God, for God is holy. Sin would always keep them from God. The unholy and the sinner cannot dwell with God.

And when Adam and Eve had children, their children would be sinful also, as they were. They could not be as Adam was before he sinned. They could not make themselves holy, and be with God as His dear children. And they would die, as Adam was to die.

So Adam and Eve, when they sinned, brought death and sorrow upon themselves, and upon all their children. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, there would have been no sorrow in the world, and no death.

But when God thrust them forth from the pleasant garden of Eden, and said that they must die, He gave a promise, that they might have hope, that they and their children should not be always kept from Him, and be unholy. God said, that One should be born into the world, who should overcome the devil, and save men from the devil's power; He would take away sin, and bring sinful men back to God.

This was the hope of sinful man.

God has now fulfilled this promise. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has come into the world. He was born of a woman, and made man, that He might take away the sin of men, and make them holy, and save them from the devil and from death.

Though all men must die, yet our Lord Jesus Christ will raise them from the grave again.

Those who have done good, those who have loved and served Him, He will take to live with Him in heaven. There they will be far more blessed than Adam was in the garden of Eden, and there the devil cannot come.

But those who have been wicked, who will not love and obey the Lord Jesus, will be driven forth from God for ever, and cast into the pit of hell, when the devil shall be bound with his wicked sp darkness and in fire.

was given to Adam and Eve, when God

eir sin, and said that they should die, was

contained in the words which God spake to the devil who had tempted them.

The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life."

"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

The first part of these words applied to the serpent. God said, that the serpent should be cursed, and its nature changed, because the devil had used it to effect his wicked purpose. God made the serpent to creep upon its belly on the ground, as it now does, that it might be a sign to teach us, that shame and misery come upon all who have any thing to do with sin.

The last part of these words spoken to the serpent, applied to the devil himself, and contain the promise to Adam and Eve, and all their children, that One should come into the world to save sinful men from sin, and from the punishment of sin.

While Adam and Eve were good and holy, the devil could not hurt them he had no power over them, because they were made in the likeness of God. But when they listened to the devil, and sinned against God, they became wicked as the devil was. And then the devil gained a power over them which he had not at first and they became the servants of sin, and of the devil. From this time there was to be enmity between the devil and the seed, or child, of the woman. The devil was to be the enemy of men, and should have power to cause them much sorrow and suffering.

But God taught Adam and Eve to hope that He would make

a way for men to escape from the power of the devil, and from death. God said that the seed of the woman should crush the serpent's head, though the serpent should bruise his heel. A time was to come, when a child of Eve should by suffering overcome the devil, and save men from him, and from everlasting death. This was the meaning of those words spoken to the devil," It shall bruise thy head, but thou shalt bruise his heel."

When our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born of the Virgin Mary, He became the seed of the woman. And the serpent bruised His heel, when the devil made wicked men to crucify and slay Him. But He, by suffering, crushed the serpent's head. When He had died upon the cross for us, He rose again from the dead, and thus He overcame the devil, and destroyed his power. For as Christ rose again, so shall all who are Christ's people rise again. And as Adam, by his sin, made all men to be sinners, and under the power of the devil and of death, so Christ, by His holiness, will make all who are His to be holy, and by His death save them from death everlasting.

Christ gives men power to become good and holy, as He is holy, and will lead men back to God, if they will obey His voice, and follow Him.

Chapter VEE.

CAIN AND ABEL.

AFTER Adam and Eve had been driven forth from the garden of Eden, they had two sons. The name of the eldest was Cain, and the youngest was called Abel. Cain tilled the ground, and Abel was a keeper of sheep.

And Cain brought some of the fruit of the ground to offer to the Lord. And Abel offered for his offering one of the lambs of his flock. Abel was good and righteous, and his offering was pleasing to God. But the Lord was not pleased with Cain and his offering, for Cain was not righteous as Abel was 1.

When Cain saw that Abel's offering was pleasing to God, he was very angry with Abel, and jealous of him.

Then God told Cain that he was wrong to be angry with his brother Abel. And God said, that if Cain would do well, He would be pleased with him, and his offering.

11 St. John iii. 12.