Sunday, April 17, 2022

In Beginning Was the Word- From Eden to Eden Pt 2

 Why do we insist that nothing came from nothing?

How can we know the intricacies of our very existence and still insist they came to be by pure chance? Why for many thousands of years did mankind live in stagnation of thought? We didn't simply come into existence at a gradual pace from some primordial ooze with our lifestyles ever progressing. We have enough known history to realize our advancements in technology were not logical at all. There was no logical progression to them. Just as today we advance in fits and starts not at a steady, even pace. Mankind as a whole is made up of millions of people and out of those millions the majority simply do not have brains geared towards advancement.  Can you- without any help from anyone, or anything- comprehend the way to harness electricity for our use? I know I sure can't. I'd be hard-pressed to understand even if I were given all sorts of knowledge from others.  That's just one tiny example. There are people whose minds did comprehend, and there are still people whose minds comprehend the way to advance, but it is NOT something that is progressive. We didn't evolve with everyone being equally equipped with comprehension. There is no one progression forward from ooze to man today. To hold-fast to a belief that we were NOT created but a mere twist of happenstance is foolhardy, yet many are determined to NOT believe they have a Creator. To hold that belief means being accountable to the Creator. And when we ignore, or violently oppose that accountability, there are consequences. To believe that we are merely here and now, and eventually we are gone, is a hopeless stance. To believe that we live in such a painful world and there is nothing more beyond this sort of living where very little makes sense is too bizarre. Why live without hope for an eternal world free of all evil? Why? Unless you wish to commit evil, and have a love for evil, there is no reason not to hope for a world without evil. Believing in a world without evil, a world promised to us by our Savior, does NOT interfere with your life at all whatsoever unless you enjoy evil. Who decides what is evil and what isn't? Our Creator hasn't left us in the dark to that truth. 


In beginning was the Word.  


'In Genesis 1:1 it reads in the Hebrew — "In beginning, created Gods the heavens and the earth" — no article, just "in beginning." Likewise in the Gospel of John, it reads (in the Greek text) "In beginning was the Word." If "the" had been used in either verse there would have been no eternity. '


From Eden to Eden-A Historic and Prophetic Study.  Part II

By J. H. Waggoner. 1890

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'CHAPTER I. "IN THE BEGINNING."

There is but one source from which we can obtain correct information concerning the origin of the earth and its inhabitants. Thus it is written: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." Heb. 11:2. And we learn that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Rom. 10:17.

Science and philosophers have their acknowledged spheres, but they cannot reach to such a subject as this. Revelation alone can instruct us here. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1. This is the rational and consistent view of the origin of things. It is thus that "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork." Ps. 19:1.

Concerning the creation of this world, we read in Isa. 45:18, that the Lord "created it not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited." 

Accordingly, when the earth was completed, when it was fitted for the abode of man, and nature, animate and inanimate, was all prepared for his comfort and pleasure, God said to his Son (compare John 1:1-3; Col. 1:13-17; Heb. 1:1, 2.): 

 ((Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God. 

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 

*

Col 1:13  Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: 

Col 1:14  In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 

Col 1:15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. 

*

Heb 1:1  God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 

Heb 1:2  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds))

*

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth." Gen. 1:26. Man was created upright. Eccl. 7:29. He was possessed of rational capacities, of moral powers; but he must yet have an opportunity to develop a moral character. Powers and capacities may be conferred, but character can be formed only by the free action of moral agents. Unfortunately for Adam and for his race, he did not stand the trial; he fell from the gracious position in which he was placed by his Creator, and lost his dominion, for he lost his life.


God created the earth to be inhabited, but not by a sinful race, as we learn from his dealing with Adam after his fall. Sin could not be in the purpose of God; it was contrary to his nature. And it could not have an abiding-place in his creation without marring his purpose. 


As the Saviour said of the sowing of the tares: "An enemy hath done this." Matt. 13:28. And now, that God's purpose has apparently been frustrated, three ways present themselves, one of which must be pursued: (1) Relinquish his purpose to have the earth inhabited; (2) let Adam die, according to the penalty pronounced, and create a new race; or, (3) devise a plan for his restoration and redemption. 


The first would have been directly contrary to the object for which the earth was made; a complete relinquishment of the divine purpose. The second would have accomplished the object of creation, but it would have been contrary to the action of God in the gift already conferred. The gift was to man and to his posterity. The use of the plural noun in Gen. 1:26 proves this: "Let us make man . . . let them have dominion." And with this agree the words of Ps. 115:16, as follows: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men." And either of these ways, if adopted, would have been a surrender unto the being by whom sin was introduced into Paradise. The third was the only way in which God could maintain his honor, and carry out his original purpose. 


Man at the first was placed on probation; and therefore sin was possible, but by no means necessary. For if the necessity had been placed upon man to sin, his action would have had no character. To permit sin for a season, for the formation of the character of his creatures, finally bringing all to the test of the judgment, is perfectly consistent with the attributes and purpose of God. But to originate sin, or to perpetuate it, and give it an eternal habitation within the bounds of his government, would forever tarnish the glory of the Creator.


We must consider that God's love for the man that he had created was very great, and this would lead him to save man, if possible, from the ruin which he had brought upon himself. This was manifested in the wonderful plan that was devised for his redemption, and is shown in the constant long-suffering exercised toward the children of men.


The serpent beguiled the woman; she was deceived by his falsehood. Gen. 3:1-6, 17; 1 Tim. 2:14; Rev. 20:2; John 8:44. 

 ((Gen 3:1  Now the serpent was more subtil 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? 

Gen 3:2  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 

Gen 3:3  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. 

Gen 3:4  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 

Gen 3:5  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. 

Gen 3:6  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.

Gen 3:17  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

1Ti 2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 

Rev 20:2  And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.))


She was first in the fall, and her name was mentioned in the recovery. It was the seed of the woman, whose heel should be bruised by the serpent, and should bruise the serpent's head. This denoted that the serpent should wound the seed of the woman, and that he should receive a crushing, fatal wound in return. And it should be noticed, that this promise of the triumph of the seed of the woman was given before the sentence was pronounced upon Adam, thus placing him under a new probation, and, by this reprieve, permitting the race to be multiplied so that the work of redemption could be carried out in harmony with the purpose originally contemplated.


The book of Genesis, especially in the first chapters, is a very brief record of events. We cannot learn from them just how far Adam and his immediate descendants were instructed in the way of salvation; but we are led to conclude that they were well instructed, for angels continued to converse with them, and God revealed himself to them by his Spirit, as he did afterwards also to his prophets. Abel offered the same sacrifice that was required of God's people in all their services in after years. The New Testament says he offered by faith; he believed in the plan of redemption as revealed to Adam, and offered a sacrifice that proved that his faith embraced the offering of the Lamb of God. Enoch walked with God with such faithfulness and purity of life, that God translated him, making him a notable example to all generations of the righteousness of faith. But the record is so brief that we are left to draw conclusions from other scriptures--just, it is true, because inevitable--as to what was revealed to him, and what he obeyed, to develop a holy character. Noah also offered sacrifices of the same nature, which showed his faith in the plan for the redemption of man. We know that God spoke directly to Noah, and through him warned the world of their great wickedness, and of the calamity which their sin was bringing upon them. The assumption that in the beginning man was weak and ignorant--especially ignorant of the great moral truths which have been revealed in later ages--is an assumption without any basis, and cannot be correct. Man's relations to his Creator, as a moral agent, were created with him. In his fall we are all involved. To Adam was revealed the one only plan of salvation that was ever devised in heaven, through the seed of the woman--the Saviour of mankind. That the race is now in a fallen, degenerate state is abundantly revealed in the Scriptures. Paul says that the nations now wrapped in the deepest darkness, given to the most foolish idolatry, and addicted to the vilest practices, have been given over to this sad state because "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge." Rom. 1:18-28. 


It must be noticed that the word "seed," in Gen. 3:15, does not refer to the posterity of the woman in general, but to some particular individual of her race. It was not true that her posterity in general was able to overcome the serpent, and to give him a deadly wound. That can only be effected by some one who, while he is indeed the seed of the woman, must differ very materially from the posterity of the woman in general.


To be continued…


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