Of Creation, IV:2

After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it: and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.

The Confession, following the accounts in Genesis 1 and 2, puts the creation of man at the pinnacle of God's creative activities. The characteristics of men are their being created male and female, that they are endowed with rationality, and that they are spiritual beings who have the capacity for eternal existence. Furthermore, God granted them "knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness." In man's original state, he was sinless, possessed of an inherent righteousness. In all these things, man modeled the image of God in which he was made. God wrote his law on their hearts and gave them the ability to obey it. Had Adam continued in his original state, it is likely that God would have raised up through him generations of righteous men, all living in perfect obedience to and fellowship with God. Yet God also gave man liberty of will. As a creature, he was by nature mutable. Therefore, there was the possibility of departure from his state of original innocence and righteousness. As we will find out, this is exactly what happened.

God also gave Adam a verbal command (recorded in Genesis 2:16-17) allowing him to eat from any tree of the garden save the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This seems to be the only restriction God placed on man, other than the heart-commandments already described. So long as Adam and Eve were obedient to God they continued in their privileged state of fellowship and exercised their divine vice-regency over the rest of creation.

Some conceive of our salvation in Christ as a return to original innocence--a back-to-the-garden restoration. But our glorified state in Christ will be far better even than the conditions enjoyed by our first parents.

Tomorrow: Introduction to God's providence.