God's Plan For Man Final

A Garden Party—Genesis

The history of mankind beginning in the garden is evidenced as part of every culture. ם ָ אָד , ם ָ אָד [ ʾadam /aw· dawm /], Adam according to the essence of the Hebrew means of the earth, and ה ָ וּ ַ ח [ Chavvah /khav· vaw /], Eve means spirit. Eve derived flesh from Adam—as flesh of my flesh—and the two became one in spirit and flesh. Satan came after Eve because she was spirit—more so than Adam—and deception or the struggle between good and evil became apparent. God did not desire failure, but once the failure was revealed a Divine Plan was enacted. This Plan would eventually justify man in order to reestablish a perfect, prominent place as in the beginning. The details begin to unfold as the purpose of that plan is revealed in the lives of people throughout the ages. Now the serpent was craftier than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He [Satan] said to the woman, “‘Did God really say, “you must not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, “You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden [ tree of the knowledge ] and you must not touch it, or you will die.”’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’” (Genesis 3:1-22) This is the origin of sin (misunderstanding); disobedience to precise instructions deserved justice. However, misunderstanding was and is relevant to the state of perfection. The proposition that mankind must die was Satan’s decree not God’s desire, and belief found a place to start, for

-30-

Made with