Post #3
In the previous post I proposed that the surface of the earth may have been disrupted and covered with water following Lucifer’s rebellion and the war in heaven, and also presumed that the earth is much older than 6000 years.
A possible reading of Genesis 1:1-2 is, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. And the earth had become without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Then God must have cleared up the water and the atmosphere so the light from the sun could reach the land. Next the dry land was separated from the seas; and the flora and fauna of our present ecosystem began to appear. God then turned His attention to organize the sun, moon and stars in order to benefit and sustain life on earth. The scene was set for God’s masterpiece of all creation to appear ; namely, human beings.
One day God cautioned Adam and Eve that they could eat the fruit of all of the trees in the garden except one - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and that on the pain of death. We may assume that they only had knowledge of good so far, because God is perfectly good. They were yet to meet the fallen Lucifer in the form of a serpent – subtily disguised as one of the beasts of the field, which Adam was commanded “to have dominion over” (Genesis 2:26b). But this beast could talk and was once the most brilliant thinker among the angels – who, tragically, became diabolically evil and was cast out of heaven. It appears that Eve was unaware of the wiles of the devil and was lured by her human nature and curiosity to yield her attention and gave approval to the serpent’s proposition. She tasted the fruit and gave some to Adam who also ate.
Have you ever been sold something that you really didn’t want by a slick salesman, but were drawn into it like under a spell or something? Then afterward we may have felt so guilty and foolish that we were ashamed to tell anybody. Perhaps our first parents felt like that too. Anyhow, they were afraid when they realized what they had done. What would have happened if they had said to God, “We”re sorry”?
We know that God is willing to forgive all our sins when we ask Him. The question is why didn’t Adam apologize and beg forgiveness? God had said, … “for when you eat of it you shall surely die.” *When they ate the forbidden fruit they may have died to the Holy Spirit and damaged their relationship with God, who had given them life and shown them his love and goodness*. Romans 2:4b says, … “not knowing that the Goodness of God Leads you to repentance?” Adam needed to be led by the Holy Spirit at that point, but he appears to be left on his own. Also to say “I’m sorry”, we first have to take responsibility for our decisions and actions. However, Adam blurted out, “The woman that YOU gave to be with me, SHE gave me of the tree, and I did eat. …….. And the woman said, “The SERPENT beguiled me and I did eat.” (Gen. 3:12-13) So Adam and Eve blamed somebody else instead of taking responsibility, confessing and repenting. They disobeyed God in two ways – by eating the forbidden fruit and by not ruling over the serpent, like they were supposed to with all the beasts of the field. (Genesis1:28 says – “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foul of the air, and over EVERY living thing that moves upon the earth.”) The serpent was the one exception that they couldn’t master, train or help. I believe “to have dominion over” means to take care of and manage for the benefit of all concerned.
God punished them and all their descendants, (including us) by evicting them from the garden (from a life of leisure and luxury) to eke out a living by planting their own gardens and dealing with scarce resources. That was a very bad day for Adam and Eve. There is a positive side in that God promised a seed that would bruise Satan’s head. Genesis 3:15 says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Her seed is believed to be the Messiah, whose heel was to be bruised by Satan. This is widely accepted as referring to Jesus’ physical death, resurrection and replacement of Satan as the God of this world, at his second coming. {See Revelation 11:15 “… The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our LORD, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.”) This was the beginning of the gospel, so we might say, “In the beginning was the gospel”. Well Revelation 13:8b does say, “… the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” So God had a plan of redemption in the eventuality that Adam or his descendants should become disobedient and sinful.
Next I will consider the gospel in detail.
* - “Of course, as soon as they did eat this ‘fruit’ they died to the Holy Spirit” - This quote was taken from a comment by Sabby which is no longer available, but her blog, as well as mymoss may be viewed at >– http://www.stpixels.com/view_home.cgi – Enjoy!
