Five Lessons From
The Book Of Daniel
Part 1

About 2600 years ago, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem. This stressful time marked the beginning of a radical change in the life of four bright Jewish lads – Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. In the years to come, the invading Babylonian Empire, and King Nebuchadnezzar himself, would be affected by the life and convictions of these young men.

Your life, like theirs, can also influence others. When Daniel got older he was inspired by the Lord to write of extraordinary events – some which he lived himself, others which happened later, and some yet to happen. The first six chapters of his book are historic; the remaining six are mainly prophetic.

Although the Lord Jesus referred to Daniel as a prophet (Mt. 24:15), he was never a “full-time prophet” like Isaiah or Jeremiah. He spent his adult life as a statesman, civil servant and government employee. The life of Daniel shows that men and women can be used by God while in “secular” employment. It is a matter of convictions and priorities. Although Daniel had varied administrative responsibilities he was not absorbed by them. He was known as one who served his God continually (6:16,20). Many generations have come and gone, but the lessons penned by Daniel still hold true today. Let’s look at five of them.

1. Victory Begins In The Heart – Daniel 1
Daniel and his three friends belonged to Jewish nobility; they were young men “without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand” (1:3,4 NIV). They had a bright future in Judah, but it was now even brighter in the large and prosperous Babylonian Empire. They were integrated fully into this new culture. Even their names were changed (1:7). What kept these young lads from losing their identity as people of God? Before they reached Babylon, they had made up their minds not to defile themselves with the royal food and wine (1:8).

Some Christians think that they “accidentally” fall into a sin. Most sin starts in the mind. Like Eve in the garden, and Achan in his tent (Gen. 3:6; Josh. 7:18-21), we see, we covet, we act. Good things also start in the mind. We consider truth, accept it, and then act on it. We see someone else’s need, we think about it, we feel it, we then act. If we are to speak and act rightly, we must think rightly. And our heart must be right. That’s why Paul urged Christians not to “conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). Life is made up of small choices based on our convictions. These convictions must be developed consciously in the presence of God. Without them we lose our identity as people of God.

Making bold decisions that give direction to our life is not something only for the young. As we grow older, our religious and secular surroundings continue to exert pressure on us to conform. We may be tempted to think we know it all and have always done things rightly. Every new situation provides us with an opportunity to humbly seek the Lord and to keep on learning. In his later years, an angel approached Daniel and said: “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them” (10:12). Daniel was still humble, and still setting his mind to understand. Are you right before the Lord? Battles are won or lost in our minds and hearts. “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23).

2. Prayer Releases God’s Mercies – Daniel 2 & 9 
Do you remember your dreams? Sometimes God uses dreams to communicate with humans. We find some examples in both the Old and New Testaments. In Daniel, God gave pagan King Nebuchadnezzar a troubling dream that woke him in a bad mood. He called his wise men together and said: “If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble” (2:5). Daniel only got to hear about this when Arioch, commander of the king’s guard, arrived to kill him.

What would you do in this moment of personal crisis? The request was unreasonable. The procedure was unfair. The possible consequences were frightening. Daniel spoke with “wisdom and tact” and asked the king for some time. “Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon” (2:14-18).

PERSONAL CRISIS: Was God aware of the crisis of these godly men, and could He have avoided it? Yes! But God was actually behind the crisis. He gave the dream. It was God’s way to bring these godly men closer to Himself and to each other, and to get them into key positions in the Empire. Daniel’s reaction was to call for a prayer meeting to plead for mercy – not to the king but to the God of heaven. Their lives were spared, the king recognized that their God was “the God of gods, and the Lord of kings” (2:47) and Daniel and his three friends were promoted within the administration of Babylon.

Our God is still “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20). Are you living in a difficult situation? Is someone being unreasonable? Is your situation unfair? Are the possible consequences frightening? Ask your Christian friends to join you in prayer. Prayer releases God’s abundant mercies.

NATIONAL CRISIS: While Daniel studied the writings of the prophet Jeremiah, he became aware of and concerned about the spiritual state of the nation of Israel. What did Daniel do with this burden? He “turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes” (9:3). Daniel’s response to a national crisis was the same as to a personal crisis – prayer. He sought the mercies of a merciful God: “Give ear, O God, and hear; open Your eyes and see … We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay” (9:18,19). In the writings of Ezra and Nehemiah we read how God answered this prayer. His mercies became evident as many Jews left Babylon and returned to Judah.

Do you need God’s mercies? Do you ask for them? “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (Jn. 16:24).

By Philip Nunn
With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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THREE SECRETS OF
A Strong Marriage

In these difficult times of increasing unemployment, financial loss, stress, emotional illness and spiritual challenges, many people are worried about their finances, futures and marital relationships becoming weaker. But we need not be paralyzed by fear, rather we should be moved by faith in God to maintain strong relationships in a weak society. Let’s consider some secrets for a healthy marital relationship.

Life is full of questions, but as believers, even when we do not know the answers we know who is the answer – our precious Lord Jesus. The Pharisees and Sadducees asked questions concerning taxes, the authority of government and God, future marital relationships and resurrection, and the motivation of law and love for relationships (Mt. 22:15-40; Mk. 12:13-34 NKJV). Some people today are looking to the government and the economy for solutions to their problems, but feel disappointed and discouraged every time they read or hear the news. Therefore, in order to maintain a healthy marriage in these stressful times, we need to know these three secrets found in the Word of God.

SECRET 1: Rely On God
We must recognize the authority of the government, but rely on the resources and authority of God. The Lord Jesus – who while serving men is not the servant of men, but the true servant of God – was asked by the Pharisees about paying taxes. He answered: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Mk. 12:17). And the apostle Paul reminded us, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God” (Rom. 13:1).

Some marital relationships are weakened because they are depending on the government and the community rather than on God to supply their needs. We need to rely on the Lord to stabilize our hearts, calm our minds, and supply all our needs (Phil. 4:6,7,19). “The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant” (Ps. 25:14).

SECRET 2: Live In The Light Of Eternity
We must remember that our marital relationship is not forever, but only until the coming of Christ for us, or death. The Sadducees asked Jesus about the spousal relationship in the resurrection of a woman who had been married seven times to seven brothers and still died childless. Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God? For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven” (Mk. 12:24,25). The Lord affirmed the resurrection, relationship, and a new recognition. It is important that we not take our spouses for granted, but display affection, attention and appreciation for each other. Also, we should spend time reading God’s Word and praying together, recognizing His willingness to help us. We should value the presence of each other, seek God’s counsel, and live together every day in light of eternity. “His secret counsel is with the upright” (Prov. 3:32).

SECRET 3: Let Love Motivate
We must let love and not law be the motivating function in our marital relationship. The Lord Jesus, who is the king with all authority, was asked by a lawyer about the law and love as indicated in the commandment: “‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ … And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mt. 22:36,37,39).

Love is not simply a feeling or emotion, but a decision. We must love our Lord Jesus with our entire being; to give Him not just prominence, but preeminence; to always give Him what is right, and not what is left. Thank God that He loves us in spite of ourselves. “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10).

Then Jesus reminded the lawyer to love his neighbor as he loved himself. Likewise, each of us must not only love our Lord, but also our spouses selflessly. In any marital relationship, legalism will dry love up, drain it out and drag it down. We need love to be revealed in our relationship. The stability of our marriage depends upon our love and submission to the authority of His Word: “Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church” (Eph. 5:28,29).

This may mean that each spouse should feel the pain of the other. If one has a pebble in his/her shoe, that one wants to immediately remove it to prevent any greater pain. Similarly, when one spouse is hurting, the other needs to resolve the issue to prevent it from damaging the relationship. The past cannot be changed, but it can be forgiven.

Thus, both marriage partners need to serve the Lord and each other, not just because they want something but because of love for each other. For those who trust and obey the Lord, it is no secret what God can do to maintain a strong marital relationship, even in hard times.

By Emanuel V. John
With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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Give Priority To God And People

The word “Christian” means a follower of Christ. The beginning of a new year is a good time to focus on some of the words He spoke – in particular, His first words, His most important words and His last recorded words – and determine how well we are following Him.

His First Words
When He was 12 years old, Jesus stayed behind to talk with the teachers in the temple while His parents headed for home after the festival of the Passover. When they returned and found Him, Mary said, “‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for Me?’ He asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in My Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what He was saying to them. Then He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Lk. 2:48-52 NIV).

The two different fathers mentioned in this passage show the two main relationships of His youth. First, He was aware of His unique relationship with God. At 12 years, He was doing God’s business. Of course, that’s why He came to earth. One example of this relationship was that He prayed regularly. Second, He obeyed His parents. They were part of His human family. Later He said, “Whoever does God’s will is My brother and sister and mother” (Mk. 3:35). All believers are part of His spiritual family. One example of this relationship was His compassion for people. He saw them as “sheep without a shepherd” and wanted to care for them like a hen cares for her chicks (Mt. 9:36; 23:37). So, this incident and the Lord’s first recorded words show that His two main relationships were with God and with people.

His Most Important Words
During His ministry, one of the Jewish religious leaders asked Jesus which was the most important commandment. “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these’” (Mk. 12:29-31).

The Jews had at least 600 laws at this time. When asked which was the most important, Jesus said to put God first and people next. He simplified their complex religious requirements into two relationships – with God and with others. Our priorities should be likewise – God first, people next and selfish things last.

His Last Recorded Words
Before Jesus ascended, the apostles asked Him: “‘Lord, are You at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses … to the ends of the earth.’ After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight” (Acts 1:6-9).

They expected the earthly kingdom to commence, but didn’t know that this wouldn’t happened until after the gospel was taken to the Gentile nations. Instead the Lord promised the Holy Spirit to give them power to witness for Him across the known world. Witnessing is introducing people to God. This mission for the apostles, which is also the Church’s mission, involves the two relationships already mentioned – with God and others. They would no longer have the Lord to guide them physically, but all believers now have the Holy Spirit to guide them spiritually.

Starting today, let’s devote our lives to God’s business – really giving Him top priority, and really loving one another – the essence of Jesus’ most important words.

By George Hawke

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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Made In The Image Of God

The Old Testament tells us that in the very beginning God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26 KJV). How magnificent! Even after the Fall, God continued to state this fact (Gen. 9:6). And in the New Testament, the apostle Paul reiterated these words of the highest honor given to man: “He is the image and glory of God” (1 Cor. 11:7). And God said it was “very good” that He “created man in His own image” (Gen. 1:31,27). Wasn’t this enough for Adam and Eve?

In the Garden of Eden, the serpent enticed Eve with the thought that when she and Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “ye shall be as God” (Gen. 3:5). Was this not the same desire that Satan, the anointed cherub, had for himself before time began, when he said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God … I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:12-14; Ezek. 28:13-15)? Tragically, they believed the serpent and ate.

Adam and Eve fell, and wayward man has continued to want to be like God throughout history. After the flood, the peoples of the whole earth were scattered because they wanted to “build … a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” (Gen. 11:4). According to Alexander Hislop in Two Babylons, idolatry possibly started when the wife of Nimrod deified her husband and then made herself a goddess. Babylonian kings demanded to be addressed with the term “live forever” (Dan. 2:4), and one even demanded that no petition be made to “any god or man” except to him (Dan. 6:12).

In the New Testament, Herod died at the hand of an angel of the Lord as he accepted praise from a crowd claiming that his address to them was “the voice of a god!” (Acts 12:21-23). Roman Emperors, and those of Japan as late as the 1940s have claimed to be gods. How dare any creature claim equality with God? And all those who challenge God’s Word, are they not claiming that they are greater than He is? All such claims are sin and blasphemy!

But there was One of whom it could be honestly said: “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Phil. 2:6-7). The Son of God, in whom “dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9) took on a human form so that He might redeem many to Himself. His delight was with the children of men in eternity past (Prov. 8:31). He walked with Adam and Eve, and with Enoch (Gen. 3:8; 5:22). Throughout history He has sought those with whom He can have a close relationship. And today this includes you and me.

But was that enough for Him? Apparently not! He said that He was returning to His Father’s house and would take us there to be with Him (Jn. 14:2-3). For His people to be fit for that place, He not only died to settle the sin question, but also will change our mortal and corruptible bodies into bodies like His (1 Cor. 15:53). We are told that we shall be like Him (1 Jn. 3:2).

This does not make us God or gods, but it does make us eternal human beings with the closest relationship to God that anyone can ever have. What a great God we have, who would make us in His image, and then would be Himself made in the likeness of man so that we might be like Him!

By Hank Blok

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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Learning From Adam And Eve

Were Adam and Eve real, historical, three-dimensional people? There’s no reason to suppose that they were anything but what the Bible says. Some dismiss this prototype couple as myth, but the Bible stakes its own credibility on the reality of Adam and Eve, referring to them repeatedly as real people, and to their lives, actions and example as actual and historical (Gen. 5:1-5; 1 Chr. 1:1; Hos. 6:7; Lk. 3:38; Rom. 5:12-14; 1 Cor. 15:22,45; 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 2:13-14; Jude 1:14). If Adam and Eve were not real, but only mythical or symbolic, then all the Bible is open to question.

As Christians, we believe that all of the Bible is God’s Word, completely reliable and authoritative, the essence of truth. Thus, Adam and Eve are real. They were the only humans ever to live without experiencing birth, childhood, puberty and adolescence – all the stages of maturing. They began life as adults, from the hand and breath of the Creator (Gen. 1-2), long before the enemy of truth hatched the theory of evolution!

Creator-Creature Intimacy
There was never a moment when Adam and Eve were not capable of grasping their relationship with their Creator. Yet they failed to value it rightly. Their innocence was not the innocence of infancy, as they were fully aware of God and consciously experienced and enjoyed His fellowship. How many Christians today fail to value and honor this intimate relationship with their Creator-Savior, and thus stray from the path of obedience and the blessing that follows?

Failing to rightly value their own relationship with God, Adam and Eve were evidently unable to effectively communicate to Cain, their firstborn, a due appreciation for this awesome relationship, and the duty to revere, respect, honor and obey Him. The very first children born into the human race needed the nurturing care and guidance of adults to find their way to adulthood, just as we do today. Though they never experienced childhood themselves, Adam and Eve were in no way disadvantaged for raising children; they had 130 years of experience getting to know themselves, their environment and their Creator. Some things they would learn along with their children, just as we today learn many things from and with our children.

However, the most significant lesson they would learn, a tragic one, was learned before they had children. It is also one of the first lessons we learn from Adam and Eve: that disregarding God’s instructions in order to advance our own agenda has far-reaching consequences for ourselves and for those who come after us. A single self-centered action by this couple was etched on the DNA of all their descendants – the entire human race from that day on – an enormous genetic flaw and a heritage of sin and death. Nevertheless, their lesson is so essential for our warning and instruction: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

Every problem we face, both in our own lives and in the world, is directly attributable to that first couple’s leap into the mysterious unknown to “find” themselves. And in so doing they turned their backs on the Creator whose instruction, when taken to heart, makes so many painful learning experiences unnecessary wastes of time and energy.

It would be easy to blame only Eve; but where was Adam? He ought to have been there to help and protect her – as a second opinion, if nothing else. And, if he was there (as several Bible commentators suggest) why didn’t he put on the brakes? Instead, he ate the forbidden fruit with her. And when God came calling, it was Adam, the responsible one, that He summoned, not Eve. This is a very important lesson in headship/leadership (Gen. 3).

Know Your Enemy!
Through their experience we can learn to recognize the voice of Satan – the enemy, the deceiver, the father of lies. First, he questioned whether God really said what He said, planting the seed of doubt in Eve’s mind, nurturing the now instinctive human tendency to question God rather than trust Him. We need to learn, as a first priority, to recognize our Creator’s voice and purposely guard His words (not misquote them) in our hearts and consciences, deliberately disposing our wills to obey Him without question. Then we need to urgently and deliberately instill this lesson in our children.

Next, the tempter flatly contradicted God: “You will not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). The substance of the lesson is this: Get to know God through regular study of His Word. Get to know His voice so well that when He speaks there is no doubt that it is He. Thus, when any other voice is speaking there will be no doubt that it is not God. Jesus taught about this in the relationship between the Good Shepherd and His sheep: “His sheep follow Him because they know His voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice” (Jn. 10:4-5).

Psalm 1 emphasizes this same truth from another angle: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers (because) his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Ps. 1:1-2). Get to know the sound of the Lord’s shepherd-voice, and other voices will simply not ring true.

Another psalmist wrote: “I gain understanding from Your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path … and because I consider all Your precepts right, I hate every wrong path” (Ps. 119:104,128). Also, “As for the deeds of men – by the word of Your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent. My steps have held to Your paths; my feet have not slipped” (Ps. 17:4-5). Our Shepherd’s voice is heard first in His written Word, then in our consciences as they are formed by that Word. If nothing else, Adam and Eve should have been alerted to Satan’s fraud by his blatant contradiction of God’s Word! It was the first clue.

Innocence And Intimacy Lost
A lesson we must all learn (and the sooner the better) is that we are hopelessly helpless without God. Thank God that we who enjoy a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and His salvation will never experience ultimate separation from or abandonment by God, which is the essence of hell. Nor did Adam and Eve experience this. Yet, what must have been their shock when they realized that their intimacy with the Creator’s protective embrace, that had cradled their human frailty, was gone! How many Christians today fail to truly experience such intimacy with God, and thus only vaguely miss it when it is compromised.

Like all of us, the first children born into this world were born of sinful parents; they would never experience the free intimacy of innocence with their Creator, but only a strained relationship that rested on a continuous sequence of bloody substitutionary sacrifices of innocent animal victims. May God help us to learn this lesson well from Adam, Eve and their first-generation children; and may we never take for granted the preciousness of the intimacy we have been given with our God, and the price our Savior paid for it – the ultimate, eternally valid substitutionary sacrifice.

Those first parents reaped the tragic consequences of their own rebellion in the rebellious nature of their children. And we, whether or not we learn from Adam and Eve, cannot escape the painful consequences of their original sin in our natures and our children’s. Though often too dull and insensitive to learn, we nevertheless confront those bitter, heart-breaking lessons in our own selves and in the generation that we are responsible to raise.

Lessons To Learn
Only when our children disobey, rebel and reject us, turning our love for them into pain in our souls, do we begin to sense something of what the Creator felt when His creatures defiantly rebelled against Him. This is when we learn the great lesson of the depth of God’s love. This is when we begin to grasp the marvel of our redemption: that He turned our rebellion against Him upon His sinless Son, adding to it His own righteous wrath against sin, and unleashing on His Son all the fire of hell. Finally, He accepted His Son’s sacrifice as full payment for our sin freely pardoning us, welcoming us as holy children into His divine family.

There is yet an ironic lesson: While our tendency is to excuse ourselves and blame others, we are quick to look at disobedient or unruly children as evidence of the parents’ failure. The irrational injustice of this view becomes clear when we consider that, from Adam and Eve on, all of God’s children have failed in some degree – frequently in shocking ways. Is God to blame for His children’s rebellion or disobedience? Of course not. Nor is it always a failure of parents when their grown and responsible children go astray. Of course, all parents fail to some degree because we are human. We ourselves are disobedient children first, then we have children in our own image (Gen. 5:3). But God, the only perfect parent, can never be blamed for His children’s failures. We are responsible for our own choices and decisions.

Is This Fair? 
And this is fair by virtue of the fact that our loving Creator has given us a conscience, a sense of right and wrong, and the freedom to choose, as part of our humanity (Rom. 1:18-20; 2:14-15). Further, He forms that conscience by His Word – through His instructions, warnings, and corrective counsel. We are then responsible to follow His Word. When we obey our own fallen inclinations (inherited from Adam and Eve) rather than His supreme wisdom, we alone are responsible. Yet, even in our disobedience, His love and mercy shine upon us: He offers us not only forgiveness through His Son’s death and resurrection, but also His Holy Spirit to indwell us and enable us to behave for His glory.

There is much we can and should learn from Adam and Eve. And the sooner the better.

By Bill Van Ryn
With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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Adam And Eve Covered

Early in Genesis, through deception of the woman and disobedience of the man, the world was plunged into sin. God had placed man in a wonderful environment, the Garden of Eden, and provided for all of his needs. Man was in a state of innocence; he had everything one could ask for. He had the beauty of a paradise that only God could create. He had the company of all of the animals that he had the privilege of naming, which showed his intelligence. He had the companionship of his lovely wife, Eve, whom God had given to him. He had health, strength, vitality and a promising future. But most importantly, he had the fellowship of God who communed with him in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the day (Gen. 3:8).

Yet all of this was lost in a moment of deception and disobedience, because Satan had come to do his work. All of the grief that we feel today, and that has been felt for centuries, is a direct result of the Fall. And since then the principle of sin has been in effect as a result of what occurred in the Garden of Eden. We suffer sickness, pain and death. We experience crime, poverty and hatred. We feel racism, sexism and narcissism. And the list is endless. However, we can bless God because He has covered our nakedness by His grace. He has covered us with the blood of Christ. We are able to take off the fig leaves and be fully covered in the coats of skin. “And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” (Gen. 3:21 NASB).

Satan Left Us Naked
The fall of man left him naked; Satan’s promises were empty and cold. He knew to approach Eve. He was able to plant the seed of doubt in her mind, and he made her feel as though God was holding something back. He started by asking the woman a question: “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’”? (Gen 3:1). Eve answered him and misquoted God by adding to what He said: “From the fruit of the trees of the garden, we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, lest you die’” (3:2-3). It is always dangerous to misquote the Word of God by adding to it or taking away from it. That is the first step on a slippery slope. Now that Satan had Eve’s attention, he lied to her. “And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You surely shall not die’” (Gen. 3:4). God had said to Adam, in Genesis 2:17, that certain death would result from eating from the tree of the of knowledge of good and evil.

Metaphorically speaking, Satan continued to strip Eve of her clothes. She was diverted from the Lord and engaged with Satan. She saw the tree in a different way. God had commanded Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he had taught his wife. We know this because she knew how to answer Satan, except that she added to God’s command. She saw that the tree was good for food (“lust of the flesh”), and a pleasure to the eyes (“lust of the eyes”), and a source of intelligence (“the boastful pride of life”) (1 Jn. 2:16). She ate the fruit and gave some to her husband (Gen. 3:6). Upon eating, they plunged the world into sin and discovered that they were naked. Satan had succeeded in his objective. The man and his wife were now naked and ashamed; before they were innocent, naked and not ashamed (Gen. 2:25). Sin always leaves us exposed, ashamed and guilty.

Man’s Fig Leaves
And man has been exposed, ashamed, guilty and trying to cover himself ever since the Fall. He makes mighty attempts to cover himself. He has tried the fig leaf of education. He has developed and studied at the great universities of the world to cover himself with knowledge. He may be well educated, perhaps even earning a doctorate, making him a sinner with a Ph.D. His education has still left him “uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13 NIV).

He has tried the fig leaf of culture. He may know art and history. He may use proper etiquette. He may even speak several languages, but he is still a naked and cultured sinner. He may be more sophisticated in his sins, but that won’t get him to heaven.

He has tried the fig leaf of accomplishment. Many of his exploits have improved the world, yet he is still naked and estranged from God. These accomplishments do not save souls because they are nothing more than “good works” which lead man to “boast” ( Eph. 2:8-9).

He has tried the fig leaf of wealth. He feels that money will solve all of his problems. He may think that he can buy his way into heaven. Then he discovers that money doesn’t bring happiness and cannot purchase the covering that only God can give through faith.

Finally, he has tried the fig leaf of religion. He tries a religion that is comfortable. He reduces God to what he wants Him to be. Religion is man’s self-righteous yet futile attempt to reach up to God even though He has already reached down to us through His beloved Son (Gen. 11:1-9; 2 Cor. 5:17-19).

All attempts to cover ourselves have been as futile as the fig leaves. We are naked, cold and ashamed of our condition. But God has provided a full covering through Christ. Just as animals were slain to provide the first coverings for Adam and Eve, God has already provided the covering for us through His beloved Son. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Man will never be able to cover himself, but Christ is available as the Savior to a world that Adam and Eve plunged into sin.

Sin Left Us Exposed
We cover ourselves to avoid being exposed to the harsh environment. We know what the elements can do to us. Yet we seem surprised at the havoc that sin can wreak. We are as exposed to sin as the naked body is exposed to the harsh elements and we experience the same devastation. The fall of man set the principle of sin in motion and has given us a sinful nature. But we still marvel at the results of that corrupt nature that is seen in murder, rape, theft and manipulation. We are overwhelmed by corruption, greed, and deception.

Although creation groans under the bondage of sin (Rom. 8:22), we are still surprised by earthquakes, hurricanes and other natural disasters. Horrible crimes like genocide, that occur around the world, still shock and devastate us, and they should. But when the question of “why” comes up, the answer is obvious to the Christian: We are exposed to sin and will continue to experience it until the Lord sets everything right when He comes to reign. Perhaps now we can understand why the Lord said to Eve, “What is this that you have done?” (Gen. 3:13). Adam was held more accountable because he abdicated his responsibility and allowed his wife to lead: “Because you listened to your wife … cursed is the ground … all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:17). We experience suffering and death because of sin. But the situation is not hopeless, because our heavenly Father has covered us. The father of lies left us naked, but our Father has clothed us in the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:21-26).

Coats Of Skin
In Genesis 3:8-21 God pronounced judgment on those who were involved in the Fall. The results of those judgments are seen today. He began with the serpent who now crawls on its belly. But greater than this is the fact that its head has been crushed. The serpent is the devil who was defeated by the Lord Jesus on Calvary’s cross (Heb. 2:14-15). Although the devil bruised the Lord’s heel, the Lord crushed his head. Christ is victorious, and we are victors in Him.

Then God dealt with the woman who now experiences pain in childbirth. By His grace billions of children have been born, and Christians have the privilege to enjoy them and the responsibility to raise them for the Lord. While her husband continues to have headship over her in God’s eyes, the struggle started by Eve continues today.

Finally God dealt with the man who now sweats in his labor. The work that was given before sin came into the world has become much harder because the ground is cursed. But He gives us the strength to work so that we can care for our families.

And yes, if the Lord doesn’t descend in our lifetime, we will die. We will return to the ground from which we were taken (Gen. 3:19). But if we are covered by Christ’s blood, death ends in life. Praise God for His covering! In Genesis, animals were slain in order for God to cover Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:21). In the Gospels, His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, died to fully cover our sinful nakedness and save our wretched souls.

In His great love and mercy, God covered us with the righteousness of Christ. And because of this we can say with Paul that we have no righteousness of our own, but only that which is ours through faith in Christ (Phil. 3:9).

By Al Stuart

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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Discovering Ourselves In EDEN

Genesis has often been described as the seed plot of the Bible. Subjects raised in this first book are developed in later books. The very name “Genesis” means “origin” – a fitting title for a book that reveals a number of significant beginnings. Man’s own origin is unveiled in this book as well as his destiny.

It is hardly surprising that Genesis has been the object of Satan’s vicious attacks for centuries, and many so-called scholars today dismiss it as a book of myths. If Genesis is taken literally it makes rather unpleasant reading for the humanistic anthropologist and for those who embrace the teaching of evolutionary science. In order to maintain their views, they have to read Genesis in a non-literal way. However, if we fail to read Genesis literally we run into all kinds of problems in the New Testament. Our Lord Jesus Christ clearly understood Genesis as literal history, and Paul’s extended discourse on the gospel message in Romans also depends upon a literal reading of Genesis.

We do not need to be afraid of reading Genesis literally. In fact, it contains the answer to many of life’s problems today – particularly when we consider the lives of Adam and Eve.

A CREATED BEING
Genesis presents us with the beginning of human history. We are taken back not millions of years to an evolving creature, but to a moment probably not much more than 6000 years ago when the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into his nostrils (Gen. 2:7). Man became a living soul, made in God’s own image and likeness (Gen. 1:26), above the level of animals. God enjoyed fellowship with man in the Garden of Eden where He placed him. Notice that only after the creation of man is everything God made seen to be “very good” (Gen. 1:31 KJV). Prior to man’s creation everything was described simply as “good.”

Man was created as a responsible moral being. Adam was to tend the garden (Gen. 2:15) and to have dominion over all other forms of life (Gen. 1:28). He was also able to make rational choices. The Lord God made it clear that man was to eat freely of every tree of the garden apart from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). Man was not created as a robot to be absolutely controlled by God. Rather, he had the ability to make responses to his Creator and, as subsequent history shows, these responses could be wrong. As well as enjoying fellowship with God, man was created as a social being. The Lord God recognized that it was not good for Adam to be alone, and from Adam’s own body He removed a rib from which He fashioned the first woman, Eve (Gen. 2:18-23).

All of these facts are important and teach us a number of lessons. As Eve became “the mother of all living” (Gen. 3:20), each of us can trace our ancestry back to Adam and Eve. Like them, we are responsible moral beings, created to enjoy fellowship with God. We are made to live in society with other human beings, not in isolation. Like them, we are responsible to obey our Creator, and He seeks our acquiescence to His ways.

The first marriage ever is also seen in the lives of Adam and Eve. Physically different but socially compatible, Eve was made to share Adam’s life and to be his helper (Gen. 2:18). From the relationship between these first two human beings we are shown the basis for subsequent marriages: a man is to leave his own parents and be united to his wife in a new relationship so that the two become “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). This statement is quoted by the Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul (Mt. 19:4-6; Mk. 10:8; 1 Cor 6:16; Eph. 5:31) to teach that God’s intention for marriage is that it should be indissoluble. Today in many countries marriage is under attack more than ever, with statistics indicating an alarming rise in the number of divorces.

RESPONSIBLE
The main chapter dealing with Adam and Eve is Genesis 3. This well-known chapter, dismissed by many as myth, tells us how the first sin was committed. Adam and Eve, placed in a perfect and pleasant environment (Gen. 2:9) which God intended them to enjoy, were faced with a cunning creature who sowed doubt in their minds. He asked if God had really forbidden them to eat from that tree (Gen. 3:1). Having gained Eve’s full attention, the serpent flatly denied what God had said. Completely duped by his smooth talk, she ate of the fruit of the tree and shared it with her husband – to their great loss.

Satan is still the master of deception. He comes as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14) when we least expect him and tempts us to disobey God. Sin was indeed at the door for them (Gen. 4:7) and soon found an entrance. It would appear that Eve was deceived by Satan and responded to his appeals without consulting her husband. Adam, on the other hand, knew where the forbidden fruit had come from and deliberately took it when his wife offered it to him. This is made clear in a New Testament explanation in 1 Timothy 2:14. Sometimes we too can be deceived by Satan, as Eve was. At other times we can deliberately disobey God’s commands, as Adam did. Another similar trait is that we frequently blame someone else for our own failings instead of admitting that we are wrong – Adam blaming “the woman” and Eve blaming “the serpent” (Gen. 3:12-13).

H. R. Palmer (1834-1907) wrote a hymn beginning with these words: “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.” Facing temptation is not wrong, but yielding to it is. As Cain was later told, sin desires to have us but we must rule over it (Gen. 4:7). This is something impossible to do in our own strength. Palmer’s hymn gives the secret of victory: “Ask the Savior to help you, comfort, strengthen, and keep you; He is willing to aid you, He will carry you through.”

A BARRIER
As soon as Adam and Eve sinned they acquired a new awareness and felt uncomfortable in the presence of God. Their relationship with their Creator was broken and the guilty pair was banished from the delightful garden where they had lived (Gen. 3:23). That one act of disobedience is taken up by Paul in Romans 5:12. It had awful repercussions, for by it sin entered into the world and death in its wake. Adam and Eve parented a son whom they named Seth, but instead of being in the image of God, as Adam had originally been, Seth bore the image of his father Adam (Gen. 5:3). The image of God had become tarnished.

Sin is an ever-present reality today, and death is an enemy man is unable to overcome. Each person born of human parents begins life with a sinful nature. That nature is at enmity with God (Rom. 8:7) and soon manifests itself in unmistakable ways (Gal. 5:19-21). Sin creates a life-long barrier between man and God (Isa. 59:2), and unless dealt with will lead to eternal death and banishment from the presence of God (Rom. 6:23). But Genesis gives us a glimpse of God’s plans that were to be fully unveiled in the New Testament.

THE IMAGE RESTORED
After disobeying God, Adam and Eve realized that they were naked and hid from His presence (Gen. 3:10). Although God pronounced a curse upon them both for their disobedience and banished them from the garden, He provided clothes from animal skins to cover their nakedness (Gen. 3:21). This is the first indication of sacrifice in the Bible, paving the way for the many animal sacrifices detailed in Exodus and Leviticus.

In the New Testament we are introduced to a “second Adam” (1 Cor. 15:47), the first man of a new order. So that lost humanity might be rescued, God’s own Son took human flesh upon Himself and was born into this world. Like Adam, but unlike every other person, He had no human father. He was conceived miraculously by the Holy Spirit (Lk. 1:35) and came into this world having a holy nature and not a sinful nature. Taking our place, He died upon the cross, accepting our guilt and bearing the punishment of death that we deserved. Our sin was heaped upon Him that He might clothe us with His own righteousness (2 Cor. 5:21). Fig leaves represented Adam and Eve’s own efforts to clothe themselves and proved totally inadequate. In the same way, our finest efforts cannot make us appear righteous and acceptable before God. Instead, believers are clothed with the garments of salvation and covered with Christ’s own righteousness (Isa. 61:10). How true are the words of Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf’s (1700-1760) hymn, “No age can change its glorious hue, the robe of Christ is ever new.”

Not only are we made righteous in Christ, but the image of God that was lost through Adam’s sin is restored through fellowship with the Lord (Col. 3:10; 2 Cor. 3:18). God’s ultimate purpose is that all who trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord should bear His own image for eternity (Rom. 8:29). Truths opened up to us in Genesis are thus unfolded fully in the New Testament. Robert Hawker (1753-1827) put it this way in one of his hymns:

ETERNALLY REAL
The account of Adam and Eve in Genesis is no myth. Rather, these events that really happened explain to us the presence of sin and its effect in the world today, and introduce the way of salvation brought by Christ at a tremendous cost. Man, separated from God through sin, can be restored to Him through the death of Jesus upon the cross. Christ, the Lamb of God who died, has been raised from the dead and is the Head of a new race of people – those reconciled to God through Him and made alive by His Spirit. The Bible, which begins in Eden, ends with another garden, another tree, and fellowship being enjoyed between God and His redeemed people forever (Rev. 22). Considering such truths can only give us a small indication of what a wonderful book the Bible is and of what a wonderful plan of salvation God has devised.

By Martin Girard

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”– 2 Corinthians 4:4-6 NIV

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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