ACCOUNT 0F CREATION

Genesis chapter three, containing the history of the fall of Adam and Eve, should now be read. The eating of the forbidden fruit was an infraction of God's prohibition listed in Genesis 2:15-17. God had been very gracious to Adam and Eve. He gave them permission to eat of everything but the one tree. The result of disobedience is stated "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The events associated with the disobedience of Adam and Eve are recorded. A New Testament reference concerning this event states: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). Yes, the events associated with this disobedience are the cause of mankind's estrangement from God and the initiation of death into the world for all mankind.

That Adam and Eve at once became keenly aware of their estrangement is clearly evident. They covered their nakedness and then tried to hide from their Creator. Perhaps the remembrance of the promised consequence of disobedience, death, entered the minds of Adam and Eve. The text states that they were afraid when they heard the voice of God calling them and they tried to hide from Him. Surely they understood that one can not hide from God yet they tried. Adam's answer to God's call, "Where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9) as well as the new made clothes (fig leaves sewn together as aprons), were prima facie evidence of their disobedience to God's prohibition. With this question God was calling Adam to account. The sense of the question was, "Adam, where are you now that you have done that which I had forbidden you?"

THE DIRE RESULTS

After pronouncing a punishment upon the serpent and Eve in Genesis 3:14-16, God tells Adam: "...Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee...In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground...for dust thou art and unto

dust shalt thou return."(Genesis 3:17-19). These words speak of physical death as the human body is to return to the dust from which it came. See Genesis 2:7 which states: "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."

Adam had been duly warned that the penalty for disobedience would be death. However, the Hebrew term which was used in pronouncing this penalty imlies more than a terminal cessation of life. The term is moth Temuth, which

literally means, "dying you shall die." The context quite clearly shows that the emphasis is on the process of death, rather than the terminal cessation of life. Accordingly, upon Adam's disobedience man became a dying being, ever haunted by the prospect of death, and ever in danger of being momentarily overtaken by it. Adam and early mankind lived for many years. The fifth chapter of Genesis accentuates the fact that death has passed upon all mankind by recording the life and death of the first ten generations following upon Adam. This record respectively identifies the head of each generation, gives the number of years each lived, and then, of each one, it is said.."and he died."

Besides death passing on mankind, the sin of disobedience has now evolved into sins of murder and man slaughter. A grim reminder of these facts is the slaying of Abel by Cain as recorded in Genesis 4:8,and the self defense

slaying of an unidentified man by Lamech as indicated in Genesis 4:23.

Adam's transgression resulted in his estrangement from God, but God did not estrange Himself from man. He had left open a line of communication. The events associated with the death of Abel report of offerings being brought to the Lord and then there is a recorded discussion between Cain and the Lord following the death of Abel. Just how this line was initiated to these early generations is

perhaps not too clear from scripture, but that it was open is clear. Further evidence of there being communication between man and God is presented when we read, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Here we not only get a glimpse of early man communicating with God and we get a momentary look into life beyond death. God translated Enoch to the realm of heaven without his going through the valley of the shadow of death. The account is brief, but it suffices to presage that there is life beyond this world.

GRACE UNVEILED

The dire results of Adam's transgression are further seen in the record of the flood. But in this account we also get another glimpse of God's grace. Things had evolved to total corruption in the ten generations that followed

Adam's sin of disobedience. Genesis 6:5, 11, 12 tells us, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." God decided to destroy mankind by means of a world wide flood. But here again we are told of another man who walked with God, Noah. "Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord...Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God." (Genesis 6:8,9). We need not repeat the story of the flood here, but the point we must not miss is that Noah and his family were saved through the flood because of the GRACE of the Lord.

BELIEF PLAYS ITS ROLE

The next Bible character to whom we call special attention is Abraham.

Abraham's life was characterized by knowing God and taking God at His word

respecting the promises made to him even when fulfillment was not readily in sight. The portion of scripture normally called the Abrahamic covenant is set forth in Genesis 12:1-5.Here God promises 7 things to a seventy-five year old Abram, later renamed Abraham:

1. And I will make of thee a great nation,

2. and I will bless thee,

3. and make thy name great;

4. and thou shalt be a blessing.

5. And I will bless them that bless thee

6. and curse him that curseth thee;

7. and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Sometime later, as recorded in Genesis 12:7 and 13:14-17, the Lord adds ownership of a specific land as part of the promise not only to Abraham but to his seed and He states that the duration of the gift of the land would be forever.

In chapter 15, Abraham, still childless, questions God about whether or not a slave should be the heir to the promises. The Lord responds: "This [servant]

shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own loins shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven and count the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be." (Genesis 15:1-6). When Abraham was eighty-six, Ishmael was born. But Ishmael was not to be the heir of promise (Genesis 15:16). The heir was to be Isaac who was not born until Abraham was a hundred years old. The assurance of the birth of Isaac, the son of promise, had been given only a year earlier to Sarah and Abraham (Genesis 21:5). However, at the time Isaac was born fulfillment of the promise to make of Abraham a great nation still was not even remotely in sight but Abraham knew the blessings and promises would be fulfilled through his son Isaac. The key thing about Abraham spoken here is: "And he (Abraham) BELIEVED in the Lord; and He counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15:6).

The point to remember here is that the Lord God "counted" Abraham's "belief" in the Lord for "righteousness". Abraham's righteousness was not inherent. Abraham knew God. He believed God when God spoke. Abraham took God at His word. He knew God would keep His promises and he knew God had the power to do so. This belief was counted as righteousness. Later, Abraham was tested by God and ordered to sacrifice his only begotten son, the son of promise, Isaac. A study of the passages associated with this event indicated that Abraham knew God would raise his son from the dead if the sacrifice were indeed carried out, because the promises were to be carried out through Isaac (Genesis 22:1-19).

More than seven centuries passed between the time the promises were first given and the time that the nation Israel was born. We want to pay special attention to the agreements between God and Israel which took place in the time of Moses, about three months after the exodus of the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, from Egypt. The people had lived through the pasing of the red sea and the annihilation of the Egyptian army and knew that God was with them for God was visible to His people in the pillar of smoke by day and the column of fire by night. The event starts when Moses addressed the people as a nation with the following message: "And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel: Ye have seen what I (that is, God) did unto the Egyptians, and how I bear you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine"

(Exodus 19:3-5).The people answered: "...and said, 'All that the Lord God hath spoken we will do.' And moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord"

(Exodus 19:8). God's response: "...I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken unto thee: they have well said all that they have spoken. O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!" [Deuteronomy 5:28,29]. This agreement between God and the people of Israel was the start of what is called the theocracy. What follows in the text is the giving of the law, including the well known ten commandments of Exodus 20:1-17, the setting up of worship instructions, including a priesthood, and the establishing of a place to meet God, the tabernacle. This whole history can be summed up by Exodus 29:45-46:"And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.

THE NATION SINS and GOD EXERCISES GRACE

Not long after the above agreement, the people broke the covenant relationship when they violated God's law by demanding Aaron make them an idol deity. The Lord's own words in Exodus 32:7 state "...thy people...have corrupted themselves." As a result God threatened to consume the people, but Moses made intercession in their behalf, and God relented (Exodus 32:9, 10). But as a result of the broken covenant, God now would not go up in the midst of the people as they continued their trek towards the promised land (Exodus 33:1-3). The LORD did continue to meet with Moses "face to face as a man speaketh unto a friend" (Exodus 33:11). And Moses, realizing his special position as leader of the people and his privileged position of having found grace with the LORD, requests that he be permitted to know God's way, that the LORD continue with the people and that Moses be permitted to see God's glory. "See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people...Now therefore I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee..." (Exodus 33:12,13); and"...consider that this nation is thy people...If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up from here. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth... beseech thee, show me thy glory " (Exodus 33:13-18).

In response God passed by Moses and revealed much about Himself that had not been as clearly stated before. We read, "And the Lord passed by before him (Moses), and proclaimed, The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin..."(Exodus 34:6,7).

The Hebrew term translated "iniquity" is "avon" and literally means "not equal". It reflects the fact that in his fallen state man is not equal to meeting the demands of God's Holy Law, that is, of himself, man has neither the ability nor the power to work the works of God. This is inherent in man as a result of the fall.

The Hebrew term translated "transgression" is "peshah". This term has a connotation of "having fault or having guilt or being guilty" from sinning against God. This applies even if someone sins not knowing that he or she did so. "And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the LORD; though he knew it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity. "[Leviticus 5:17]

The Hebrew term translated "sin" is "chatah" and literally denotes "missing the mark." This meaning is demonstrated in Judges 20:16, a Scripture account telling that there were in Israel seven hundred men who could sling a stone at an hair breadth and not miss. So then, what looks like a catch-all term, namely "sin", has the specific cannotation of "missing the mark." And pray, where is the man or woman who, respecting God's Holy Law, does not miss the mark?

In the courts "mercy and grace" sometimes come into play, but only when guilt has been established. Where there is no guilt, mercy and grace are not needed. What the Scripture tells us is that all men are guilty of violating God's law, not just the Israelites. "The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one" (Psalm 14:1-3). "For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not" [Ecclesiastes 7:20]

Hear the complaint of two outstanding Bible characters, the first from the Old Testament, David, the second, a New Testament character, the Apostle Paul. David said, "Have mercy upon me O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me." (Psalm 51:1,5).With reference to God's law, Paul said, "For I know that in me ( that is, in my flesh), dwelleth no the good thing:..For the good that I would I do not :

but the evil which I would not, that I do...O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:18, 19, 24).

Based on this fresh knowledge of the character of God, Moses continued his request that the LORD pardon the iniquity and sin of the people. The rest of the book of Exodus is a renewing of the things that had been instructed before concerning a covenant and the building of the tabernacle. Now because Moses recorded these words, we also know more of the character of our Creator. God is a God of mercy, grace, goodness, and truth. He possesses the attributes all mankind were in need of after becoming guilty of violating God's law. God's mercy and grace serve to effect the salvation of man in that God is forgiving - forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. This is not to say that God overlooks sin. No, for He gave Israel His Holy Law, the ten commandments, and these are God's standard for righteousness. How God particularly effects the forgiveness of sin is further unfolded in His dealing with His peopoe Israel, and with all peoples, through one born from Israel's ranks. We will further pursue this in Lesson 3.

SUMMATION

This lesson began with a look at the creation that God called "very good."

But then sin and it's dire results, death and estrangement from God, entered the

world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Sin spread among the descendants of Adam and Eve and evolved into wickedness and evil throughout the whole world. God then destroyed the world with a flood but He saved Noah and his family. We reviewed the scripture records following the flood and read of the lives of Abraham and Moses and the establishment of the nation Israel, yet we discovered that the world was still corrupt for "there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not." The terms "iniquity, transgression, sin" apply to all men then and surely to all of us in the world today. But in the midst of all this the Biblical record reports that God is a God of grace. God, who accounted Abraham's belief as righteouslness and who made astounding promises to Abraham, is faithfully carrying out those promises. This begs the question to you the student. Do you believe in God? Do you know God's word as Abraham did? Do you keep God's commandments or are you in the same place Adam was after his sin? Student where art thou when weighed against what God's word states.

Part ll. Review the last paragraph of your lesson, entitled SUMMATION, which

reads as follows:

"This lesson began with a look at the creation that God called "very good."

But then sin and it's dire results, death and estrangement from God, entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Sin spread among the descendants of Adam and Eve and evolved into wickedness and evil throughout the whole world. God then destroyed the world with a flood but he saved Noah and his family. We reviewed the scripture records following the flood and read of the lives of Abraham and Moses and the establishment of the nation Israel, yet we discovered that the world was still corrupt for "there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not." The terms "iniquity, transgression, sin" apply to all men then and surely to all of us in the world today. But in the midst of all this the Biblical record reports that God is a God of grace. God, who accounted

Abraham's belief as righteousness and who made astounding promises to Abraham, is faithfully carrying out those promises. This begs the question to you the student. Do you believe in God? Do you know God's word as Abraham did?

Do you keep God's commandments or are you in the same place Adam was after his sin? Student where art thou when weighed against what God's word states?

Now use another page of paper to give your reaction to this paragraph.

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