to stand or fall in him. In proof of this we may observe that,
1. In this prohibition are contained all the consti- tuent parts of a covenant —
[Here are the parties ; God on the one side; and Adam, for himself and all his posterity, on the other. Here are the terms expressly declared: there was a condition prescribed, namely, that Adam should obey the divine mandate ; on his performance of which condition, he had a promise of life ; but on his neglecting to perform it, a threatening of death. Lastly, there was also a seal annexed to the covenant : as the rainbow was a seal of the covenant made with Noah ; and circumcision and baptism were the seals of the Abrahamic and Christian covenants; so " the tree of life" was a seal of the covenant made with Adam g ; it was a pledge to Adam, that, on his fulfilling the conditions imposed upon him, he should participate the promised reward.]
2. The consequences flowing from the transgres- sion of it, prove it to have been a covenant —
[Death and condemnation were the immediate conse- quences of Adam's sin. Nor were these confined to the immediate transgressor ; they were entailed on his remotest posterity : by that one act of his all his children are consti- tuted sinners, and are consigned over to death and condemna- tion. Both scripture and experience attest this melancholy truth h. Now how can we account for so many millions of persons being involved in his punishment, if they were not in some way or other involved also in his guilt? Surely " the Judge of all the earth will do right ;" and therefore, when we behold punishment inflicted on so many beings, who were once formed after the divine image, we may be sure that in the sight of God they are considered as guilty ; and, as infants cannot have contracted guilt in their own persons, they must have derived it from Adam, by whom they were represented, and in whom they died.]
3. It is represented as exactly corresponding with the covenant which God made with Christ on our behalf —
[Nothing can be more laboured than the parallel which St. Paul draws between Adam and Christ in the passage we have just referred to. Not content with tracing all evil to
s Gen. ix. 8 — 17. Rom. iv. 11.
h How often is it repeated, that all these evils proceeded from the offence of one man ! See Rom. v. 12 — 19.