The Bible is the revelation of God's will to man. It
contains hidden depths which superficial reading will not reveal. It is a
self-disclosure by God, giving us information we could not gain from any other
source. It begins with the book of Genesis, explaining in just a few chapters,
how humanity was something of intrinsic value to the spiritually aware. brought into existence by the personal activity of the God who created the universe. It is known that some items, which at their face value and in their context, seem of little importance, contain within themselves
Before the beginning there was only one consciousness, that
of God, whose nature cannot be expressed in words. Everything existed in a state of inertia: defined in Physics as "a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force". All things are by nature
finite, they have a beginning, a middle and an end. God is the beginning and
the end, beyond time, beyond the reach of mortals. He then took thought and brought
into being within Himself the Universal Womb of Creation. In the beginning the creating Word had been spoken. This generated
power which produced light, and this formed a substance, it’s divided into two
forms of energy through being impregnated with The Spirit of God. Substance and
spirit, each having creative powers within itself. The universe being createdpurposefully it had to have had an objective. Now the Spirit of God Moved over
the face of the Earth, but was not of the Earth. It held all things and was in all
things, but on Earth could not be apart from anything.
A command was given and this became the Law. Now
within the Universal Womb was heat, substance and life, and encompassing it was
the Word which is the Law. Henceforth, activity was controlled in harmonious
rhythm. The Law divided the materializing
chaos from God and then established the boundaries of the Eternal Spheres. Before
all had been unchanging and change is time. .
Creation does not explain itself,
under the Everlasting Law. It cannot do so, its secrets should be unraveled by the created. There
were more commands and there came about great land masses and high mountains,
wide barren places and heaving waters. Fertile greenness covered the land and
abundant life swarmed in the seas and swamps with reeds. Metals lay hidden in
the rocks and precious stones within the soil. Gold and silver were scattered
and secreted. There was metal for tools and forest of timber. There were stone
for every purpose, for now Earth throbbed with the energy of life. Everything was
prepared, everything was ready, and now Earth awaited the coming of man.
Man, was then created from dust, or earthly substance alone.
Yet, man could not know things not of Earth. Spirit alone, could not subdue him.
They were given the privilege of regular communication with Him (Genesis
2:15-17; 3:8) One man and one woman were appointed, not only as the progenitors
of our race, but also as God's stewards, His custodians and caretakers over the
creation and they would have dominion over God's complete earthly estate. He
breathed into man the breath of Eternal Life. As the sun gives light and fire
spreads heat, so does the Central Light give
forth a unseeable glow, and this our fathers called the Breath of God.
Into his sleeping body God implanted a figment of Himself, the Seed of a Soul
and within him was a spark from the Divine Source. A man “the mortal” became
man “the heir of God”. As the Spirit filled the body of man, so did God fillHis creation. They were created with the characteristics of mind, emotions,personality, and will. They were created "in His image" (Genesis1:26-27), and were made creative, imaginative, inventive, artistic, capable ofloving and being loved and above all, able to worship. Had man not beencreated, who would have known God's wisdom and power?
Although Adam and Eve had been created perfect, they had
also been created with the ability to choose, or reject, God's will for them. This also brought about the possibility that man, too, could choose a course of
action contrary to the perfect ways of God. When God raised man up from
among the beasts, choosing him as His heir and endowing him with an immortal
spirit, the limited understanding of man saw imperfection in that which was perfect for its purpose.
Beasts and birds became therefore “imperfect”. Yet,
they are moulded by their desires. The hawk longs to see its prey more clearly,
and in generations of longing the desire is granted. But, Laws of fate and destiny
and the law of sowing and reaping, moulds men. The first human sin alienated
our original parents from their creator. Instead of looking forward to walking
with Him in the garden, they hid themselves from Him (Genesis 3:8-10). They
could have chosen to obey God completely, but instead, being tempted by Satan,
they partook of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). This grievous affliction of
man was one of his great tests. Yet, the decrees of destiny, govern the destination
of a man and it cannot be averted.
The circumstances fate of man, conform to the laws of sowing and reaping.
Act 13:48 “When the gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord. Meanwhile, all who had been destined to eternal life, believed”.
Choice therefore, details the route on which man travels while he is
predestined to arrive at a certain destination.
Romans 8:30 “And those He predestined He also called, those He called He also justified, those Hejustified He also glorified.”
So, we find that the Earth is not for the
pleasure of man, but is a place of instruction for his Soul. It is a place of
teaching, trial and testing. The separation from God that is the result of sin
is the greatest of all problems for the human race. God had warned Adam that if
he disobeyed, "you will surely die" (Genesis 2:17). Adam did not die
immediately in a physical sense, although the process of aging and eventual
death was triggered by this event of rebellion. But Adam died spiritually
(Romans 5:12) the word "death" in the Bible actually means
"separation." Thus, when a person dies physically, there is a
separation between the physical and the non-physical aspects of his being: his
Soul and Spirit. The body is laid to rest where it will return to dust (Genesis
3:19), while the immaterial part of man goes on to wait the judgment, and the eventual
destination of heaven or hell (Luke 16:19-31). Sin, therefore, poses the
greatest of all threats to the well-being of our race. Man's fall resulted in
his spiritual death. His body was genetically damaged so that all men are
mortal because of the sin of Adam. Men cut off from the source of life have no
hope and God IS Life! All life, all forms of life, come from God. The spirit of
man was now severed from the whole and cast again into unconsciousness, and it
too shall long for reunion with the whole. The race of man alone was punished,
for the beast acted according to its nature.
Mortal knowledge is circumscribed by mortal ignorance, and
mortal comprehension is circumscribed by spiritual Reality. There was a
spiritual death separation of man's spirit from the spirit of his Creator. Divided
and set apart, though ever yearning reunion. This is what the Apostle Paul had
in mind when he declared, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and
sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of
the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who
are disobedient.” (Ephesians 2:1-2). The fall of man was a fall from loving
contact with God into material carnality. Cut apart and since that day have
never known content. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “If the Good News we preach is hiddenbehind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is
the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They
are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. God is so great that He
cannot be defined in the speech of men. Neither can they conceive Him in their
thoughts, for He is beyond their understanding. They don’t understand the
message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. Thoughthey are words of wisdom, they are useless unless accepted by men who havecontrol over themselves. They have no value to men who are unable to feel
compassion for others or who close their ears to Truth.
Being disconnected from the source of life (for any reason)
means an organism will begin to die, and continue to die. The eye that sees
earthly things is deceitful, but the eyes that see spiritual things is true. Matthew
13:15-16 “For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot
hear, and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see, and their ears
cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and
let me heal them. But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears,
because they hear. Men begin to die as soon as they are born, their eyes that
saw Truth were closed when the spirit was separated from God and henceforth man
walked in falsity. With his eyes blinded by indulgence in vice and his spirit
corroded by corruption, his fallible senses only are left to him, and these
deceive him into believing the mortal vehicle is his total being. Affliction
and decay are now the lot of man and he has passed into a long, dark night of
ignorance. Now only by journeying the long and painful road of earthly
experience can his soul be cleansed and awakened to the realization of the
glory. Unable to perceive Truth he saw only that which deceived him, and so it
shall be until his awakening.
1 Corinthians 2:14 “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
But God in His love for us did not abandon us in our plight.
A god who was simply good might have declared the human experiment a failure,
and would have left us to suffer the consequences of our rebellion, or,
perhaps, would have put us out of our misery, snuffing out the planet with a
momentary explosion, to preserve the rest of His creation from possible
contamination. A god who was simply just could have easily allowed anarchists
and rebels to perish. After all it is His universe not ours.
But God is not simply good, nor simply just. Above all He is
holy, and He is a God of love. His very nature is love. (1 John 4:8). God is
the refuge of the poor and the comforter of the needy. His compassion
encompasses men when troubles weigh heavily upon them. Yet tribulation and
adversity, sorrow and suffering are not to be thought of as needless burdens
imposed upon the difficulties inseparable fi-om earthly life. They are things
of value which open the eyes to Truth, tempering the spirit, as iron is
tempered in the flame. Men were now as children and had to learn again as
children. In His love, He sought to reestablish a relationship with Adam and
Eve by seeking them out. It is easier for man's spiritual beliefs to degenerate
than to evolve. Yet even from there they may retum to be renewed, not of
themselves but through the supplications of others. When they hid from Him, the
Lord found them and offered a way back, a way of restoration. That restoration
involved wearing the skins of an animal sacrifice.
An animal sacrificed by God
Himself was the first creature to die. The death of the animal was symbolic of
the physical death they deserved to die. It demonstrated a great principle of
Scripture that "without the shedding of blood there is no remission
(removal) of sin."
The concept of a substitutionary atoning sacrifice was
introduced. Before they received this gift from God, they were in a state of
being spiritually dead, cut off from Him. But when they received it and wore
it, they were in effect confessing their sin and their inability to solve the
problem for themselves. The death of that first animal on their behalf became a
"covering" for their sin (Genesis 3:21). Fig leaves and other forms
of clothing would come to be symbols of man's self-righteousness. Sin causes
man to lose his own righteousness as the prophets tell us, "All of us have
become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy
rags." (Isaiah 64:6) This would later be the basis for the institution of
the system of animal sacrifices. Sacrifices would teach us about
"imputed righteousness" that inherent goodness of Christ with which
we are clothed when we place our faith in Him. And the animal sacrifices point to that future final sacrifice by the Messiah.
The Temptation of Adam and Eve presupposes the existence of bad spirits who were cast into hell from which they have no hope of redemption. There was the beginning and then the garden, and it was in this garden man found himself; They separated themselves, being now ashamed of their state and strangers to each other. The carnal satisfaction of lesser creatures now no longer sufficed, they had lost contact with the Source of Love. Before this he was not free to decide, being one with everything about him. As he could not disobey, good and evil could not be, they were non-existent. Yet, Evil did not begin with man but with a rebellion among the angels. The angelic rebellion damaged the created universe and its invisible angelic government. (Isaiah 14:12ff.; Ezekiel 28:12ff.) The nature of man on Earth was formed after the nature of things in Heaven, and man had all things contained as potential within himself, except divine life. But he was yet an untrained, undisciplined child, still nurtured simply upon the comforting bosom of the visible, which is earth and the material world. Yet there is the invisible within which, there is a place of Light and a place of Darkness.
That is why Paul continued the explanation in this way:
(Ephesians 2:4-5)
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved.
(Col 1:9-27)
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Col 1:19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
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