Blog Archives - Created through Him

Created Through Him

The first justification

8/31/2013

20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. 21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them (Genesis 3:20-21).

There were severe consequences for the first sin and yet God not only provided a path for redemption but also cared for Adam and Eve. God made clothing for Adam and Eve. There is something in these verses that may not be evident at first as well. In order for God to clothe Adam and Eve, God himself had to kill an animal. So there were consequences to the entire creation. Also, this was the first death and it was sacrificial and points to a principle of God’s atoning justice. God is holy and cannot simply overlook sin without justification. Justification though too is gracious towards recipient, in this case towards individual people.

The consequences

8/30/2013

16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return (Genesis 3:16-19).

Although as we know from Genesis 3:15, God already had a plan for redemption (nothing surprises God or is unknown to God), there were and are severe consequences for the first act of disobedience towards God. The entire creation in fact now pays the price. But before we assign complete blame to Adam and Eve for all the current worlds troubles, we should realize that we are still accountable for our own actions. While verses 16-19 clearly are not good news. The good news of the Gospel is that one-day the restoration of both creature and creation will be complete.

The clues to the plan

8/29/2013

14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: 15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:14-15).

Amazingly even at the apex of the ‘Fall of Man’ the plan or redemption of Man by God was already planned and foretold. Genesis 3:15 is therefore the first messianic prophecy. It prophesies that one day Christ would defeat (bruise thy head) Satan. We learn a lot about Christ’s coming in this verse as well. We learn that Christ would come as a man born of a woman. Christ would be from the seed of the women (virgin birth) and would oppose the seed of Satan (children of disobedience-or all persons that are against God). This level of detail in a single verse is truly remarkable and among other things shows that God is all knowing.

Finger pointing

8/28/2013

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? 10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? 12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. 13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat (Genesis 3:9-13).

These verses paint a very sad picture. Adam and Eve are engaged in the first all-out blame game. Adam blamed Eve and Eve in turn blamed Satan. While there is blame enough for all as a group, it is the individuals that made the choice to sin. Satan chose to disobey God and then to deceive, Eve chose to disobey God, and Adam followed by disobeying God as well. The common denominator is disobedience. As was the case with Adam and Eve, when we disobey, the end results are shame, fear and avoidance of God.

Hid from the presence of God

8/27/2013

6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden (Genesis 3:6-8).

There are several telling points here. Eve used human reason over and above the words of God. Sure what she thought made sense and may even have had aspects of truth but it ignored the fact that God knew the whole truth. Also, notice the result of disobedience initially was shame followed by Adam and Eve hiding from God. Prior to this event, it was evidently common for God to walk with Adam and Eve. This would never be the case again. Lost was both innocence and closeness to God.

Ye shall be as gods

8/26/2013

2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:2-5).

Satan did not force Eve to sin, but he did deceive her. He tempted her by twisting God’s words and making Eve think she could be like God. Who wouldn’t want to be like God, right? But Satan also denied God’s word by saying that Eve wouldn’t die. The truth is Eve would die. Prior to disobeying God, Adam and Eve were immortal both physically and spiritually. And while they would not immediately physically die, the process of death would begin and they would no longer be fully alive spiritually.

The beginning of deception

8/25/2013

3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1)

While we don’t know when exactly Satan began his rebellion against God, we do know it occurred sometime after the creation of Man and Heavenly Beings and that it was relatively soon after creation. Remember that Satan was created and therefore originally created good. We learn a lot about Satan’s methods of deception in this verse. And as is true today, deception begins with questioning what God says. This deception by Satan gets worse over the next several verses, but Satan begins with stating what God said and in subsequent verses he further twists and questions the meaning of God’s words. Remember that our deceiver knows full well God’s words. What he questions is God’s authority, power and truthfulness.

Only good

8/24/2013

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. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (Genesis 2:23-25).

These verses again speak to the connection between God’s purpose and design. Adam and Eve were to be as one. Also as verse 25 indicates, they were innocent and unaware of any distinction between good and evil. There was, at this stage, only good. So, in the beginning there was complete harmony between Man, Woman and God.

For each other

8/23/2013

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 (Genesis 2:21-22).

Adam and Eve were made for each other. This was God’s design. So connected are husband and wife, that in the case of the first couple, Eve was literally made from a part of Adam. Remember from the previous discussions that God’s purposes are evident both from His commands and His designs. God’s design decrees the purpose; the purpose is for Man and Wife to work as one.

Not good that man should be alone

8/22/2013

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 (Genesis 2:18-20).

God desired Adam to have a companion, someone to share life and to help with caring for the Creation. Although Adam named all animals, no suitable companion existed. There is a distinction between Man and animals. The distinction is that only Man was created in the image of God. And so a suitable companion for Adam would be one that was like him, created in the image of God.

Created Through Him