In the beginning God created the heavens<\/em> and the earth <\/em>(Gen. 1:1)\u00a0On the sixth day of creation,<\/em> the LORD<\/em> God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground\u2014trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil\u00a0<\/em>(Gen. 2:7-9).<\/p>\n The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, \u201cYou are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.\u201d <\/em>(Gen. 2:15-17)\u00a0T<\/em>hen the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man\u00a0<\/em>(Gen. 2:22).\u00a0The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame\u00a0<\/em>(Gen. 2:25).<\/p>\n Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, \u201cDid God really say, \u2018You must not eat from any tree in the garden\u2019?\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/em>(Gen. 3:1)<\/p>\n From other scriptures, such as Revelation 12:9, we know that the serpent is the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. Also 2 Cor. 11:3 tells us that Eve was deceived by the serpent\u2019s cunning.<\/p>\n The woman said to the serpent, \u201cWe may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>but God did say, \u2018You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.\u2019\u201d<\/em> \u201cYou will not surely die,\u201d the serpent said to the woman.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>\u201cFor God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,\u00a0knowing good and evil.\u201d When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable\u00a0for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband,\u00a0who was with her, and he ate it.\u00a0Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised\u00a0they were naked;\u00a0so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves\u00a0<\/em>(Gen. 3:2-7).<\/p>\n These fig leaves were an attempt to cover their guilt, to undo what they had done. It was like trying to work their way back to God\u2019s favour, much like a legalistic spirit in people today.<\/p>\n Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Lord<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>God as he was walking<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>from the<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Lord <\/em>God among the trees of the garden.\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>But the<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Lord<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>God called to the man, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d He answered, \u201cI heard you in the garden, and I was afraid<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>because I was naked;<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>so I hid.\u201d And he said, \u201cWho told you that you were naked?<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?\u201d The man said, \u201cThe woman you put here with me\u2014she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.\u201d Then the<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>Lord<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>God said to the woman, \u201cWhat is this you have done?\u201d The woman said, \u201cThe serpent deceived me,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and I ate.\u201d <\/em>So the Lord God said to the serpent, \u201cBecause you have done this, \u201cCursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman<\/strong>, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head<\/strong>, and you will strike his heel<\/strong>.\u201d <\/em>(Gen. 3:8-15, emphasis own)<\/p>\n This enmity or hostility and hatred between Satan\u2019s seed or offspring and the woman\u2019s offspring runs throughout the Bible from the beginning to the end.<\/p>\n Adam understood more than we sometimes think he did because in response to God\u2019s statement that the woman\u2019s offspring will crush Satan\u2019s head, and Satan will bruise his heel, Adam named his wife Eve because she would become the mother of all the living. In other words, Adam believed God and so did Eve. This became evident when God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. The clothing of Adam and Eve with animal skins was evidence of these animals being sacrificed.<\/p>\n \u201cIn fact, the law requires that<\/em> nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.\u201d <\/em>(Heb. 9:22)<\/p>\n It seems that Adam, Abel, Noah, and Abraham and his children knew much about the law even before God gave the law to Moses at Sinai. I believe this because in Genesis chapter 4, Abel\u2019s offering of fat portions from some of the firstborn of the flock was looked on with favour by God, but when Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord it was not looked on with favour by God. Also, when Noah came out of the ark, (Gen. 8), he built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the ceremonially clean animals and ceremonially clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord. Apparently, information about sacrificing animals to cover sins must have been passed down to Noah from Adam and his descendants.<\/p>\n The gospel in the acorn was revealed to Adam as the seed of the woman. And all the animal sacrifices which required the blood and life of the animals was a shadow,\u00a0a type or a picture of the future sacrifice of Christ as it is revealed in the New Testament.<\/p>\n God changed Abram\u2019s name, in Genesis 17:5, where it says, \u201cNo longer will you be called Abram<\/strong>; your name will be Abraham<\/strong>, for I have made you a father of many nations\u201d\u00a0<\/em>(emphasis own).<\/p>\n Abraham is very significant when it comes to understanding faith or belief in God and trusting what he says. Jesus Christ was revealed to Adam only as the seed of the woman and was afterwards revealed to Abraham as Abraham\u2019s own seed or a descendant of Abraham which would be the Christ, the saviour of all who believe as revealed in the New Testament.<\/p>\n The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say \u201cand to seeds,\u201d meaning many people, but \u201cand to your seed,\u201d meaning one person, who is Christ <\/em>(Gal. 3:16).\u00a0Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness <\/em>(Gen. 15:6).<\/p>\n \u00a0What was it that Abram believed?<\/p>\n Then the word of the LORD came to him: \u201cThis man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.\u201d He took him outside and said, \u201cLook up at the heavens and count the stars\u2014if indeed you can count them.\u201d Then he said to him, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d Abram believed the LORD and he credited it to him as righteousness\u00a0<\/em>(Gen. 15:4-6).<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em>Why was Abraham so strong in his faith? Because he was fully persuaded in his heart and his mind that God had the power to accomplish what he had promised.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, \u201cSo shall your offspring be.\u201d Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead\u2014since he was about a hundred years old\u2014and that Sarah\u2019s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith<\/em> and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why \u201cit was credited to him as righteousness.\u201d The words \u201cit was credited to him\u201d were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness\u2014for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification <\/em>(Rom. 4:18-25).\u00a0And without faith, <\/em>[believing God], it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him <\/em>(Heb. 11:6).\u00a0<\/em>The Scriptures foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: \u201cAll nations will be blessed through you.\u201d So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith\u00a0<\/em>(Gal. 3:8, 9).<\/p>\n That if you confess<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>with your mouth, \u201cJesus is Lord,\u201d<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>and believe<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>in your heart that God raised him from the dead,<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>you will be saved.<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved\u00a0<\/em>(Romans 10:9-10).<\/p>\n <\/p>\nThe Spiritual Fall of Mankind<\/h3>\n
The Salvation of Adam and Eve<\/h3>\n
Abraham<\/h3>\n