The historical narrative of the revelation of and essentiality of the appearance and work of Jesus Christ at the cross in the Bible powerfully declares the patience and unsearchable richness of the love and mercy of our great God. That blessing is unearnable by mankind. God is not compelled by any creature to perform the wonders revealed in the Bible, but He freely chose to share Himself with His creation. God chose to freely give His eternal life-giving spirit to any individual of mankind that simply believed, trusted in and relied on His revealed Words. No creature, created or uncreated, from above or below, can compel God under any set of circumstance obligate Himself to give His spirit. No one can earn the gift of His Spirit. To reiterate God’s gifts are in pure love and pure grace.
Prior to creating the material world as we know it, God existed in a spiritual world, unfathomable by mankind, with spiritual angels who, in a manner unknown to us, freely worshipped only God. They would exist in spirit eternally and were allowed to freely form their own opinions and to believe God or not believe God and act accordingly to demonstrate what they believed. One exceptionally gifted Angel, free to make his own decisions and now generally known to mankind as Satan, attempted to take Gods place for the worship of the angels. He had a following.
Since Satan was fully aware of God’s truth first hand, he simply did not believe God’s truth and rebelled. He and his were defeated and cast out. There was no place in him for repentance; and, in fact there is no biblical evidence that he and his ever-sought God’s grace in forgiveness; but, in fact Satan and his are now on earth still continuing in open rebellion against God and His Word. But Satan and his are aware of the eternal judgment pronounced on them. In the end of the ages, they will be eternally judged along with all who believe and follow them, as opposed to those believing and following God’s revealed Word, to an eternity of incomprehensible damnation and unrelenting misery and suffering-with no hope and without ending. This is perfect and fair justice. But God, in love and mercy continued in His determination to share Himself with those who believe and trust His Words. To those who believe and trust Him He will give the glories of Himself for eternity. It all depends on who you believe! God demonstrated the power of His Word by creating a material universe and living creatures therein, some with eternal spirits-mankind.
Having been deprived of the worship of the angels in Heaven Satan now seeks on earth to have the worship of men and to otherwise disfigure, oppose and attempt to destroy God’s work. Man, each in his time, would have the free opportunity to believe and rely on the Word of God or the word of Satan.
To coin a phrase: in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
God created the earth as an original perfect habitat for his new living creatures. In six (6) consecutive periods of creation, undetermined in exact time, God created all material things. On the seventh period He ceased creation and rested. God’s spiritual rest eternally exists for His people-without end. Material creation was fully completed and now simply awaited to be revealed in its own time. Seed from seed.
In the sixth creative period God created Adam in the flesh from the dust of the earth. He gave Adam an eternal spirit, but not eternal spiritual life, and gave Adam breath of flesh life-a habitat for his eternal spirit. From Adam God took Eve as a companion and help mate. God instructed them to multiply and populate the earth. In a mystery God considered them as one. After all Eve came from a former unity with Adam.
God announced to all creation that all that He created was good, in fact very good. God then freely gave Adam dominion over all on earth and freely placed Adam in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. Adam was innocent of sin but did absolutely nothing to receive all that God freely gave him. Material creation was complete and the creative process ended. The seed for all living things that were created and was to exist from seed that was created would be revealed in its time over multiple centuries and eons of time. The future seed for all future individual mankind in Adam was created in Adam and passed by his loins to be conceived and revealed in its time. Whatever Adam believed and did would affect all his seed. There was a loving reason and it would demonstrate God’s eternal justice and mercy.
Adam and Eve were “innocent of all sin” but did not possess eternal spiritual life just eternal spiritual existence. Satan and his have eternal spiritual existence but not eternal spiritual life and they have no hope of ever possessing eternal spiritual life with God as man does. The eternal spirit of Adam and later Eve was not united to God’s true life-giving spirit. But it could be, freely, if they trusted God’s Words. Until the issue of eternal spiritual life to them was raised and being innocent of sin, they freely relied on God’s Word and fellowshipped with God in the Garden for an unknown period of time.
Before Eve appeared, God had placed two trees in the garden. One was The Tree of Life and God told Adam to freely eat-there was eternal joy and life in that fruit as it can do nothing but produce true life. The other was a tree of death and named the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil-its fruit produced nothing but sin, separation from God, misery and death. God advised Adam of a somber truth. Adam could freely eat and was encouraged to eat by God of the Tree of Life. But God somberly revealed a truth to Adam that was to guide his ways and that truth was not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil as that fruit could only produce ultimate eternal death. The consequences of disbelief and rebellion in eating would immediately spring forth like a tightly compressed spring requiring no further action from God to execute the consequences
A fallen Satan appears to Eve, calls God a liar and tells Eve she will be like gods if she eats of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan, as his nature dictates and compels, conveniently deceives Eve and does not tell her that she does not have the inherent spiritual power to handle that knowledge as God does. Satan intended her destruction but she viewed him as a beacon of light. Until that point her life had been solely guided by the word of God-which is all good in what it reveals. In their innocence she and Adam had a pleasant daily fellowship with God. But Eve eats the fruit of death, offers it to Adam and he eats. They are immediately spiritually blinded and now suddenly fear God. They are now guided by the indwelling word of Satan. The consequence which was natural for their act occurred immediately. The tree of death is now set up in their heart, they cannot remove its fruit, and Adam would pass its exposure to his descendants. God shut up the Tree of Life in unmerited mercy as there was a chance they would partake of the Tree of Life and be eternally condemned to a human flesh body in perpetual misery controlled by sin and eternally separated from God that could not die. They immediately refused God’s fellowship and hid from Him even though He searched and called for them. They now experienced something new-guilt and fear in the presence of God not fellowship. They ran from Him and not to Him for help. Their spiritual eyes were blinded immediately and they did not know they were now trapped in spiritual darkness.
To cover their now guilty and sinful heart (spirit) and without spiritual wisdom, they put on fig leaves to cover their naked body thus designating their nakedness as evil. God had previously said all that He had created was not only good but very good. They were created naked and had no shame but now in their darkened mind nakedness was evil. Now God, by His perfect nature, is compelled to immediately execute eternal or delay eternal justice as justice is one of His perfect attributes-He cannot ignore justice to give mercy without justice being slighted. Justice must be satisfied now or in the future. If God destroys Adam and Eve then all the unborn innocent seed in Adam will be destroyed and Satan would have thwarted God’s plan to give Himself to believing mankind. For God’s Word to always be truthful and credible He cannot go back on His word about the tree producing only death. A true conundrum for the finite mind of man but not the infinite mind of God!!
Please note that God did not in wrath seek to punish Adam or Eve-even though they had decided the word of Satin was more trustworthy and believable then the Word of God. In fact, He sought them and called for them but they hid from Him. Even though they had each willfully judged themselves to the destructive consequence of their act God set in motion the salvation in Jesus Christ. God in loving mercy, beyond our comprehension, “confined” the penalty for sin to death in the flesh only (not our spirit as we were not created nor given the spirit of eternal spiritual life-that would come as a free offer in trust of God’s Word in Jesus Christ) until such time as in God’s perfect solution the seed of the woman should come and correct all things. That seed, born of a woman, is Jesus Christ and, in a mystery, is the Son of Man and the Son of God. The flesh of Jesus descends from the seed of Eve not Adam. Eve was not under the truth that was only delivered to Adam as the gentiles are not under the truth of the law delivered to Israel. Eve’s flesh died in time for “unbelief” of what Adam told hers (there is no evidence I can find God directly told Eve) but the penalty incurred on her flesh was not passed to her seed as she did not knowingly “rebel” against the truth as Adam did.
But Jesus in the flesh must be sinless in all that He does and He was, additionally, conceived in Israel under the Law of Moses and heard it taught daily, which He must perfectly obey. He cannot sin in any way or He would have no sinless flesh to offer for us as an atonement for our sin. Sinless flesh only can pay the sin penalty of death in the flesh. At His accountability in the Temple at age twelve (12) Jesus openly demonstrated by His Words to choose the Word of God as a guide and not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Basically, the word translated “sin” is an archery term that means “miss the mark or bulls’ eye”. The spiritual mark or bulls’ eyes is to believe and act positively on all the Words of God delivered to you. Jesus in the mystery of His human flesh capacity did. He could have ended His sacrifice, misery and indignation of assuming and being limited in flesh at any time but He loved us to die in our place. We humans don’t have that capacity. It must be given to us by God. And He will give it in Jesus.
All flesh is condemned to flesh death (even innocent babies). We die in the flesh because of the acts of a man we never physically met but caused our flesh condemnation. After spiritual accountability (babies are spiritually innocent until accountability but can die innocent in the flesh because of Adam before accountability) in the tree of death bequeathed to us by Adam we all become slaves to sin under the knowledge of that tree. Adam provided the gateway for enslaving sin. We can’t help but sin. We cannot be righteous without Jesus. But true believers will live in the flesh because of the acts of a man that we never physically met. BELIEVERS inherit (a gift for the spirit we cannot earn) death from Adam but LIFE from Jesus Christ. Adam gave us all he earned. He was the catalyst for condemnation of our flesh not our spirit (that occurs on our own at our individual accountability), Jesus leaves a legacy to BELIEVERS of all He earned for our flesh AND our spirit. All in Adam die. All in Jesus live. All flesh will be resurrected but only persevering to death believers will be resurrected to glorified, heavenly flesh but ALSO with the SPIRIT of God. Non-believers will not possess God’s Spirit.
The flesh seed of Jesus was in Eve not Adam. There is nothing mankind can do to find favor with God through the knowledge of Good and Evil. But God does not hold our sins, known or unknown, against us if we receive Jesus. We find favor with God by simply believing and staking our existence on His Word of Promise and all the Words that come forth from God. Jesus Christ is the Word of God abiding in now resurrected and glorified flesh. He has been given all power in heaven and earth and is preparing a place there for believers. Having died for us He does not condemn us but instructs us in ways of righteousness. Despite some of our remaining sins (which we abhor) we can now in Jesus have a fellowship with God on earth in faith through Jesus and receive the free gift of God’s guiding Spirit-we can only receive the Spirit as a gift in faith. No faith solely in Jesus through the cross results in no Spirit from God. The fellowship Adam and Eve immediately lost with God on lack of faith true believers immediately receive in the arrival of the Spirit. Jesus referred to the Spirit as the Comforter. We are “born again.” Some may have doubts about their experience as they don’t “feel” anything nor saw anything. I frankly don’t recall being born in the flesh either but the evidence that it occurred is that I am here. Jesus said it was like the wind. We can’t see it or visualize what wind looks like but we know it is present when dust swirls, leaves and tree limbs dance. After a hurricane we know its invisible power. Ultimately, we can’t fact check God by our “feelings. The evidence of my rebirth is a revolutionary changed life style and view of my past life and shame and new view of God in Jesus Christ. My “want to” and “don’t want to” have changed. God said He gives His Spirit to believers and that is a foundational truth to believe. We didn’t see Jesus die on the cross nor be resurrected either but we believe He did.
Jesus paid the sin penalty for mankind (flesh death). God made flesh death temporary, but it was not revealed in the Old Testament. We now know the Old Testament revolves around the coming Christ and what He would do. All was not revealed until Jesus came and our sins forgiven on the cross through faith in Him. All mankind will be resurrected-some to eternal spiritual life in resurrected flesh and some to eternal spiritual death in resurrected flesh and damnation with Satan.
In a simile believers are before the two trees now in innocence in Jesus in the Garden for a choice of which fruit we will consume and exhibit. For true believers It is God who actually works in us to will and do of His good pleasure and that is why we must have His Spirit in us. Do not ignore the leading of the Spirit. Lack of faith in the Word of God before the cross then was death in the flesh but lack of faith now in the Word of God is eternal death in the spirit and eternal anguish in resurrected flesh and damnation for eternity. Jesus mentioned the worm that could not die. Reference is to worms eating dead flesh-but rebellious flesh will be alive for the eternal spiritual suffering-eternal misery with no hope of release in some type of death. The penalties reverse. In a simile true believers’ now on earth have the gift of the Spirit of God (Tree of Life) internally and the vestiges of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (death) internally. Our old man that served sin and unbelief is dead and our new man is orientated in Jesus and what Jesus teaches.
When we are resurrected (if God’s Spirit is in us at death) we will have all the benefits of the Tree of Life and none of the consequences of the tree of death. One time in our life (our old man before Jesus and gift of the Spirit) we served only the tree of death and were helpless slaves to Satan; and, could do nothing to please God except believe what Words from God were delivered to us. But we could not spiritually fellowship with Him in that lifetime as we were defiled in sin. Now we are free of slavery to sin and cleansed because Jesus has destroyed the enslaving power of Satan to make a choice and covered our sins and rebellion in blood which God has promised to forget. God’s justice on sin was satisfied on the cross by the free will death in the flesh (not the spirit) of our Savior. Jesus gives believers all He has earned. Justice and Mercy were satisfied in Jesus Christ.
Now forgiven, the issue is not “sin” as an impediment to God but lack of “faith (trust)” in God’s Word. Sin was not an impediment to Adam when he made his free choice and now for those that trust Jesus, sin is not an impediment for us who believe. But who will we “constantly believe” till death and strive to serve, despite our shortcoming for which we seek to leave behind? Will we follow Jesus and the tree of life (God’s Spirit) and or follow Satan in the Tree of Death? We are free to follow either. But reckless exercise of freedom can block eternal spiritual life. We cannot lose the eternal gift of flesh resurrection (some to life but some to death) but our heart’s desire in lack of trust and preference of a master now can block eternal spiritual life. We are dead to the power of sin, therefore “run” to God with joyful confidence, hope and absolute trust in His Fatherly Love, not away as Adam and Eve did when God called to them. In a figure God still stands at the entrance to the Garden of Eden CALLING for His sons and daughters to come home in Jesus Christ.
Our daily life will demonstrate our choices. Old Testament believers were sinners the same as us. King David, Abraham, the virgin Mary were all sinners but they and many others listed in the Old Testament simply “believed” what God said and lived in faith that God would make all things right and fulfill all promises made and God did. Those believers will also enjoy God’s life despite their enslavement to sin in this life time which they hated and mourned about their sins until the day they would be completely free of sin and this present earth.
There will be a general resurrection in two stages (the first to life and the second to death) and the reign of Jesus Christ on earth before the end of all things and the Word of God will be offered to all who never heard it at all when they lived on earth. God does not punish those that never heard of Jesus Christ with the same consequence as those who hear the good news of the cross of Jesus Christ but reject or even dispute the Word. For those who hear and reject the promptings of the Holy Spirit about the Cross of Jesus Christ and dispute or reject it there is no second chance. For the others it is the first chance. God does not punish those who never heard the Good News of God severely. God created us with an eye to giving Himself to all-but some don’t want Him. Ask Satan about that. Satan will tell you God is a liar. That only a fool can believe such a free gift and that somehow in religion you must earn a relationship with God. Let us believers be fools for God through Jesus Christ. Shout it from the roof tops!
There will never be nor has been another event that can match what Jesus freely provided at His cross. Not even in the heavens above or on earth below. God through His Word entered His material creation in a human flesh body and spirit, suffered on the cross at the hands of those He created but nonetheless arose and provided the way in Himself to bring His people home. He alone defeated sin and death.
------------------------------------
Jim S. Brooks, 225 Heather Dr., Spartanburg, S.C., retired, inactive attorney, Bar # 911.
