DISPENSATION OF INNOCENCE
LESSON – 2
LESSON – 2
References: Gen 1:3 – 2:25
Memory verse: Gen 1:26 – 27
Objective
God created man most excellently and placed him in Eden. But because of sin, he was separated from God and became subject to curses. This lesson stimulates and inspires us to enter into the eternal sinless dispensation through Jesus Christ.
Introduction
What is the cause of all sickness and suffering in the world? How did Adam and Eve enjoy life before the fall? Don’t you love to live in such a blissful state? What were the characteristics of that dispensation?
About creation, we find in the Bible:” God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Gen.1:31). Think about the earth and its atmosphere, space, and planets! How marvelously has God arranged and set everything in order? The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps.19:1). God restored the earth and filled it with beautiful plants. The animal kingdom was also in a happy state. All animals were friendly and lived on herbs (herbivorous).
About creation, we find in the Bible:” God saw all that He had made, and it was very good” (Gen.1:31). Think about the earth and its atmosphere, space, and planets! How marvelously has God arranged and set everything in order? The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps.19:1). God restored the earth and filled it with beautiful plants. The animal kingdom was also in a happy state. All animals were friendly and lived on herbs (herbivorous).
THE BLISSFUL STATE OF MAN BEFORE FALL
a) God created man in his own image and according to His likeness. He gave dominion to man over the creation.
b) The whole animal kingdom was subject to man and accepted His lordship (Gen 1:30, 2:19).
c) Man was so wise that he could name all living creatures.
d) God also gave man free will. The man was able to choose either to live in harmony with the will of God or to act according to his own wish (Gen.2:16-17). God wants us to love and obey Him on our own and not under compulsion.
e) Man enjoyed constant fellowship with God (Gen.3:8). He lived in the most beautiful and happiest Garden of Eden. There, in the garden, were plants and trees bearing fruits pleasing to the eye and good for food. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden: from there, it divvied into four headwaters (Gen.2:9-14).
f) Man was given the responsibility of dressing and guarding the garden.
g) It was in this dispensation of innocence that God established marriage (Gen.2:18-25). Besides, God blessed him to be fruitful and to increase in number.
b) The whole animal kingdom was subject to man and accepted His lordship (Gen 1:30, 2:19).
c) Man was so wise that he could name all living creatures.
d) God also gave man free will. The man was able to choose either to live in harmony with the will of God or to act according to his own wish (Gen.2:16-17). God wants us to love and obey Him on our own and not under compulsion.
e) Man enjoyed constant fellowship with God (Gen.3:8). He lived in the most beautiful and happiest Garden of Eden. There, in the garden, were plants and trees bearing fruits pleasing to the eye and good for food. A river watering the garden flowed from Eden: from there, it divvied into four headwaters (Gen.2:9-14).
f) Man was given the responsibility of dressing and guarding the garden.
g) It was in this dispensation of innocence that God established marriage (Gen.2:18-25). Besides, God blessed him to be fruitful and to increase in number.
TEST AND FAILURE
“You 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”(Gen.2:16-17). This was a simple test for man’s obedience to God’s commandment. But he failed the test. Man disbelieved the accurate word of God and believed satan’s lying words. The man and the woman ate the forbidden fruit (Gen.3:6). They yielded to the temptation of lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. Thus man stepped out of God’s will. The first man failed his test.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE:
When man disobeyed God’s commandment, he was under God’s judgment.
- Man lost his likeness to God and the divine qualities (attributes), such as glory, justice, holiness, etc. (Gen.3:7, Rom.3:23). His divine image was disfigured, and he bore the image of satan. Thus he became a sinner.
- Spiritual death: He died spiritually in the sense that he lost fellowship with God (Rom.5:22).
- The body became subject to death (Gen.3:29)
- They were expelled from Eden so that they might not eat the fruit of the tree of life and live forever. Re-entrance into paradise was denied (Gen.3:23,24).
- Man was punished to eat his food with the sweat on his brow, and the woman was punished with increased pains in childbearing (Gen.3:5-19).
- The beautiful earth was cursed and became subject to Satan. Even since the world has been under the power of Satan(1Jn.5:19).
THE PROMISE OF A DELIVERER:
God made the plan to deliver man by His unlimited grace, and He promised the same beforehand. God promised that the Messiah would be born as the seed of the women and would crush the head of satan(Gen.3:15). God also covered them with a coat of skin. This was a symbol of the type of the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and of the justification obtained through His precious blood.
How blessed was the state of man in the dispensation of innocence? When man lost those blessings by sin, Jesus Christ suffered death for us so that He might deliver us and get us to a much higher position than that of Adam. Christ is alive for us today. He will make us partakers of His glory and honor when He comes back.
How blessed was the state of man in the dispensation of innocence? When man lost those blessings by sin, Jesus Christ suffered death for us so that He might deliver us and get us to a much higher position than that of Adam. Christ is alive for us today. He will make us partakers of His glory and honor when He comes back.
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