Where Sin Abounded . . . Grace Did Much More Abound >>>>>Read Genesis 3 <<<<<

Where Sin Abounded . . . Grace Did Much More Abound
>>>>>Read Genesis 3 <<<<<

Eve is strolling along and finds herself in the center of the garden where there are two special trees. A beautiful serpent begins talking to her, drawing her attention to the forbidden tree – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Suddenly she doesn’t see the things God has given her in the garden, her focus is on the one thing she could not have. Satan’s purpose is to raise a question as to God’s motive and intent for Eve; and so he did. Her confidence in God waned; there was a flicker of doubt about His intent for her, and then she became uncertain about His love. Eve was primed to believe Satan’s lie.

He went straight for Eve’s wavering heart when he said, “God knows you will be like Him,” and “you will not surely die.” In essence, he was saying, “How could He love you if He would deprive you in any way?” And “He’s not telling you the truth.” Eve’s attention, drawn away from God and His goodness, was now focused on herself. Her spirit was no longer in control; instead, her emotions, mind and will became available for Satan’s use. This is exactly what he wanted – his purpose was (and is) to misrepresent God so that he could deprive Him of His relationship with the race of man. When Eve ate the fruit of that tree, she took herself out of God’s hands. Abandoning dependence upon her Creator, she chose subjection to Satan’s whims and slavery to her own flesh.

Eve shared the fruit of her sin with Adam and set the world spinning off in a new direction. Innocence (ignorance of evil) was gone. With a new understanding of good and evil, they experienced conscience for the first time as they realized they were naked and exposed. Nakedness in the Scriptures speaks of shame and being exposed before God.

In an instant, distance took the place of intimacy with God, and ‘the flesh’ was born. The mind, will and emotions of mankind would now be subject to the influence of Satan and the flesh. Adam and Eve no longer fit with God; instead, they were ashamed and afraid to be in His presence. As they hid themselves in the bushes, they heard a voice calling to them: "Where are you?” It was the familiar voice of Jehovah, but with a difference, for He had never had to call out to them before.

Three significant changes immediately took place on that last day in the garden. First, the very fiber of man’s being was changed – as evidenced by the unfolding of human history in the pages of the Bible. Second, intimacy between Jehovah and Adam was replaced with distance; and third, the world itself (which had been pronounced ‘very good’ by the Creator) would now be a world system. The physical world would display the effects of God distancing Himself from it, but that pales when compared with the systems of government and religion that spring up under the rule of the ‘prince of the power of the air.’ You see, Adam had relinquished his authority to rule the earth in partnership with God; he had turned it over to Satan. (Eph. 2:2)

Did God pass judgment on the first couple and the world, and then just walk away? He did not! A wonderful thing happened on that first day of sin – it was also the first day of GRACE!

God graciously took the matter entirely into His own hands. How could Adam, who had once walked with God, endure the awful results of what he had done? God in His mercy, planted hope in his heart for the coming redeemer – how else could Adam face himself and his life – all would be despair! But no, God has provided hope and security in Him. To create man out of the dust of the ground was power; but to seek man in his lost estate was grace. C.H. Mackintosh

Adam submitted to the discipline of the Lord, and began to trust Him for the future; his confidence rested in the promise of a redeemer. Even as we see God driving Adam and Eve out of the garden, we do not see Him driving them away from Himself. He is still Jehovah, who will reveal Himself to His people, and be to them all that they need.

God longs for a race of men who will represent Him on the earth. He did not get that in the person of Adam, and He will not get it in Adam’s offspring. As Adam and his wife are driven out of the garden, they face life in an unfriendly environment; even more tragic is the fact that they must go on without the intimate friendship of their beloved Creator. Yet, as they heard the garden gate slam shut behind them, Adam and Eve had a promise, and they had something else: they had faith that Jehovah would help them to endure life outside the garden.

The Lord now calls out to humanity: “Come! Come to Me and I will never drive you away.” (John 6:37).

LJ 5/09

Introduction to God's Purpose and Ways

Introduction to:
God’s Purpose and Ways – Devotional Studies in Genesis

I love reading the book of Genesis with the goal of looking for God’s purpose for the world and for the believer! Genesis makes it all clear; it’s foundational to understanding the rest of the Bible. Many of our “why?” questions are answered in Genesis. Why does God do the things He does? Why does God allow painful, disturbing things to happen in the world (and to me personally)?

Our “how?” questions are answered as well. Understanding how God works helps us to submit to Him as He works out His purposes for the world and for our individual lives. Understanding Genesis, as it relates to New Testament doctrine, will provide insight into human nature; this is very important. It’s important because we need to understand what makes us react, or respond, to God the way we do. The Spirit of God is lavish in His revelation of who God is – and He doesn’t shy away from showing us who we are either. God’s revelation of His grace and love is intertwined with a vivid exposé of man’s character and ways.

This is not a comprehensive study – it’s meant to cause us to stand back and take a broad look at the Bible. This helps me to keep the Bible in context and protects me from misunderstanding individual passages. I pray it does the same for you. ~Lori

Adam and Eve with God in the Garden
>>>>>Read Genesis 1-2 <<<<<

God created the world, and then He ‘rested’ (Gen. 1:31). To say that He rested means that He was satisfied and enjoyed all that He had made. In Eden, God was pleased to spend time with Adam and Eve. This is where our Bible begins – describing a place where God loved to be, sharing fellowship and communion with the creatures designed exactly for that purpose.

We often think of the garden as a place for Adam and Eve, but it really was a place for God. The Scriptures, from cover to cover, document the fact that God’s desire is to have a presence with mankind. The Bible begins and ends with a place for God.

Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and He will be their God. Rev. 21:3

In Genesis, we see Adam and Eve in a state of innocence. They were like intelligent children who had a great capacity to learn, placed into an environment rich with opportunities to use their intellect. They would spend their days busy in the garden learning from their Creator-mentor while maturing in their knowledge of Him. They were fashioned in the ‘image of God’ for that very purpose.

God is an intelligent being and mankind needed to be intelligent in order to know Him, so God gave Adam and Eve the ability to reason and communicate. In this way, they could acquire knowledge: knowledge about the physical world, moral knowledge . . . . and the knowledge of God.

As mature human creatures, Adam and Eve would share God’s own heart and thoughts – they would desire what God desires. Throughout Scripture God says, in so many different ways: I desire man’s affection, his allegiance, his time, his energy – I want to fill his heart with Myself. God provided for their every need in the garden, but He wanted them to know Him as more than creator and provider of physical needs. He wanted them to grow into maturity, to gain knowledge of Him, to demonstrate confidence in Him.

Man was designed to commune with God – not only to converse with Him – but also to receive His kindness and love. God’s desire was that Adam would feel the pleasure of discovering His depths and would understand His intentions. By his very design, Adam was made to return God’s love – to respond to Him with adoration and gratitude.

The ability to reason, to feel, to communicate and to understand were not sufficient for Adam in order to know God, or to commune with Him. Therefore, God gave him a spirit that was alive to His own Spirit. In that garden, with a spirit in tune with his creator, the person of man had the ability to know and enjoy the Person of God. This was a person God could delight in!

In Genesis 2:4, we begin to see the name Lord God which is Jehovah Elohim. Jehovah is a most wonderful name – it conveys the idea that He is ‘One who reveals Himself’ and is used throughout Scripture where relationships between God and man are involved. This name identifies God as the One who establishes covenants with man. It is the name that says to us “all that I AM I will be to my people.”

Jehovah Elohim walked with the first man and woman in the garden. He wanted intimacy with this special creature. He did not provide for Adam then leave him in the garden to manage on his own – that is not intimate love. Instead, Jehovah equipped Adam with the capacity to interact with Him as a partner and to cooperate with Him in ruling over the earth. Partnership and cooperation require mutual experience and bring about the development in a relationship. Everything God has planned for mankind is for one purpose: that He would have a people in relationship with Him; sharing His glory. In this way, God would have a presence on the earth; Adam was meant to be the first of many who would share God’s glory.

When God created Adam and Eve, He did not make them independent of Himself, but made them to be receptacles for His own holiness, wisdom and love; that they might enjoy Him and show forth, gladly and freely, the excellencies of their blessed God. (see 1Pet. 2:9) Wm. R Newell

LJ 5/09