The Creation and Fall of Man
..... When Jesus taught the apostles, He could safely count on their familiarity with the major themes of the Bible. It was, after all, a definitive part of their culture and this formed a useful setting for their discussions. But times have changed and it is no longer safe to assume that everyone has this background. So over the next four lessons let's discuss those major themes, beginning with the Old Testament perspective.
.... The Old Testament tells us how God worked in the world before Jesus came (B.C.). The book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Bible, tells us how He created the heavens and the earth in six days, and on the seventh day (called the ‘Sabbath’) God rested from His works.
.... God’s crowning achievement in the creation was mankind, since man was created in God's own image and was therefore nearest to Him (Genesis 1:26); and after the creation was completed, God put man in charge of the earth. This was an arrangement called pro-rex, in which man exercised a limited dominion, though everything on the earth (including man) remained under God’s greater reign as well (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 103:19). God planted a garden in a place called Eden, and there He placed the first man in order to tend the garden. The first woman was also created to join him, and their names were Adam and Eve..... In those early days, man walked with God perfectly. But this was not true righteousness; it was better described as innocence because God had not yet given them any laws. Without laws, there was no way that a law could be broken. Since man was made in the similitude of God, there was a natural, family-like harmony between them -- but this would change. Because actually, there was just one law that God had given them:
.... "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
(Gen 2:16-17)
.... The point behind this commandment had nothing to do with the properties of the fruit or the tree. The real point was to test man’s loyalty and his trust: for if man would always believe God, trust Him and cling to Him, he would live forever; but if man chose not to trust Him, the relationship would be broken – and that’s what eventually happened. For Adam and Eve, being tempted by the devil, ate the fruit of the forbidden tree and broke God’s commandment. Through this, sin entered the world – and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). .
... ‘Sin’ literally means ‘to miss the mark’. Sinning can occur by our thoughts, words or deeds. Very simply, it means that our lives have not reflected God’s life accurately. That is a very rigid standard in itself, but God also considers the intentions of our hearts. If we really meant to honor Him, but we blew it, He could still be very proud of us (1 Corinthians 4:5); conversely, if our actions were technically perfect but our motives were prideful, He might still reject us (Ezekiel 28:12-15; Isaiah 14:12-15). So even though our conduct matters, God is far more interested in what is going on in our hearts.
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For the next lesson, click here
Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 3
posted by loren at 2:15 AM
5 Comments:
God’s crowning creation was mankind, since man was created in God's own image (Gen 1:26). In fact, this is the modern basis for defining our ‘rights’. For example, God gave us our lives, so no one else can take them away from us: life becomes our right. God made us in His own image, so how can any other being enslave us? Liberty becomes our right. We did not receive these rights from man, but we were endowed by our Creator. These and other rights connect us back to God, whose presence we reflect in the earth.
God has also made us rational beings, able to think, conclude and believe, which have their practical expression in the freedom of speech, assembly, press, and religion. But Freedom of Religion does not mean that all religions are right. Religion is a reflection of God again, in the relationship that He establishes with us. So it is ‘right’ when it matches what He thinks of it. We are no position to impose our terms on Him, and expect Him to call them equally valid:
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Prov 16:25)
By
loren, at 4/06/2005 2:28 AM
Another important chapter of the Old Testament pertains to the great flood, in the days of Noah. By this time the thoughts and intents of man’s heart were only evil, continually (Gen 6:45). Sin was rampant in the earth and God was grieved, so He decided to destroy man from the earth (v 6,7). Yet Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, and God instructed him to build an ark, in which he, his family, and a pair of every living creature, in whom was breath of life, might be saved.
The story of Noah is important because it shows God’s intention to judge sin. In like manner, at the end of days, He will judge the earth again, but this time He will destroy it by fire (2 Pet 3:5-7). But in a similar way, God has again provided a vessel of deliverance. In that sense, Noah’s ark was a foreshadow, or typeology, that represented Jesus Himself would He would come (1 Pet 3:2-22).
By
loren, at 4/06/2005 2:29 AM
Loren,
As I read your posts I think of the word unity. In the garden man was one with God. This oneness resulted from the fellowship with God. Man chose to break this union with God by choosing our his way. Our choice took us away from the consistant unity we had with God and began a divide (sin).
Christ, the second Adam, reversed the course that Adam and Even began in the Garden and gave us a way to restore that union with God. We are made new creations in Christ Jesus.
With Adam the distance was made from God. With Christ the closeness was connected back to God.
By
Berry, at 4/12/2005 12:48 AM
Good thoughts! It reminds me that the reason Jesus can do all of this is because He is fully God and fully man, both at once. He is not half and half; if He was, He could only half save. But He Himself is our reconciliation and peace; and He Himslf is our mediator, since He is one with God and also one with us.
By
loren, at 4/12/2005 2:04 AM
yikes! Would you please elaborate on the following, "conversely, if our actions were technically perfect but our motives were prideful, He might still reject us." Especially the part, he might still reject us.
I realize God looks at the intent of our hearts and if He should find pride or other displeasing characteristics within us, won't He deal with us accordingly, as His children?
By
Anonymous, at 7/18/2006 1:51 PM
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