Morning journal and courier., 1892-12-26
AT CENTER CHURCH.

u1an H Oh E10AVoHs'
At Center church yesterday forenoon
Rev. DR.. Smythe preached before large
fine discourse. 1t was
based on the words in I. Corinthians,
15:47: 'sThe first man is of the earth,
earthly; the second man Is of heaven" DR.. |
Smythe said:
We know almost nothing concerning the |
first man; he built for himself no historic
monument; his irstborn son carved for
him no enduring epitaph. That the earth
had waited long for his coming we have
reason to suppose; that ages which we can
not number were spent in fitting q world
for the dwelling place of an organism like
mans body, and we know not what ages
also in fitting that body to become the or
gan of living soul-this is the accepted
scientific theory of the prehistoric begin
nings Of our human life. If we turn to
the Hebrew scriptures We find but little to
on the earth. Two slightly varying &C.
counts of our human origins have been in
terwoven In the earlier chapters of the
book of Genesis; but after those chapters
Adam is hardly mentioned in the whole
Old Testament. The prophets knew
Moses and the exodus, but they
have nothing to say concerning
Adam and the fall. And even in the
book of Job, where one of the profoundest
thinkers of antiquity seeks to fathom the
depths of the mystery of suffering, the
name of Adam, with possibly one exoep-
ton, does not occur, and no mention is
made of the dark entail of original sin.
From the book of Genesis we may learn
that the first man was of the earth, and
yet that the touch of God awakened him
to self consciousness; that man came into
being, breathing thoughtful breath, not be-
| fore his time and season, but when through
previous days of preparation all things had
been made ready for him; that he was ig-
| norant as child, having vocabulary long
enough, however, to give names to other
living creatures. possessed thus Of the rud-
iments at least of the divine art of creative
speech; that he was morally weak, yielding
to the first temptation addressed to mis-
senses and his childlike inquisitiveness. In
the apochryphal Hebrew literature Adam
is more frequent figure than in the
| canonical scriptures In the new tesla
ment, an apostle who looked backwards
through the Jewish dispensation and up.
wards through the Christian consumma
ton, draws a brief but vivid contrast be-
tween the first and ths second man. More
over, while Matthew WAS content to begir
| his book of the generation of Jesus with
the historic name of Abraham, Luke traces
| Jesus descent back to Adam, who was the
| son of God. From these illusions to the
frat man in the new testament we may
learn these two characteristics of his
nature: He was earth born, and he wa
also born of God.
His origin was from earth, and Of earthly
elements man is Constituted. This CORES
ponds to our knowledge of our nature
We can trace our descent through lines O.
physical SUGGESTIONS down to the humbles
beginnings. The formation of the human
body repeats the history of the, ascent O.
animal life from the simplest organism
We bear about with US daily in this bod,
of death the remainders of organs which
once in lower forms may have had thei
functions, but which seem useless or wors
than useless to US. The first man is of tn
earth earthly; in this brief description o
man we have apostolic warrant for what
ever our Darwinian science may prove t.
have been earthly in the descent of man.
To this description of the first man tn
scripture adds, however, another constii
uent element. Man became Twin
l
Genesis. "The first man ADAM" til
apostle repeats, ''bscsms living soul.
And when the evangelist traced the genoa
ogy of the Christ he went back to Abraham
to Enoch, to Adam, but he did not sto
there; the roll of Jesus descent was nc
ended with the name of the first man {
the earth earthly; the sacred historic
finished the book of the genealogy of til
!, Christ when after the name Adam /
wrote, (Which was the son of God.
Accept that account of Adam; bslieve thu
the first man was more than animate
dust, that he is the son of God, and
), | creed of mans spiritual nature and destin,
And We must date the beginning of man
! life on earth from God, if we would not
left without explanation of his who
, subsequent record of himself as sp!ritu
l being. That man at the beginning of a
y his earthly geneslogy is the son of CO.
even as we read in Luke's book of Il
generation of the Christ, is the trut
which is affirmed by the positive energi
of our own self-conEciousness. Our ov
thought were a causeless mystery did y
+ not think of God at the beginning of GU
|. selves.
. Let us take now the next step in Il
course of thought which I would follow
u this Christmas sermon.
The first man, being thus Of the ear
Il earthly, yet the son of God, began upknop
4 ages ago his mental and moral housekee
q ing on this earth which had been fitted I
4 for his hcme. He has proved but pc
4 tenant. If we look for mans best wo
d before Christ we find it in one chosen lin
"a Proceeding DR. Smyth said in substanc
70 In the history of man at his moral 81
religious best, before the coming of Il
| oannn6 W. cyraaf ATTAIN &C m q
to accomplish something worthy of
divine birthright bup we find that bo
those attempts ended in apparent failur
The first Of these moral endeavors W
made in the Mosaic state, Moses sought
9 bring righteous nation to the promise
1t land. The second great moral was
l. augurated by Ezra. 1t has been apt
&c characterized as the effort to build no
church upon q sacred book. But fe
d centuries later the failure of this sscor
d endeavor also became pronounced Jut
10 asm seemed to be the end of mans me
=. religious endeavor. All conceivable, NOR
experiments seem to have been tri
u among the other nations aud by the ele
le people; and as result of them all the fir
T. man was an evident failure OF the cart
- If nothing else, and diviuer had happer
at the close of the frat course of history
.. the first man; if no creative impul
l. had descended and no beginning be
It made of some greater era of redemptio
;, then the whole past of the worlds create
II and the eudeavor of mans spirit won
.. have proved but movement without all
,s a development without law, a history wit
!. out order.
But history was a preparation for t
- coming of the man. Gods purpose ire
l. Creations beginning shall not fail. T
=. end of the frst nation was not a wor
'e made beautiful, but without man having
q living soul. This end of the second peri
y of life on the earth Is not man with a Ii
soul; the creations crown and history
r contamination is the second man frc
ID heaven For the ideal man has been he
u with Us men. The second man fro
n heaven did come. How do you know tbs
10 Because chosen witnesses have testif
le of him! Yes, and more than that. Y
le know that Christ, the ideal man, has lv
q, upon this earth, and still his spirit ia t
Q. ife-giving energy of the new and bett
D. Christian wo1ld-age.
N When St. Paul wrote these words, t
D. first man ia of earth, earthly, the secol
+ man is of heaven, he was writing of t1
IL things which he knew to bs facts; he b.
81 learned msn's eartbiness a thousal
y; times by looking upon death; and he h
10 learned mans heavenliness at least on
q. for all by beholding the glory of the Lo
Oh Jesus Christ. How did this second M
come from heavens How was the Chri
born? do not know. Neither do knc
N by what power of the Holy CHIC
the first man was made livi
u soul. We know little of dtvi
4 origins except in their effects. We
10r