but when raised in its glorified state, it shall be no more subject to change, decay, disease, or death. It is produced in a dishonourable condition, suffering the effects of the fall, and despoiled of its original dignity, and must submit to the stroke of death, as a condemned criminal. It shall be raised in a glorious form, resembling the body of the heavenly Saviour on the holy mount, when his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. In it present state, it is liable to a thousand pains and infirmities, which unfit it for the service of God, and disturb the soul in its spiritual exercises, till it gradually sinks, under its own weakness (arF), and is laid in its lowly bed: but it shall be raised in a vigorous and active condition („ duvaμu), as a suitable companion to the glorified spirit, capable of sustaining the exceeding great and eternal weight of glory, and fitted to serve God, without weariness, day and night in his temple. The brightness of the heavenly Majesty shall no longer overpower its faculties or dazzle its sight. In fine, it is now a mere animal body, formed out of the dust, which requires to be sustained with food, refreshed with sleep, and braced with exercise, which has many appetites and instincts common to it with the inferior creatures; but then it shall no more require to be gratified with the objects of sense, or sustained with the meat that perisheth. It shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more. It shall be purified from all the grosser ingredients which are inseparable from its present condition; and though it must ever be essentially distinct from the soul, it shall be so moulded and refined that it may be considered rather as a spiritual, than a material or earthly body. There is an obvious difference between these; but what is the precise distinction, it is impossible now to determine. Thus we are taught that the happiness of heaven is of a very different nature from the sensual delights of a Mohammedan paradise. The indulgence of the animal appetites forms the chief attraction of the latter: In the former they are entirely done away, and are succeeded by pleasures that are pure, spiritual, and sublime. In the descriptions that are given in Scripture of the glory of the heavenly state, the conceptions are at once chaste and magnificent. There is no room for the indulgence of a wanton imagination. Every idea is removed that would excite unholy desires, and every circumstance is so arranged, as to impress the mind with the unspotted purity of Him who dwells in that high and holy place. In this way, the religion of Christ is distinguished not only from the Arabian imposture, but from all false systems whatever; and so true it is, that none but the pure in heart shall see God. The change which shall take place on the resurrection body, obviates the objection of those, who consider the body as the prison of the soul; for according to the view here given, instead of being a hindrance to the spirit, it will increase its sphere of enjoyment. REFLECTIONS. 1. Let us never forget the injurious effects of evil communica tions. If we wish to preserve a pure conscience, and a peaceful mind, let us avoid the society of the wicked. Let us beware of their specious cavils against the truth. Let us cease to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge, and let us choose our companions from those who fear God and keep his way. 2. Let us often contemplate the wonders of creation, which are admirably fitted to enlarge our conceptions of the infinite wisdom and power of God. When we survey the immensity of his em pire, and the infinite variety of his works, we shall not be disposed to limit Omnipotence, or think it incredible that God should raise the dead. (See on this subject an excellent treatise by Mr Dick of Perth, entitled the Christian Philosopher.) Let us not be solicitous for the continuance of the life that now is. Let us not sink under the pains and infirmities of the body. Soon will the conflict be over, and the victory secured. Our present corruption, dishonour, and weakness, shall be exchanged for immortality, glory, and power. May we rest and stand in our lot at the end of the days! (Dan. xii. 13.). SECTION FIFTH-VERSES 45-58. CONCLUSION OF THE ARGUMENT. THE Apostle had spoken of the change that is to be effected on the bodies of the saints, which shall be raised in a glorified state, free from corruption, dishonour, and weakness, and clothed with incorruption, glory and power. They shall no longer possess the infirmities and appetites of mere animal existence, but shall exhibit the beauty and vigour of spiritual life. He now con trasts the body which we derive from the first Adam, with that which the saints shall receive, by their connection with his great antitype, the Lord Jesus Christ. But first, he describes the different constitution of their persons. Referring to Gen. ii. 7. he observes, ver. 45. "Thus also it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul (us Yox (wo); the last Adam, a quickening or life-giving Spirit (noma (wow)." In the passage referred to, we are told, that “the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul,”; the last clause is rendered by the LXX, nearly in the words used by the Apostle, και εγενετο ὁ ἄνθρωπος εις ψύχην ζωσαν. The same sentiment is expressed, Job xxxiii. 4. "The Spirit of the Lord hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life." Adam was thus possessed of an immortal soul, united to a material body formed out of the dust, and sustained by the fruits of the ground, adapted to the condition in which he was placed in this world, and deriving many of his pleasures, as well as much of his knowledge, through the medium of the senses. This natural or animal life is communicated to all his posterity who are formed and upheld by the power of Him "in whom we live and move and have our being." Very different is the constitution of the person of Christ. He is called the last or second Adam, as being the Head and representative of all his spiritual offspring the restorer, and the first-born, of the heavenly family: "He is a life-giving Spirit." So he says of himself: "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so the Son quickeneth whom he will;" and "as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself," (John v. 21, 26.) He raises the souls of believers from the death of sin, to a life of righteousness-sets them free from condemnation-maintains, by his Spirit, the principle of a new life in their souls, and shall at last raise their bodies from the dust of the grave, to inherit eternal blessedness, (John xi. 25, 26.) The first Adam was endued with natural life, but he could not communicate either spiritual or eternal life to others. The second Adam Having died for sin once, death is the resurrection and the life. has no more dominion over him. has the keys of hell and death, (Rev. i. 18.) The English version supplies the words, was made, which are not in the original; yet the sense of them seems to be implied in the connecting particle, εις. The truth is, the Apostle is not speaking of our Lord's essential deity, but of his mediatorial glory, as in John i. 14., " And the Word was made (syro, became) flesh, and dwelt among us." But there is a regular order observed in all the works of God, according to which, things gradually arrive at perfection. 46. "But not that which was spiritual was first, but that which is natural (vxor), afterwards that which is spiritual." The natural or animal life was communicated first, as being the less perfect and less honourable condition. From this, believers are gradually advanced to their high destiny, as heirs of eternal life. From Adam, they, in common with other men, derive their natural existence, and even this is reduced by sin to a frail and perishing state. But they are born again by the Holy Spirit; they are gradually transformed into the divine likeness, and they shall finally attain to the consummation of bliss, when their bodies are raised spiritual and immortal at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, in the natural world, every thing advances by slow degrees towards perfection. At the creation, the earth was first formed, then the trees and herbs, afterwards the various tribes of animals, the fowls of the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth; last of all, when the habitation was prepared and furnished, man was created, the most noble and excellent of the creatures, for whose use the inferior animals were made. So the solar light gradually advances from the faint glimmering of dawn to the full blaze of meridian day; the fruits of the earth produce small seeds, from which evolves the future plant; man and other creatures, by slow degrees arrive at maturity; and, in the same manner, the christian advances from the state of a babe in Christ to the full stature of the sons of God On this subject, Bishop Butler observes: "Men are impatient and for precipitating things; but the Author of nature appears deliberate throughout his operations, accomplishing his natural ends by slow successive steps. And there is a plan of things beforehand laid out, which, from the nature of it, requires various systems of means, as well as length of time, in order to the carrying of its several parts into execution," (Analogy, part 2. c. 4. p. 241.) The first Adam had his origin from the dust; so that notwithstanding the symmetry and beauty of his outward form, he still inhabited a house of clay; he was doomed by the fall to return to the dust, whence he had been aken, and the views and desires of his posterity are in a great measure bounded by this world. 47. "The first man is from the earth, of dust (ex yng, xoixos); the second man is the Lord from heaven:" Though He was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he descended from abo e, forsook his throne of glory, and vailed his divine majesty in a human body. Still, however, he was, as his name Emmanuel imports, God in our nature: when he left th world, he scended up where he was before; and he shall again descend from heaven to complete the salvation of his redeemed people. How clearly is the doctrine of the two-fold nature of Christ asserted in this passage! So he told his disciples, "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again I leave the orld and go to the Father," (John xvi. 28.) Dr Macknight s pposes that this last clause is elliptical, and hus ren ers it: "The second man, the Lord from heaven, is heavenly." This indeed completes the contrast, and agrees with what is said in the next verse; still the abruptness of the present form is very emphatic. The same critic is of opinion, that, in the 48th verse, the Apostle describes the specific difference between the resurrection bodies o the righteous and the wicked; the one shall be raised earthly as before, the other heavenly; he accordingly gives the expression a future sense," as the earthy, such also the earthy, shall e," &c. ; but this interpretation disturbs the continuity of the argument, and introduces a speculation more curious than useful. It is not to be supposed, that the bodies of the wicked shall have the same qualities, when raised from the grave, with those of the righteo is; but on this subject scripture is silent. It seems rather the design of the sacred writer to contrast the nature we inherit from our first parent, with that which christians shall derive from the heavenly Adam. "As is the earthly (xozo;) such are they also who are earthly; and as is the heavenly, such are they also who are heavenly." The nature we derive from the earthly Adam must necessarily resemble his own: Accordingly, it is said of Seth, Adam begat a son in his own likeness," (Gen. v. 3.): Thus |
