January 3

Genesis i. — 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed: to you it shall be for meat.

30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so.

31. And God saw every thing that he had made,

The family was constituted in the beginning by the direct act of God, and with his special blessing. The sacred union of a single pair is the source of all domestic happiness, and the family so constituted is the basis of a true social state, and the germ from which the nation itself must grow. Our Lord quoted this original form of consecration to show the sacredness and permanence of the marriage-covenant, and added, "What, therefore, God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." How tender and beautiful this care of the Creator for the welfare of the human race, through a provision that gives to natural affections the sacredness of a divine ordinance and the promise of divine benediction! They who would degrade marriage, degrade man, and dishonor God.

In creating man in his own image, God endowed him with

and, behold, it was very good; and the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis ii. — 18. And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone: I will make him an help meet for him.

19. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof:

22. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.

24. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.

the spiritual powers of reason, will, and moral judgment, and set him in a place of authority. This dignity put upon men by the Creator is a trust as well as an honor. Man is not his own master in any such sense that he is at liberty to use the endowments of his nature without respect unto his Creator. By the very dignity of his origin, he is bound to lead a spiritual and holy life, to serve himself from the world without suffering himself to the world.

The fact that man is made in the image of God opens before him the highest possibilities of blessedness in this life, and of glory in the life to come. As the intelligent offspring of God, he can commune with him as with a father; and, by cherishing here the communion of faith and love through Christ, he may look forward to the visible presence of God as his complete and everlasting joy.

APPROPRIATE HYMNS.]

Prayer.

[Nos. 53, 63, 124.

Our Father in heaven, the God of all the families of the earth, we give thee thanks for the manifold blessings which we as a family have received at thy hand; for our birth and education under Christian influences, for the comforts of our home, for the tender relationships of life. May the mercies of thy covenant abide with this household, and every member of it be joined to the family of thy people! Be thou our Father and our God; and may we know the love and joy of thy dear children! We bless thee that through another night thou hast kept our habitation in peace, and that we enter upon a new day surrounded with the tokens of thy providence and grace. Create within us a clean heart, O God! and renew a right

spirit within us, that in our lives this day we may show forth thine image, and glorify thee in our bodies and spirits which are thine. Forgive us the sins of our past lives: and help us, O Lord! to lead the new life in Christ Jesus.

Be gracious to all dear to us; bless them in their hearts and their homes; remember the family of thy people; have mercy upon such as have no home, upon the widow and the fatherless, the forsaken and outcast; and hasten the time when all mankind shall dwell together as one family in Christ their head. Finally, we beseech thee to bring us unto our Father's house, to dwell with thee for ever, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.