eve; and, thirdly, in being the covenant-head and representative of the

human race.

Adam prefigured Christ,

I. In the dominion he possessed.

Thus we read, that when God created man he blessed him, and said unto him, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."* Jehovah being the supreme Ruler, and governing all worlds with absolute sway, intended that the creature he had formed in his own image should be a ruler too; that the lion and the tiger should crouch, and lick his feet, in token of submission; that the hawk and the vulture should come and hover with their wings like the gentle and innocent dove, all ready to bow to their masterall having received their names from him-and all ready to come when he called them by those

* Gen. i. 28.

names,-every one acknowledging that God had placed the man as lord over this lower world.

The terms of the grant first made to Adam are quoted by David in the eighth Psalm: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him. For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion. over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas."

That the words of the Psalmist had a primary reference to the dominion first given to Adam, and in him to all the human race, appear from the word "man," which is there employed in the original, being one that literally signifies sinful wretched man. It is the same that is used to designate the fallen human race in general, and such a one as could not with any propriety be applied directly to Christ, who was without sin, and had never partaken of the depraved properties of our nature. It also and especially appears from the fact, that the comparison which is here made between man and the heavens would not hold good in any other For though our Lord in his manhood was ow and humble, yet even in that state he was more to God his heavenly Father than the whole of his works besides. In the production of his mysterious person he outdid all the other wonders of his power and wisdom; so that, instead of being struck with the meanness of man, when

case.

considering the heavens the work of God's fingers, the moon and the stars which he ordained, had the reference been only to the Messiah in the first instance, the writer would have been disposed rather to say, "What are these in comparison to man-that Son of man, whom thou hast made strong for thyself?"

The words of David, however, are quoted at large by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, in such a way as to show that the ultimate reference of them was to Christ. After repeating the expressions of the Psalmist, he adds: "For in that he put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

"By many interpreters," says Dr. Smith, "this whole psalm is considered as a direct prophecy, descriptive of the humiliation and dominion of the Messiah; and they have supported their opinion with ho contemptible reasons. (See J. H. Michaelis in loco.) Not, however, being fully convinced of this, and wishing always to incline to the side of caution, I do not adduce it under this view. As cited in the Epistle to the Hebrews, (Heb. ii. 6—10,) it appears to me to convey this sentiment, that the honours here declared to have been conferred upon the human race by the Creator, had never, either generally or in a single instance, been

Heb. ii. 8, 9.

H