By Wendell Tenison
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Concerning man being made in the image and likeness of God is another subject of which we will not address, because it is one if not the deepest of all subjects in the bible. Of course, the "us" refers to God the Father and his only begotten Son Jesus the Christ. His dominion covers the entire earth and nothing did God leave out.
Adam was the first man and because of his sin the world would suffer greatly by reason of death passing upon all men.
Rom 5:12-14 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:.....(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law......Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come."
Adam was the figure of him who was to come, the second Adam, Jesus the Christ. God set the course of this world with perfect splendor, he made Adam upright, but his weakness caused him to sin and his descendants to seek out many inventions, Eccl.7:29. The second man, would change the course of this world back to reconciliation and reinvent the uprightness that Adam had before he succumbed to sin.
1 Cor 15:45-49 "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit......Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual......The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven......As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly......And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly."
The command of God to multiply and replenish the earth was given before Adam and Eve sinned. This is the answer to the age old question, would Adam and Eve had children had they not sinned? God went one step further to emphasize the power he had given Adam by telling him to subdue the earth. The following scripture will remove any doubt regarding the relationship between man and the earth.
Psa 115:16 "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men."
We understand that God owns the heavens and the earth, but it was given for man to subdue and provide for all future generations.
It is only by the breath of God that we breath on a daily basis. The amazing thing about the word of God, he always gives complimentary verses, or at least one to verify his truths. The next three verses will illustrate this very thing.
Job 27:3 "All the while my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils;"
Job 33:4 "The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life."
Acts 17:28 "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring."
It should be noted the man whom God created was not to sit upon his rear. There is no entitlement with God, Adam had to work, but not by the sweat of his brow.
We must remember Adam could have eaten of the tree of life and live forever, but he did not.
Gen 2:20 "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him."
In keeping with his instruction to multiply and replenish the earth, God is now going to complete the cycle for reproduction.
God Almighty was the worlds first anesthesiologist and he gave just the right amount to Adam. Not only did God use deep sleep to perform the worlds first operation, but he also used deep sleep to implant his law into the minds and hearts of the patriarchs and to withdraw him from pride. God is saying, if I told you once I told you a thousand times and it went one ear and out the other.
Job 33:14-17 "For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.....In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed;.....Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction,.....
That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man."
Finally, the last of God's operation to create the new man in Christ is when man puts to death the deeds of the body and becomes spiritually dead in deep sleep. He arises from that sleep after he was buried into the death of our Lord by baptism to walk in newness of life in Christ through the operation of God.
This would be the second and last creation of man. Unlike Adam, this creation is a spiritual man the same as God's second creation of the spiritual woman, the Lord's body, his church.
Col 2:12-13 "Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead......And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;"
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon, page 215, defines the word operation; "working, efficiency. In the New Testament used only of super human power, whether of God or the devil."
Gen 2:22-23 "And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man......
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
It is easy to understand how Adam and Eve were one flesh, because she was a part of his body. However, this mystery that has prevailed as to how husband and wife are transformed as one flesh having not been physically a part of each other. When God joins a man and woman in marriage, somehow he instills into their minds and hearts the fact that they also are one flesh. God has put it there and they cannot get it out. Divorce will not remove it either.
The first man Adam gave rise to a first woman, Eve. The second man, Jesus Christ gave rise to the second woman, the church which also is his body. How did this happen? When Christ died he went into a deep sleep as did Adam. God took from his side the water and blood that flowed and made him a woman, his wife, the church. As Adam arose from his deep sleep, so did Jesus Christ. The difference being that Adam died and was buried, but Jesus arose and went to his Father in heaven.
Adam's wife died, but the wife of our Lord lives forever, because she is spiritual and not fleshly. The material that God used from our Lord's body still remains upon this earth.
1 John 5:8 "And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one."
All three, the spirit, water and blood are necessary for any body to exist. But here, we are speaking of the body of Christ, his church of which he is the head. A body without a spirit is dead, therefore, his body the church, does have a spirit and that being the Holy Spirit of God.
Eph 5:30-33 "For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones......For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh......This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church......Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."
The bible is its own and best commentary and the preceding verses beyond any shadow of doubt reveal this great mystery of God regarding how two become one flesh. That is, man and his wife and Christ and his wife the church.
God created two women, one earthly and one heavenly and he will create no more.
Adam and Eve were married as husband and wife before the slept together. A popular perversion of this is that the marriage is null and void if not consumated. There is nothing in God's word to even hint this. All we have to do is read this one verse and that settles it.
The same is true regarding our marriage to Christ. We become one flesh in Christ by reason of the new birth and therefore, we are married to him before having any opportunity to have intimate covenant relationship with him.
1 Cor 12:13 "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
Not only would Adam die if he ate the fruit, but just to touch it. God said, you will surely die; the serpent comes along and changes one word from "will" die to "not" die. So what is wrong with just adding or changing one little word to God's law, men do it all the time? The penalty is death. The word "not" is surely one of Satan's favorite words to influence man to "not" do the will of God. In other words, you do not have to do this or that regarding God's commandments.
1 Cor 15:21-22 "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead......For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."
One of the greatest blessings the second man could bestow upon us is the forgiveness of sin, easing the fear of death, being made alive in Christ and finally an abode with him in the mansions of God prepared for the saints.
Of the sins the woman committed, three stand out as the leading cause of spiritual death; the lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and the pride of life. These three are the headings for nearly all sins and the Apostle John reminds us that they are still mans great enemy.
1 John 2:16 "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world."
Adam ate with his eyes wide open and he was not deceived. On the other hand, Eve was deceived by the serpent and she was in the transgression, meaning, she was behind the plot.
1 Tim 2:14 "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."
Was the eating of the fruit the first sin by man? Below the next reading will show what led to this sin.
James 1:14-15 "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed......Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death."
Lust and enticement preceded eating the meat. But, that was not the first sin they committed.
Num 20:11-12 "And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also......And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them."
Moses committed this same sin and because of it he was not permitted to enter the promised land. "Because ye believed me not." A lack faith in believing God's word caused their downfall. That was Adam and Eve's first sin, a disbelief in God.
The man blamed the woman, the woman blamed to serpent. God did not ask the serpent and the serpent said nothing. The serpent had no one to blame but himself and he was not about to do that.This trick of the devil to blame others is as old as the garden of Eden.
The punishment for the woman is two-fold. First, increased sorrow and additional conception in childbearing. Second, Instead of being a helper to her husband, he now would rule over her.
Eph 5:22-23 "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord......For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body."
Titus 2:5 "To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
The law of Christ confirms the law of God from the beginning.
Unlike Adam's work in the garden, now he is going to toil by the sweat of his brow. The ground is cursed with thorns and thistles. This curse was to last until immediately after the flood.
Gen 8:20-22 "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar."And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done......While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."
God would never again destroy all living creatures as he did before and the curse of the ground was removed.
We all know her first three sons were Cain, Abel and Seth. Foolish minds speak foolish things; many believe there were other people on this planet when men took wives. Not so. Eve is the mother of all living.
Where did God get the skins? Obviously, from animals. What happened to the animals, were they skinned alive and remained to live, or were they killed? What then, were the animals the first to die in the world? The answer is yes. So then, death was introduced into the world, because of sin. The animals were innocent of any wrongdoing, but they paid the price anyway. Neither are we responsible for Adam and Eve's sin, but we still pay the price.
I suppose there could be some things that God has created that have never died, but death has passed upon all whether man or beast. Plant life has very little connection to man except for food and other things. Solomon says, there is no difference between man and beast, because they all have one breath. The animals are also flesh and blood, but their minds and spirits do not compare with man's. Why? They are not made in the image and likeness of God. Also, the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth. When Rover dies, he is dead all over.
Eccl 3:19-21 "For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity......All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again......Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?"
The Hebrew Lexicon, Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius, page 736, defines the word skins; "hide of animals, sometimes = leather: material of garments, Gn.3:21."
God was not about to allow sinners to eat of the tree of life and live forever.
Rev 2:7 "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
Rev 22:1-2 "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb......In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."
Rev 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Only those who keep his commandments and overcome will have a right to the tree of life.
Now after all that Adam and Eve had gone through, they sleep with each other and have their first child.
Their names were Mr. and Mrs. Adam. Eve's name was Mrs. Eve Adam. This is the precedent set by God, but women have gone so far as to retain their maiden name. Whatever.
Whose daughters did men marry in those days? The daughters of Adam.
No longer do we make reference to ourselves as the sons of Adam.
© 2010 by Wendell Tenison