Gods plan of Salvation throughout the Bible:
Eden
Genesis 2-3
I wonder if anyone thought salvation was only about the new testament story of Jesus, and the old testament was just history? I'm glad that Keith Berry brought up last week that the Bible is primarily about God. Jesus is seen all through the Bible.
What does salvation actually mean? We often think of salvation today as being saved from hell. just a future thing, little more than a self centred insurance policy for the future.
There are three tenses of salvation. A story is told of a little girl who asked a bishop whether he was saved and the bishop replied "do you mean been saved, being saved or will be saved?"
- salvation is from the penalty of sin. A one-off done in the past through Jesus' work on the cross. This is justification.
- Salvation is from the power of sin. Day by day. This is sanctification.
- Salvation will be from the presence of sin. This is glorification.
Jesus will save us from the penalty of our sins and the power of sin and one day from the presence of sin. The old testament has an emphasis on people being saved. It will probably be helpful if we keep this framework in mind as we progress through the series.
Genesis 1 tells us that "in the beginning, God created."
The essence of sin is rebellion against God and putting oneself in the centre, refusing the rights of creator God and refusing our duties to the creator.
Why did God create the tree of knowledge? If the tree hadn't been there, Eve wouldn't have been tempted etc. Why did God allow evil? Because if he hadn't we couldn't experience responsibility or reconciliation. God didn't want automatons, but giving us a choice gave us the capacity to rebel.
So this question is raised right at the start of Genesis. Adam is specifically created in the image of God (unlike the rest of creation). Is this hard to believe? Jesus believed it, Paul believed it.
Do we believe that the Bible is Gods word? Do we think that God is limited by the natural laws of this world, the sovereign creator and sustainer of this world limited by it? God is not dead, sleeping or on holiday like some absentee landlord. Our God reigns! The whole of scripture thunders this out! Heb 11 starts with the wonderful words "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." God created everything out of nothing.
God had placed Adam over all creation, with responsibility for it and authority over it. One test was included though. The tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Satan, who had long before rebelled against God, appeared in the form of the serpent (then the most beautiful of creatures). He starts with a question, doubting God. Then he moves on a step and appeals to pride. Eve. we might as what she was doing standing in the vicinity of the tree? We shouldn't go to places or put ourselves in a position where we are liable to be tempted. Eve was lingering where she shouldn't, looked where she shouldn't, and that look led to lust for it and then to sin. She persuaded Adam and he willingly tried it. They saw themselves naked and tried to sew themselves clothes from leaves - they tried to put it right themselves and cover themselves up.
Then they "hid themselves from God". A sense of irony here perhaps! God is aware of everything, how could we run away and hide from God? God asks "Where are you?". It wasn't their geographical location that he wanted - it was their moral relationship with him. "Where are you?". Come to that, "where are we?" God gives this challenge to us this morning too.
Look at what happened. God asks Adam who told he's naked. We don't know how long they had lived in innocence. God wasn't looking for information, he was looking for confession [like when we ask our small children who has done something. We know it is them, we want to hear them admit it to themselves]. Adam shifts the blame. It is someone else's fault. The daily Telegraph last Saturday had an article entitled "Welcome to the yeah but no but generation". Nothing is my fault. We have a culture which doesn't take responsibility - and as such is true to Adams experience.
Our first instinct, like Adam, is not to say "I'm guilty, I'm sorry!".
The first hint of Jesus is seen 3v15 where it says "he shall bruise your head, you will bruise his heel". The "seed" of the woman spoken of here refers to Jesus. Jesus will inflict a fatal wound on Satan. When Jesus cried out from the cross "It is finished!" he sealed the fate of Satan, he won the victory.
Even within the tragedy here there is hope that all is not lost. Gods plans are secure.
Adam and Eve had tried to cover themselves. God made them clothing of animal skins - effective clothes. But where did God get the skins from? This is the first allusion to blood sacrifice, the lives of animals given to cover up sin.
These early chapters are not a mere allegory for children and simple people of an earlier age. There are many leading scientists who believe.
Harry Smith
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