Thursday, June 11, 2020

The Biblical Creation and the Fall of Man

Content:

  • Background
  • Before the Beginning
  • The Biblical Creation
  • The Fall of Man

Background


As background, see time 40:40–52:00 in
Understanding Genesis || Guest Speaker Dr. Jason Lisle.


Before the Beginning


God did things before "the beginning" see time 18:48–29:52 in DAVID GUZIK SERMON ON GENESIS 1:1-2 BEFORE THE BEGINNING, AT THE BEGINNING.


The Biblical Creation


God created this world, the entire universe, for us humans. The universe was created to sustain life on Earth, especially humanity. We live in a word that has fallen into sin. Man is essentially evil. No one is good except God (Mark 10:18, Luk 18:19,
Mat 19:17). Jesus came to die for us because we are all sinners (1 John 1:8, 10). But we are also made in God's image (Gen 1:27). It's not said about the angels or the animals. We also all have the same ancestor, all people are relatives.

 The world didn't create itself. God created the heaven and the Earth 
(Gen 1:1, Rom 1:20, Col 1:15–17), see Evidence for Creation. (It's not possible
to indicate whether it's "heaven" or "heavens" based on the original word (comparable to the expression "one deer" and "two deer"). It depends on the context. But sometimes it's not possible to indicate which one it is even based on the context. In Gen 1:1 however, it must be "heaven".) The Earth and the sky (heaven) needed for it, were created first (Gen 1:1–2), see step 4 of The Creation Model in The Big-Bang Model Revealed. The Earth was then surrounded by water (Gen 1:2). God then continued creation for six days (Exodus 20:11a, 31:17b):
  1. God created light on the first day (Gen 1:3–5). God didn't depend on the sun to give us light. Light is essential to us (2 Cor 4:4, 6, Isaiah 9:2), see
    Jesus the Light of the World.
  2. Space (universe) was then stretched out from the Earth with water around the universe, on the second day (Gen 1:6–8), see step 5 of The Creation Model in The Big-Bang Model Revealed.
  3. The waters of the Earth gathered in one place, so that dry land appeared
    (Gen 1:9–10). Vegetation and plants were created (Gen 1:11–12), see time 4:22–5:47 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │December 2023.
    This was done on the third day (Gen 1:13).
  4. God created the sun, the Moon, the stars, and all the heavenly bodies on the fourth day (Gen 1:14–19), see Where Did the Moon Come from? They would serve as signs to mark seasons (or appointed times), and for days and years. God showed his glory by creating the Sun after he created light, that he isn't dependent of the Sun to create light, day and night, to prevent us from worshiping the Sun or creation itself (Rom 1:25). Jesus said of himself:
    "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness,
    but will have the light of life.    " (John 8:12). From now on God uses the Sun to give light on Earth and to rule the day, and the Moon to rule the night.
  5. God created the creatures of the sea and the birds on the fifth day
    (Gen 1:20–23).
  6. God created the animals on the Earth (Gen 1:24–25). He formed them out of the ground (Gen 2:19a). God then made man and woman in his own image
    (Gen 1:26–30). It doesn't mean that we look like God but that he gave us the freedom to set our own course. We can even say no to God. But we can also choose to say yes to him, see Salvation. God created man in a mature state, see time 19:28–20:41 in Bible Q & A With Pastor Paul │ January 2024. God gave man dominion over the Earth (Gen 1:26b, 28b). Note that it's the persons of The Trinity who speak to each other  (Gen 1:26a, 3:22a). This was done on the sixth day, and everything was very good (Gen 1:31).
  7. God rested on the seventh day (Gen 2:2–3). The reason was that creation was over. It was fulfilled. God included in creation a fulfillment and contentment which he called rest. Rest according to the Bible means being fulfilled, contented (Psalm 23:1), see Psalm 23: The Lord is my Shepherd. The seventh day of the week, Saturday, became the Sabbath. That day became the mandatory day of rest for the people of Israel (Exodus 20:8–11, 31:12–17).
    The Sabbath was a sign between God and the Israelites under the Mosaic Laws (Exodus 31:13, 17). As Christians who believe in Jesus Christ, we don't have to keep the Sabbath (Mark 2:27–28, Col 2:16–17, Rom 14:5–6), see
    the 4:th commandment in The Ten Commandments. 
This 4th commandment also says that God created heaven and Earth in six days (Exodus 20:11a). God is the Creator of heaven, the Earth, the sea, and all that is in them (Psalm 33:6–9, 74:16–17, 104:24, 115:15–16, 124:8b, 134:3b, 136:5–9, 146:6a, 147:4, 148:3–6, Jer 31:35, Acts 4:24, 14:15b, 17:24–27). 
See also Jesus is the Creator in Jesus is God.

The Hebrew word used for day (yowm) is used 2301 times in the Old Testament,
and is almost always used to mean a 24-hour night-day cycle. The meaning of the remaining ones is always very clear from the context, for example "The day of trouble", "The day of the Lord", and "The day of battle". When the word yowm is used to describe a succession of days, it always means a 24-hour period. See this explained at time 26:40–40:28 in Understanding Genesis || Guest Speaker Dr. Jason Lisle. See in that video how the gap theory was debunked at time 37:48–40:28. 
Gen 1:1–2 (NASB20) can be seen as an example of Step Parallelism, see time
8:42–11:58 in Hebrew Poetry Update. See also Evidence for a Young Earth.

There was no rain at the beginning, instead a mist watered the ground (Gen 2:5–6).
It may be that no rain came until Noah's day (see The Flood at the Time of Noah), although it can't be proven from the biblical texts.

God formed the man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen 2:7, 1 Cor 15:47–49). The last part is a unique work of God, which wasn't used when the animals were created. There is a spiritual element in us that gives us life. This can be compared to the event after The Resurrection of Jesus, when Jesus breathed on the disciples to receive the Holy Spirit, to become born again Christians (John 20:21–22). After God had created man, he caused a deep sleep to fall upon him, and while he slept he took one of his ribs and closed its place with flesh and made it to a woman (Gen 2:21–23), see The Origin of Man and:
(Gen 2:8–9). It shows creation from Adam's perspective, see time 26:21–34:05 in DAVID GUZIK SERMON ON GENESIS 2:1-17 ADAM IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN.

The Fall of Man


Adam and Eve weren't allowed to eat from that tree (Gen 2:16–17). God said:
"Of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." (Gen 2:17). In fact, according to the original Hebrew, it was the beginning of a process of physical dying, a decay of the body, see time 17:59–19:27 in Revelation 21-22. God then also spoke of a spiritual death, see it explained in The Book of Ephesians. Satan, also called the ancient serpent, the deceiver of the whole world manifesting himself in a serpent,
questioned that God had forbidden men to eat from this tree (Gen 3:1). Satan also said that they wouldn't die, but that their eyes would be opened and they would become like God and be able to distinguish between good and evil (Gen 3:4–5).
These temptations can be compared to The Temptations of Jesus. The woman then ate from the tree and gave to her husband who ate (Gen 3:6, 1 Tim 2:14). The woman was deceived, but the man's sin was willful disobedience and open rebellion against God, see time 4:08–13:09 in DAVID GUZIK SERMON ON GENESIS 3:10-24.
God therefore held the man accountable for what happened. The problem with Satan's lye is that it was mixed with some truth. Their eyes were opened so that from now on they could distinguish between good and evil (Gen 3:7, 22).
But they weren't like God. They began to die physically and had been
spiritual dead, disconnected from God. They had become sinners because of disobedience. They had broken the one rule they had been given, not to eat from that tree. They became self-conscience, began to focus on themselves and not on the relationship with God (Gen 3:8–13, Rom 8:6–8, 13:14, Col 3:1–2).

This resulted in a curse upon the serpent, Satan, and mankind (Gen 3:14–19),
see time 13:10–46:56 in DAVID GUZIK SERMON ON GENESIS 3:10-24.
Jesus took the curse upon him at the cross, see time 46:59–49:35 in that link.

 Death came into the world as a result of this sin. Death didn't exist before the Fall, but was a result of the Fall (Gen 2:16–17, 3:3, 17b, 19b, 21), see time
7:18–8:20 in Bible Q&A With Pastor Paul │ September 2023. There was no physical death before the Fall. There were no meat eaters on Earth (Gen 1:29–30). It was only after the Flood that God allowed humans to eat meat (Gen 9:2–4).

Things everyone needs to know about death:
  1. Death wasn't part of God's original creation. It was never part of God's creative plan. He created a word where there was no death. Therefore, death is an intrusion into God's creation and is considered an "enemy".
  2. God warned Adam that his disobedience would lead to death.
    (Adam and Eve ignored the warning after being temped by the devil).
  3. Death is the result/consequence of sin: 
    • "... sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Rom 5:12). See this further explained at time 24:34–27:36 in
      Science Confirms Biblical Creation | Dr. Jason Lisle.
    • "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 6:23).
  4. Our sin is why Jesus had to come into the world, be born as a man and physically die on the cross, see The Crucifixion of Jesus. 
  5. By sending his Son to die in our place, to bear our penalty, God initiated the first step in overturning death (not just physical death, but spiritual death). 
  6. Jesus rose from the dead as the "firstfruits" of those who conquer death:
    "For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ." (1 Cor 15:20–23).
  7. When Jesus returns for The Rapture, he will raise up our (believers') old bodies and change them into new bodies that will never die.
  8. Death will one day be overturned as the last enemy:
    "When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 'Death is swallowed up in victory' (Isaiah 25:8a). 'O death, where is your victory? 
    O death, where is your sting? (Hosea 13:14b)'" (1 Cor 15:54–55).
    "The last enemy to be destroyed is death." (1 Cor 15:26).
This makes the Theory of Evolution impossible, as it requires death before mankind came into existence, see Is the Theory of Evolution Proven?

God had given dominion over the Earth to Adam and Eve, see 6) above. A consequence of their sin was that they lost this dominion to Satan, albeit temporarily. We know this because Satan has been named "the ruler of this world"
(John 14:30) and "prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:1–2). When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan told Jesus that the authority over all the kingdoms of the world had been given to him (Luke 4:5–8). Jesus didn't question that. However, it was a temporary dominion that Satan received. Satan's power was broken by Jesus' death on the cross (John 12:31–33), see Salvation. As born again Christians, we belong to another kingdom, the kingdom of our God (Phil 3:20,
Col 1:13), that is, within the kingdom of this world (1 John 5:19). There will come
a day when Jesus is handed back that kingdom (Rev 11:15), see 
The Millennial Kingdom and the Great White Throne Judgement.
See this explained at time 5:07–9:15 in 1 John 3 • Beloved, we are God’s children. 
See also step 5 in Objections to Christianity in Misconceptions and Objections.

Their eating of the forbidden fruit also led to other consequences: The serpent would walk on his belly (Gen 3:14). The woman will bring forth her children in pain, and her husband will rule over her (Gen 3:16). The man will have to work very hard to get his food, the ground will be cursed (Gen 3:17–18). He will eventually die and return to dust (Gen 3:19). We have all inherited this change in human nature. 

God sent them out of the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating from the
Tree of Life and living forever (Gen 3:22–24). If they had, it wouldn't have been possible to save humanity. Even if Jesus had been born as a man, it won't have been possible for him to die physically on the cross for our sin.

We also received the first Messianic prophecy in the Bible, a promise of a future
Salvation that will be given by Jesus Christ (Gen 3:15, Gal 4:4, Heb 2:14, Col 2:15). But Jesus had to be sinless in order to pay for our sins through his physical death on the cross, see the end part of The Genealogy of Jesus.

The reason that Satan was allowed to be in the Garden of Eden was to test test man's free will, to see if they would obey God or reject God. They were free to make that choice. Their moral choice must be tested. A free will doesn't mean anything if it's never tested. If I never get an opportunity to make a free will decision, it means nothing. Since God wants us to come and love him voluntarily, we must have the option of rejecting him. If they had rejected Satan's temptation, Satan would have had to leave them for good. God was also aware that man would fall, see 
The Predestination Theory and Jesus Died for Us While We Were Still Sinners
in The Book of Romans. See it explained on the following times:
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