And they were both naked—and not ashamed— "Shame," says Mr. Locke, "is an uneasiness of the mind upon the thought of having done something which is indecent, or which will lessen the valued esteem which others have for us." It was impossible, therefore, that our first parents, in their state of perfection, could have known or felt any thing of the passion of shame. Like little children, unconscious of shame, their nakedness gave them no occasion of uneasiness. Mr. Saurin observes, that "if it be still hard for us to comprehend this circumstance of the sacred history, it is because the greatest part of our judgment is false and vitiated since the fall, and because we have equally lost the notions of true shame, and those of true honour."
GENERAL REFLECTIONS on Chap. I. and II.
Who can read this account of the creation of the world and of man, and not immediately perceive and gratefully acknowledge the high benefits derived from REVELATION? Without this divine indulgence we must for ever have remained in the dark respecting points of the deepest importance: ignorant alike of the TRUE GOD, of the original of the world, and ourselves. To feel this argument in its full force; contemplate only for a moment, what strange and confused apprehensions they had of these great points, who lived secluded from the light of that heavenly information which we enjoy, and which, would to God, we duly valued!
The only rational account of the creation is this which Moses gives; an account which leads us to the first Fair, first Powerful, and first Good; the Author of all order, excellence, and perfection! which necessarily infers, what infidels have been so prone to deny, revelation, or communication from the Deity: without which, in various instances, it is impossible to conceive the first pair in any capacity to exist as rational creatures, or to have preserved the life which was given them; much less to have paid any acceptable homage to their Almighty Father and Lord.
What an august, as well as pleasing, idea of God doth the survey of these his works raise in the contemplative mind: works so great in themselves, so beneficial to that race whom he has been pleased to appoint his vicegerents below! And what gratitude should warm every human heart, which reflects on his benignity and stupendous magnificence, who was pleased to furnish a world with so many beauties and conveniences for the accommodation of a creature favoured in the highest degree, though formed of the dust of the earth! favoured so highly as to be made in the image of the Creator; with a soul capable of resembling him in purity and holiness; of participating with him in everlasting happiness! O man, think of thy original, and be humble: think of thy dignity, and assert, by a life of holiness, the glorious prerogative of thy nature!
He who caused this system to exist, and to be perfected in six days, could doubtless have formed it with as much ease in one. But he was not only willing to inform man of the regular process of his beautiful creation, but by ceasing from all exertions of his power on the seventh day, to lay a solid and rational foundation for the due observance of that day through all generations: a day which he claims as his own, which, under every dispensation, has been consecrated and observed: the observance of which is attended with the most beneficent effects to man in every respect; which, separate from the divine appointment, it would be of the utmost consequence for the human race to keep holy: but which considered as his appointment, who is the Giver of all time, becomes the most rational of duties, as it is enforced by every argument of gratitude and religion. If, therefore, O man, thou wouldst desire a blessing from thy God on thyself, thy family, thy undertakings, thou wilt carefully hallow the Sabbath, and conscientiously dedicate that day to the service of thy God, and the contemplation of that rest which remaineth for all his faithful people!
Observe with what paternal tenderness the Almighty Father provides for man! He not only forms him in his own image, and gives him dominion over all the inferior creation; but he provides a place of delight, a paradise abounding with all pleasures, for him. And that he might enjoy it in sweet and blest society, he forms a companion adapted to all his wishes, and capable of affording the most perfect satisfaction! He joins the happy pair in the closest union, an union productive of the truest joys; and which, while sin and shame were yet unknown, must have been indeed a perpetual fountain of domestic sweets only! And, surely, amidst this profusion of blessings, it was but reasonable, that some test of obedience and gratitude to the Divine Benefactor should be appointed. And when no moral duties could be broken; when adultery, theft, covetousness, &c. could not be known; what more proper, and, at the same time, what more gentle restraint could have been imposed, than that which the Sovereign Jehovah was pleased to fix upon! A service free and voluntary was necessary to constitute man a moral creature. Behold, therefore, life and death were set before him. Happy, thrice happy, had he chosen wisely! but who can fathom the depths of the Divine Will! Suffice it for us, that God is good, and certainly desireth the felicity of those whom he brings into being.
When we consider the paradisaical happiness of man, however we may lament its loss, we cannot but with pleasure contemplate that this paradise and this happiness, highly augmented, are reserved for, and will be restored to those who are the faithful children of a second and better Adam! And, in this view, we may pleasingly contemplate what we expect through faith to enjoy: and may well say, "O Adam, happy, beyond all imagination happy, with uninterrupted health and untainted innocence to delight thee! no perverseness of will or perturbation of appetite to discompose thee! a heart upright, a conscience clear, and a head unclouded to entertain thee! a delightful earth for thee to enjoy! a glorious universe for thee to contemplate! an everlasting heaven for thee to expect! and, in the mean time, the Author of that universe, the King of that heaven, and Giver of that glory, thy God, thy Creator, thy Benefactor, to see, to converse with, to bless, to glorify, to adore, to obey!—Divine Restorer, adorable Jesus, all praise be to Thee, who hast mercifully repaired the errors of the first man, and given us again the happy power to be reinstated in these superlative blessings!"