Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-01-11
Residence, Relations Responsibilities .

Man, the crown of creation. was not
complete. for his powers required A
physical. moral and social developrlen.
through the long course OF experience
Although he was formed of 1.-THE be-
stuff of the universe as the chemist an
the astronomer have established fro:h
their investigations of the clements l.
the spectroscope of the heavens and IL
chemical analysis of the human boo
God placed man ia the garden so that IA
powers could be unfolded and increased
by service. The cultivation of Eden, tlt.
exact location of which is unknown, cal
ed for the discovery and development OF
the garden so that man might be built
up by toll, that has always proved a
blessing to men. All the fruits of the
garden We're offered him except from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evl.
which was withheld because if freely
given Ii would have signifed that mans
moral development is an external gift.
although ii cannot be received without
an inward trial. Mans moral Develop
ment can only be secured by a service of
loving obedience. The prohibition made
obedience a thing of the will as a means
of education of conscience and the de-
velopment of character. The opportunity
to become through abiding fellowship
with God the pOsseSSor of eternal life
was offered man if he would reach ma
turty as willing and obedient child Of
God. There was also the awful possibility
of dying spiritually as a result of dis
obedience. Man was held responsible for
the use he made of his opportunities. The
fruits Of the two trees symbolized the
results of obedience and disobedience OF
God. 1t is still true that the soul that
sinneth. fails to reach the mark, il shall
die. Our responsibilities are determined
by our relations
Man is a social being and he cannot
live alone. In the second record of crea-
ton, evidently, the historian intended
that We should see man I'm his environ
ment. just as I'm last weeks lesson we
saw how he presented i'm the record OF
the creation the origin of the whole world
OF nature. known to man. In the MARIA
tive, that is the subject of our study. We
see how God by an exhaustive process
sought to provide for the social develop
ment of men. Although there was a
similarity of structure and unity of
design, man, who had been created in the
image and likeness of God, could not find
any satisfactory social life among the
animals that We're brought before him
for his inspection and opinion.
Moses gives US suggestive statement
in the record of mans creation which
would imply that while he was one be-
ing, he was in a sense a dual being when
he says: God created He him; male and
female created He them" Here. as Mac
laren points out neither Is the woman
without the man nor the man without
the woman. Each is named apart from
the other. Both stand side by side on one
level before God. The germ of the most
advanced doctrine of the sexes is hidden
here" The process by which the female
man was separated from the side of the
male man tstill being carried on in the
lower forms of life where a small part
OF the parent protrudes bud and
develops into a new organisrn). and Is
placed beside him as a helpmeet. gives
us some striking social lessons. Man II
not complete until W is united with a
woman by the bonds of holy wedlock.
Marriage, an indissoluble union between
one man and one woman, was ordained
for the purpose of peopling the earth.
Our greatest responsibility grows out
of our relations with God our Creator.
He is presented to us in this lesson un-
der the name of Lord God. the transla-
ton of Jehovah Elohim. Elohim is the
generic title for God. and Jehovah was
the incommunicable name of the one liv-
ing and true God who entered into a
covenant with Israel. The use of the
two titles i'm this and next week s les
son was probably to show that the God
of Israel and the Creator We're one and
the same God The obligations of man
to God grow out of the fact that man
is the offspring of God. His heir. and
with us that if we will fulfill the obliga-
lions that grow out of our filial relation
ship God will become responsible for the
results of our life. we. too, are to he
tested by life OF obedience or disobe-
dience God created man i'm His own
image" and we. by a life of Cooperation
with Him, must seek to restore in man
the image that was lost, as We shall see
in our study next week.