The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-01-23
TIE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON C~al.
MENTS FOR JANUARY Is BY
THE REV. 1. ". HENDERSON.

Noo' oChs 1s-OsS.O OOiu6u;
Text, Gen. 1927 - Memory
Verses, &c, 20. -. q
Having created, in order, the heav-
en- and the earth, light, Heaven,
Earth, vegetation, the sun, the moon,
the stars, the fish. the fowl, the tame
and the wild animals, God creates
man In His own image. after His
own likeness. And having created
man and woman God, blessing them
as creatures of His own heart, deliv-
ers unto them dominion over every
thing alive upon the earth.
The central point of this story is
that man was made in the likeness
OF God. To. him is given a similar
though not identical creative capac-
ity; to- him is given sight, hearing,
the sense Of sound, of taste, of touch.
To him God gave the power of
thought and the added power Of the
exercise Of a sovereign will. For
God says Thou shalt have domin-
1on." God, in man, creates a per.
'sonality like unto Himself. A per-
sonality not so full and not so inf
mite, but a personality essentially
the same as His own, God creates
mar as q ruler and in order to- rule
IN the likeness Of God it is evident
that man must partake in some
measure, at least, of the moral ca
pacities of God.
The second part Of the lesson
deals with the seventh day of crea-
ton, the day on which God finished
His work. This seventh day has
come down to us as the Sabbath, the
day OF rest. Here also we find in
simple language the record of great
economic, physical and 4 spiritual.
facts. If God had not rested, IL God
had not by example, If we may so
say. set. apart the seventh day as g.;
day of rest, we should nevertheless,
as human beings, require n day in
seven for cessation from economic
cares, for the, recuperation of, our
physical natures, for the culture and
the cultivation of our spiritual ca
pacittes. 1t is a well-known fact
thatyteo much attention to business
affairs dulls the fine edge of business
power. 1t is an equally well-known
fact that we must have at least one
days recreation and rest out of
every seven in order to the proper,
health of the functions of the human
body. It is a scientific physiological
fact that, each; day, a busy man or
woman uses up precisely one-seventh
more of vitality than Is stored up for
any one days use. And as a horse,
who is worked seven days a week
gets weary and worn out, so must we
or we shall also become weary, give
one-seventh of our time to rest, This
is the law. of God written lin the; life:
and the experience Of humanity.
And not less true is it that the pro-
per outstanding of our spiritual re-
sources demands the giving of,
an equal and regular portion
Of u time to God. The soul
of man needs refreshment and
IMMIGRATION as well as. his body q.
his mind. Especially is this so in the
case Of men who are, by virtue of
their callings in life, brought face
to face with the materialism and the
endless d~istracting influences Of our
generation. Such men need a rest
day, a~day Of recuperation; a day de-
voted to the Strengthening of the
whole man..
s The following notes on the various
verses in the lessonsmay be found to
be of value: { sk Z
VS.. 26. n"Us." God is understood
as being surrounded by the angelic
heavenly court, by cherubim and
etc. man." Heb. Adam, a
common noun. Image
LIKENESS" somewhat synonymous,
double statement of same fact; the
writer throws no immediate light
Upon what is the constituency of the
image Of God; he probably inferred
that without longer description his
readers would grasp his meaning.
VS.. H. Created" the third
greatest formation of God. He
created first the heaven and the
earth. and secondly the conscious
life. Man was the third and by a
cumulative process the greatest, sdt-
vine creation. Z - u IN
VS.. 20. Meat" in its earlier
meaning of food" AS it stands we
might be led to suppose that the
writer was announcing a vegetarian
diet as a divine decree. But however
much some of us might wish to have
it that way, and despite the undoubt-
ed good points of such a system Of
living, the writer hasn't this evident
ly' in mind. 1t is likely that in the
peaceful early days they did live on
the fruits of the earth, but the wri-
ter cannot be accused Of making &
pro vegetarian argument.
VS.. 80. "Beast-herb," universal
peace, it would seem, ruled then
among men and animals. Life" R.
v. Living SOUL" animal life COM
mon to all creatures, man included.
This Is not to be confused with the
spiritual life.
VS.. 81. The" in all except the
first and sixth days it is "a day"
This indicates the Importance Of the
first and sixth beyond the others.
VS.. 2, Chap. 2. ENDED" R. v
Finished" It seems likely that
English is unable to define just what
the writer means here. God finished
all His six days work with the imme-
diate beginning O! the seventh day,
and in a certain sense He may be
understood as having finished it on
the seventh day by His divine decree
concerning rest. If hallowins the
day is labor, then it seems that God
did not finish the work till the sew
enth day was started. But if We
consider work" in the common &C.
c~eptation of that term then Gods la
Dor must be considered to have
STONED with the last moment OF the