Weekly Devotional 6-19-17 Paradise Lost / Regained
Scripture teaches us that God created the world and all that is in it for His own glory, and because He desired to be loved and worshiped by His premier creation, man. For man to love and worship Him, they needed the ability to do so. Thus, God created man in own His own image, after His likeness.
We read from the creation account; “26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created He them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth” (Genesis 1:26-28 KJV).
In dominion over all creatures of the earth, man was to mirror God’s love, grace, wisdom, power, goodness, and freedom to do as they would. Their love of God and worship of Him was to be expressed in their freedom. If their love and worship was to be true neither could be forced, both must come from their freedom. However, knowing before He created the world that man in his freedom would choose not to be obedient (the proof of their love and worship) set in motion that which would bring glory to His name. He allowed man to be disobedient, telling him beforehand what the consequence of disobedience would be. That consequence is given in Genesis 2:16. “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Disobedience would so distort God’s image in them that it would be necessary that He separate Himself from them. This separation was so extreme that God equated it as being equal to death. As physical death would separate man from the living, so spiritual death would separate man from God. This would be a two-way separation; God from them and them from God. God would separate Himself from man because of the evil that would result from their disobedience; but man would separate himself from God because of guilt and self-determination. Such separation would distort their recognition of Him and communication with Him.
Genesis chapter three tells us that Adam, man’s federal head, was disobedience and partook of that which separated man from God. From that point on, the record of Genesis through the book of Malachi (this is the last book of the Old Testament) God demonstrated that no matter what He would do for man, man would not love nor worship Him; not by conscience nor living under His laws. It would take something that could not be initiated by man. God Himself would be the initiator. God would create in man new spiritual life by spiritual rebirth.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, explained this to Nicodemus and to us in John 3:1-8. We read; “1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” We note that Jesus said that before anything spiritual can happen in man, he must be spiritually born again.
The apostle Paul picking up on this wrote in his letter to the Ephesians; “1And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, [by grace ye are saved]” (Ephesians 2:1-5). Paul went on to explain that God did this and is doing this so “7That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).
Paradise will be restored in a new creation of heaven and earth and man’s salvation will be an ongoing testimony of God’s grace for eternity. What a testimony.
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