Genesis 3 continued

More results of sin

This week we will see some more of the results of sin. As we read we should be very aware that these things happened, not because of an angry God, but because sins have side-effects.

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Genesis 3:

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The Son of God was saying here that because of the lack of self-control after sin entered the world, individuals would have many more pregnancies than He had originally planned. Physical degeneration as a result of sinful living would also make childbirth difficult and dangerous. All of His advice is given to minimize these on-going consequences.

Sadly, another of sin’s effects is that all the children born into the world would be born cut off from God, "having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart." Ephesians 4:18. Although all would be offered the same opportunity to accept salvation and change that situation, the majority would turn it down and remain that way and He knew that Eve and her female descendants would soon realise that and become very sorrowful about it as they saw their children choosing to reject God’s offer. But that is something over which He has no control.

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Genesis 3:

And your desire shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you."

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What a statement is that! And how it has been mis-used!

Like every other one of God's good gifts entrusted to the keeping of humanity, marriage has been perverted by sin; but it is the purpose of the gospel to restore its purity and beauty. The grace of Christ, and this alone, can make this institution what God designed it should be – an agent for the blessing and uplifting of humanity. And thus the families of earth, in their unity and peace and love, may represent the family of heaven.

Any neglect on the part of a woman to follow God's plan for her in this world, any effort to reach for important positions which He has not qualified her to fill, leaves vacant the position that she could fill. In getting out of her sphere, she loses true womanly dignity and nobility. When God created Eve, He designed that she should possess neither inferiority nor superiority to the man, but that in all things she should be his equal. The holy pair were to have no interest independent of each other; and yet each had an individuality in thinking and acting. But after Eve's sin, as she was first in the transgression, the LORD told her that Adam should be her guide. She was to be in subjection to her husband, and this was a part of the curse of sin. In many cases the curse has made the lot of woman very grievous and her life a burden. The superiority which God has given man he has abused in many respects by exercising arbitrary power, yet this does not change His word. This is still the best way.

Why this request which many find so galling?

It is submission that is being asked for here, not enforced obedience. In a marriage relationship (as in heaven) one must be the head and one submissive, and God suggests that the woman is better suited to that role. Even the heathen know that when the woman "wears the pants" the path of true love is far from smooth.

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It was not the will of God that the sinless pair should know anything of evil. He had freely given them the good, and had withheld the evil. In their sinless state they had work to perform in the garden, pleasant work, for they were to "dress it and keep it". Genesis 2:15. But, contrary to His command, they had eaten of the forbidden tree, and now they would have to continue to eat of it – they would have the knowledge of evil – all the days of their life. From that time the race would be afflicted by Satan's temptations. Instead of the happy labour heretofore appointed them, anxiety and toil were to be their lot. Food, which was freely supplied in the Garden of Eden, now required work to obtain. They, and their descendants, would be subject to disappointment, grief, and pain, and finally to death, not as punishment, but as a RESULT of their action.

Another consequence was that separation from God lowered their energy levels and to help in that area they would now have to eat some of the plants instead of just their seeds or fruit. Those foods should be chosen that best supply the elements needed for building up the body. In this choice appetite is not a safe guide. Through wrong habits of eating, the appetite has become perverted. Often it demands food that impairs health and causes weakness instead of strength. The disease and suffering that everywhere prevail are largely due to popular errors in regard to diet.

The Son of God never planted the seeds of death in the system. Satan planted these seeds when he tempted Adam to eat of the tree of knowledge which meant disobedience to God. Not one noxious plant was created in the LORD's world, but after Adam and Eve sinned, poisonous herbs sprang up. How?

In the parable of the sower the question was asked of the master, "Did not you sow good seed in your field? From where then has it tares?" The master answered, "An enemy has done this." Matthew 13:27-28. All tares (weeds) are sown by the evil one. Every noxious herb is of his sowing, and by his ingenious methods of cross-fertilization and cross-breeding he has corrupted the earth with plants and animals that are not of God’s devising. Satan cannot create, of course, but he can mutate as any creature can, and that is what he does within the laws of heredity. And he has the right to do this because Adam gave him dominion when he disobeyed God.

This sentence, spoken in the hearing of our first parents, was to them a promise. Before they heard of the thorn and the thistle, of the toil and sorrow that must be their portion, or of the dust to which they must return, they listened to words that could not fail of giving them hope. All that had been lost by yielding to Satan could be regained by yielding to the Son of God. This still holds good today, for it is written, "Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?" Romans 6:16.

Despite the fact that the curse that came upon the earth brought forth thorns and thistles, there is a flower upon the thistle, for the Son of God is always counteracting the result of sin. The world is not all sorrow and misery. God's great book of nature is open for us to study, and from it we are to gain more exalted ideas of His greatness and unexcelled love and glory. He who laid the foundation of the earth, who garnished the heavens and marshalled the stars in their order, He who has clothed the earth with a living carpet, and beautified it with lovely flowers of every shade and variety, wants His children to appreciate His works, and delight in the simple, quiet beauty with which He still adorns their earthly home.

Thus the gospel was first preached to Adam by the Son of God.

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When Adam named the creatures, he was voicing the knowledge that God had given him of their characters and positions in God’s kingdom. "And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field." Genesis 2:19-20. Now he was doing the same with the partner God had given him, describing her role in God’s kingdom.

The king upon his throne has no higher work than has the mother. The mother is queen of her household. She has in her power the moulding of her children's characters, that they may be fitted for the higher, immortal life. An angel could not ask for a higher mission; for in doing this work she is doing service for God. Let her only realize the high character of her task, and it will inspire her with courage. Let her realize the worth of her work and put on the whole armour of God, that she may resist the temptation to conform to the world's standard. Her work is for time and for eternity.

It is the right of every daughter of Eve to have a thorough knowledge of family care, to receive training in every department of domestic labour. Every young lady should be so educated that if called to fill the position of wife and mother, she may preside as a queen in her own domain. She should be fully competent to guide and instruct her children and to minister with her own hands to the wants of her household. It is her right to understand the mechanism of the human body and the principles of hygiene, the matters of diet and dress, labour and recreation, and countless others that intimately concern the well-being of her household. It is her right to obtain such a knowledge of the best methods of treating disease that she can care for her children in sickness, instead of leaving her precious treasures in the hands of unbelieving nurses and doctors.

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Genesis 3:

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Genesis 3:

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Adam and Eve had chosen the knowledge of evil, and if they were ever to regain the POSITION they had lost (not their salvation, for that is a gift) they must return to it under the unfavourable conditions they had brought upon themselves. No longer were they to dwell in Eden, for in its perfection it could not teach them the lessons which it was now essential for them to learn to be able to interact with the people of the universe. In unutterable sadness they bade farewell to their beautiful surroundings and went forth to dwell upon the earth, where rested the curse of sin.

However, the Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had become an outcast from its pleasant paths. The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine Glory was revealed from time to time and it was here that Adam and his sons naturally came to worship God. Here they renewed their vows of obedience to that law the transgression of which had banished them from Eden. When the tide of iniquity spread over the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be "a new heaven and a new earth," it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning. We have this wonderful promise: "He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Revelation 2:7.

In the beginning Adam and Eve were told that in order to retain an endless existence, they must continue to partake of the tree of life. Deprived of this, their vitality would gradually diminish until life should become extinct. It was Satan's plan that they should by disobedience incur God's displeasure; and then, if they failed to obtain forgiveness, he hoped that they would eat of the tree of life, and thus perpetuate an existence of sin and misery. But after man's fall, holy angels were immediately commissioned to guard the tree of life. Around these angels flashed beams of light having the appearance of glittering swords. Genesis 3:24. God does not punish, hurt, or destroy, therefore those "swords" represented a danger signal not to proceed.

Because of their sinful nature none of the family of Adam were able to pass the barrier to partake of the life-sustaining fruit; hence there is not an immortal sinner. And God says of sinners, "the soul that sins, it shall die." Ezekiel 18:4. In the place of the tree of life today we have the word of God, the Bible, a prayerful "eating" of which will help maintain our spiritual life. Thus it is written, "Your words were found, and I did eat them; and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart: for I am called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts." Jeremiah 15:16.

Rather than a punishment as many see these words, we should regard them as a blessing, for to live forever while cut off from God would be a terrible situation because it can never be a happy one, struggling against the "pricks." Adam and Eve needed no urging to leave the Garden – their changed natures did not like to stay too close to righteousness.

Bye for now,

Ron