BIBLE STORIES.
EARLY LIFE OF THE SAVIOR.
Nearly six thousand years ago the first man and the first woman were formed, out of the dust of the ground. Their names were Adam and Eve. They were placed in a very pleasant and beautiful garden, called Eden, where they had every thing they could wish; and were permitted by God to eat of the fruit of all the trees in the garden, except one.
"One tree that in the midst was placed,
God bade them not to take;
But ah! the fruit they dared to taste,
And his commandment break."
In an evil hour they listened to the temptations of the serpent—the great enemy of mankind—and ate of the forbidden fruit. Then God was angry with them, and sent his Angel to drive them out of the garden, to a place where thorns and thistles covered the ground, and they were obliged to work hard for a living. God cursed the ground for their sake, but at the same time he promised that "the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head."
This promise was fulfilled by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came into the world and suffered and died to save men from the consequences of the first man's disobedience. I will now tell you something about this wonderful event.
A little more than eighteen hundred years ago, as some shepherds were taking care of their sheep by night on the hills of Palestine, an angel of the Lord came to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were very much afraid. But the angel told them not to fear, for he brought them good news: "For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ the Lord."