, "It is the destiny of man, in the
course of the ages, to ascertain and fulfil the law of his being, so
that his life shall be seen, as a whole, to be that of an angel or
messenger." This is his destiny, because it is God-given. Hence man
was the bearer of good tidings all along the past. Prophets were
generally men. Christ was a man. The apostles, Christ's chosen
standard-bearers, were men. The powers in the moral and spiritual
world are men. All that is great in history, all that thrones one
nation upon a mountain height and buries another in the fathomless
grave of infamy, comes from man. The ages were dark, because of the
lack of a man. Christ came, and the apostolic age became the noontime
of the world, not because of what the race did for themselves, but
because of what was done for the race. If a nation sinks, because the
man who has the brain, the wisdom, the power from God, is wanting, who
shall build up a people in hope, inspire them with grand resolves?
It will rise and prosper when the man comes. Christ was a necessity,
because infinite work was to be performed. Is he not a necessity now?
Is it not a man in Christ, and with Christ, who is ever the worker
on the earth? Christ speaks through the gospel, and "the key" of the
moral universe is still upon his shoulders. This hope and dream came
to Eve way back there in the confines of the wilderness, and so
incidentally as well as actually, she became identified with it, and
rejoiced when she could declare, "I have gotten a man from the Lord,"
whom she believed to be the "_promised seed_."

Notice, to Eve, as to woman now, a baby was more than a little child;
she saw in him all the possibilities of a man, who was to become a foe
worthy to meet the enemy of her soul. Her faith in this child to be
born was similar to our faith in the Child that was born in Bethlehem.
Hence her joy when she exclaimed, "I have gotten a man from the Lord."

It will seem to many as singular that there should be no mention of
the daughters born of Eve. The generations or names of men are given,
but not of the daughters. Even there and then the custom now prevalent
in the East found its origin. No account is made of the birth of a
daughter in that land. Congratulate a man upon the accession to
the family of a daughter, and the father will hide his shame with
difficulty, and exclaim, "O, that God had given me a son!"

Again, in reading this story some will be surprised to find no menti