Have you ever sat down and really thought about all that GOD would have to do in order to prepare for His Son, the Word made flesh to come to Earth and deliver the Gospel? And what about all of the ramifications of the Gospel, how it would work in the lives of those who received it?
MANDATE IN ETERNITY, IN TIME
Before GOD even began His work of creation, He existed from all of eternity, self-existent and self-defining, Three Persons in One Godhead. What does the Trinity (or triune GOD) have to do with the Gospel? Much! As we will (eventually) learn!
Then was the decision made in the halls of eternity, in the domain of the Third Heaven where GOD the Father would send GOD the Son to Earth as the propitiation for the sins of the world. That happened even before GOD said, “Let there be light.”
Then He began His creation – the entire angelic host that dwelled with Him in the Third Heaven, and possibly in the world before the creation of Man (?). Over the course of six days, He set in order all of the Earth with its firmaments, the separation of land and water, the establishment of the sun, moon and stars. He created life in the skies, on the Earth and in the seas.
Then came the pinnacle of His creation! His masterpiece: forming man from the dust of the Earth and breathing into him, creating a living soul. He placed Adam in the Garden of Eden and explained His one and single prohibition: Do not partake of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam named all of the animals – a monumental task, naming everything from the immense whales, down to aphids. No doubt he noticed that they all had a mate – unlike himself, who was alone…
Then GOD put Adam into a deep sleep, took a rib and with that formed a helper for Adam – the woman Eve.
All was well in paradise, that is, until the serpent (“seraphim” in the Hebrew) entered the picture. The idea of Adam, and that which came from Adam’s rib – the woman, is also very pertinent to the Gospel. More on this later on in subsequent articles!
The FALL Of MAN, The PROMISE Of GOD
The temptation came, and with it, the enormous fall of Adam and Eve from their lofty position as Stewards of the Earth to subservient slaves to the new Steward of the Earth – Satan himself (LUKE 4:6; 2 COR 4:4).
That decision to rescue humanity was made in eternity, but the LORD GOD revealed that plan to Adam and Eve on the very day that they fell:
GENESIS 3:15
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
We’ll address this before we conclude this article, but we’re actually getting ahead of the story (believe it or not!).
SYMBOLS And THEMES Of GOSPEL TRUTH In The BEGINNING
GENESIS 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
There is a distinction between the heavens and the earth. The earth became the habitation of mankind along with animal and plant life. The immediate heavens is established for the creatures of flight.
I believe however that before the fall, the heavens were open to man, and immediate interaction was available between Creator and creation, in the sense that GOD came down regularly and “the LORD God walk[ed] in the garden in the cool of the day…” (GEN 3:8) to have fellowship with Adam and Eve.
We understand that GOD is “up there” and that we are “down here”. The separation that we experience today however, because of sin, has brought about our inability to approach GOD as Adam and Eve could in their pre-fallen state. There is coming a day however, when heaven will once again be one with Earth because Christ is LORD of both heaven and earth (MATT 28:18). Sin will no longer be a barrier between these two domains!
Did GOD create the things He made simply as functions of His creation? Or is there a deeper meaning to all that He spoke into existence? Is light merely “light”? Are seeds nothing more than a means of propagation? How about water? Rivers? What about the engineering of the body of Adam – any significance there? Did GOD have intentions of using the various aspects of creation, and just how they function to illustrate His Gospel Truth?
GOD firstly declared “Let there be light” and divided it from the darkness. And just as these two are distinct, so too is spiritual light and darkness. Spiritual light brings the revelation of truth, understanding, direction, discernment, comfort and all that is good. Darkness in all of its spiritual implication brings deception, obscurity, concealment and confusion. Light represents life, darkness represents death.
The themes of light and darkness are throughout Scripture, and the ultimate purpose of the Gospel is the exaltation of GOD’s light and His glory, and the consignment of darkness and the evil kingdom it represents to eternal destruction (“outer darkness”). There are children of light (1 THESS 5:5) and children of darkness (EPH 5:8). It’s GOD’s desire that all will come to the Light (JOHN 3:21) and receive the Gospel of salvation (ROM 1:16).
The interposition of sun and moon is rather interesting; the sun generates its own light, the moon does not. Sunlight is far brighter than moonlight. The parallel is rather well known of course. Christ is the Light of the world, but He also calls us, His saints, particularly the church, “the light of the world”. His Light is integral to His nature, and we reflect that light onto this dark, dark world until the Sun returns (MAL 4:2).
The result of the Gospel is Christ’s Spirit residing in born again Christians, who reflect the Light of JESUS.
“…He made the stars also.” (vs. 16). He made them for many reasons, but included in those is “for signs” (vs. 14). Have you ever heard of the Mazzaroth? It’s mistakenly referred to as “Jewish astrology” but that isn’t at all accurate. Astrology purports to tell us our own story or future, but the Mazzaroth tells the story and the prophetic future of “the Coming One” – namely the Messiah.
Those who have studied it say that this is what PSALM 19 is actually saying:
PSALM 19: 1-2
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.
The SEED of TRUTH
GENESIS 1:12
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
We read here about seeds and how trees, foliage and grasses, animals and humans are grown from these remarkable genetic capsules of life. They all produce after their own kind, bearing fruit, just as animals do, just as people do. Then we read in the Gospels about the Seed of the Word.
What is the significance of soil? Is it merely the repository for seeds? Or is there a symbolic significance to it as well? The parables indicate the significance of this (MATT 13:8)!
The seed of the Word likewise produces After His kind, that is, the very nature and Spirit of Christ is formed in repentant sinners, transformed into saints, citizens of the kingdom of GOD. This all began when Christ Himself “the Seed” died and brought forth life and much fruit:
JOHN 12:23-24
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
“The seed of Abraham”
GALATIANS 3:16
Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.
“Seed” can be either in plural form (“Did you buy enough seed for planting our garden?”) or singular (“Spit out that seed, don’t swallow it!”). In this verse and it’s Old Testament parallel the word for seed in both the Hebrew and the Greek where it refers to “the promised seed” is singular. It points exclusively to Christ, just as “the seed of the woman” does in GEN 3:15. The ministry of Christ is centered upon the Gospel.
Also, in the parable of the Sower, there is a description of four different types of soil, representing four different heart conditions of people who receive (or not) the seed.
We could go on like this and dissect every little aspect of the creation account and how they could have deeper, spiritual analogies and import, but I’ll leave much of this up to you the reader for your own exploration. So, let’s look at the creation of man!
MAN, OH MAN – WHAT A PIECE OF WORK!
GENESIS 1:26
Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…
Ever wonder why GOD created us the way that He did? Why give us only one head? And two eyes instead of three? Why only two feet and two hands? Again, I don’t want to make too much of all of this and assert doctrinal imperatives to it all. What I’m addressing here are suggestions that GOD may be clueing us in to some subtle insights into all of His handiwork.
How many founders are there for the church? I’m not talking about churches, but The Church as in the body of Christ? There is only One, the LORD Jesus Christ Who is also called – what?
COLOSSIANS 1:18
And he [Christ] 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.
We have two eyes, which could easily represent two perspectives, two methods to focus on two different ideologies.
ROMANS 8:5
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
To “set one’s mind on things” to consider, to regard. We have only two options: the spiritual or the carnal. There isn’t a third option. We are to keep our eye on (“to mind “) the spiritual, because if we don’t, then we’ll give ourselves over to “the lust of the eyes”. It’s the same idea with our hands – things approved of by GOD we work with our right hand; things not approved are done with our left – not literally, but again, we have two choices, not three or more (ECCL 9:10; HEB 1:3).
Two legs with two feet: how we walk in the physical is how we walk in the spiritual. One step at a time. As disciples of Christ, we walk daily, and moment by moment with the LORD. We aren’t about “spiritual leapfrogging” but patiently walking in a sure direction, one step at a time.
We have one heart as well: it’s meant to be just one, and that, being united for a purpose:
PSALM 86:11
Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name.
DEUTERONOMY 6:5
"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
The things spoken of above are the result of the Gospel, believing Christ from the heart and commencing this walk of faith.
I won’t get in too deep with the architecture of man because I want to deal with this in another series, but suffice it to say, we are a triune being just as GOD is a triune being (albeit with significant differences): body, soul and spirit. As such we are a model of the temple – or rather more accurately, the temple is a model of us, and more importantly, of the Person of Christ.
Just as our innermost being is our heart (our spirit [“pneuma”], not the organ that pumps our blood), and outside of this is our mind (our soul [“psuche”]), then our body [“soma”], all of which correlates with the temple’s innermost chamber: the Holy of holies (spirit), and then outside of that, the Holy Place (soul), and surrounding it all, the Outer Court (body).
The Gospel affects and seals our hearts with the Holy Spirit (2 COR 1:22; EPH 1:13; 4:30), transforms our minds (ROM 12:1-2) and will one day redeem and glorify our bodies (ROM 8:23; 1 COR 15:48-53)!
WHEN THE RIGHT LADY COMES ALONG
Adam was created as a husband to Eve; they are the model of marriage which GOD instituted. The LORD GOD created the woman out of man, and she became his bride. This is the exclusive form of matrimonial love that GOD instituted, with no exceptions.
This model reflects Christ who in a spiritual sense gave birth to His bride. The church is the wife of the Lamb (REV 19:7). As a result of the Gospel, we enter into a vital, living relationship with the LORD Jesus. We become members of His body; we are the branches, and He is the Vine. He is our bridegroom, and we are His bride.
When Eve was deceived and fell for Satan’s temptation, Adam saw her deplorable condition, and rather than be parted from her, he joined her in the rebellion. In broad terms Christ saw us in our deplorable state, and rather than seeing us eternally separated from Him, He became sin for us and redeemed us (2 COR 5:21).
GOD understood that it wasn’t good for man to be alone; He knew that he needed fellowship. In the same manner, GOD understands that it’s absolutely not good for us to be alone, apart from our Creator. GOD is all about relationship, but He couldn’t relate with sinners – and our situation would have been completely hopeless if not for the blessed Gospel that turns sinners into saints, rebels into relatives (“adopted children” ROM 8:15; GAL 4:5; EPH 1:5)!
So, just as GOD created man and woman with their distinct roles, they model Who Christ and His bride are. Christ is the Head, and the church follows His lead. This is a dynamic that starts between Redeemer and the redeemed with the Gospel.
TO CHOOSE BETWEEN TWO TREES
There is such a focus on the tree of knowledge of good and evil that quite often, the other tree of significance is often overlooked: the tree of life. I’ve always had the impression (without anything in Scripture explicitly saying so) that these two trees grew side by side, so as to give Adam and Eve a clear choice between the two.
Not dissimilar to what the LORD through Moses told Israel in DEUTERONOMY:
DEUTERONOMY 30:19
I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
And what Joshua told Israel:
JOSHUA 24:15
"And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
And what Elijah told Israel generations later:
1 KINGS 18:21
And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.
There are those who protest concerning GOD’s judgment upon them for their sin:
“I didn’t choose any forbidden fruit that condemned Adam! Why should I also be condemned because of his mistake?”
What you incurred from Adam was a sin nature, and because of that sin nature, you practice sin (It’s only natural). But on the day of Judgment, you won’t be condemned because Adam fell into sin. You will be condemned because you forsook the solution to the sin problem, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In forsaking GOD’s plan of redemption, you will have to give account for your own sins.
Just as they were faced with making a decision between one of two choices (the tree of life or the tree of knowledge of sin and evil), so we are all confronted with two choices: The way of Life through Christ (JOHN 14:6) or the way of death (ROM 6:23; REV 20:14).
BLOOD BOUGHT LAMB SKINS
Think about how Adam and Eve lived in absolute paradise… We often get the impression of a perfectly formed nude couple living in a lush tropical landscape – and that may be part of it, but I see them living in a dimensional reality that far exceeds what we know post-fall. I believe that when they fell, they fell much farther than we can even conceive of!
Think about what they must have felt once the full realization of what they did hit them! Not only did they find themselves robbed by Satan and their own rebellion of all the blessed life that they had, but also the entire progeny of the human race! We as a people were doomed to live in relative abject misery and destruction.
Satan promised them godhood far exceeding their own human dignity, but what they got instead was the reality of ruined monstrosities! How utterly tragic!
Were it not for the promise of GOD given to them once their rebellion was manifest, I don’t think they would have been able to handle the insurmountable guilt as a result of the fall. But the LORD did much more than issue a promise of redemption:
GENESIS 3:15
And I will put enmity between you [the serpent] and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He [the Seed of the woman] shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.
In this verse is the first of a myriad of prophecies concerning the Coming Savior – the One Who will come to be known as the Messiah. Throughout this exhaustive study, we will look at many of these!
Enmity in this case is “hostility and hatred”. This is Light and darkness for which there can be no compromise, no truce, no conciliation whatsoever! This animosity between the Kingdom of GOD and the kingdom of Satan is the quintessential war of the ages. For this unholy affrontery GOD here declares war on the serpent, and the killing blow came at Calvary! The “mop up operation” will occur in two phases:
At the end of the Tribulation when the Beast and the False Prophet are consigned directly to Gehenna (note, there will be no appearance at the Great White Throne Judgment for these two!).
At the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ Satan will finally be cast into the Lake of Fire (the deepest depth of that place of perdition)!
At this declaration of war, GOD states that the “seed of the serpent” will strive against the “Seed of the woman”. We often think of the seed of the serpent in a general sense, representing all those who are “children of the devil” (MATT 12:34; 13:38; JOHN 8:44; 1 JOHN 3:10) and so it is!
Yet I also think that there is the ultimate manifestation of the seed of the serpent. Just as the Spirit of GOD brought life into Mary’s womb, producing in her the humanity of the Son of GOD, I believe that Satan can and will perform the same function that “the sons of GOD” performed in GENESIS 6. That Satan will manifest physically and impregnate a human female with his actual seed, who will be raised up at the coming world leader is entirely plausible, essentially insinuating that the Beast (and likely the False Prophet) will be Nephilim.
In any event, the demarcations are clear with no gray areas whatsoever. Those who are not on the side of right, in the kingdom of GOD have their part on the side of wrong, in the kingdom of Darkness.
The propitiation of the Son of GOD in His high priestly act of sacrifice is referred to in the latter half of verse 15. Here in the third chapter of GENESIS, well nigh at the start of GOD’s Special Revelation we have the Gospel presented! This surely is the hope that Adam and Eve clung to, and one that they shared with their children, alongside another act of GOD:
GENESIS 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin and clothed them.
In their pre-fallen state Adam and Eve would not have witnessed death, to say nothing of bloodshed. Yet here we see that the LORD provided garments of skins (literally, leather). I believe that they began to understand that their sin was “covered” by the shedding of blood of an innocent animal, from which these skins were derived.
There was the declaration of the Gospel in vs. 15 and a demonstration of the act of propitiation in vs. 21. Scripture doesn’t say what sort of animal was sacrificed, but I suspect that it could have been a lamb.
We will end Part One here and continue into Part Two as the LORD leads! May the LORD Bless you way too much!!
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