Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1894-01-06
j. II. MILLER & SONS.
Near B. & O Freight Depot
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON |, FIRST QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JAN. 7.

Text of the Lesson. Gen. 1. 1851; ii, I-3.
Memory Verses, 26-2s-Golden Text,
Gen. 1. 2.-Commentary by the Rev. ID.
NJ. Stearns.
%. And God said, Let Us make man in
Our image, after Our likeness, and let them
have dominion" At some time in the past,
known only to God, called in the first verse
1.-THE beginning" God created the heaven
and the earth-that is, He spake them into
existence-as is proved by Ps. xxxiii, G.
Heb. ri, g. He must have everything good,
for He always does. That He did not create
the earth without form and void is stated
in lisa. xiv, 49, Compare the r. V. What
happened between verses l and 2 to bring
about this chaos we shall know some day
About 5000 years ago God brought order
and beauty and fruitfulness out of the
chaos and confusion into the space of six
days, as is here described. See also Ex. Xxx, II.
And now on the sixth day He makes man
to have dominion over all. How He made
man and woman is more fully stated in
chapter ii, :, 2l-25. and that he called thcif
name Adam is stated in chapter V, 3 The
words Let Us" imply the Trinity. which
fact is also clear to Il simple minded He
brew scholar in the word for God
81. $50 God created man in His own i'm.
age; in the image of God created He him
male and female created He them" Then
this man and woman must have been the
finest pair that ever walked the earth
Whatever else is implied in this image OF
God, it is evident from Eph. iv, "a, that
righteousness and holiness of truth are in.
cluded. How much more we shall know
when in that bright morning of the resur.
rection we shall have been made like Him
who is the brightness of the Fathers glory
and the express image of His person q John
iii, 2; Heb i, 81.
2S. And God blessed them. and God said
unto to Them, Be fruitful and multiply,
and replenish the earth and subdue it, and
have dominion" The blessing of the Lord
it maketh rich, and toll addeth nothing
thereto prov. X, %, r. w When in the
sixth year God commanded His blessing on
Israel there was as much produced in one
year as ordinarily in three years Q4ev. XIV,
2D. When Jesus blessed the lads loaves
and fishes, they fed many thousands. He
says, Herein is My Father gloriied that
ye bear much fruit; SO shall ye be My dis
ciples' John XIV, S. The time is coming
when the last Adam will subdue all things
unto Himself, for He is able But now He
is gathering out and training the subduers,
who shall in that day have dominion with
Him. find it helpful to pray, Lord, in.
asmuch as Thou art able to subdue all
things unto Thyself phil. iii. 2l), subdue
me wholly to Thyself now"
%. And God said, Behold, | have given
you every herb bearing seed which is upon
the face of all the earth and every tree in
the which is the fruit of "a tree yielding
seed; to you it shall be for meat" God
would have His children at perfect rest
concerning food and raiment As to cloth.
ing such as we wear, they had none iii, 25),
but inasmuch as all other creatures had
clothing which was a part of themselves,
doubtless Adam and Eve, made in the i'm
age OF God, were, like God, clothed with
light (Ps. civ, l, q. And now here is full
provision for their bodies as to food We
have no record of flesh being eaten till after
the deluge chapter tx, 81, though we do not
say that it was not eaten. But He who fed
sinful Israel for 40 years in the wilderness
will always provide for Ills own.
80. And TO every beast of the earth, and
that creepeth upon the earth wherein there
is life, have given every green herb for
meat-and it was So" Not only man, but
beast, is provided for. These wait all upon
Thee that Thou mayst give them thei-
meat in due season Ops. civ, 81 Behold
the fowls of the air, your Heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are not five sparrows sold
for two farthings, and not one of them is
forgotten before God (AIath. vi, 26; Luke
xii, g.? Observe the phrase II have given"
and think of Rom. viii, g. He who spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him UT
for US all, how shall He not with Him
also freely give us all thingss
81. And God saw everything that He
had made, and, behold, it was very good
And the evening and the morning were the
sixth day" This is the seventh time that it
is written, God saw that it was good.
God is love, and He cannot do or make
that which is not in His sight good. He is
good, and His mercy endureth forever Ops.
cxxxvi. y. He is round about us as wall OF
fire and will not possibly permit aught that
is not good to come to u.s. 30 we can surely
bless the Lord at all times (Zech. ii, 5. Ps.
xxxiv, y. In all the days it is first evening,
followed by night and then morning. So
now it is the worlds night, but the night
is far spent, and the day is at hand. The
morning cometh from. xiii, IL; Isa. xxi, l2(.
l. Thus the heavens and the earth were
finished and all the host of them" THUS"
Howl Why, by the word of His mouth
Cps. xxxiii, 81. In chapter it is written 10
times, And God said" Now, since He
thus created all things, what is there He
cannot do7 All, Lord God, behold, Thou
hast created the heavens and the earth by
Thy great power and stretched out arm,
and there is nothing too hard for Thee" (Jer
xxi, ~. II Christians, how thankful we
should be that God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined
in our hearts to give the light of the knowl
edge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus
Christ III Cor, ", g. On 1.-THE hos. OF
them" see Deut. iv, 10; Ex. xii, Il; Ps. CHI,
81; Sam. i, 8.
2. And on the seventh day God ended
His work which He had made, and He rest
ed on the seventh day from all His work
which he had made" The words finished"
and ended" are suggestive Of some other
works in due time finished or to be finished,
as the tabernacle, the temple, the work OF
atonement and the redemption of the world
lex. xi, %; II Chron. vii, II; John Xxx, 80;
Rev. xxi 5. d. God rested" cannot imply
WEAKNESS, for He fainteth not, neither is
weary Qsa- xl, 2s). But He ceased as the
mamma ceased or work might cease
Joshua v, u; Neh. vi, 81. And if we would
enter into His rest we must cease from our
own works as God did from His Heb iy, 10.
8. And God blessed the seventh day
and sanctified it, because that in it He had
rested from all His work which God created
and made" II we would know His rest,
we must reverence His Sabbaths DISC
bedience here gave Israel 20 years captiyi-
ty QI Chron. xxxvi, 2i) Obedience in this
particular will bring the richest blessings
lisa. lviii, Is, Il; wi. 40 We have come
through nearly GOO years since God ere
Ated Adam. 1t would not be strange il the
seventh Thousand should prove to be earth's
Sabbath day, the thousand years of Re7.
xx-the millennium Let US cease from all
our own works both as to salvation and
service, and resting in His work let Him
work In rs phil IL lSl