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Read Contenders FROM EDEN TO THE FLOOD
INTRODUCTION:
GOD, THE AUTHOR OF ALL LIFE, DESIRED TO SHARE HIMSELF WITH OTHERS, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD THINKS OF A PLAN WHEREBY HE MAY DO SO. THAT PLAN WHEREIN HE COUNSELED WITH HIMSELF AS TO HOW HE WOULD DO THIS AND THE RESULTS ARE FOUND IN EPHESIANS 1:3-11. TO LEARN EXACTLY WHAT THAT PLAN OF THE ALMIGHTY’S WAS IS FOUND IN THE FIRST FEW CHAPTERS OF GENESIS. HOW DID EVE BEING IN ADAM BEFORE HE WALKED ON EARTH ILLUSTRATE THE BRIDE’S POSITION IN CHRIST. THE SECOND ADAM, BEFORE THE FOUNDATION FO THE EARTH?
What does such a subject teach us? Furthermore, what can we hope to learn from such a topic? To get our setting we should turn first into the letter to the Ephesians. Actually if Ephesians Chapter 1 is looked at correctly it could easily be the Genesis of the New Testament. I only make this remark from a viewpoint of seeing it from a redemptive standpoint. Naturally the book of Genesis records the historical beginning of creation, however, long before that creation could ever take place becoming a reality, it first had to be formed in the mind of God as a blueprint of operation. And it is because of this which took place in the creator’s mind before the foundation fo the world we desire to begin our study, not from Genesis 1, rather from Ephesians 1 because it is from Ephesians 1 we see Paul’s revelation as to how all the thoughts of God began to form in his mind long before they ever took shape in Gen. 1 and 2.
PART 1
BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD
Paul begins in Eph. 1:3 by saying, “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ; according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” Did you catch that statement which Paul by revelation makes! Paul says we (the true believers) were chosen in Christ not 30 minutes before we accepted Jesus Christ, but before the foundation of the world! That verse declares plainly that God did something which affected us long before the world ever saw a beginning. Yes even long before the recording of the first verse in the book of Genesis which declares “in the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned,) created the heavens and the earth, (Amp. Gen. 1). That verse tells us what God did in the beginning, however note, Eph. 1 reaches far back into a period before the beginning of anything! Because it was from this period we are told of the things which God thought within himself before he ever laid the foundation of the earth; before laying out his plans for the various planets to travel in their orbits within this great universe and especially the one in particular which is to be his workshop called earth. What was this important something which the Eternal Spirit did before any of this came into being?
GOD COUNSELED WITH HIMSELF
Paul says before man was ever placed on this earth, God had already chosen certain ones of mankind to be in Christ! This should not be frightening because later we shall explain what it means to be chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. Before the earth or any planetary bodies ever floated in space, yes, before any of this ever began we (the true believers) had already been chosen in Christ that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. How could such a thing be possible, that before anything was ever made that was made, a certain percentage of the human race through a grace dispensation had already been chosen in Christ to be a part of him?
ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH FOREKNOWLEDGE
Beloved, it was only through God’s fore-knowledge in knowing what each individual would do having once been confronted with the ultimatum of accepting or rejecting Christ the second Adam, the Lord of Glory, that he made his choice. It was only through the Eternal Spirit’s foreknowledge he was able to predestinate anyone to be in Christ before the foundation of the world. As Eph. 1 so clearly defines the time when and if anyone was ever to be in Christ and a part of his bride through the grace dispensation it all had to take place before the foundation of the world was ever laid. Certainly this doesn’t mean God was creating one person to be saved and another to be lost - that was not the meaning of predestination at all.
Predestination is compiled from two words. It is not something to frighten anyone as so many become upon hearing the word. It simply shows before the beginning of time, God, through his foreknowledge, looking down through time as each period and generation of mankind would present itself on the face of the earth, already knew what the decision of each individual would be once having come to the knowledge of needing the Savior and Redeemer. Predestination simply means God knew how everything would end, as well as what route every man would take long before the Eternal in reality had put any of his living thoughts into a creative motion of operation. Therefore the Eternal Spirit by knowing what all men would do was able to govern his own plan in meeting the needs of lost mankind, only because he saw each man’s choice long before ever coming to this earth. Therefore, knowing each man’s choice, the Eternal Spirit had no problem in knowing what each man would do, therefore it was simply for him in his foreknowledge to place every true believe in Christ long before the beginning of the foundation of the world. It is all an act of his foreknowledge in operation from beginning to end which makes this choice of placing believers in Christ before the foundation of the world. Man has only a past and present knowledge whereby he bases his decisions, but only the Eternal God possesses a foreknowledge of all that will transpire in any part of the future. This choosing was based strictly upon man choosing or rejecting God himself. Therefore because of this great foreknowledge God does not literally wait until you do something, he knows beforehand what your choice will be and we see God from the very beginning placing certain individual’s names in his Lamb’s Book of Life.
It must be recognized that as his thoughts were in operation long before the foundation of the world he did not only see who would accept or reject his revelation of truth as it was going to be presented to each age, he did not only see mankind weeping with bitter tears of repentance, Oh, No, the Eternal God in his mind saw man as a completely finished product in the far-flung ages to come as his plan of redemption and salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ (the 2nd Adam) went into operation long before various individuals were born into this world through the physical birth. God saw it all therefore since seeing it all from the beginning to end he knew how to regulate and lay out his plan whereby he could meet man’s need. Paul, writing to the Ephesian Church shows, we were predestined according to the foreknowledge of God unto the adoption of children by and through the second Adam long before we were ever lost, helpless sinners.
ADOPTION, WHAT IS IT?
Adoption means taking us who were poor dirty wretched hell-bound sinners and placing us (who would accept him) in such a beautiful position and relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ who also according to Paul’s revelation to the church declared Christ to have been a second Adam. Later we shall study why it was necessary for God to lay out a plan for a second Adam to come on the earth, long after he had created a first Adam in Genesis 1 and 2. According to Paul we receive this adoption in order that we might be called sons and daughters of God and have this beautiful relationship in Christ, the second Adam, because it is according to the good pleasure of his will to do this. Note, Paul says it was something pleasing within God’s own thoughts or his own will to do this for us who were helplessly lost and undone.
THE SINGULARITY OF GOD DISPLAYED
It should be noted throughout the 1st chapter of Ephesians as well as throughout the entire letter how God is continually placed in the singularity position. The scripture stated in verse 5 “He predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto himself according to the good pleasure of his (own) will.” This pronoun, his, which takes on a masculine term is also a singular term indicating how only one will and mind was involved and that was his own will! Therefore certainly there could be no trinitarianism involved here in Paul’s teaching as to what happened before the foundation when God counseled with his own will! Paul nowhere indicates this counseling came about from the good will of three separate persons or three separate Gods, it was all done for the good pleasure of only one Eternal God’s will. That is to say, no one compelled, persuaded nor in any way influenced one though of this one God as he counseled with is own will before the foundation of the world. By all means, he and he alone did all that was decided to be done because all that was done was to satisfy the good pleasure of his own will!
BEFORE FOUNDATION HOW MANY PERSONS PRESENT?
This statement plainly shows us there was only one singular mind involved in this plan or blue-print for creation. Only one mind did all the choosing; it was only one will that was involved; it was only one singular mind through which all these thoughts ran before ever a world, star, moon or anything came into being. No sir you could never made a trinity of persons out of what took place here in Paul’s teaching before the foundation of the world! Everything spoken of here which happened before the foundation of the world according to Paul’s revelation is always spoken of using singular pronouns such as his and never in a plurality such as their own wills. If a plurality of persons were involved in what took place while these thoughts were going through the mind of God it would have to read according to the pleasure of their wills, they did such and such; instead it says his and he, never they or their’s. Again I repeat, if God were 3 separate persons having even the slightest possibility of having 3 separate wills within each person, Paul could never use a singular term to express how we were adopted to the pleasure of his own good will. This alone lets me know that God, being one, had only one will involved in what took place before the foundation of the world and furthermore it’s to the praise and glory of his grace (not their) because no one else was involved in it. The Eternal One was alone when he thought about all of this, wherein he made us accepted in the beloved. Imagine, as some believe, 3 separate persons seated on 3 separate thrones somewhere out there before time ever began, and you try to identify the 3 separate person by using a singular pronoun his or he when more than one will would have been involved. No Sir, the scripture declares He did it all through the counsel of his own will for his own good pleasure. It might could be said they were all referred to as he in the masculine. However, he can never be referred to in the plurality. Furthermore, it says to the praise and honor of his grace wherein he hath made us (us indicates more than one, but never he) accepted in the beloved.
REDEMPTION AND FORGIVENESS KNOWN BEFORE FOUNDATION
Approaching verse 7 we come upon a new word which was firmly placed in the Creator’s mind. A word which would greatly affect much of this thinking as he counseled with himself; a word which would come only through Jesus Christ, the second Adam — THAT WORD IS REDEMPTION! Paul declares in verse 7, our redemption comes through his blood. This verse alone shows redemption had to have been much within the mind and foreknowledge of the one Eternal God while thoughts traveled through his mind before the foundation. Furthermore, it tells us a redemption for something had to already be prepared in God’s plan before the foundation of the earth was laid. God already knew he would have to redeem something long before Adam and Eve ever fell in the garden of Eden. A plan for redemption was already worked out before the foundation of the world for fallen mankind. Redemption would have to come through the blood of another person within the human family. Within God’s mind redemption was already a finished product long before any angel, any creation or ever a man was brought into a reality! Furthermore, known unto him was every name of every individual soul who would be redeemed through that precious blood of Christ, the second Adam. It is plainly revealed in Ephesians how before the foundation of the world God already knew his first Adam would fail and it would be of a necessity to bring about a second Adam into the world to redeem the fallen creation who fell under the leadership or direction of the first Adam.
Paul continues in verse 7 by saying, there would also be forgiveness of sins through this redemption by blood according to the riches of his grace, which again shows unto us God knew sin would enter into the picture else how could he produce this second Adam who was none other than the Lord of Glory himself, 1st Cor. 15:47, for redemption!! And that the forgiveness of sins would also be granted unto mankind. The granting of this forgiveness of sins would come about according to the riches of his grace: wherein he hath abound unto us in all wisdom and prudence.
MYSTERY OF HIS WILL MADE KNOWN
I especially like this next verse, verse 9 “having made known unto us the mystery of his will,” –this verse alone destroys the theory and idea of which many are guilty of holding - that God himself is just a great big mystery and all he has done or planned out and brought into being is still only another added mystery which we are never to understand. THIS IS UNTRUE!! Paul says, for he hath made known unto us (the true revelated believer) the mystery of his will! Oh, sure, it is a mystery alright until Christ ( the Word) reveals it! The carnal mind will never understand it being at enmity against God (Rom. 8:7). That is to say the mystery of his will is absolutely nothing that can be figured out in itself, however it can be made known unto us by his spirit and thank God only a few will ever see it! There are certain things he has placed within his word whereby if you’ll be a spiritual child of God, one who is willing to grow in the knowledge and grace of our God, sooner or later it will be God’s good pleasure to show unto you or make known unto you the deep and mysterious things concerning (1) - his will, (2) - concerning his plan and purpose in all that is transpiring or for that matter has ever transpired. God is a God of majestic power, a God of all wisdom and knowledge, one who not only reigns supremely and superbly in space he is also a God of love that can reach down to such a low degree of lost mankind to lift us up out of sin and to think that all of this was already in God’s great foreknowledge according to the apostle Paul long before the first man ever arrived on earth. Yes, long before mankind ever fell, redemption for mankind was already a finished work in God’s mind. Therefore we may say we have certainly been dealt with by the marvelous grace of God through his plan of salvation which he thought of by himself long before the foundation of the world. Not only did God think of all of these things by himself, the beauty of it is God’s good pleasure to make this mystery of his will known unto his children. In other words, God will not always remain behind a certain of time playing peek-a-boo with us. Instead, it delights him through the revelation of his word to pull back that curtain of time and allow his beloved children whom he has redeemed through Christ the 2nd Adam to take a good look at what he has been doing throughout the ages of time and furthermore to give you the understanding as to how you were one of those chosen to be heir and joint-heir with Christ (the 2nd Adam the Lord of Glory) before the foundation and give you a little insight into what he has been doing, or as Paul phrased it in this manner, making known unto us the mystery of his will which he has accomplished through his own good pleasure. True, without asking anyone if he may, God does what he wants to when soever it pleases him. However it is not his will that it would always remain a secret as to what he has thought or done causing you to guess at it. No sir, he literally enjoys showing by revelation the mystery of his own will to his chosen children, Paul shows therefore the Eternal didn’t have to say to the 2nd or 3rd person of this so called trinity which was developed through the Romanism spirit, can I do it this way, or should I do it that way? Oh, No, Paul teaches no other’s will was consulted because there was no other will (or person) to be consulted. It was all done his way according to his own good pleasure which he hath purposed within himself (verse 9). Regardless how you twist Paul’s statements you could never made a trinitarian out of the Apostle Paul. Paul could see only one spirit God, one will and one good pleasure involved in everything that happened before the foundation of the world. That is why you will never find Paul teaching God was three separate persons as they did at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. Instead, Paul always referred to this God as the one Eternal Spirit and spoke of him in the singular term, him, he, his, etc.
HIS WILL, NOT THEIR WILL
Verse 10 “That in His Own Will the dispensation of the fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the council of his own will.” Note, it is all accomplished after the counsel of whose will —NOT THEIR WILL BUT HIS OWN WILL!!! If three separate persons had been involved in all this before the foundation you would have more than one will involved! Separate wills make separate persons. However these were only thoughts originating from one will Going through that ONE ETERNAL MIND of God. These were only his thoughts as to what should and should not be done — long before a moon, star or anything found its place. If more than one individual was in on this, there would certainly have had to be more than one will involved in this counseling, therefore Paul could never have said it was done through the counsel of his own will. Instead verse 11 would have to close by saying it was all done through the counsel of their own will, not his own will — his can never show a plurality, instead it is always singular!
COUNSELING WITH SELF SHOWS ONE MIND INVOLVED
These are the things we learn by, the revelation of the Holy Spirit as we see the counsel of his own will in operation. Sure it is a mystery until it is revealed, however, Paul said it was God’s good pleasure to reveal the mystery of his will. I must emphasize this because later we will touch on some passages which feed the trinitarian mind, especially over in Genesis once God prepares to create man. Therefore, let us get certain thoughts well planted in our minds as to how things actually stood before the foundation of the world, back at the time when God was counseling with himself or his own will as to what he and he alone would do and accomplish through his own thoughts in satisfying his own will whereas all of this was done, Paul says, for his own good pleasure. Nowhere in Paul’s writings could one believe when that counseling of God’s program actually went into effect, before the foundation of the world, there could possibly have been any second or third person involved in this great plan of his as he counseled with his own will about what to do and what steps to make. Sure there was counseling going on, however, it was not with some other person, only his own will was involved. Never through the stretch of the wildest imagination could you make the first person say to the second and third person, just how do you think we should do all this; don’t you think it should be done this way? The second person remarks to the third person, what do you think about it; does it meet with your approval; do you have any suggestions; are you in full agreement it should be done in this fashion? Comical, isn’t it? Paul declared there was only ONE WILL AND ONE MIND involved throughout in all these transactions of thought when God, counseled with his own will.
WHAT IS MEANT TO COUNSEL WITH ONE’S SELF?
What does it mean to counsel with one’s own will? God, counseling with himself, was no more than you, being one individual having only one mind, deciding to build a house, therefore you counsel with yourself as to the best procedure to follow in obtaining a loan, selecting a builder, etc. However, if you counsel with your mate in deciding the various steps to take, you could not say you as one person with one will had counseled with your own will, NO SIR! Even though you might be in perfect agreement on what should be done, you did not counsel with your own will, you counseled with another’s will. Therefore, say counseling with another individual who has their own separate will which every person must possess in order to be a person, you are not counseling with your own will as Paul declares God did before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:11) Therefore in this particular scriptural sense God is only one person and note, there is only one will involved, not two other wills as there would have to be before it could be another separate individual. God’s own will which was in his own mind produced these meditations and thoughts of what he would do and it was from his own fore-knowledge or from what he knew about time, matter, substance and most of all, man himself, although none of this would be in existence for a considerable length of time. The Eternal, knowing how mankind would have to make certain choices which would bring redemption in the picture knew exactly what he had to do in linking all of this plan together and then by counseling with himself or with his own foreknowledge he must then choose and ordain certain things in certain ways to work out and unfold itself within his own gracious and glorious plan for all things. We can see before the foundation of the world was ever laid, through this vast foreknowledge the Eternal Spirit, who at this period was not even called Father or God because he was only an Eternal Spirit being, abiding alone finished and completed this plan in his mind long before anything in reality ever took shape or was produced from the thoughts in his mind.
EPH. 1 REVEALS GOD’S BLUEPRINT
What was this eternal spiritual being doing in Eph. 1 as he counseled with himself? In his mind he was drawing up a blueprint how he would lay out all of this. Now this Holy Spirit didn’t need an indelible pencil or such objects as men use who draw up blue-prints. No, because the plan he alone though of was simply well placed there in his vast unlimited mind. Every minute detail had already been thought out and settled upon as he counseled with himself long before he began anything! Nothing could, by any means, later slip up on God which he had not expected causing him to change or alter his plan once he had decided exactly which course he was going to follow as he counseled, not with other persons involving other wills, but with his own will-in his own mind the work in every intricate detail was already finished before anything ever began! Once he did blow a star into space or hang a planet on nothing (Job 26:7) placing it in its own orbit, he was merely acting out what he had already previously chosen to do from all the counseling he did with himself, out of his own predestinated will. From all of this counseling God knows what and what not to do or expect in governing the entire plan to assure that nothing will ever go amiss or astray. Nothing could possibly by some unforseen chance throw this perfect plan off course causing God to be forced into making new decisions, thus forcing him to counsel with himself again at some later time. No sir, once that period of Ephesians 1 had passed, ever how long it may have taken from that hour on, nothing would ever catch the Almighty by surprise causing him to be forced to alter any original plan that might have been intended to be used had it not been for something that had gone wrong he had not seen or counted upon once the counseling with his own will was completed. Therefore everything dove-tails into this overall plan of God whereby when it is all summed up and we see it projected from an overall picture we better understand why Paul began his Ephesian letter primarily unto the Ephesian church starting it out by revelation saying in verse 3 - we are already elected and already chosen in him (Christ the 2nd Adam - to serve him as his bride companion or wife in the millennium age to come) before the foundation of the world had ever been spoken into existence. And furthermore through that great plan of redemption we might be reconciled back to the great Eternal Spirit who long before the beginning of anything had already counseled with himself (and not with others) as he alone knew all things. Therefore it is clear everything done was not done on the advice of someone else, instead was done through the counsel and pleasure of his own will!
THE ETERNAL DID NOT DESIRE TO BE ALONE
Being alone as well as being all powerful and full of all knowledge and capable of making his own decisions was not enough, he was not satisfied with just this, he was not a spiritual being who desired to always be alone, instead he was willing to share himself with something else and it is through that desire of his to share himself with something which brought about all this counseling with himself as what steps he should take in order to share himself or his life with something else which must also possess a will all of its own. Naturally as we witness time progress, the very things later to be created which would have separate wills from his own, although they would have a part of his life, would later cause rebellion; nevertheless it must be remembered none of this rebellion or what it would eventually lead to went unnoticed by him while counseling with his own will primarily deciding what steps to take and what advantage it would be to share himself with others who also must be given wills of their own.
Although Eph. 1 does not begin to tell us even a small portion of that which went through his great eternal mind as he counseled with himself, we are able to see that which was his good pleasure to reveal unto us the mysteries of his will (especially his decisions concerning redemption and what those decisions produced.) Once we have firmly established in our minds it was God’s good pleasure to share himself with something else we are ready to move on and discover what that something else was with which the Eternal first decided to share himself. Therefore we can plainly see Eph. 1 revealed to us the overall picture of the operation of that one great Eternal Spirit’s predestinated mind and how it was his own good pleasure to reveal unto us the mystery of his own will and desire to share himself with others.
PART 2
GENESIS 1 - GOD’S THOUGHTS MANIFESTED
Having this thought of what happened before the beginning of creation firmly planted in our minds, we are now prepared to approach Genesis, that book of the beginning, which shows all that God began to THINK and CREATE sometime after he had carefully thought it all out and knew where every step would lead. It is here in Gen. 1 we begin to observe God as he carefully carries out his magnificent plan, thought of by himself, and brought about to satisfy the pleasure of his own good will while counseling with himself as those meditations of his own thoughts were being fully expressed and exercised and his own decisions had reached as to what steps he should take in this plan. It is in that very first chapter of Genesis we begin to witness the results of God’s thoughts and decisions as they all take form through his spoken word, once he begins to speak things into existence. Therefore in Gen 1 and 2 we are seeing that blueprint which was earlier formed in his own mind begin to unfold and take shape. The structure of those holy thoughts shown in Eph. 1 began to come together as they take on a certain tangible form once matter, atoms and such substance have been spoken into existence.
ILLUSTRATIVE PHRASE - 1ST COR. 15
Now we are ready to watch this great plan of his begin to unfold. We can determine from Eph. 1 by the fact the word redemption as well as the blood of Christ is used before the foundation of the world that God’s mind had to be dwelling upon the two Adams, otherwise he would never have stated what he did concerning redemption for the human race. Therefore it is from Paul’s statement found in Romans 5 as well as 1st Cor. 15:21-22 where he declared all (the human race) WAS IN THIS ONE MAN ADAM.
We realize the world Adam, whether it be spelled ATOM — referring TO THE MINUTE INDIVISIBLE PARTICLES OF WHICH THE UNIVERSE IS COMPOSED or whether it be spelled ADAM — MEANING THE FIRST MAN ON EARTH — Adam means the beginning of something!
And if our natural man Adam who was first composed of dirt which is nothing more than a combination of atoms and structural substances became a living soul (1st Cor. 15:45) and is the beginning of something, this lets me know Christ who is referred to as the second Adam who was made a quickening spirit, the Lord of Glory Himself, is also the beginning of something!
The scripture declares the second Adam, the Lord of Glory, 1st Cor. 15:45 was also the beginning of something, does it now, and strictly from the standpoint of redemption we were all in him (1st Cor. 15:20-22). However from the creation standpoint we were all in the First Adam and we want to watch closely to see how all this will follow true to pattern once we touch on the Second Adam the Lord of Glory Himself.
GEN. 1:1, GOD HAD ALREADY BEGUN SHARING HIMSELF WITH OTHERS
It is here in Genesis we first see all of these perfect creative laws of God begin to go into operation to bring about all these things of which he had thought while counseling with himself. Gen. 1:2 speaks of a time period after THE BEGINNING where in God had already created the heavens and earth. However in verse 2, he looked upon what the scripture called the deep which is space itself being held together by atoms which God had before created, but something has happened! Here, in Gen. 1:1 this eternal spiritual being is called God — God means an object of worship and here in verse 1 was something to worship him! However, in that period of time before the beginning, spoken of by revelation in Eph. 1, there was nothing back there to worship him!! At a much later time referred to as the beginning where God did begin certain things (Gen. 1:1) he has already begun to share himself with others. Before Gen. 1:1 he has already created himself a great host of angelic beings (Heb. 1:6), who also are immortal spirit beings (Hebrew 1:7) like unto himself, even possessing separate wills of their own — separate from the will of the Eternal One. One scripture should be sufficient to substantiate this thought. Recall when God asked Job the question, “Where were you when the sons of God shouted for joy as I laid out the foundations of the earth, Job 38:4-7. However in Gen. 1:1 in the beginning of time he, the Eternal One, as God makes heaven and earth. Before that time God had already created his angelic host to fellowship and assist him with his creation.
EARTH, GOD’S TESTING GROUND
Earth for some reason seems to be the one planet in the universe God used for his workshop where he tests that which he purposes to use in ages to come for obedience unto his great will and purpose. We are not interested in this article about what this earth was used for before God cleared it away prior to man’s coming to be tested and tried, in Gen. 3. We have an article entitled THE TESTING AND FALL OF SATAN or WHEN TIME BEGAN showing how Satan became a murderer in another previous age. One thing is sure, when time came for man’s testing toward his desire to obey his Eternal Creator, Lucifer one of the arch angels had already become the devil having led a rebellion against Almighty God and he, along with a great host of angelic beings, had already fallen from the good grace of God — this testing and fall had to be at some previous time prior to man’s testing.
Therefore the book of Genesis is primarily interested in teaching us about that period of time which revolves strictly around the creation of man and not the creation of angelic beings who were first tested, although 14 books of the Old Testament mention those who undoubtedly were the first form of life God ever created with which to have fellowship. Henceforth, when we read in Genesis how God brought forth light and that light because day, it is not speaking of some hour or period of time in which God was testing his angelic family whom he had first created.
VERSE 2 BEGINS RESHAPING PLANET FOR ANOTHER USE
Oh, No, after verse 1 all this scripture deals strictly with the new area of time surrounding the preparation of bringing a new rulership upon the earth, that rulership is called man! We are told the light divided form the darkness because day while the darkness He referred to as night. This is the beginning of His first creative day. Preparing the planet earth for his new program affecting mankind is illustrated further by the fact God chose to use seven creative days to illustrate how this plan for mankind would require a period of time composed of no less than 6000 years in which man would be dealt with and the one day in which God rested being the seventh day, represents 1000 years of reign by God’s new creation which he called his second Adam, the Lord of Glory and his bride. The first 6000 years days would be composed of heartaches brought about by the disobedience of the first Adam. By no means are these creative days (which represents God’s dealing with man as God was preparing the earth for his new rulership called man who like the angels had also been created in the image of God; to be associated with Gen. 1:1 which plainly states in the beginning God had already perfectly prepared (formed, fashioned, created) the heavens and the earth. These following verses in Chapter 1 do not give description as to how the heavens and earth were first formed in verse 1. We won’t go into that, but God had already accomplished his purpose fully by his angelic family somewhere in verse 1. That purpose we believe the earth was first used for, as we feel the scriptures bears out, was a place to test the obedience of his angelic family, However, in verse 2 etc., it then begins speaking of reshaping this old planet earth into a different atmosphere for its new ownership to begin to rule and reign. We note this new ruler called man was first created a spiritual being possessing both the attributes of male and female and their name already called Adam. Gen. 1:27, 5:1. Adam, as they are called, is commissioned to multiply and replenish the earth long before they are placed in the earth.
Replenish or refill definitely shows before mankind was brought into being, this earth had already been used for something else, else, why would Adam be commissioned in the spirit world in the day they were created to multiply and REFILL AND REPLENISH the earth. The same commission was handed also unto Noah and his three sons after the flood when all mankind had drowned. God commissioned them to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 9:1)! Although every detail may not be available, this aged earth seems to serve as a testing ground for whatever headship to be in God’s program. Earth is the place used for whatever form of life God may be testing, whether it be the angelic host or mankind who was tested through the first Adam or whether it serv as the testing ground for the second Adam Christ, who is also the beginning of a new creation. (Matt. 4:1-11).
7 CREATIVE DAYS APPLY TO MAN
Therefore, in preparing things for the coming of this new ruler, man, the First Adam — God uses his first creative day to divide light from darkness; the second creative day used in this plan to divide the fragments from the waters to allow the firmament (expansion of sky etc.) to separate the waters from below, from the waters above (verse 6). For the third day’s work preparing everything for man we are told beginning with verse 10 that dry land called earth was commanded to appear and the accumulated waters on the earth to be called seas. Furthermore God said let the earth put forth tender vegetation, plants yielding seed and the fruit trees yielding fruit each according to its own kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth and it was so. And as always God saw it was good and as with each day’s work he approved it. Later, in studying Chap. 2 we find although God had spoken these things in the six creative days, it will be some time before these things actually begin appearing on the earth!
For his fourth day’s work God begins to bring in seasons, time, days years etc. For the new environment of earth he says let there be lights within the expanse of the sky to furnish light upon the earth. Therefore on the fourth creative day he made the two lights, the greater light he made to rule the day he called the sun and the lesser light to rule the night he called the moon. On this creative day was also made the stars and verse 17 says, and God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, this finished the fourth day.
5TH CREATIVE DAY AND LIVING CREATURES
The fifth day was composed of creating living creatures to be brought forth in the waters. Furthermore, the spoken word said let birds fly over the earth in the open expansion of heaven. Also he created great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, every winged bird according to its kind. And God blessed them saying be fruitful, multiply and fill the waters of the sea. Let the fowls multiply in the earth. (Note, every command to replenish through multiplying was given in the spirit world before one thing was ever placed here on earth. And with the evening and the morning the fifth day was finished.
CREATED EVERYTHING YET PLACED NOTHING ON EARTH - GEN. 2:4-5
Now I would like to stop right here with the completion of the fifth creative day to reestablish something - it appears from all we have read in Chapter 1 (and will read) concerning plant life, living creature, man etc., that as God was speaking all of this into existence right here upon the earth and the earth became filled immediately with all of these things as their being commissioned to be fruitful and multiply etc. However, THAT IS NOT TRUE! It must be noted and will clearly be seen once God creates man in his own image and likeness on the sixth creative day according to Gen 1:26-27, that he will create him male and female and call their name Adam - WHERE? Not here upon this earth! ALL OF THIS INCLUDING SPIRIT MAN WAS SPOKEN INTO EXISTENCE SOME WHERE IN THAT SPIRIT WORLD AS ANGELS STOOD BY LONG BEFORE ANYTHING WAS EVER PLACED UPON THE EARTH.
To bear this out, we note in Moses’ writings, Gen 2:4 it says, this is the generation (or history) of the heavens and the earth when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the heavens and the earth. Now get this statement! Verse 5 clarifies it by saying — And every plant of the field before it was in the earth and every herb of the field before it grew (yet in Chapter 1 he had already created all this) (see also Gen. 2:1) and the Lord God had not (yet) caused it to rain upon the earth and there was no man to till the ground. Dropping back into Chapter 1 we see in six creative days all plant and animal life and even male and female life had already been created and CREATION IS COMPLETED. God, has even rested one day! However, AT THIS POINT NOTHING HAD BEEN PLACED IN THE EARTH AND WILL NOT BE UNTIL SOMETIME AFTER GOD RESTS ON HIS SEVENTH DAY!
Therefore, it should be noted that Gen. 1 is revealing what the Almighty’s thoughts were which now are being spoken and which he thought before time began when he was counseling with himself as recorded in Eph. 1. Here in Gen. 1 we are simply beginning to hear those thoughts begin to be spoken. All these things were first spoken into existence to be later placed upon the earth sometime after the six creative days are over!
This brings us to how man has divided the recording of Gen. 2, for it is in Gen. 2 we see God acting upon that which was spoken in Chapter 1 and placing it upon this earth, all his living thoughts in Gen. 1 as well as Eph. 1 had created or produced.
CREATION BY THE SPOKEN WORD
In Psalms 33:4-9 we are told the Word of the Lord is right and all of his work is done in faithfulness, and the planet earth is full of the loving kindness of the Lord. By the (spoken) Word of the Lord. (Naturally before the word became spoken in Gen. 1, God’s words were merely his thoughts and attributes during that unusual period of time making up Eph. 1.) By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their hosts by the breath of his mouth; he gathers the waters of the sea as in a bottle and puts the deeps in storage places. Let all the earth fear the Lord – reverence and worship him; let all the inhabitants of the world stand and awe at him for he spoke (in Gen. 1 what his thoughts had decided upon recorded in Eph. 1) and it was done, he commanded and it stood fast. Therefore out of Psalms 33 no honest hearted person could see the working of three persons in creation, for it was through the thoughts of that One Eternal Spirit in Eph. 1 we see his thoughts becoming expressed into words of creative life once God spoke and created everything from the breath of his (one) mouth.
Therefore if any others assisted in the creation of anything we must take knowledge that not only did they have to work through his thoughts, but also they had to borrow his mouth to speak whatever had been thought!
Continuing on in line with our thought how all this in Gen. 1 had been created including man, although none of it yet was placed in the earth to begin their functions according to their reproductive laws of God which governs the growth of flesh species (let everything bear after its own kind) until sometime after those six creative days. According to Gen. 2:4 God said, these are the generations (or period of time) of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day the Lord God made the earth and the heavens and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For God had not caused it to rain on the earth. Furthermore Gen. 2:5 declares as yet there was no man to till the ground although spirit man, male as well as female, had been created in God’s image during the sixth creative day when God decided to make mankind in his own image and after his own likeness. Verse 27 says, let them have dominion and authority over the fish, birds and the beasts (all of which were tame) as well as everything that creeps upon the earth.
SPIRIT MAN CREATED AND COMMISSIONED IN SPIRIT WORLD
Man, first of all was created on that sixth creative day as a spirit being and there in the spirit world was placed over all creation and received his own commission to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over all that God had spoken in verse 26, long before it was spoken in Gen. 2:5, there was not a man (on earth) to till the ground. Furthermore, according to verse 29 man also knew what he could and could not eat.
Sometimes these two chapters become confusing as most people want to think that a few verses in Chapter 2 only clarifies Chapter 1, NOT SO!! The confusion stems mainly because of where and how these chapter divisions are placed by men. Man himself placed those divisions for Chapters as Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 etc. Remember when Moses, as well as any writer in scripture wrote under the inspiration, they never once wrote in chapter form. NO! Instead they wrote in a continual flow of thought. Chapter headings, divisions, breaks etc., in the scripture was placed by man as late as the 12th and 15th century by Cardinal Caro and Roberts Stephens.
MOSES WROTE IN CONTINUITY OF THOUGHT
Notice if you will as Moses wrote the Book of Genesis, for instance the creation story, it is all written as a continued story. The scripture as marked off by man for Chapter 2 has broken the line of thought! When you break into Chapter 2 where these men did, they cut off Chapter 1 with the completion of the sixth day, leaving out the 7th day to begin Chapter 2. Had they permitted their break to come in between what is verse 3 - 4, allowing verses 1, 2 and 3 to be placed with Chapter 1, you would then have had the completion of the work in the six creative days as well as the rest day of God in one chapter. After all, the seventh day makes up the completion of that one week of creation. Therefore, chapter 2 would have begun as Moses’ thought had taken on a new angle. Had he been the one dividing the chapters he probably would have started Chapter 2 where verse 4 is and Chapter 2 would have produced a somewhat different slant in our thinking.
Moses no doubt would have started Chapter 2 by saying, these are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created and in the day the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Generations in verse 4 does not refer to generations as we think of them today, between 28 - 40 years, on the contrary, generations simply means whatever period of time God used in (six) creative days. Note verse 5 places emphasis on everything being made long before it was placed in earth — and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, every herb of the field before it grew. God says in verse 4, these are the generations he made these things before they were placed in the earth. Therefore all of the creation in Gen. 1 was first spoken into being there in the spirit world in their various generations before ever being placed on the earth. On the earth (after the seven creative days) there had been no rain nor was there any man to till the ground, a mist came up from the earth to water the whole face of the ground. That is true, the earth was being watered, but there was no human being called man as yet to till the ground, although long ago on the sixth creative day there had been a spirit man created according to Gen. 1:26-27. Furthermore, that spirit man had already received his commission — when he was placed in the earth he was to multiply and replenish the earth. In that generation or period of time before anything was actually placed upon this previously created earth, God had already made spirit man in his own image and, LISTEN TO THIS, had created him male and female. Gen. 5:1 states that in the day God created man in his likeness, God made he him, male and female created he them and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day they were created. This cannot be applied to Gen. 2:7 where it had previously been stated there was no man on earth to till the earth. Now watch, after this then the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, WHEN? Sometime after seven creative days passed, and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life (which long ago had been created as male and female somewhere in the spirit world.)
CREATED MAN BECAME LIVING SOUL
Now for the first time man becomes a living soul (1st Cor. 15:45-49). Yet recall, he was still male and female in one body. However, as long as the two remain in one body, called man, they cannot fulfill their commission to multiply and replenish the earth, can they!
I realize most people have been taught that Chapter 2 of Genesis is a repeat of Chapter 1, simply bringing out more in detail what actually happened in Chapter 1, yet scripture will not bear this out! These are entirely two different chapters, one following the other in thought and as Moses write it he was simply writing a continuation of thought down into the second chapter. Therefore in Gen. 1 as well as Eph. 1 we have seen him counsel with his thoughts first. Those thoughts now become positive, and in that spirit world he begins to create things, while in Gen. 2 we see God acting upon all that which he spoke into existence in the spirit world, God will now act upon bringing it into the position in which he had originally created it when using six creative days. Gen. 2:7 as it is recorded since man was broken up Moses’ thought, shows sometime after those seven creative days are finished God now formed human man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life or breathed into him that which he had previously created on the sixth day consisting of both male and female attributes, called spirit man, Gen. 1:26-27!! Although man became a living soul it is still going to be much later before we will see God divide man, taking out of him all the feminine attributes which had long ago been placed in him.
Naturally the commission to multiply and replenish the earth could not take place until after the separation of the feminine attribute which was placed in spirit man and would be given a separate body then we shall see why OUT OF HIS SIDE HE TOOK EVE! The day she was separated from him and given a beautiful human body in which to live was not the beginning of her existence, BY NO MEANS!
TO WHOM WAS GOD SPEAKING ON 6TH DAY
For a moment let us turn back to the sixth creative day when God made spirit man, male and female, because it is here people get off track thinking because God stated in Gen. 1:26, let us make man in our image after our likeness, that God was actually speaking unto two other separate persons within the Godhead, namely the Son and Holy Ghost (which are actually two offices of this one Eternal God). And that he is saying unto the two other persons of the Godhead, let us make man in our image and after our likeness. However we recognize in Eph. 1, long before this time could ever elapse Paul had always spoken of God in the masculine and singular term declaring he had counseled with his own will! One thing is certain, God cannot contradict himself and Paul had clearly stated he had not counseled with anyone other than his own will, yet in Genesis we discover Moses saying, when God was ready to make man on the sixth creative day - let us make man in our image — Who is this us he refers to? Remember it is not possible for one true prophet to contradict that which another true prophet has spoken. What Moses wrote did by no means cause him to become a trinitarian nor did it cause anyone else until long after the birth of Christ to ever try and use this phrase to clinch the fact of God being three separate persons. By no means is the trinity of persons as recorded by the Council of Nicea a Jewish teaching, instead it is a gentile teaching. Some even mistakenly think it is a Bible teaching, IT IS NOT! It is strictly an unscriptural gentile explanation of what he, not the Jew, believes God to be. Yet we can’t ignore the fact God was talking to someone other than himself on that sixth creative day. Who was Moses referring to when he made the statement, let us make man in our image and after our likeness? Is Moses who is a Jew, contradicting Paul who is also a Jew? Absolutely Not!!
Let’s explore this further to see if we can find out who God is actually addressing, using a plurality phrase. Since no word of a true prophet of God can contradict another, we must catch the thought in which this particular thought is being used to convey a certain meaning unto the natural mind found in Gen. 1:26 which is in this plurality. You will have to agree with me on down the line from Moses, Paul the gentile apostle, writing in Eph. 1 is reaching farther back into a period than anything recorded in Gen. 1!! Because in Gen. 1:1 it says, in the beginning God, however Eph. 1 reaching much farther into the past than any mere beginning! It reaches back farther than even before the foundation of the world; long before God ever began to speak anything into existence in the spirit world. Eph. 1 reaches back into the era of time when he would not even rightly have been called God, because as stated, God means an object of worship and Eph. 1 is so far back before time there was not anything present to worship and adore him as God. There he was the only Eternal Spirit turning thoughts over in his mind, counseling with himself as to what he would do, how he would perform it and bring what is recorded in Gen. 1 into existence. God did everything according to his own will and his own good pleasure and never once did Paul to the Ephesian church express God in any plurality sense. And only sometime after all this counseling went on in his mind and it was settled in his mind through his own counseling what he would do, do we ever begin to see Gen. 1 even begin to come into focus as God will not begin to speak his great plan which he and he alone thought of recorded in Gen. 1, placing it into motion. Yes Moses, writing his books, chose to use the phrase US AND OUR to convey his thought in Gen. 1:26. What is this plurality phrasing all about?
INNUMERABLE HOST OF SPIRITS CALLED ANGELS
Who is God speaking unto saying they should make man in their image? He was not speaking unto two or three others – NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT – but perhaps a great innumerable host of other spirits (Heb. 12:22) called angels which he had previously created to assist him in carrying out all of his thoughts with which he had counseled. Angels are powerful (Psm. 103:20) intelligent (1st Pet. 1:12) and active (Matt. 26:63). They are ministering spirits (Heb. 1:7). Their titles indicate they are different ranks, thrones dominion and power. They wait upon God in praise, worship and service both in heaven and on earth (Heb. 1:14). Some of this host were sent to announce and welcome the Redeemer (Lk. 2:13, Heb. 1:6). Rev. 5:11-12 alone speaks of one hundred million of these worshiping in one place. Angels assigned to watch over mankind (Psm. 91:11) excel in strength (Psm. 103:20) and can fly swiftly (Dan. 11:21) and even wait to do the command and bidding of the almighty God. And since they were spirit beings, it was a spirit being God was creating in Gen. 1:26-27, giving him charge over the earth. These beings are seen in scripture accompanying God in every task he performs. Why would we think it strange for him to be discussing anything with them? Whenever we see God ready to do anything that affects mankind, angels are always present. They, along with man, are created spirit beings.
GOD BREATHES INTO DUST THAT WHICH WAS CREATED ON 6TH DAY
Watch closely in Chap. 1 God has now spoken his thoughts of Eph. 1 into existence. Chap. 2 shows God is going to act further upon that which he had previously spoken into existence, placing it into its rightful position. Recall v. 5 stated there is not a man to till the earth, therefore let us watch God as he begins to act upon what he has already created — spirit man who is still male and female. In Gen. 2:7 it says, “God formed man out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” WHAT IS GOD DOING? Some time after his seventh creative day, God took some plain ordinary dirt from the crust of the earth, formed and fashioned it, then breathed into it the breath of life and it began to walk around. Flesh man or human mankind began from just plain old ordinary dirt of the earth! “God formed MAN out of the dust of the ground,” meaning he formed the component parts of his body. We must realize that man is more than just a physical earthly tangible substance, composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which are the three major basic elements of natural creation. Carbon to give the flesh life, Hydrogen nor oxygen gives the flesh life. The life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:4), “BUT THE LIFE OF THE BLOOD IS IN THE SPIRIT”. The spirit of life dwells in the blood and if the blood is in the flesh then to fulfill the scripture, the life of all flesh is in the blood thereof, but the moment you separate the spirit from the blood you will no longer have the flesh IN A LIVING FORM, yet though it is still visible to the eye it is then in a state of readiness to return again unto the three basic elements it first was before coming out of the earth.
BREATH OF LIFE
God formed earthly man out of the dust of the earth breathing into his nostrils the BREATH OF LIFE. Breath of life, means God, who is spirit, can breath into the inner man (Called the spirit man which was made in the image of God himself). For God is spirit and man is a direct offspring of God, made in the very image of this spirit being, called God. As God BREATHED into the natural earthly vessel of clay, He actually breathed into him that inner man, but the human mind fails to see such an operation. They picture this dramatic scene as God picking up this vessel of clay. To them God is also something that is incorporated in flesh. The natural mind pictures it as some one giving ARTIFICIAL RESPIRATION, breathing into man breath which goes into his lungs. That is not the picture at all found here, but to convey the thought to us there has to be some form of speech. God breathed into him (into his nostrils, the breath of life) it is true that man breathes breath into his lungs, but we must realize from this statement IT WAS far more than mere breath going into man’s lungs. For at that moment God placed within the vessel of flesh that SPIRIT MAN, those lungs started pumping air and man automatically began to breath.
As God took this piece of clay or dirt and began to fashion it into a vessel or tabernacle, look what he places into it! God breathes into this earthen vessel the breath of (spirit) life. GET THIS! This spirit life breathed into that dirt which he had fashioned was that spirit being man (male and female) that he had made back in Chap. 1:26-27. No longer is God saying, let there be such and such, because now we see him acting upon that which he had already spoken into existence.
Scripture says there wasn’t a man to till the earth therefore God took some dirt and began to form something and when he finished forming his object which he gave two arms, two legs, head, etc. he breathed into that which he had formed THAT SPIRIT BEING HE HAD ALREADY CREATED IN CHAP. 1:27. This creature, man, now became conscious of his earthly surroundings as his soul becomes active. Notice, first God took nothing and made himself some dirt or earth. Later he used that dirt and made human flesh and called him a human being or man and because man fell bringing in the death penalty, one day God will take that same corruptible flesh body and whether it be dead or alive will make something immortal out of it!
SECOND ADAM AND BRIDE
My main thought here stems from the physical or natural standpoint how we (including Eve) were all in the first Adam therefore if we were all in the first Adam, then the Bride of Christ was also in the second Adam — LONG BEFORE HE BECAME A FLESH MAN ALSO! Yes, as far as our natural existence is concerned we were in the first Adam. However along the way man got out of relationship with God and man had to be redeemed. However note, God was fully aware of all this long before there ever appeared a blade of grass or anything. God had already foresaw the day there must come a God-man who would himself be called the second Adam, who would be the Lord of Glory himself not to be a pre-generator, as was the first Adam, but instead a regenerator, a redeemer. Therefore if you can now begin to form a picture of the two Adams and their brides (wives), you will see it balance perfectly – if we were in the first Adam for our natural existence long before man was ever placed on this earth, then we were also in Christ the second Adam for our spiritual existence long before we were born again! (Eph. 1:3) Reproduction was in the first Adam while regeneration is in the second Adam, Christ. However, note whether you be lost or saved, reproduction had to all be in the first Adam, but the beautiful part of it all is — ONLY THOSE WHO HAVE ACCEPTED CHRIST COULD POSSIBLY HAVE BEEN IN THE SECOND ADAM, therefore through predestination the Almighty knew who would and who wouldn’t accept him. He knows who is and since he knows who is, no wonder the Apostle Paul could say we were chosen in him, predestined in him’ – (Christ the Second Adam) – WHEN? BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD!! AMEN!!
GOD FORESHADOWS REDEMPTION
Let us take a closer look at this first Adam. Recall, he is the very beginning of something, isn’t he? In Gen. 2:5-6 he is one man walking around. But where is Eve? IN HIM! This is important — WHERE IS EVE, HIS BRIDE OR WIFE TO BE — IN HIM! How many lives do we have walking around? ONLY ONE! How many hearts do we have in this one vessel of clay? ONLY ONE! Notice this, Adam doesn’t act one day like a man and the next day like a woman! In him is expressed fully all the attributes of masculinity. Always remember, God didn’t begin with one thing in mind in Gen. 1:27 as he commissioned man (them) to be fruitful and multiply only to be forced later because of certain circumstances which developed in the garden to change his mind like some believe. GOD DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY! Nothing slips up on him! Some people read the book of Genesis so childish. It would appear foolish to think God made only one person and then one day suddenly realize he couldn’t leave man there all by himself saying, I had better find someone to keep him company and console him when he feels tired and weary. OH, NO! God isn’t doing any such thing. Recall where Eve has been all this time — IN ADAM! The Almighty is going to do something far more than simply produce Adam a wife, God was setting something in motion, GOD WAS FORESHADOWING HIS ENTIRE PLAN OF REDEMPTION WHICH WOULD COME THROUGH THE SECOND ADAM!
PART 3
GEN. 2, GOD ACTS UPON CREATIVE THOUGHTS
Therefore Chap. 2 shows God as he acted for the first time in creating this vessel of clay and breathing into that vessel life or the spirit man Adam who, as you recall, already had within his spirit the feminine qualities which would later become fleshly woman. I remind you, Adam in every respect was masculine. Although the two are in this one body you don’t see any femininity creeping up over the masculine character. God has now acted yet he brought only one vessel of clay into existence — THIS VESSEL HAS ONLY ONE HEART, ONE WILL AND ONE MIND. Furthermore, it can make only one decision. Man’s thought couldn’t go in a dozen different direction, acting or talking one day like man and then the next day like woman. Yet today on this earth we do see men acting like women although physically they are men. This definitely lets me know there are evil spirits getting into the picture, disrupting, distorting and perverting the entire realm of mankind. Although there lay within Adam all this time those feminine characteristics, Adam always acted and conducted himself like a man who had been made in the image of God and placed in a human vessel of clay to have earthly dominion.
Keep in mind in Gen. 1:27 Almighty God had previously addressed both of those spiritual beings (male and female) long before that spiritual being was ever placed in an earthly tabernacle! When God said, “Let them (not him) have dominion over the beasts of the fields and over the cattle and over all creeping things that are thereon —“ Oh yes, those feminine characteristics were lying right there in that spirit being man long before he ever took on his physical tabernacle.
GARDEN OF EDEN OR PARADISE
The Lord God now has himself a man, but what will he do with this creature called man; where will he place him? “And the Lord God planted a garden eastward –“ Now notice, the earth has begun to grow grass although in Gen. 2:4 there hasn’t a single blade of grass grown on earth. Nevertheless I believe in that old earth lay every little seed and all it needed was for that spoken thought of God to become active and the earth would begin to sprout blades of grass, trees etc.. Notice this garden spot which God planted eastward certainly wasn’t some little garden spot in God’s backyard consisting of a stone fence and iron gate etc.. Oh, no, this garden area, the scripture says, had a river running through it which contained four heads and those four rivers are all known to be in the middle east. Geographically, its location was some giant territory in the Middle East. Neither was the Garden of Eden surrounded by some stone gate posts and an iron picket fence. The fence placed around it was none other than God’s holy presence. Yes, this garden was more than a place in someone’s backyard, it was God’s backyard, and God walked and talked and lived in this garden.
EVERYTHING COMMISSIONED TO BEAR AFTER ITS KIND
“And the Lord God now begins to plant a garden eastward and placed the man which he had formed –“. So far the man bodily is only one singular creature. Now we notice out of the ground also made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, good for food! However recall back to Gen. 1: God’s spoken Word had already said for the earth to bring forth every kind of herb and tree after its kind, although it didn’t appear on earth momentarily, did it? Gen. 1 reveals the role of God’s spoken Word in creation however it is not until Chap. 2 do we begin to see the Spirit of God act upon what was spoken in Gen. 1. God could think and speak a thing centuries ago, however that doesn’t mean it to be accomplished momentarily. True, in the mind of God it is accomplished the moment he thought it, yet God may not act upon it until perhaps a million years later. Nevertheless, once he has spoken it, he will certainly watch over that which his word has spoken to see at whatever time he decides upon, it is performed – somewhere at some time he will bring it about. Remember, God is not involved with such a thing as time. The God who lived and spoke in yesterday is exactly the same God of today – HE IS NOT INVOLVED IN TIME. Therefore whenever the Spirit decides to act upon whatever his spoken word had declared, it would seem only as moments whenever he takes it and acts upon it. Therefore we now see it was God’s plan for the herb to bring forth more herb, for every living creature to bear after its kind, etc, (he made them male and female.) Man was also created male and female yet at this time man was still only one creature although he has received a commission to multiply. And now while these two are still one, or in the same one body, shall we say, (both male and female characteristics), it is here for the first time we hear the Lord God mention unto Adam (the two of them) anything involving the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil or the Tree of Life.
TWO TREES NOT COMMISSIONED TO BEAR AFTER THEIR KIND
A word to you who still think these two trees were some fruit bearing trees – recall, back in Gen. 1 God had mentioned nothing about the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life or that they should reproduce themselves, when he said let the earth bring forth of every herb bearing seed after its kind. If they were natural fruit trees they would also have to reproduce themselves after their kind! In other words, somewhere there would have continued to be a tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. Nevertheless, as he does begin to express, act or bring forth all this, man is already well situated to begin his habitation within that Edenic environment. Now it is here we begin to hear God say to Adam, every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, you may eat of it – his physical existence or his survival would depend upon the fruit of the trees. This didn’t mean, however, man had to eat to live or he would starve. It simply reveals God in designing man had so designed him to be able to eat or consume food. I’m glad God made man to do something as well as be something. Although he did make us to eat, he never made us to become gluttons, did he? The beauty of it is God made man to be and do something, not merely to exist as a myth or to float around. In other words, it is not mind over matter (some Christian Science theory.) What an unscriptural theory! If it were like that we would all be made up of mind. That theory is, I don’t actually exist, I only think I do. WHAT NONSENSE! Perhaps that is the way many of those people think, but I believe I exist and I believe part of me is also matter.
DESIGNED TO EAT
Yes, God has stated here that man could eat of the trees which were good and pleasant to the eyes and good for food however now he speaks of two trees that stood in the midst of the garden, one called the tree of life and the other the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Again I ask yo, where was Eve? STILL IN ADAM. Eve is in this body which has only one mind and one heart. Recall as yet Adam had not sinned. Only one person is walking around. Adam receives the commission how he is to eat of only certain vegetation and herbs, Gen. 2:15-17.
A VEGETARIAN UNTIL THE FLOOD
To human mankind God had said, every tree bearing fruit is given to you for meat (meat here doesn’t mean beef, pork and such) because up until the flood man’s dietary law made him strictly a vegetarian, Gen. 1:30. Something drastic happened to man’s genetic makeup causing this law to be changed after the flood! Later we shall study what it was. Man ate no meat until after the flood, his appetite was completely content as a vegetarian, though later something happened causing him to become a meat eater also, Gen. 9:3. People today have twisted that going back to the original Eden saying see we are just not supposed to eat meat. Just remember once God changed a certain law He has a very good reason and no one has any authority to turn that law around once God sets it in motion.
EVE IN ADAM WHEN COMMISSIONED WHAT NOT TO EAT
Continuing on we read, “And the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till and keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest eat freely”. See the Almighty reaffirms it to Adam! WHERE IS EVE WHILE ALL THIS IS GOING ON? STILL IN ADAM! After carefully informing Adam the trees in the garden which he could freely eat, God now turns his attention to two other trees which he calls by name, one being the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil - death was connected with this tree. “But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” RECALL, EVE IS STILL IN ADAM! How many persons walking around in that Garden at this hour? ONLY ONE PERSON! You may eat of this and that God tells Adam but the day that you eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall surely die! This lets me know every commission, all instructions were laying right there in this first Adam, the one man with only one mind and one heart in his bosom even though these feminine attributes are in him long before there were ever two separate persons in the garden. What was Adam after he was spoken into existence in Gen. 1:26? A SPIRIT BEING! However, when God acted in Chap. 2 upon what he had already created in Chap. 1, Adam became matter, something tangible. Therefore we have seen God act. God placed within Adam every law concerning plant life, animal life and yes, that of his own natural existence. Think of that! All this was in the first Adam - one creature, the Son of God, the authority of God, the knowledge of God and within him was already placed the commission to be something to this earth, God placed his creation in such a beautiful place, EDEN, to till and dress it.
EVE PREFIGURES BRIDE OF CHRIST
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Where is Eve — IN HIM!) I keep reminding you of this to show you it foreshadows something Great – as the second Adam (Christ) hung on the cross we (his wife) the redeemed according to Eph. 1 were in him!! Christ the second Adam was the very beginning of God’s plan for a new creation. Think of it! God’s commission to multiply and replenish the earth still lay right there in Adam’s spirit as he was being shown of what to eat or partake. That commission was already instilled in Adam although at the moment he is helpless to carry it out because – WHERE WAS EVE ALL THIS TIME? STILL IN HIM! Yet we are only able to see one person, right? Oh, beloved, there is something beautiful represented here. Watch as the second Adam, the Lord of Glory, hung on the cross, he too was the very beginning of something wasn’t he? Christ was the very expressed mind (the Word) of God (now) made flesh (John 1:11-12) but for what purpose? Not to pre-generate through birth another race of human beings, oh no! That natural law cycle of human birth or life which Almighty God had made and instilled within the first Adam while he was both male and female was still going strong when the second Adam arrived, was it not?
SECOND ADAM BRINGS NEWBIRTH – ETERNAL LIFE
Yet on Calvary hung God’s Law of love – for another purpose, for another birth – THAT OF THE NEW BIRTH (JOHN 3:3) OR REGENERATION. Christ the second Adam who was made a quickening Spirit was to be the beginning of a new creation which must come about also through a new birth. Through this second Adam, God was reconciling his lost creation of mankind back to himself by another birth! Get this, the second Adam’s wife to be (Rev. 19), this regenerated born again believer, was laying right there in him (Christ) through the foreknowledge of God all the time! (Eph. 1:3) Same as the first Adam’s wife to be was already in him!
TWO TREES IN EDEN WHAT WERE THEY?
What were these two mysterious trees found in the midst of the Garden, Gen. 2:9, where if one was eaten would bring forth death to mankind while the other would give life eternal? Without any revelation on the subject the religious world has looked upon the subject only to say, well, since it plainly says trees and since they know of no other trees than plant life automatically in their thinking they accept Gen. 2:9 to simply be two fruit-bearing trees of some kind of plant life, loaded with delicious fruit – one of which if eaten brings forth life, the other brings forth death. But what kind of fruit tree would bring forth death, then again, what kind of fruit tree do you know would bring forth life? Somehow in their minds the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil has turned out to be an apple or one of some other fruit-bearing nature. As I have stated in previous messages we will have to face the fact whatever kind of trees these two trees are in the midst of the Garden, both will have to be of like structure, that is, if one is plant life then both would have to be plant life! Therefore, if death and sin entered the human race, polluting the blood stream through the eating of some form of plant life, then redemption must also come by eating from plant life and beloved what natural fruit tree of plant life do you know can give you eternal life – There is none!!
Our Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden where he placed the man whom He had formed out of the earth. The Lord God caused every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight. The Oak, Poplar, Ash, Sycamore, Peach, Orange, Fig, Grapefruit, Date tree and all other trees that are on the earth today. In that garden was this whole thing in its original beginning, also each tree was good for food. Notice Gen. 2:9, this sentence is definitely separated from the continuity. READ THIS CAREFULLY, “The Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” - Now that thought is ended and closes with a period.
NEW THOUGHT - watch it - here comes another thought or statement within the same sentence, “THE TREE OF LIFE ALSO IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN AND THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.”
PECULIAR FRUIT
This means that in the midst of all of this natural vegetative life which was made up of many trees of all shapes and sizes, all having ability to bear fruit - right in the midst of all this, God had placed TWO OTHER TREES, is that understood? One tree was the tree of life, the other tree referred to was the tree of knowledge of good and evil - But notice carefully, BOTH OF THESE TREES STOOD IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN. If you are going to literalize these two trees and consider them to be of the same basic tangible substance as were all the other plant life there, such as the Oak, Chestnut, Hickory nut, Sycamore, Fir, Peach, Apple, Orange, Grapefruit, Banana and any other type of vegetative tree, ALL OF WHICH HAD TO BE THERE, FOR EDEN IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS, would it not be strange to think these two trees, (the tree of life, and the tree of good and evil, which is knowledge), which were in that original garden, were both trees of plant life? Note the peculiar fruit found on these two trees. As long as man ate from the tree of life HE COULD LIVE FOREVER. Would it not be strange to say that SOMEWHERE THERE WAS A NATURAL BASIC FOOD THAT WAS DESTINED TO GIVE man eternal life? Furthermore, if the tree of life had been a natural tree then we must also assume that this tree of knowledge which enables man to discern or to obtain knowledge of the right from wrong, good from bad, true from false, clean from unclean, this tree would have to be a fruit of the same composition of the earth, though it might be different in appearance, but the basis of its fruit would have stemmed from NATURAL VEGETATIVE LIFE, which would mean that may by EATING of some tangible fruit would obtain the KNOWLEDGE of what was good and evil. Everybody agrees that ever since the day that Adam and Eve were driven from the garden WE HAVE BEEN EATING CONTINUOUSLY OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE. Man has constantly been getting smarter, wiser and weaker. Where today do you go to receive the world’s knowledge? I fail to see any students of greater learning today going out, sitting underneath a tree composed of vegetative matter, eating from its fruits and learning all of this rotten evilness of today, do you? Yet, they are busy eating from something or other, aren’t they? We must realize that all this evil used here in this particular sense is only a by-product from an original act of someone eating of the forbidden fruit, a fruit certainly not of any type of vegetative life.
There isn’t a blade of grass, piece of herb, nor one single tree on this planet today that somewhere man has not analyzed all its potential food value, its potential chemical make-up to try to find out what can it contribute to the fleshly, physical existence to the betterment of man and yet from all their scientific research no one tree has been produced that can give ETERNAL LIFE. If these two trees were not natural trees composed of plant life for vegetative life, then what were they?
SCRIPTURAL “EATING” - WHAT IS IT?
Standing in the midst or middle of the garden stood two trees. (Gen. 2:9-3:3) (Beloved how could two carnal objects both demanding a certain amount of space be able to stand in the middle of a natural location? One could, but certainly not two!) The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil both stood in the midst of the garden - this alone should enlighten us they were not natural trees of plant life. Thou mayest eat of the tree of life - but thou shalt not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The word eat in the original meaning has no reference to eating something with the teeth, John 6:54-57 (Study Prov. 30:20 here her act was considered eating) That is the English though the original meant - thou shalt not partake of the tree of knowledge. That base word (partake) meant to handle or to indulge in. It carries many basic meanings - thou shalt not partake of the tree of knowledge which is of good or evil, for the day that thou eatest of that forbidden fruit, thou shalt surely die! Forbidden because God had stated in His word the day you eat or partake of this thou shalt surely die! Strange as it seems the average churchgoer reading the Genesis story (Genes-is) comes to these fruit trees to be eaten, the herb line (vegetables) to be eaten, then they read concerning the tree of life and the tree of knowledge and automatically (Gen. 2:9) picture two more outstanding trees of plant life loaded with magnificent fruit, great foliage growth etc., blending all of this right in together with all the other plant life, in the garden! But recall in the very midst of the garden stood the two trees. This didn’t mean one was planted in the middle and set over here and the other one set over here both being the middle - then what could it mean?
SCRIPTURALLY - TREES DO NOT ALWAYS MEAN PLANT LIFE
God often spoke of men as trees (Isa. 61:3; Ezek. 31) and nations as forests. (See also Matt. 3:10) See every tree mentioned is not plant life! If you’re going to say that, you will have to come to a conclusion also that if transgression came by the partaking of plant life, redemption must also come by the same route - plant life! For both are spoken of as trees, one can’t be a natural plant life the other spiritual. Since there was no yardage of distance between these two trees - both could be in the middle. These two trees, one divine life and the other carnal knowledge of good and evil, were not trees of plant life at all, they were two laws governing the reproductive cycle of life!
ONLY TWO BASIC LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE
Everyone should realize there has been only two basic laws in the universe - one law is right, the other is wrong - never could there be three basic laws. Therefore you only have two choices - one is right and the other wrong
Up has always been the opposite of down, and within that God placed a law called gravitation. If you break that law of gravitation by going up you find the law of gravitation fights pulling against you and down you come. Notice you only have to break that law just once for it to work against you. In other words it won’t let you by. Furthermore we notice in God’s universal laws one always begins where the other leaves off. This will better explain how two trees could stand in the midst of the Garden. The opposite of light is dark - one takes up where the other leaves off, what is the opposite of life - death? So, always there’s only two basic laws which rule the universe - one begins where the other ends. There are only two spirits in the universe basically which are the originators of two ways of life, God’s and the devil’s. Recall only man and woman were created with instinct of choice. In this story of the beginning that choice will be pictured - as it is confronted and exercised.
See it’s just that close even with those two trees in the garden! One began where the other ended. These were not two natural trees of plant life. They were two laws - each to regulate the way of life. It was two, for remember these were two laws of the universe. Blessings leaves off where curses begin or vise versa, laws that could be lived under, affecting family life - one carried a blessing the other the curse.
Where does UP begin? WHERE DOWN LEAVES OFF. Where does clean up begin? Where dirt stops. I illustrate this to show how narrow the margin really is. Where does night end? When day begins. Exactly how close did these two trees (two laws) stand together, how many yards apart? It wasn’t yards apart, one tree simply began where the other tree stopped.
Note please, the Bible, in its own mysterious way proves exactly what these two trees were. God simply did not allow Moses to go into any great elaborate detail to explain it. That’s why I say the Arabs nor the Jewish race, both coming from the loins of Abraham, needed no explanation as to the two trees. You have only to study the writings of the Jewish historian, Josephus, who contained only an oral knowledge. Who are we Gentiles to think that almighty God has given to us such a tremendous revelation, explaining to the world that it was an apple that Eve ate, when it wasn’t even our Bible in the beginning - we are merely grafted in to the good vine. What a foolish, unwise trick Satan has played upon this Gentile religious world. To think that through our schools of learning they convey to this world that Eve at an apple or nobody knows what happened, therefore, no one has the right to probe into it. But yet everyone is aware of one thing - there was a HORRIBLE EVIL COMMITTED in the beginning, placing this world in the mess it’s in today.
HERBS ARE VEGETABLES
This message is not given for a basis of salvation understand, it will not save you but it will enable you to see that God had it so written and concealed, that within His own good time He might cause a true understanding of the scripture to be made known. Notice, God instructed Adam and Eve they could eat of all the trees of the garden, meaning that they could eat of the Orange, Apple, Peach, Pear, and the Plum trees. All these could be eaten for physical food, there also were ALL THE HERBS OF THE EARTH. The word herb, found here, does not mean Gymsin or Indian turnip, IT MEANT VEGETABLE. God did not make gymsin and Indian turnip and those things which the Indians dig up for food and later discovered these herbs contained certain medical qualities, but the herbs spoken of here ARE VEGETABLES.
Natural minds picture a beautiful tree filled with great vegetative leaves spreading its boughs over the circumference of the earth, furnishing a great amount of shade - the most beautiful, tempting fruit, hanging from its boughs, and yet man and woman are forbidden to pluck and eat. Then they picture another beautiful tree standing over there a few yard away, with its great boughs and leaves spreading, also covering a great circumference of the earth with its beautiful fruit, hanging there. Man, as he saw all of these beautiful trees, could walk up and pluck the beautiful fruit, and he could eat and enjoy its fragrance, its aroma, as his body digested it. That’s the way man wants to picture it. That is exactly the way Satan wants you to picture it, but that was not the way it happened.
THREE BASIC INTERCHANGEABLE FORMS OF LIFE
1 - PLANT LIFE,
2 - MARINE LIFE,
3 - ANIMAL LIFE
The original creation is now over and mankind is permitted to enjoy all the natural vegetative surroundings. In this garden flowed a beautiful river, in this garden was marine life (life living in the water); in this garden was plant life, (all life that derives its existence from the air); in this garden was animal life, (all life living on the land). Still today these are the three basic forms of life that exist on this planet - MARINE LIFE, PLANT LIFE, ANIMAL LIFE.
HUMAN FLESH, WHAT IS IT?
Someone may ask, What is man? Man in this fleshly makeup is part of animal life. People may argue, saying, I’m not animal. No one accused you of being an animal. Found within the veil of the flesh is an offspring of God, but the flesh itself is none other than the same carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen found within the animal kingdom. If you don’t believe it, take the cycle of the very basic elements of creation itself, take the molecule, the very air, the very substance of nature. For instance, the worm dies, whatever is composed within his little body can be absorbed into a grain of corn (Plant life). So the nutrients, the elements, once found in the form of the worm once a part of the animal kingdom has now become absorbed into the grain of corn. Through God’s laws of nature, animal life is now absorbed into plant life and the worm substance has become a grain of corn. It has merely taken on a different form of structure. Once this element was a worm, now it is a grain of corn same basic elements, only in a different stage. Watch the ear of corn being fed to a chicken and that very same element once in the worm’s body, then in a grain of corn, HAS NOW GONE INTO THE CHICKEN’S BODY. The chicken is killed and eaten by man and it is absorbed into his body. I realize I could have illustrated my point in a shorter manner by simply allowing you to have eaten the grain of corn, in the corn flakes or something, but the fact remains, that which once was a crawling worm, took on a different form in PLANT LIFE. Once it was absorbed by that living life all it was was transferred over into another living form, BUT ALL THE TIME IT IS STILL THE SAME BASIC ELEMENT OF CARBON, HYDROGEN, AND OXYGEN.
MAN - NOT PLANT LIFE NOR MARINE LIFE
Man’s flesh is not marine life. It was not ordained to receive its existence from living in water. But notice, it was an expression of, to a higher degree, animal life. It even bears a physical resemblance to certain earthly creatures, but as Paul states in Corinthians - the glory that God has placed upon it, carries a greater glory in the sense it shows a perfection, a refinement, that none within the animal kingdom shows. But that life causing man to live and exist is certainly not animal life. This life causing man’s body to exist is that very life of God himself which makes you an offspring of His, but you are unable to possess that full potential of expression of what you are UNTIL THE INNER MAN has been united with an earthly vessel of clay, (called your earthly tabernacle) when this is placed within, then and then only is the man in his whole make-up, (composition) a fully expressed CREATED SON OF GOD.
Note, God, in creating him from the earth, had used no mold but from the dust of the earth man was formed into a vessel of clay. True, man’s body does carry a certain similarity to other earthly creatures having two legs, arms, neck, eyes, nose etc., but God created it without a mold. He did not make His masterpiece by pressing mud together and smoothing it out here and there. No Sir! God is a great sculptor. He formed it out of the dust of the earth and from Himself, spoke the inner man into existence, formed a Son that was to be an offspring of Himself. In doing so, He breathed into that vessel of clay the very life that would cause this vessel of clay to become conscious that it was here upon the earth. Man became a living soul.
WHAT IS A SOUL?
The word soul here means man then became aware of the understanding he possessed. Knowledge of his five senses. He could see with his eyes, hear with his ears, feel with his hands, smell with his nose and taste with his lips and that within him he had certain natural affections. Something he wanted to love; something he wanted to do. In him he possessed a wisdom and knowledge that he was an offspring of the Creator. He had come into existence not by his own choice but because he was the product of a mastermind, an architect who was designing something through which he purposed to glorify Himself.
TREE OF LIFE
Note this, God had created one son from the dust of the earth. It was never His intention to repeat the operation although He could have. Had He desired He could have used this method for creating every offspring, but this was positively THE ONLY SON He ever intended to create, for with this one creation He also spoke a law into existence. A law that was certainly never placed within the pages of any law book but only in God’s great infinite mind. That law would be called the Tree of Eternal Life and placed in the Garden by His own presence - the very presence of Him who fills all space. This law was given purposely to Adam and Eve whereby as long as they ate of it they would not only possess Eternal Life in God but it means that every offspring that comes forth from physical loins will be another offspring of God Himself.
If these two trees in Genesis 2 were bearing natural plant life (fruit), what kind of trees were they? They are not two natural trees. But they are two Basic laws, One is called the tree of life. This tree called the tree of life, was none other than a true law by which God’s eternal presence was to be expressed in God’s creative plan, as to how He chose to reproduce Himself another son and daughter, which was to be an offspring of Himself. God’s first son had already been created by being spoken into existence.
TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
You say, now Brother Jackson, if that were true, where was this other mysterious tree? It was none other than the second law, whereby God would be saying, if they ate fruit from that tree, they would surely die. Meanin |
