Part 1: Life in Eden comes to an end

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We preach: Christ in us - the Hope of realizing the glory.

We proclaim Him (Jesus Christ, the Lord), guiding and admonishing everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom (i.e. comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God), that every person may be presented mature (i.e. full-grown, complete, and perfect) in Christ. (Col 1:27-28)

Table of Contents

Introduction
 
The end of the adventurous life in Eden
  • God provided the perfect environment
  • Man’s work on earth
  • First marriage
  • Only one restriction
  • Conversation with serpent
  • Moment of disobedience
  • Adam & Eve hid from God
  • Blame shifting
     
  • A three part sentence
  • Pain and sorrow in birth and upbringing of children
  • Will constantly try to rule over husband
  • Husband will rule over wife
  • Everything was changed in Christ
     
    Adam
  • Punished in relation to his work
  • Ground cursed
  • Thorns & Thistles
  • By the sweat of your face
  • Further confirmation earth was cursed
  • God and man separated
  • Sin and death entered the world
 

INTRODUCTION

 

GOD AND HIS STORY

We believe that the Bible is an authentic Book, written under the Divine inspiration of the Spirit of God, telling the people of the world the wonderful story of God’s dealing with mankind.

God’s story can roughly be divided into three dispensations and goes as follows:

 

  • First Dispensation

    The creation and the mandate

     

    In the beginning, God the Almighty Father, created the heaven and the earth and all that is on the earth as is recorded in Genesis 1: 1-25.

    He then created man in His own image and likeness and gave them a profound mandate:

    Gen 1:28 And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitfulmultiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth. (AMP)

    We believe that God has never ever deviated from this plan and purpose for mankind.

    This first dispensation tragically ended with man’s transgression (recorded in Genesis 3) when they were drove out of the Garden of Eden.

     

  • Second Dispensation

    God’s promises to bring us back to His original creative purpose – the dispensation of the Law

     

    The start of this dispensation is recorded in Genesis 3 where God announced that the Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.

    This exciting dispensation takes us on a journey where we experience the calling of Abraham, the Covenant that God cut with him and the Oath swearing.

    During this dispensation Israel was established as a nation – with the promise that the Saviour, Jesus Christ will be born from among them.

    This was the time of the Tabernacle (the Religious Order of Israel), the Law of Moses (the Principles they lived by) and the Prophets (keeping Israel on track with God’s ordinances).

    This dispensation was drawing to an end when our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ was born and was dramatically ended when Jesus cried out on the cross – “it is finished” and He died.

    The Law is completely fulfilled and the life and abundance of Jesus Christ inaugurated.

     

  • Third dispensation (the one that we are living in now)

    This is the Christ centred dispensation of the Spirit, where the Holy Spirit is constantly revealing and declaring to us the fullness and completeness of the finished work of Christ - Also called: the dispensation of Grace

     

    Christ has paid the ultimate sacrifice, once and for all. In Christ we have been fully restored and enabled to walk in the original intent and purpose of God.

    He (Christ) is now our Advocate (Greek: “Parakletos”) with the Father and the propitiation of our sins. (1 John 2:1-2)

    The Holy Spirit is our Comforter and Advocate (Greek: “Parakletos”) here on earth and dwells in us and is always with us. (John 14:16-17).

    All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Jesus Christ and we are complete in Him (Col 2:9-10). The Holy Spirit applies everything that Christ has done for us, to our everyday walk of life and takes us practically into this completeness and fullness of Christ.

     

The following series of Teachings are about “The Second dispensation” – the dispensation of the Law - God’s promises to bring us back to His original creative purpose

NB!

*Readers - I want my readers to take note that since the “Second Dispensation” represents the transition period between the fall of mankind and the finished work of Jesus Christ I am not going to go into too much detail here.

I will touch on some main critical issues and events that led to the establishing of Israel as a nation from whom Jesus was to be born. These events are described in the Books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua and I will accordingly elaborate on them.

Joshua took Israel into the Promised Land, but after his death Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord by breaking their covenant with God and deliberately serving foreign gods. Satan was ever present throughout all of the history of Israel, always opposing the things of God and luring Israel away from God thus trying to prevent the birth of Jesus. For this reason God raised up prophets to expose Israel’s wrongdoings and to keep them on track with God’s purposes. All these dealings by God with Israel are recorded in the rest of the Books of the Old Testament. I have no intention of elaborating on this, because this is not the purpose of my teachings.

 

All I can say in this regard is what Paul wrote to Timothy in

2Ti 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

2Ti 3:13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2Ti 3:14 You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them,

2Ti 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

2Ti 3:17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

 

From verse 16 we gather that everything written in the Bible was inspired by God for a reason – to bring us all to the ultimate plan of God – to be engrafted in Christ Jesus.

 

I want to encourage you – delve into the Scriptures or enrol in a good Bible School so that you will come to know the wonderful ways and workings of the Almighty God.

 

My purpose with this series of teachings is to introduce you to the Christ, the Son of the Living God so that in Him, you can experience life and abundance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

The adventurous life in Eden came to an end

 

LIFE IN EDEN WAS GOOD

Life in Eden was good with a God given assignment and mandate in the form of five commands (see a Teaching under “First Dispensation” for a detailed explanation of the 5 commands)

 

- be fruitful: BE FRUITFULThe release of the hidden life

- multiply: MULTIPLYThe reproduction of the hidden life

- replenish the earth; fill the earth:

- subdue the earth:

- have dominion, rule over:

God provided the perfect environment

Gen 2:8 The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

Gen 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 2:10 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.

 

Man’s work on earth

Gen 2:15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

Gen 2:19 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.

Gen 2:20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

The first marriage took place in Eden

Gen 2:18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."

Gen 2:21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.

Gen 2:22 The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

Gen 2:23 The man said, "This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man."

Gen 2:24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

Quote from “Unlocking the Bible” by David Pawson, Page 52 on what God’s intention was for a marriage:

“We are told that marriage takes precedence over all other relationships.”

“A person’s partner is their first priority before all other relationships, even before their children. Husband and wife are to put each other as absolutely top priority. The ideal painted here in Genesis 2 is of a couple with nothing to hide from each other, with no embarrassment and a total openness to each other.”

 

There was just one restriction

Gen 2:9 Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

Gen 2:16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;

Gen 2:17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."

Adam and Eve (having a free will) had a choice between life and death

 

They were free to partake of the tree of life”, which signified the abundant life of God and by partaking of it would have given them immortality. They were not inherently immortal, but were capable of being immortal by partaking of God’s constant supply of life.

 

There was no prohibition of their eating of it, so there was no obstruction to it.

“The tree of life” was designed for their use, to support and maintain their natural life, which would have been continued, had they persisted in their obedience and state of innocence. Some calls it the “tree of immortality”.

It might be also a sign, token, and symbol to them of their dependence on God; that they received their life from God; and that this life was preserved by His blessing and providence, and not by their own power and skill; and that this would be continued, provided they transgressed not the divine law (“of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat”)

 

Adam and Eve were not created immortal, but they could have obtained immortality by partaking of the “Tree of Life”

The fall of man started with the conversation between the serpent and the woman and the tragic moment of disobedience (recorded in Genesis 3: 1-7)

As a result of this Adam and Eve became afraid of God and hid themselves from Him. Adam blamed Eve and Eve in return blamed the serpent for what went wrong (recorded in Genesis 3:8-13)


 

GOD’S VERDICT

  • God’s verdict to the serpent

Gen 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life;

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

To the serpent, cursed are you more than all: meaning that the serpent would be the lowest of all animals.

The following was taken from “Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary – e-Sword” on this passage

“God passes sentence; and he begins where the sin began, with the serpent.

The devil's instruments must share in the devil's punishments.

War is proclaimed between the Seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

Heaven and hell can never be reconciled, nor light and darkness; no more can Satan and a sanctified soul. Also, there is a continual struggle between the wicked and the godly in this world.

A gracious promise is here made of Christ, as the Deliverer of fallen man from the power of Satan. Here was the drawn of the gospel day: no sooner was the wound given, than the remedy was provided and revealed. This gracious revelation of a Saviour came unasked, and unlooked for.”

  • God’s verdict to the woman

(she is punished in relation to the family)

Gen 3:16 To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you."

 

It is very significant to note that God cursed the serpent, but not the woman or the man – they were created in His image and according to His likeness and thus God would have been cursing Himself

 

The sentence of the woman consists of three parts: the former two regard her as a

mother, the last as a wife.

In pain you will bring forth children; not only physical pain, but also the pain, stress, suffering, heart sore and difficulties she will experience in raising children in a broken and incomplete world.

Sorrow is to be multiplied in her pregnancy, and is also to accompany the bearing of children. This sorrow seems to extend to all the mother’s pains and anxieties concerning her offspring.

 

Yet your desire will be for your husband : (this was part of the sentence of God)

The woman had taken the lead in the transgression. In the fallen state, she is to be subject to the will of her husband. “Desire” does not refer to sexual desire in particular. It means, in general: “turn,” or “determination of the will”.

“Desire” was used to describe the strong feelings of desire that one person had for another, but it was not always a healthy desire.

 

Before the transgression there was equality between the man and the woman, but now she will constantly strive to take the man’s position, to humiliate him, to rule over him, to be the leading one in the relationship and to treat him as one of her children or subordinates.

It is to be understood very clearly that this was not the way God intended it to be – they were created by equal God– just with different roles.

 

And he will rule over you : (also not intended by God to be like this – the man ruling over the woman is part of the sentence of God)

This is ruling over in a bad sense – where they were equal in the beginning, the husband is now in a position to exploit and dominate the wife and lord over her.

His whole approach will be to manipulate and control her and to treat her unfairly.

The sentence of God was this: the woman will constantly try to rule over the man, but the man will rule over the woman.

 

Very significant:

Two spirits started to function here –

  • the “Jezebel spirit” (functioning primarily through women) always challenging the authority of God and trying to wreck God’s work - always trying to humiliate and to rule over other people

  • the “authoritarian spirit” (functioning primarily through men) always trying to rule over other people, dominating, manipulating, diminishing and humiliating them

    These two spirits will eventually dominate and control the whole world

    (I will elaborate on this in another teaching)

Thank God everything was changed in and through Christ!

He completely restored and healed us through His finished work and brought us back to His Father’s original intent and purpose.

Much more on this in the Teachings to follow

 

  • God’s verdict to Adam

(He is punished in relation to his work)

 

Gen 3:17 Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.

Gen 3:18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;

Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return."

 

Adam lived life by God’s blessing, His Word and His Spirit, but he violated this way of life by listening to his wife, disobeying God and by eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

God cursed the serpent and now He is cursing the ground because of Adam.

Cursed is the ground for thy sake:

Meaning that he would have difficulties in producing food from the soil, because it is no more the blessed fertile ground

 

The whole earth, which was made for man, and all things in it, of which he had the possession and dominion, and might have enjoyed the use of everything in it, with comfort and pleasure; that which was man's greatest earthly blessing is now turned into a curse by sin (Gill – e-Sword)

 

The result of this curse is the following:

In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life .

Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the plants of the field;

By the sweat of your face You will eat bread ,

In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life

Meaning that with much toil and trouble, in manuring and cultivating the earth, he should get his living out of the produce of it, though with great difficulty; and this would be his case as long as he was in it. (John Gill’ Exposition of the Entire Bible – e-Sword)

 

Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you

Not for his advantage, but to give him more trouble, and cause him more fatigue and sorrow to root them up: these include all sorts of noxious herbs and plants, and troublesome weeds, which added to man's labour to pluck up, that those more useful might grow and flourish. (John Gill’ Exposition of the Entire Bible – e-Sword)

 

Thorns:

Refers to an undesirable, inedible shrub that became part of God's curse on the ground

Thorns are a sign of desolation and symbolize evil in the heart of men which choke the word of God and also symbolize human suffering (Matthew 13:7 & 22)

 

Thistles:

Depicts weedy, prickly and noxious plants representing all forms of poisonous weeds that were part of God's curse on the ground (Matthew 7:16)

 

And you will eat the plants of the field:

Not the fruits of the Garden of Eden, but only the common herbs of the field, such as even the beasts of the earth fed upon: to such a low condition was man, the lord of the whole earth, reduced unto by sin. (John Gill’ Exposition of the Entire Bible – e-Sword)

By the sweat of your face you will eat bread

Sweat appearing first and chiefly on the forehead, from whence it trickles down by the nose in persons employed in hard labour; and here it takes in all the labour used in cultivating the earth for the production of herbs, and particularly of corn, of which bread is made; with respect to which there are various operations in which men sweat, such as ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing, winnowing, grinding, sifting, kneading, and baking; and it may have regard to all methods and means by which men get their bread, and not without sweat; and even such exercises as depend upon the brain are not excused from such an expense: so that every man, let him be in what station of life he will, is not exempt, more or less, from this sentence, and so continues till he dies: (John Gill’ Exposition of the Entire Bible – e-Sword)

 Further confirmation of the earth being curse

Rom 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

Rom 8:20 For the creation (creation, and by extension creature), was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

Rom 8:21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

 

God made the whole creation including mankind "subject" to vanity (futility, aimlessness), because of man's disobedience to God's specific command. Man did not believe God's threatened judgment of death as the consequence of disobedience.

Had God not imposed this, He would have proven Himself untrue.

God’s verdict is now given, judgement has been passed, but immediately a merciful God starts acting for man again

Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Man had discovered his nakedness, and God provides him with a suitable covering. He was to be exposed to the variations of climate, and here was a durable protection against the weather.

How the Lord God did this is uncertain – it could be either by His almighty power, by the ministry of angels; or He instructed and directed them to make the garments.

God and man separated – how tragic

Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--

Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Gen 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Man is now deprived of the intimate presence of God – they died spiritually and were separated from God’s blessing, God’s Word and God’s Spirit. Man is now on his own, not functioning anymore from his spirit which was infused by God’s Spirit and image. He is now dominated by his soul and body and lost his ability to walk in the purpose for which he was created.

 

God withdrew His blessings and Spirit from them and man became afraid of God and since then man has a tendency to hide from God.

They were taken out of the perfect environment – the Garden of Eden – to till the ground from which they were taken.

God stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword at the Garden of Eden to guard it, indicating that there will be no communion with God without His own initiative.

Sin and death entered this world:

Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,

 

It is interesting to know that the core meaning of the word “SIN” is “to miss the mark” and from this flow every bad and evil thought, deed and action.

Through this one man (Adam”) we are missing our destiny and purpose for which we have been created, and as a result of this we are busy with all kinds of lifestyles contrary to God’s original desire for us.

But, thank God, Jesus Christ came and made everything right – the last Adam – a life giving Spirit.

Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

Rom 5:21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

God’s verdict is now given, judgement has been passed, but immediately a merciful God starts acting for man again:

Gen 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

Man had discovered his nakedness, and God provides him with a suitable covering. He was to be exposed to the variations of climate, and here was a durable protection against the weather.

How the Lord God did this is uncertain – it could be either by His almighty power, by the ministry of angels; or He instructed and directed them to make them.

 

God and man separated – how tragic

Gen 3:22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--

Gen 3:23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

Gen 3:24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

Man is now deprived of the intimate presence of God – they died spiritually and were separated from God’s blessing, God’s Word and God’s Spirit. Man is now on his own, not functioning anymore from his spirit which was infused by God’s Spirit and image. He is now dominated by his soul and body and lost his ability to walk in the purpose for which he was created.

God withdrew His blessings and Spirit from them and man became afraid of God and since then man has a tendency to hide or to flee from God.

They were taken out of the perfect environment – the Garden of Eden – to till the ground from which they were taken.

God stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword at the Garden of Eden to guard it, indicating that there will be no communion with God without His own initiative.

 

Sin and death entered this world:

Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men,

 

It is interesting to know that the core meaning of the word “SIN” is “to miss the mark” and from this flow every bad and evil thought, deed and action. Through this one man (Adam) we are missing our destiny and purpose for which we have been created, and as a result of this we are busy with all kinds of lifestyles contrary to God’s original desire for us.

But, thank God, Jesus Christ came and made everything right – the last Adam – a life giving Spirit.

Rom 5:19 For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous.

Rom 5:21 so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Compiled by: Deon Gerber
God's Word

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