Interesting Sequence of Bible Events from the Creation of Man

 

Interesting Sequence of Bible Events from the Creation of Man

 

1.      Adam was created “in the image and likeness of God (Elohim)”. He was an invisible, eternal soul and spirit, housed in a perfect, visible, earthen, physical body. (Genesis 1: 26-28; 2: 7,18, 21-25)

2.      One of the first points of interest was our learning how an otherwise perfect man could be drawn to sin against his Creator. Further, that enticement had three components: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life (Genesis 3:6)…and could be delivered by an unknown enemy, or a trusted entity…even someone close. That same three means of enticement to commit sin that were successfully used by the Serpent against Eve in the Garden of Eden, were unsuccessful when tried against our Lord Jesus (Matthew 4: 1-11). The Enemy continues to tempt us with those same tests even today.

3.       When Adam sinned against His Creator LORD God by eating of the forbidden tree of knowledge of good and evil, several events followed:

a.      Adam and ”Eve” were forever changed, and those changes affect us even today, as they were passed to future generations through their blood.

b.      Their souls (mind, will and emotions) obtained a new “knowledge of evil” and the ability to distinguish it from the “good” that God had given them. (Change in their “Heart” / a newly developed Conscience).

c.       Their spiritual connection to the LORD God was broken. It was made dormant (like a dead car battery) resulting in their developing a “sin-nature”. Since then, all have been born with this sin-nature. It obtained dominance in their souls without the counter-effects of the natural spirit. Priority in thought and behavior moved to sin/evil over righteousness/good.

d.      Adam became aware of his “nakedness”, having lost the covering glory that was given him when he was given dominion over the Earth. (Genesis 1: 26, 28) He and “Eve” sewed fig leaves together “as aprons” to conceal their bodies’ reproductive areas, and then tried to hide themselves…an act of shame, but also “self-righteousness”.

e.      After hearing their accounts of what led to their disobedience / sin, the LORD God pronounced their punishments, as well as those of the Serpent who instigated the misdeed. Death was the most severe punishment for each of them. The “seed of the woman” would bring death to the Serpent. The physical bodies of Adam and Eve would age / begin to deteriorate and would eventually return to the dust of the earth by the end of the “day” (2 Peter 3: 8 ). Unless determined to be “Righteous” by God at some future point, their eternal soul and spirit would remain separated from God. (https://www.gotquestions.org/second-death.html )

f.        The eternal spirit of the Serpent /Archangel Lucifer / Satan retrieved the dominion over the Earth when Adam lost / forfeited it. He became the “god of this world” (https://www.gotquestions.org/Satan-god-world.html )and “prince of the power of the air”. (https://www.gotquestions.org/prince-power-air.html . He then began his efforts to prevent the LORD God’s death sentence from becoming a reality, and continued his efforts to replace / supplant God as Supreme Being.(Isaiah 14: 12-14) 

g.        Lucifer’s / Satan’s hatred for the man who was made in the image and likeness of God has continued even until today. Since then he has continued to bring pain, suffering, disease, disability, wars, plagues, “natural disasters”, and a host of other ills upon mankind.

h.      However, God is still Supreme Sovereign and on His Throne! As a sovereign act of His Mercy and Grace, the LORD God shed the blood of an innocent animal to clothe Adam and Eve. He replaced the fig leaves they had fashioned for themselves. He replaced their efforts towards “self-righteousness” with His true Righteousness. Through the Scripture He has given us today this insight into how we might overcome the penalty of death for our sins. There must be the shedding of innocent blood. (Hebrews Chapter Nine)

i.        “And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:…” then He drove them out of the Garden of Eden and sealed the way behind them. (Genesis 3: 22-24)  Note that in His love for His newly-created being man, God did not want this soul/spirit spending an eternity under the influence of evil / sin.

4.      After having been “evicted” from the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Each son followed the alternate paths laid out for mankind. The younger son Abel chose to trust and obey God’s instructions to obtain “true righteousness”. The elder Cain, facing a somewhat more challenging route to obedience, chose to disobey God and follow another voice prompted by the sin-nature, to seek “self-righteousness”. Even after the LORD offered assistance to Cain, he still refused. Motivated by his inability to “do things his way”, and jealous of Abel’s righteous behavior, Cain contended with him and slew him. (Genesis Chapter 4)  As the result of the “potential seed” having been eliminated, it appeared that the Serpent / Lucifer had thwarted the LORD’s effort to destroy him. Abel had been slain. Cain the killer had been banished by the LORD. Fortunately for mankind, God had a different plan.

5.      The Scripture then notes that Cain found a wife in the Land of Nod and began a line of descendants. The Bible doesn’t explain where his wife or many other people originated.  This and many other questions lead us to establish some key points in Scripture:

a.      God doesn’t tell us everything we might want to know, but He does tell us everything we need to know to overcome the death due to us because of our sins.

b.      Deuteronomy 29: 29 states: “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God; but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children for ever…”

6.      Many Bible students did not recognize that the behaviors of both Cain and Abel were manifestations of the consequences from their father Adam’s having sinned by eating from the forbidden tree.  Their knowledge of good and evil, and a sin-nature had been inherited through their blood from their father Adam. Abel chose the “good”. Cain chose “evil”. This becomes more clear when you read closely the early verses of Genesis Chapter 5, related to Adam and Eve’s third son Seth. Adam was made “in the likeness of God”. Until Adam ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, he did not know “evil”.  Adam’s son Seth (like Cain and Abel before him) was made in the likeness and image of Adam after his sin. They inherited the consequences of their father’s sin. We too share that inheritance.

 

Dr. W. A. (Bill) Robinson