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verse 2:
u
And the earth was
(bccame)
without form and void" (Hebrew,
toltu
anll
l>ohu)
meanint
ruin,
confusion,
emptiness (see an)l·
~ebrew-Englisb
lexj.
con). Wbat cxx:urred betweeli eveniS and
conditions described in those two verses
is revealed in many other biblical pas·
sages. And Ibis allows for any duration
of time between the two verses. So far as
biblical statements are concerned, the
original ereation cou!d have occurred
millions of yea,s prior 10 the state de–
scribed
m
the S«<od verse.
Conting 10 the 26th verse, c:bapter
1,
it
is
stated:
u
And God said, Let us make
man in our image, alter our likeness."
Other biblical passages state thal man
is
in tbe same form and sbape·as God -
but wi!h
tbis
di.fference: that God
is
composed of sPrRJT and man of physical
mattcr.
Now verse
n:
"So God created man
in bis own image, _in lbe. imagé of God
created be
him;
male and female ere·
aced he them."
Soul -
Spirit
or
Material! ·
Here
is
a dogmatic sta.tement lbat
God designed and created
SEX!
And next. chapcer
2,
verse
7:
"And
the
Lord
God formed man of the dust of
the ground," and breathed into bis nos–
tril$ tbe breath of life; and man bccame
a
living soul." Tbe tlat statcment
i$
here
recbrded ihaf
wh~t
wis
íriádefroin lna·
terial substance (dust of lbe ground)
BE·
CAMB
a
soul
-
a
plain empha tic
statement that the "soul" was made
from matter, NOT spirit
Next, comes lbe statement that God
planted
a
garden, or park. in Edeo, and
there be pul the roan wbom be bad
formed.
Note weU these faets: Tbe plain Slate–
ll)ent
is
thl\l lbe man and woman were
created
as
the
tinaJ
act of creation oo tbe
sixth day of tbe week described in tbe
tlrst cbapter of Genesis. They had been
created, even as we bave bj:eo boro,
wfth buman ntinds as yet unfUied witb
knowledge. But tbey were created as
adults, with adult-capacity minds, ca–
pablc of receiving and reasoning
from
knowledge.
So their Creator began immediately ·
lO instruct tbem in necessary basic
knowledge. And Ibis, it
is
made plain,
lncluikd iiUtruction in
S!X
and MAR·
1\IAOB.
Nalc.ed -
Anol
Unasbamed
God
bad said: "Jle
ftuilfu!,
and
muJ.
11ply, and repleoisb the
earth"
(1:28).
Again, "And lbey were both naked, lbe
mao and bis wife, and were not
ashamed."
Mark, pitase, lbe plain statement lbat
the attítude of sbame was not i¡npartcd
by God. AL tbe conclusion of God's
ini–
tial instruction - wbich included in–
struction about sex and reproduction -
tbcre was no sense of indeceocy or
sbame about that wbicb God bad de·
signed aod aeated.
At this point we must
bear
in mind
WEEK ENDINO
.1\JNE
7,
llnS
that the narrativo bere
is
exceedingly
brief. lt IOucbes only tbe high spots.
There
is
every indication that God gave
Adam and Eve considerable basic in·
muclion - sufficient for tbeir needs for
tbc moment. Olily the bigh-point por–
tions of tbis instruction are sum.marized.
But suflicient
is
recorded lo show that
they were fully instructed
in
THE
WA
Y
lo
live that would CAUSE every oooo efl'ect
- peace, happiness, prosperity, com–
forts, interesting life, abundan! weU–
being.
Notice.
now,
how mucb
is
surnma–
rized and coodensed in10 few wotds:
uAnd out of tbe. ground made tbe
Lord God 10 gtow every
tree
lbat
is
pleasantto the sight, andgood for food;
the tree of life also in the midst of the
garden, and the
tree
of IÚ.owledge of
goQd and
~vil.
... And the Lord God
commanded tbe man, saying, Of every
tree of the garden tbou mayest freely
eat: but of the tree of tbe knowledge of
good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
for in tbe day tbat thou eatest lbereof
tbou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:9, 16-
17).
God told Adam lbat he
was
mortal
aod could die. He IOid bim lbat be bad
beeo formed of matter from lbe
earth
(verse
7)
and abo "dust lbou
art,
aod
unto dust shalt tbou retum" (chapter 3,
verse
19).
.
· Notice,
Votl)at, is , ~mbo~
ancl,
~
vealed here. Tlie tree of
LIPB
symbolized
ctemal life. Tbey did oot, as yet, posscss
irnmortal life. This was freely offered 10
A'dam and Eve
as
God'~
OIFT.
Compelled to Malc.e
a
Cboic:e
But they were required lo make
a
choice.
Also
in tbe' garden
was
another sym·
bolle tree - tbe
uee
of
"lbe koowledge
of good and evil." To make lbe wrong
choice of taking of tbat forbiddeo tree
would impose tbe penalty
of
DEATH.
"Tbou sbalt SUilELY
die,"
said God -
IP
they chose 10 disobey and take of tbat
tree.
In other words, as we read in Rom.ans
6:23:
"For tbe wages of sin
is
OBATH;
but lbe
gift
ofGod
is
E'll!Rl'IAL
LIFB••••"
Tbis clearly shows that God revealed the
gospel lo them. Ancl wbal is the Bible
deftn.ition of
SIN?
"Sin
is,"
it is wriuen in
1 John 3:4, "the transgression of the
law."
ActuaUy, tbere exist, overall, ooly
TWO 8ASIC WAYS Oflife- two divergenl
philoeophies. They travel in opposite di–
rections.
1
state Ibero verysimply:
Oo~
is
tbe way ofOtVE - the olber ofOET.
More specificaUy, the one
is
lbe way
of humility and of outgoing concero for
o thers equal 10 self-coocero.
1t
is the
way of cooperatioo, serving, helping,
sharing, of consideration, patience and
kindness. More importan!, it
is
also
THB
WAY of obedience lo, reliance on, and
worship solely t'!ward God.
lt
is the
God-centered way, of LOVE toward God
a.od LOVE toward neighbor.
Tbe opposite is the
SELF-«o~ered
way
of
VAl'<JTY,
lust and greed; of com·
petition and slrife; of envy, jealousy,
and unconcem for thc welfare of others.
Few realizo this vital PACT: Tbe
"otvs" way is actually an invisible, yet
inexorable, SPIRITUAL
t,A
w
in active mo–
tion.
lt
is summarizid, in prmciple, by
tbc.Ten Comroandments.
The Cause of
Peace
and
HappÍIIeSS
lt
is
a
LAW
as
II.EAL,
as inflexibly re·
lentku as the
'""'
ofgravity!
lt
goveros
and regulates aU
human
relatiooships!
WHY should it seem inoongruous tbat
man's Maker - the Creator of all mal-
Actual/y, there exists,
overa/1, only two basic ways
of life - two divergent
philosophies. They travel
in opposite directions.
1 state them very si!J1Piy:
One is the way of give –
the other of get.
ter, force and
energy -
the CreaiOr of
tbe laws of physics and cbemistry, grav–
ity and inertia -
should olso ho•e created
and
Stl
In
motion this
SPDUTUAL LA
W
10
CAUS~
every GOOD resu!t forman?
LP lbe Creator is a God of LOVB - LP
our Mllkerih God of
áiJ
power - could
he possibly bave done otherwise? Could
he have neglected
to
providc a WAY - a
CAUSE -
10 produce peace, happiness,
prosperity, successfu! lives, abundant
weU-being?
1
repeat: There has to be a CAUSE for
every
EI'FECT.
l f tbere
is
lo
be
peace, bappiness,
abundan! weU-being. SOMJ!THINO
NUST
CAUSE JT! God cou!d
DOl
~
God witboul
providing a CAuse for every desired
0000.
lsn't it about time we reafu.e lbat IN
LOVE for thc mankind be created, God
also created and set in motion
In·
exorably
this spiritual LA
w
to provide
thc CAUSE ofevery OOOD result!
Now recapitulate: DBATH
is
the pen–
a lty Of
~O<.
SIN
is
tbe TRANSGIUlSSION of
Ibis LAw! To transgress
Ibis
law is 10 re–
ject lbe WAYtbat would CAOSE tbe OOOD
aU humans want - lo turo lo the WAY
that CAUSES every
EVIL
result God FOR·
BAD! Adam and
E
ve Jo take the fruit of
tbe tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, underpenaltyofDUnt!
Wuv'1 Because be wanted Ibero to
choose the WA
y
of every desired oooo
- because be wanted tbem 10 avoid
causing evils, sorrows, pains, sufl'ering.
unbappiness.
Th~refore,
taking this fruit
Wll$
symbolic of TRANSORI!SSINO God's
spiritual LAW!
To have taken of tbe tree of LtFE was
merely symbolic of receiving lbe GLPT of
Ood'$ holy Spirit, the very LGVS OF God
(Romans
S:S)
whicb
FULFILts
Ibis'
spiri–
tual law (Romaos 13:10) and whJcb
God gives
onJy
10 those wbo OBEY
bis
law (Aets 5:32).
Tite
Cause ofWorfd's
Evils
Consider further: A just God could
not ha
ve
wamed tbe tirst hurnans of lbe
DSATR penalty without baving fuUy re–
vealed 10 them lbe spiritual law the
. transgression of which carried that pen·
' alty - tbe law codified as tbe Ten Corn·
rnandments. Remernber, lbe details are
1101 writcen· berc - on!y the higbly con–
deD.Ied overaU SUMXARY of wbat God
taught them.
So God bad explained fu!ly 10 Adam
and
E
ve bis WA
y
OF
LIEE -
the
"OIV&
WAY" - bis inexorable spiritual LAW.
God had already SET
rN
MOTION the
LA
w
Cbat
causes
aU
oooo. He had ex–
plained abo Tl:IE WAY tbat
causes
EVlts •
- lbe
traiUgreuion
of,lhatlaw - else he
could not have 10ld tbem tbat for trans–
gression they wou!d
s~LY
pay tbe
penal
!Y -
DI!ATH.
More clearly staled, God gave man
his own
choice.
He oould
choose
lo CAUSE
every good and 10 receive etemallife
in
bappiness. Or, be could cboose 10 CAUSE
evils. 11
is
uUI>IAÑrrv - not God - tbat
CAUSES
aU
the eviJs that befaD man. Tbe
choice
is
WAN's.
Whal man
sows,
that
does
he reap.
Yet here's the
aucial
point: lt
was
necessary for them
10
TAXI!
HIS
woR.D
FOR
tT -
tbe spirituallaw
is
as invisible
as the laws of gravity and inertia! They
could not
SES
Ibis
law. But God bad
TOLO tbem tbe way of Gooo, and tbe
way ofBVtL. '
.
Now come lo Cbapter
3
in Genesis.
"Now the serpent was more subtile
than any beast of lbe field whicb the
Lord God bad made" (verse
1).
Mucb of tbc Bible
is
in symbols - but
tbe Bible explains its own symbols.
Jt is,
of course, very out-of-date
10
believe in
a devil today, but the Bible plainly
•peaks ofa devil, named Satan.
In
Reve–
lation
12:9
and
20:2,
tbe symbol
urpent
is
plainly explained 10 represen! the
devil.
Notice, now, the temptation.
Tbe
SubdeTemptatioo
Satan subtly went tirst to tbe woman.
He gotto the man tbtough his wife.
"And he said unto the woman, Yea,
bath God said, Ye shaU not eat of every
tree of the gatden? And the woman sajd
unto the serpent, We may eat ofthe fruit
of the lrees of the garden: but 'of tbe
fruit of tbe tree whicb
is
in the midst of
the garden,
God
balb
said,
Ye
shaU
not
cal of it, neilber shall
ye
toucb it, lest ye
die. And the serpent said unto the
woman, Ye shall
not
surely die: for
God
dotb know lbal in tbe day ye eatlbereof,
tben your eyes sball
be
opened, and ye
sbaU be
as
gods (rnargin: God1 knowiog
good and
evil"
(Genesis
3: 1-5).
Tite
oarration here attributes astute
subtlety 10 tbe devil. First, be diScredited
Ood. In effect, be said, "You can't rely
on God's word. He said you are mortal
and can die. Ho knows better than that;
he knows your ntinds are
so
perfect that
YOU
can
be Goo."
(ConlinuN on
pag~
JJ)
7
... i'