Colossians 2:6-7 NKJV (6) As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, (7) rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.
God gave man complete authority over the earth and everything in it.
(Genesis 1:26-28 NKJV) Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
(Genesis 1:26 AMP) God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. [Ps. 104:30; Heb. 1:2; 11:3.]
(Psalms 8:1-9 NKJV) To the Chief Musician. On the Instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! (2) Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger. (3) When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, (4) What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (5) For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. (6) You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, (7) All sheep and oxen– Even the beasts of the field, (8) The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. (9) O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!
Adam possessed such complete authority over creation that he has in his hands the legal right to confer that dominion to another being.
God could have spoken the entire human family into existence as once but He chose not to.
He wanted Adam and Eve to be fellow-workers with Him in bringing the human family into the world.
Why go into such detail in describing God’s creation of Adam? A low perception of the creation of Adam has given us a low perception of the new creation in Christ.
(Genesis 3:1-24 NKJV) Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (2) And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; (3) but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” (4) Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. (5) For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (6) So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. (7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (8) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (9) Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (10) So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (11) And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (12) Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” (13) And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (14) So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. (15) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” (16) To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” (17) Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. (18) Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. (19) In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (20) And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. (21) Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. (22) Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”– (23) therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. (24) So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
Why was man’s sin so devastating? Why did it require Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross?
Adam turned the legal dominion over into the hands of God’s enemy Satan.
(Luke 4:6-7 NKJV) And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. (7) Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
If the devil lied to Jesus and Jesus did not know it, the He was not the incarnate Son of God. If the devil lied and Jesus did not know it, then this was not a genuine temptation.
Adam’s transgression was done in the full light and knowledge of what was happening.
(1 Timothy 2:13-14 NKJV) For Adam was formed first, then Eve. (14) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
(Romans 5:12 NKJV) Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
There are three deaths that are taught in the Scripture:
- Physical death – separation of man’s spirit and soul from his body.
- Spiritual death – separation of man’s spirit from God
- Second Death – eternal separation of man and God
(Ephesians 2:1-5 NKJV) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, (2) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, (3) among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (4) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
Adam dies spiritually instantaneously, but it took 930 years for his body to die.
(Genesis 3:24 NKJV) So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
God had to keep fallen man away from the tree of life because had Adam been able to partake, the nature of God (life) would have been eternally united with the nature of Satan (death).
(Romans 8:1-2 NKJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (2) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
We need to learn what is really normal and what is not normal for the child of God.
We have seen that in the beginning, man was created for joy and peace; and that sin, sickness, sorrow or death had no place in God’s original plan. These present conditions of society and the world are not normal (according to God’s plan).
God has vindicated Himself and stands acquitted before the human race because He did not leave man in this condition, but provided a Redemption which man could enjoy through faith in Jesus Christ, that would answer man’s every need.
Two theological terms we need to understand:
- Incarnation – God becoming man through the Lord Jesus
(John 1:1 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
(John 1:14 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
- Substitution – Jesus became our substitute to pay the price of our sin thus taking upon Himself all we had to offer. But in our substitution in the Resurrection, we can receive on us all He has to offer.
(2 Corinthians 5:17-19 NKJV) (17) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (18) Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, (19) that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
One of the many things Christ paid for in His Substitutionary sacrifice is our authority.
I once read about the story of a man that was travelling from England to the United States during the days of great ocean liners that were the main mode of transportation. The voyage usually took about a week and this man had saved most of his money to be able to buy a ticket so that he could take the trip. Throughout the trip, every evening he would watch as the other passengers would get dressed and go to the dining room and eat the wonderful food that had been prepared. While this was happening, this man would take some crackers and cheese that he had brought with him and rationed it out every day so that he would have something to eat. On the last day of the voyage, as the ship was nearing its destination, the Captain saw this man on the deck and asked him, “Sir, have we offended you in some way or not provided good service to you for your trip?” The man replied, “Oh no. I have been very happy with the accommodations.” “The reason I asked,” The Captain said, “Is that I have not seen you in the dining room one time throughout the whole trip.” The man replied, “Well that is because it was all I could do to save the money just to by the ticket to board the ship and make the trip, and therefore I could not afford all of those wonderful meals.” Shocked, the Captain replied, “Sir I am so sorry. All of those meals were included in the price of your ticket and you could have been eating with us all along.”
This man did not know what had been bought and paid for and belonged to him all the time.