" Gen. iii. 22. 66 eaten of the tree of death were to In whatever sense we understand the word "eat," as applied, in Genesis, to" the tree of life;" in the same sense must we understand it, as there applied also, to" the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." If, to eat as applied to the tree of life, be, altogether, a figurative expression, implying the acquisition, or attainment of eternal life through Christ; then, must the expression to eat, as applied, also, to " the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," be a figurative expression also, implying the acquisition of knowledge which involved the loss of that eternal life. If we can suppose, that the tree of life was actually a vegetable tree, which, in some way or other, was made the symbol of eternal salvation through Christ; and, that the bodily act of eating of that tree was capable of imparting that salvation to the eater; then, must we also suppose, that "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" was also a vegetable tree, made, in some way or other, the medium, or instrument, or means, of conveying a " knowledge" fatal to salvation, namely," the knowledge of good and evil," the communication of that "knowledge" being effected by the act of eating. But, if we regard the words "tree of life" as a figurative mode of speech, used to denote Christ's covenant of salvation, or some visible symbol by which that covenant was represented; and, if we regard the word eat, as applied to that "tree," merely as a figurative expression also, implying the partaking of, or acquiring, or attaining to, that eternal life which is imparted through Christ, (which is the sense in which St. John employs the word eat as applied to "the tree of life" of which he speaks, and which appears to be the only rational sense in which that word can be understood as so applied in Genesis also); then, must we infer, that the words "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" are used figuratively also, to express some representation of that 66 knowledge," which was fatal to the attainment of eternal life, of that “ 'knowledge," the possession of which involved the loss, or the non-attainment, of that eternal life which was purchased by the sacrifice of Christ; and, that the word eat, as applied to that tree of knowledge," is also, figuratively used, to express the acquisition, or reception, of that" knowledge." The tree of the knowledge of good and evil," then, was directly contrary in nature and effect, to the "tree of life." The The "tree of life" represented eternal life as imparted through Christ; the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" was fatal to that eternal life. What, then, was this " knowledge," which, in its nature and effects, was so deadly, so fatal to the attainment of immortal life in heaven? It" was the knowledge of good and evil," of right and wrong; it was the knowledge of good, as contra-dististinguished from "evil;" of right, of which wrong is the negative; of right, which implies the existence of some standard of right, of some fixed and immutable law of right, of some law, obedience to which constitutes righteousness, and disobedience to which constitutes unrighteousness. It was the "knowledge" of that eternal and immutable law of right, the non-observance, or the transgression, of which constitutes sin; and sin, necessarily involves the inability to attain to immortal life in heaven. We have already seen, that righteousness, perfect righteousness, can, alone, have a place in the celestial mansions; and that incarnate man cannot, never could, attain unto perfect righteousness. Incarnate man is, utterly, unable to fulfil the law of righteousness, to act up to "the knowledge of good and evil;" and, therefore, as regards the ability of man to attain unto eternal life in heaven by his own efforts, by his own acts, by his strict observance of the law of righteousness, the knowledge of that law might, indeed, most truly, be said to be fatal to him. Most truly might it be said to man, as yet, ignorant of the law of righteousness, "the day in which thou acquirest the knowledge of good and evil will be fatal to thine eternal salvation;" or, in the figurative language of Scripture, "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The man, or Adam, then, whom God had formed, and had clothed with a σώμα ψυχικον, was put, by Him, in the garden of Eden; a place, as we must infer from what we have seen, affording some symbolical representation of heaven, of that abode which was destined to be the ultimate, and permanent, residence of the spirit of man, when clothed with a σωμα πνευματικον, or spiritual body; and prefiguring, to the first man, the final, and everlasting abode, for which, God, in His eternal purpose, had intended, and had created, him and his race. In that garden of F Eden, was placed the symbol of salvation through Christ the Redeemer; the symbol of that eternal covenant, which was planned, not only before man was formed, but before the world was created; there, firmly fixed, stood "the tree of life," a constant emblem of the sole source of eternal life; a permanent pledge, that the means were already prepared for securing to man eternal life in God's own peculiar paradise. In the midst of that "garden," there stood, also, the symbol, of that law of righteousness, which had made the humiliation, and incarnation, and passion, of Christ an essential, and an indispensable part of God's eternal scheme; of that law of righteousness, which, had, no provision been made to secure man's entire justification, would, necessarily, have excluded him from the courts of heaven; of that "knowledge of good and evil," which, of necessity, entailed unrighteousness upon incarnate man ; of that law of righteousness, to uphold which, in all its force, and all its integrity, and all its holiness, Christ was sacrificed. There stood this symbol of the law of righteousness, with the sentence of that death (that loss of eternal life), which it, necessarily, entailed upon incarnate man, affixed to it: "In the |