6. And as it was with the understanding, so it was with the will: for as the one was the image and reflection of the divine understanding, so was the other of the divine will, in everything. It was holy as the pattern was holy, and conformed to the will of God. Hence, as God himself is, so was the human soul; righteous, loving, merciful, long-suffering, patient, meek, gentle, true, and pure. Exod. 34:6; Ps. 103:8; Joel 2:13. Yea, all the passions or affections, all the appetites, and motions of the heart, being made most perfectly conformable to the motions and affections of the divine mind, partook of this conformity of the will of man to that of God. As, therefore, God is LOVE, so all the affections and motions of man, in his first state, breathed nothing but pure love. As God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are ONE in an unspeakable and eternal bond of love; so all the affections and desires of man, burned with a most perfect and ardent love, and he cleaved unto God fully with all the powers and faculties which he had; “with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might” (Deut. 6:5); so that man verily loved God more than himself, and preferred God and His honor, to himself and his own. 7. But as the image of God shone forth in the _soul_, so the image of the soul again shone forth in and from the _body_. This, therefore, was holy, chaste, and pure throughout, not subject to any unclean motion or lust. It was undefiled and without blemish. It was in every respect, beautiful, well proportioned, and graceful; of vigorous health, and possessed of a constitution even out of the very danger of sickness. It was such as death itself had no power over, and it was perfectly free from pain, listlessness, passion, grief, and old age, now the common attendants and warnings of man’s mortality. In a word, the whole man, both in soul and body, was pure, holy, righteous, and every way acceptable to God. For, in order that man might be the image of God, it was necessary that his body should be holy, and conformable to God, as well as his soul. Accordingly, St. Paul both exhorts and prays, that the _body_, together with the _spirit_ and _soul_, be _sanctified wholly_; and be preserved holy and blameless unto the coming of our Lord. 1 Thess. 5:23. For since man is made up of soul and body, and exercises both bodily and spiritual functions, there was a necessity that the instrument through which the soul was to act, should be pliable and obedient, adapted to the nature of the soul, and holy as the soul was holy; to the end that the holy and righteous soul, might finish her work through the body without any obstacle or resistance. As, therefore, the soul burned with the pure love of God: so did all the powers of the body manifest and exert themselves in the love of God and man. As the soul was altogether merciful; so also the body was, with its whole might, and all its faculties, impelled to tenderness and compassion.