Heaven Past Present Future Ministries

ENCOURAGEMENT TO ETERNAL FOCUS IN UNITY AND FELLOWSHIP OF THE GOSPEL

Email Chapter    PDF Read/Share/Print    Homepage

Share Comment  Read \ Answer\Share Discussion Questions

HTML Printer Friendly Version (Page setup: top .75, bottom .5, left .75 right.75)

Chapter 5       Chapter 7   Chapter Time Link Map

One of Us To Know Good and Evil

6

When did death of temporary existence begin in the Kingdom of God? Did creation decay by God's command prior to man’s sin to the benefit of needful growth? Was the creation temporary even before the sin of Adam and Eve?

• The Genesis creation was eternal without decay prior to man’s sin

• Man committed the original sin that caused earthly decay and death in separation from God the Father

• Adam and Eve were originally superhuman much different from their descendants

In God's message to man perhaps one of the most important points to understand is that man now is sinful in comparison to a Holy and Just God without sin. This doctrine of sin will become increasingly denied as time closes in on the coming of the Lord to earth. Even today the politically correct view is that every action and nature of man should be lauded as good as long as sincere and with consent of others involved. Just as Satan, creation of life is all about personal satisfaction and inner peace to fulfill oneself apart from the will of the Creator. World leaders work feverously to rid this planet of this teaching of sin and attempt to portray God as approving all man would seek to do.

Yet even among those who accept God's message of sin and separation  in this creation there exists a great chasm over certain issues. Mainly these center over who and when the original sin was committed in God's Kingdom. Less debated are the why and where of sin's beginning but even here there are major differences. Even less understood by many are the consequences of sin's introduction into the Kingdom of Heaven. This conceptual division over sin comes once again from man only looking at himself in great disregard for everything else that God has created.

Thus far in previous chapters we have seen God created a separated dark creation of two heavens and earth for the holding of Satan and following angels until the great day of judgment to come just one week of His time after their fall. These await their appointed time in a stretched creation in time, space and matter far different than the oneness that existed in all God's Kingdom in the fellowship of His Light for eternity past. In this cold blackness God prepared a finely tuned world and made creatures from the elements of the ground. He gave one creature something different from all else He made - an eternal spirit. Yet this man was beguiled by another creature of God into ruining the desired relationship God had for man. The results present constant daily reminders of what God meant when He said man was now ...

 One of us to know good and evil

The Decay  A Reality

Physical suffering and death are inevitable problematic experiences of this world. I just finished trying to treat and comfort a man who was bitten by his dog that had been run over by a car. It loyally as God designed him followed the man to his neighbors. The dog in severe pain from multiple fractures had to be put down and the man was experiencing initial grief from the loss. His hand would heal but his dog was gone forever.

The newspaper this morning recorded the death of a beautiful young high school senior in a car accident. She was captain of her cheerleader squad. The school was preparing counselors for the other students and teachers to meet the difficult needs faced. Over the years in emergency rooms I have seen many snatched away in their youth. It is never easy for anyone involved. Even sadder was a follow up article a few days later that showed the accident was drug and alcohol related. The life of someone with wonderful opportunities was destroyed by the physical pleasures she could not control.

Yesterday I faced the difficulty of pronouncing dead a youthful looking lady of forty-nine who had succumbed to a long fight with breast cancer. Her family said she was ready to go to her new life. Failure to revive and cure is even difficult for health professionals who deal with it each day.

A reader at our website sent the following question while reading about the chapter called A Room With Jesus. As one reads unedited her expressive questions the pain of her loss is evident.

WHY DOES CHILDREN PASS?. WHY IS THE REASON GOD NEED CHILDREN? I KNOW WE MUST NEVER ASKED WHY, WHY WOULD HE CAUSE MY SO MUCH PAIN? MY LITTLE GIRL WENT TO BE WITH THE LORD. SHE WAS A HEALTHY 3 YEAR OLD AND WITHIN 3 HOURS GONE. WHAT DOES HE NEED FROM OUR CHILDREN? SINCE THIS HAPPEN I AM QUESTIONING MY FAITH.

Long before death physical suffering devastates people and families. For many years I was naive about the turmoil faced so many in the world. In the emergency rooms I see people who I would have rarely seen as a Pastor. One must be fairly prosperous, healthy and socially acclimated to fit into today’s highly active churches. There are staggering barriers and differences to overcome for those hindered by many types of physical challenges. These observations my first two years led me to tell my mother our family was not normal. She asked me why I would say something like that. I responded that I had taken a course on statistics and our family was more than two standard deviations away from the people I treated every day. I often wondered where all these people were when I was working in full time church work. After some time I learned my church world was not a real earthly view of the world. It was skewed by unconscious acceptance toward those very like ourselves. Those physically, mentally and emotionally overcome by the sufferings of this world just could not keep up. Over time these fell to the wayside.

Transition from my controlled religious world to this real world was difficult. As a pastor most information I was presented about others was good and most people I associated were healthy in active lives. While I occasionally attempted to visit and comfort those afflicted by the hardships of this world most  time was spent preparing sermons, writing lessons and organizing activities. I once heard someone say that a preacher knows the best of a man, a lawyer knows the worst of a man and a doctor knows the real man. Accepting the reality of suffering in the the world was hard. In medical school I challenged our dean telling him based on my decade of experience working in churches and community service the life at medical schools was not in the real world. He looked very firmly at me and said I was the one who did not know the real world yet. While not initially believing him I found out over the years to follow he was right. My view was biased by selective fellowship with those more like myself.

It took time for me to realize most people acted different around me rather than their true self. For example when I played tennis they apologized for using God’s name in vain. No apology was given when I was not there. They hid their beer when I visited. They drank socially when I was not there. Then once a physician I knew who in church has sexually transmitted diseases, who while pillars of the church must take anxiety medication, who could not sleep due to worldly views of stress, trial and more.

Medical offices and emergency rooms contain some of the greatest populations of unreached people groups in the world that just don’t fit into the rigorous religious schedules, activities and norms of our modern churches. I just treated one nice lady from a Nursing Home who is at least 400 pounds and suffering from chronic breathing problems. She can no longer walk or care for herself. Another suffers the effects of diabetes and is slowly losing his extremities due to poor circulation. Another family in shock fights and searches for every possible medical intervention for a youthful appearing sixty-two year old who suffered a stroke with severe left sided weakness. Another man with no previous health history while planting his garden starts having chest pain and dies a few hours later when all heroic intervention for his heart attack exhaustively can’t keep him alive. I tell a family that for a man involved in an accident we did everything we could but the angels came and took him. A deacon and prayer warrior of many years curses profusely in confusion saying things his children could not believe their father ever even knew. Between patients an officer has me sign a subpoena to report to court for testimony in a child abuse case I had previously seen for evaluation. A woman out of her right mind runs naked down the hall of our hospital while the staff and family try to subdue her. So many patients suffer from ill effects of alcohol or crack addiction in attempts to cope with the stresses around them. Myriads have the diagnosis of bipolar and other psychiatric disorders that never come to our churches since far different from those who attend. Deep down I ask myself would I really want them around my wife and children in fellowships. Why is all this suffering allowed in this world that seems to hinder spiritual growth and success? Does God not understand He wants the Sunday School record broken and every pew filled in the churches? Does He not know we need healthy workers to tithe for missions and support of church activities? These few examples are just problems of the wealthiest portion of the planet per capita.

In other poorer sections people starve for food and medical care. This is nothing new. History now reveals how under Stalin over forty million people in Russia were eliminated for no good reason other than control of peasant populations. If one could believe it Hitler in Europe was better since he kept his killing to Jews and the deformed following his belief in a super race blessed by God. Even in our modern times ethnic cleansing killed millions of others. Radical Islam threatens mass destruction in messages of hate from those unlike themselves. Recently Islamic leaders had used cartoons depicting a truth about parts of Islam to incite more death and mayhem. But people do not only suffer from the hands of fellow man. Nature takes the lives in many in Tsunamis, earth quakes, famines, hurricanes, pestilent diseases and accidents. The natural result is always more suffering or death - often of the innocent.

All this sounds pretty bleak. Apart from a heavenly perspective the effects of this physical suffering and death are overwhelming. A nurse this week after watching the news about all the suffering and turmoil told how she felt a loss of her sense of security. Suffering and death had intruded very close to her own world around her. The retreat of her isolated home in the country somehow seemed more vulnerable when she began to realize all that was going on in the world. As she verbalized her feelings she attempted to get a handle on the stirring emotions brought by the unrest.

Many Psychology books describe the stages of grief individuals feel when those they know and love endure such trials or are snatched away in God’s purposes. There is shock when realized, anger over the intrusion of such circumstances that disrupt the comfort of their lives, denial of the reality, bartering with God to change what is known and finally some level of acceptance in Divine purposes. Grief for years is a normal response to the thoughts of those gone bringing emotions of sadness, tearfulness and even joyous nostalgic memories. Many therapeutic expressions of man in song, poetry, literature and art are stimulated by the feelings generated by the physical suffering and death of another. Man has dealt with this intrusion upon his psyche since his beginning. From the earliest days of man preparations were made for death as seen in immaculate tombs of the Pharaohs some 4000 years ago. Even today illness and death are superior motivators to enlist change as seen in many grass roots political and social activists in various organizations. Suffering and death influences all.

So why does physical suffering and death come to this world God created? What is it’s purpose? As the mother above in severe emotional pain or the parents and friends of the teenage cheerleader asks why does it even come to those innocent and young? Why does that which brings service, companionship and pleasure experience trauma and fatal injury as the man’s little dog? Why diseases like cancer at such a young age? Death or suffering fears no person or living thing and eventually leaves no person or family untouched in some way. It even hinders our lofty spiritual goals of church growth and outreach.

A Differential of Causality

A heavenly understanding of God’s purpose of physical suffering and death comes by study of the world and first couple God created. Adam and Eve made a decision that negated any opportunity for an eternal non decaying existence in this physical form of their initial life on earth. Their nature to disobey God even was inherited causing all their descendants to eventually return to the dust from which they were created.

As one reads the Bible there is much speculation about the state of the world before and after Adam and Eve made their tragic decision to disobey God. Questions abound about the extent to which God’s judgment upon their sin changed the function of the world around them. Two main theories surface based upon past, present and future world view about God’s purpose of creation.

The first view is that where Adam was placed in a perfect eternal world from the beginning. Here the creation of Genesis is believed by instant Supernatural Divine fiat commands progressing from an unfinished composition to a "very good" habitat without the problems of today. Man was designed to live forever as the apex of this inerrant ecosystem to manage Eden to God’s glory. But beguiled by the serpent in this wonderful garden of perfection man was driven out to suffer in judgment. In a Savior promised man hopes to one day return to this Eden like garden and eventually fulfill his missed destiny of a leisurely life full of the now missed blessings wrought by suffering and death.

The second view differs significantly in that it addresses many teachings of Scripture ignored by the very simplistic first view. God still is known as the Supernatural Creator. Yet the creation of this age is that of two heavens and earth in addition to God’s domain of the third heaven unchanged over the ages of eternity past. God commands Supernatural fiats that instantly start new aspects of creation to appear. Then these creations progressively develop by natural providence fulfilling their purposes for time appointed and controlled. The dark two heavens and earth of Genesis are the holding prison of Satan and his fellow rebels until their completed judgment at the appointed time. For an age Satan had some power as the god of this world and prince of the air. Man was created in a great plan of God for the purpose of reclaiming His destroyed lost garden called affectionately Eden. In God’s plan every evil Satan commits is always used for greater good and eternal victory. Satan’s enticement of man to evil was part of a master plan to eventually by procreation with man bring a Savior. Scripture tells us had Satan understood that the evil of killing this Son of God in flesh would bring loss of his temporary earthly holdings he never would have crucified Him. Thus man as well hopes in a Savior - but not for Genesis Eden perfected. God promises a New Heaven and New Earth in fellowship with the Father who was distant even before the sin of Adam and Eve.

The Dilemma of Popularity

The first  and most popular view does not deal with many facts and truths known both in the Bible and about God’s creation today which is absolutely essential for approval of God in areas of Biblical interpretation. Paul challenged Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:15, "15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth." NASB Paul’s wording "handling accurately" is a term used by the Greeks in construction and building. It refers to placing all the pieces together in a solid strong structure. Many believe since Paul was a tent maker he metaphorically is picturing all truth fitting properly together in such a way as to render the canvass strengthened in its designed task. If every piece of the tent structure does not fit well together then if fails in its function of protection from the elements of the world that beat upon it. Thus for approval God’s workers must use all the pieces and fit them together properly. The theological interpretation of perfection lost forgets many sections of truth providing a leaky inefficient structure.

For example it fails to address the everlasting to everlasting quality of God’s Divine nature as a Creator with "eternal power." Darkness where God the Father was not present in the Light of His glory is unexplained and simply viewed as unfinished. God’s record of the facts reveal it was dark with substitute lights from Genesis 1:1. Is there really any place God’s glorious light could not penetrate as in the New Heaven and New Earth to come if He were in complete fellowship with it?

What about the oxymoron of the presence of the evil serpent in a "perfect" world and the existence of sin before that of Adam and Eve? Even worse perfection lost teaching ignores the effects of Satan’s preexisting sin in God’s Kingdom and His relationships to that creation. After sentencing in heaven when cast to the earth as lightening where then are Satan and angels held until final judgment in the Lake of Fire? If another place other than this dark world why was he released to entice man? Since God is all wise and all knowing why would the apex of a loving creation be allowed to endure such overpowering deception and destruction by such a powerful creation in severely mismatched testing? As innocent and naive about the knowledge and possible consequences of evil the first couple were not a real match for Satan’s lies. As is seen in chapter Relative Time Creation this was part of God’s plan even before the world began.

Further the perfection idea also does not harmonize with God’s testimony that this world is temporary and spread out even before the sin of the first couple. The organization now is very unlike the oneness promised in the New Heaven and New Earth. Other truths leap out at the investigator. What about the purpose of transient extinct species of fish, plants and animals that in perfection theology are denied or ignored? The inconsistencies are mountainous. The initial eternal perfection teaching of the pre-Adamic sin world takes great blind faith in absolute refutation of mainline interpretation of all revelation of both the light of Scripture and the creation itself. Is everything material temporary simply because two people made one bad decision based on really bad advice? If one decision can change the ‘eternal’ to ‘temporary’ then how secure is our promise of ‘eternal life’? Or did God have a bigger purpose as noted in the chapter to follow called God Blesses With A Loving Plan?

For a moment consider the ramifications of the view of lost perfection. A pre-Adamic sin perfect creation would mean God made super massive changes in the structure and order of all life after man’s sin. For example before the tragic moment as plants, trees, birds, fish and animals grew where did the necessary components of carbohydrate, proteins, fats, essential nutrients and elements come? If made in an instant flash perfect did they continue to grow or were they static? If they grew by additions of other nutrients, essential elements and molecules, and building blocks of protein and carbohydrate did God provide a steady stream of these instantly for this growth or did something else in the ecosystem God designed decay so something else could grow?

Even in the Bible man was told he could eat of all the trees of the garden. One would assume there has been no major change in digestion and production of energy in man’s fleshly body. In biochemical reactions every molecule of sugar, fat or protein is converted to stored energy in packets called ATP ready for use in cells of the body. Each cell is a complex world to itself with DNA - RNA coded messages telling the cell what it is and what it does. There are mitochondria for ATP energy production necessary for cellular life and function. Transport super highways called endoplasmic reticulum for maintenance and functional material move production according to purpose. Transport proteins carry newly made material to needed areas. Semi permeable cell walls with specialized pumps maintain proper balance of electrolytes, produced materials and even conduction of electricity by changes in the electrical potential. Hormone messages from other cells regulate activity and production in feed back systems. The very beat of man’s heart or even a simple thought in reading this page is the result of complexity beyond imagination on the cellular level. From the Genesis description it would seem even before his sin that man was dependent on this complex system of energy and material production for survival other than God’s glory as in his new glorified body promised.

So how perfect in the sense of non decaying or eternal was this biological system of Adam and Eve initially? Did man eat only for the energy required for movement and thought or did he need any repair before his sin? Was there any decay at all? Did his skin wear out and need replacement? Did Adam ever hurt himself and if so was he repaired instantly or did his body repair providentially over time? What happened to the dead worn skin as he touched his world? Today the number one component of house dust is our skin. We lose millions of cell a day that are constantly being replaced from basal cells that divide. Was Adam’s skin the same as man’s today or did God change it due to man’s sin?

Did Eve ovulate monthly before sin with loss and decay of unused eggs and tissue? Was population of the earth really to happen in another way? Did Adam produce millions of sperm to ensure fertilization against many odds with death and waste of all but one of his seed or was this a change of sin? In perfection was there to be an endless supply of eggs and seed for childbearing for eternity in unnumbered posterity?

Did the wind ever dry their eyes or blinking of the eye cause wear and tear of the cornea so it would need constant replacement? Did they have tear ducts to wash away excess to the sinuses or was production by Meibomian glands perfect for just exactly what was as needed to moisten the eyes every time? Did their hair grow and would they have needed to cut it if they had not sinned? Did Adam have an immune system before he sinned or was this added later? Were bacteria, fungi and viruses the result of the curse on man or were these added after man’s sin? Were the mast and Langerhans cells of the skin for protection added later? Did God change Adam’s blood adding the cell lines of B-cells, T-cells, and immunoglobulins to fight against diseases and threats of the curse? Were the biochemical reactions that create pain and itching added or did Adam feel pain before his sin? Is pain an evil side effect of this world?

Did this first couple initially produce waste in feces or urine and if so what was done with it? Feces is about 70% bacteria. Did Adam have the symbiotic bacteria we have today in his colon or did he experience the discomfort of diarrhea constantly? Perhaps his energy efficiency was 100% without any waste. If so were Adam and Eve revised and fitted with waste elimination functioning areas of the body? Did he have secondary fluid losses in sweat when he worked before the curse or did God change his cooling system after his sin? Many do not realize Adam, Eve and the world they lived would have had to undergo massive wholesale change on a structural, functional, and biochemical levels much different than the body man has now. Essentially if one takes the first view of a perfect non decaying creation then after sin there must have been a huge recreation or revision of Adam and Eve so as to be temporary in the world and to fulfill God’s promise to return to dust from whence they came.

When one understands the complex workings of this body did God physically alter the body of Adam after his sin providing an immune system, the inefficient adjustment of production of energy with waste products toxic to the system needing elimination, poor durability of skin and supporting structures, and susceptibility to trauma and disease? Were Adam and Eve the equivalent of Super Man and Super Woman in our entertainment fantasies invincible and impervious to any incident or trauma of Eden? When one looks more deeply at the first view Adam and Eve would have to be superhuman that operated much differently than we do today if they were designed to live forever before their sin. The problem is that no where is Scripture are we told the first couple were any different than any one living today. While living longer in God's plan they were just like today's descendants.

The Diagnosis of Scripture

Without belaboring the point any longer the second view holds God’s Genesis creation was temporary from the beginning. As shall be seen God’s curse was actually a blessing to remind man every day of the need of accepting His offer through Jesus Christ for eternal life.

Perhaps understanding the implications of ones choice in application of fact and truth it is time to begin harmonizing the message of Scripture about sin in God’s Kingdom and its consequences. Consider Paul’s teaching about the origin of sin and death.

Romans 5:12

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned- NIV

Paul tells us sin entered into the world through one man Adam. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary^[1] says, "The tense of the verb indicates a distinct historic entrance. "World" refers to mankind (a common use of the word in Romans; cf. Rom 1:8; 3:6,19; 5:12-13)." It would be nonsense to make the word always refer to every animal, plant, fish and material creation in the world as seen in the use of the word below.

Romans 1:8

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. NASB

So in Romans 5:12 does 'world' in the text refer to sin entering: 1. the world referring to mankind? 2. the world of God’s kingdom of heaven and earth including animal and plant kingdom?

When Paul says of "death through sin" applied to mankind does he mean: 1. physical death in decay of flesh in aging in entropy we now see? 2. spiritual death in continued separation from the Father for eternity? 3. both physical and spiritual death? 

Many students of Scripture would like to make man’s choice the original sin in the creation and ignore the effects of the previous rebellion in heaven. Man therefore would be responsible for the physical death and decay of everything in this world as the result of Adam’s disobedience in the garden in Eden. With this premise popular Christianity would like to believe nothing animal or physical died or decayed before this entrance of sin Paul speaks about Adam. Everything with spirit was eternal and non decaying. In this view the world for but a moment of time was perfect in every way until Adam and Eve sinned. Many even attempt to practice medicine in bodily improvement by following principles supposed in pre-Adamic sin life.

The motivation for this physical death of all creation through Adam interpretation is a defense against the teaching of the theory of evolution. As addressed in previous chapters many believers hope to disprove evolutionary theory by proof of a young creation. These propose the resulting entropy of current creation is the result of the curse upon Adam and Eve after sin recorded in Genesis 3. In this view prior to man's sin the earth was perfection with no physical death or suffering in the creation. This included all life. Beyond the factual problems above barely discussed other textual problems with this interpretation leap forth. While this author strongly disagrees with godless evolution theory as already written, the use of Romans 5:12 to purport Adamic original sin in the creation and resulting decay by the Genesis curse does not harmonize with good Scripture interpretation of God's overall plan of redemption. All the truth does not fit well together into a cohesive structure.

As one reads the conversation of God to Adam after sin just how much recreation or creational adjustment was made before he was driven with Eve from the garden in Eden? Consider just what God says. Is it a continuance with loss of special protection due to innocence to the problems in God’s kingdom or a global change designed to punish?

Genesis 3:17-19

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 shall eat of it

All the days of your life.

18 "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you shall eat the plants of the field;

19 By the sweat of your face

You shall eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return. "

NASB (Emphasis mine)

God’s message to Adam shares mostly the difficultly he would then experience future from an uncooperative world. God does not share a global change in Adam and the original design of seven days of creation in wasted effort. All that is really seen in God’s statements is minor adjustments. In relation to man the ground is cursed and fights against him all his days until he returns to it. Hence the struggle, suffering and death experienced today.

In context the passage seems to support the premise of Romans 5:12 speaking of sin entering mankind and its effect on mankind -"all men". Nothing in the passage concretely mentions all else living in the world or the universal changes of decay seen today. We make that leap in interpretation on our own because of bias for the desired premise.

Englishman's Concordance shows the Greek word 'kosmos' used in Romans ten times. In all but one instance the implication is a limited sense of the use referring to mankind and not the greater creation. Paul throughout his writings uses the word 'kosmos' fifty-four times. Always when used in connection to the affects of sin, the law, and the spreading of the gospel "mankind" is the implied usage and not the planet or universe. When used in relation to God the Father's plan to gather all as one in Christ all of the "kingdom of God" is implied. Plant, animal, and other life in the creation does not sin, need repentance, make reconciliation or listen to the gospel. The creation simply fulfills God's purpose in relation to the needs of mankind pointing mankind to the need of eternal life. The current entropy of the creation is the result of the Father's withdrawal prior to the creation of Adam and Eve - not their sin. In the minor adjustment of the curse of the ground God uses His creation to remind man of his need. Satan’s hollow victory over man provided a wonderful disguise of God’s strategy to use the evil situation to bring back all creation to Himself.

The Scriptures tell us sin was already in the creation of this world before Adam and Eve were formed. Destruction and war had already devastated the creation in preservation of the Purity and Holiness of God. Adam and Eve, given a life sustaining spirit from God in an original creation, were innocent without knowledge of this sin already in creation. Adam was responsible for sin entering mankind. He was not responsible for sin entering the Kingdom of Heaven and creations current dimensional separation from God the Father.

Further understanding of the scope of the affect of man’s choice to sin on eternal life is gleaned from Genesis. This fleeting shadow of a mist we call life started with Adam and Eve. It appears while Adam and Eve were made from a decaying creation apart from the Light of God the Father they may have had opportunity to receive eternal life sustaining energy from God. This prospect existed in the form of "the tree of life" had they not sinned whereby they would have lived forever in the Father's presence. With the choice to sin and disobey God the chance for eternal life through fleshly obedience was withdrawn. Note how the Genesis record does not say this couple lost what they had, but lost the opportunity for something they could have had had they not sinned in coming to know evil in God's kingdom. The implication is this couple did not yet have eternal life initially in the garden when originally created.

Genesis 3:22-24

22 Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" — 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 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. NASB

Also note once the choice to sin was made the once innocent couple now had the same knowledge of God in the realm of "good and evil." – "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." This change in knowledge from only good to good and evil is mentioned several times in Genesis. God while Holy was already experiencing evil in the creation and it’s terrible consequences when Adam and Eve were created. Man in his choice now experienced it as well. Man after the choice to sin now knew the evil of the creation already there. Man was now part of the battle and plans to rid the creation of evil.

Genesis 3:22

22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." NIV (Emphasis mine)

Realizing this preexistence of evil helps us to understand Satan did not outright lie to Eve about the consequences of disobedience in a choice against the will of God. Most likely Eve misunderstood the curse of disobedience was physical death - something no doubt she already had seen in the separated creation. In her time before sin what she ate decayed to basic components at her expense for her life. She already was created separated from the Father and as yet did not have eternal life with Him in His glory in heaven. Satan told her she would not physically die as the result of eating the forbidden tree and the account tells us this statement was true. From the Genesis account Eve did not die physically. Also what Satan says about being like God knowing both good and evil was true. Eve was innocent of evil and as yet did not know evil as God knew it at the time due to the previous sin of Satan and other angels.

Genesis 3:1-6

3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" 2 And the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said,' You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die.' " 4 And the serpent said to the woman, "You surely shall not die! 5 "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." NASB

(Emphasis mine)

In the later separated decaying creation view held by this author the effect of sin upon mankind was that man was to remain in the same separated state he was created. Created from a decaying creation already experiencing evil man’s body would physically wear out and die just as all else in creation. The body of Adam and Eve was never made permanent or eternal. It served as a temporary vessel made in God’s likeness for His purpose of redemption. God knew man would sin and planned for it before the world was ever formed. For those who believe the message of His plan man would later be given an eternal glorious body patterned after the Lord in heaven as seen in chapter With What Body?.

The Destiny of God’s Purpose

The modern popular Christian teaching limiting Romans 5:12 to physical death of man with inclusion of all creation misses the much broader scope of the plan of God the Father in redemption through Jesus Christ. A better understanding of death comes by realizing what eternal life involves. Eternal life is not the perfection of this world we now live. Jesus defined such life in His prayer to the Father recorded in John 17. Eternal life is abiding forever in a personal relationship with God the Father. Eternal life is an experiential understanding that the believer will have fulfilled when united with the Father and Son in the new kingdom of their glory. Eternal life does not happen in this world. By faith in Christ we hold this promise of getting to "know" the Father and His Son as His children. This promised intimate fellowship never happened in Eden.

John 17:1-5

17:1 These things Jesus spoke; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee, 2 even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. 4 "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do. 5 "And now, glorify Thou Me together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. NASB (Emphasis mine)

By contrast to eternal life then death is not getting the opportunity of knowing the Father in a wonderful relationship for eternity. Death is remaining separated from the Father and Son forever. Already living in a creation separated from the Father who was in heaven Eve as just discussed must have known what physical death was in the world when she answered Satan telling him of the consequence of disobedience. Satan's lie was not telling the whole truth. Her death though not physical would be spiritual in not getting to live forever with the Father by partaking of the tree of life in the garden.

The death Paul spoke of in Romans 5:12 for disobedience was probably a form of spiritual death in eternal separation from the Father and His Son, not physical death of decay of the flesh. Though innocent, Adam and Eve were already destined for physical death since created from elements of the ground. The dust and elements of the ground were already spread out in vast separation from the dimension of God the Father. The "tree of life" withdrawn the resulting failure of the physical material body thereby occurred as a natural consequence of the creations continued division from the sustaining energy of God the Father. God’s judgment upon man’s sin was to allow the natural progression of the decaying body to physical death in a life of constant opposition and struggle to survive. This great struggle is a constant reminder of the need to prepare for the eternal.

Just like that original couple every person born has made the same choice to sin. As Paul said in Romans 5:12, "in this way death came to all men, because all sinned." This choice reaps the same spiritual death of continued separation from a loving relationship of knowing God the Father and His Son. Since our bodies are made up from a separated creation, every man experiences a natural eventual physical death at God’s appointed time.

This is where the Genesis creation comes into importance. God begins educating Israel about the purpose of man in redemption of a creation now suffering His judgment upon sin. As already mentioned above sin in the creation preexisted man. God determines before the foundation of this present world to clean up a ruined mess for other purposes. We read more of this in the next chapter God Has A Loving Plan. Genesis records God’s divine commands whereby the dark ruined creation was set in order to function apart from the light and energy of God the Father.

The first promise of the gospel shares how God would provide an "enmity" between the offspring of the serpent (Satan) and the woman. Satan’s "offspring" of demonic beings were already on the earth hurled there from heaven. They were the rulers of the dark world now inhabited by the "offspring" of Eve.

Genesis 3:15

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." NIV

It is highly egocentric for man to believe the choice of Adam and Eve separated all creation from the fellowship and Light of God the Father and all physical death of the earth began with that choice. Man often forgets a much greater force of evil existed than he long before his creation in the matters of God. We must look beyond what we see in this world and in faith realize the Father's purpose is a new Kingdom that embraces His complete fellowship in His Glorious Light.

Entropy and physical death were a part of this separated creation from the beginning. By design this creation was always temporary created apart for the Light of God the Father.

Chapter 5       Chapter 7   Chapter Time Link Map

End Notes

[1] The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, Electronic Database,1962, Moody Press

Meditation and Discussion Questions

© 2002-2009 Heaven Past Present Future Ministries.

Operated by William Henry Publishing, LLC PO Box 2651, Batesville, AR 72503-2651 williamhenry@heavenpastpresentfuture.com    Email Response Form      Permissions