Thoughts on Genesis Chapters 1 to 4
Ministry by Edward Raven

It must, of course, be borne in mind at the outset that the Old Testament, whilst presenting the salient facts of human history with divine authority,

• was not written with the object of conveying instruction of a scientific or historical character, nor to satisfy curiosity.

• Its purpose was primarily moral; and the object of the early chapters of Genesis was to convey to Israel, and to mankind generally,
  • a plain and intelligible statement of the fundamental truths respecting the origin of man and of the world in which he found himself.

The speculations of men gave rise to a large number of theories on the subject – many of them fantastic, and some of a degrading nature;

• and if intelligent relations between man and God were to be established, it was clearly important that the outlines of the truth as to creation, and the great principles flowing from the character of God, should be disclosed.

The impression produced upon the unbiassed student of the early chapters of Genesis, approaching them in humility and dependence,

• will not, I think, be that of failure on their part to accord with the discoveries of modern science;

• rather will he be astonished at the fullness of teaching which they contain as to man and his place in relation to God.

• Much is left for men to explore for themselves, as regards the nature and history of the world in which they live;
  • but all the knowledge that is essential for man's eternal welfare is to be found in these – and other – portions of Scripture,

• and modern discovery, wonderful as it is, has merely served to emphasise the greatness of God and the amazing condescension shown in His dealings with His creatures.

In this slight sketch it is proposed to take the salient points of the first four chapters in order, and to offer brief comments upon them, with a view to elucidating the moral teaching contained therein.

• The typical teaching of the chapters, which is also full of interest, will be touched on very lightly, as that has been fully expounded in well-known and highly valued books.

• Where Scripture quotations differ from the Authorised Version they are taken from the New Translation by J. N. Darby.

It is perhaps difficult for us, living in the light of the Christian revelation, to realise the unique character of this disclosure.

• Human thought, apart from divine revelation, has hardly at any time risen beyond the conception of national gods, of limited scope and power, and subject to human weaknesses;

• even the most enlightened thinkers of Greece and Rome were at a much later date only dimly groping after the conception of one universal God, whose activities embraced the whole of mankind.

The idea of an all-powerful Creator, eternal and self-existent, was something entirely new, entrusted to Israel, to be held by them on behalf of mankind generally,

1. with a view to its forming the basis of intelligent relations with God, on the one hand,

2. and on the other to its serving as a bulwark against idolatry and all the appalling consequences resulting therefrom.

• The expression of this truth finds its climax, perhaps, in some of the passages in the prophets where God's creatorial power and glory are portrayed, which attain to a marvellous level of sublimity, far beyond that of any production of the human mind.

The revelation of God in the Scriptures, in the perfection of power, wisdom, holiness, righteousness and love, is of vital importance to mankind.

• The moral standard of conduct is primarily dependent on the knowledge of God available;
  • and the degradation of man resulting from his loss of the knowledge of God is vividly depicted in the first chapter of the epistle to the Romans.

• It is perhaps not generally realised that the gods of heathen religions were largely non-moral, or even immoral, in their characters;
  • and the result upon the morality of their worshippers is appalling to contemplate.

It is therefore impossible to over-estimate the value of the revelation of the true God given in the Scriptures; and the germ of this is to be found set forth in the chapters under notice.

2. "The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters", Genesis 1: 2.

If the first verse reveals to us the transcendence of God,

• this statement indicates clearly His continuing activities in influencing that which He has created.

• It is of vital importance to keep these two thoughts of God in mind; men have usually tended to emphasise one or the other unduly.

• God is outside of, and not dependent on, His creation; but He has not created it and left it to look after itself.

• Throughout the ages there have been constant activities of the Spirit of God in the world, imperceptible, inexplicable, but always directed towards the same end – the production of order out of chaos.

• And similarly in Christianity there are two main thoughts which must always be held in balance
  • – the redemptive work of Christ and the operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart – the objective and the subjective.

3. "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep", Genesis 1: 2.

From this state of barren chaos we get a gradual progress throughout this chapter to a scene of order, life and fruitfulness.

• The chapter clearly indicates that God was, with infinite care, preparing a scene for the display of His moral activities.

• Scientists have often belittled this account of creation as irreconcilable with astronomical and geological conclusions regarding the age of the world;
  • but this attitude is wholly unwarranted, as no indication of time is intended to be conveyed in the chapter.

• An indefinite gap can be admitted between the first and second verses; whilst that the six days are not to be taken as literal days of twenty-four hours may perhaps be suggested by the fact that three of them occurred before the appearance of the sun.

• The expression "day" in Scripture is constantly used to denote a period of time. See also 2 Peter 3: 8.

The chapter was not designed to give an account of creation in the language of science – any such account would speedily have become out of date, and would moreover have been unintelligible to the vast majority of mankind –

• what it conveys, in the most impressive and yet simple language, is the all-important fact that the material universe came from the hand of God,

• that its development was in no way fortuitous, but that it was part of a carefully devised plan, carried out step by step with definite objects in view.

It is of vital importance to hold firmly to the thought of creation as a matter of faith, placing man in his true creaturely position before God.

• "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear", Hebrews 11: 3.

• Creation is a thought beyond the comprehension of the human intellect; and it has therefore been made a subject of attack by rationalistic thinkers, whose aim is to bring everything within the compass of man's mind.

The theory of evolution has been built up, which, in its full-blown form, attempts to explain the material universe as we know it – including man himself – as the product of natural forces acting through vast periods of time upon primitive material.

• The production of animal life and human consciousness are regarded as being merely steps in a self-acting process of development.

This theory leaves no room for divine activity in creation; and is in direct conflict with the account in Genesis 1,

• where we get the specific attribution to God's creative power of the bringing into being
  1. of the heaven and the earth, verse 1,
  2. of the animal creation, verse 21,
  3. and of man, verse 27.

In the providence of God, the scientific world has, of recent years, been led to recognise that the evolutionary theory fails in many respects to account for what has taken place upon the earth;

• and there is an increasing tendency on the part of the more sober thinkers to admit the operation of causes outside the known scope of natural forces.

• The complexity of the material universe is becoming increasingly apparent as discovery proceeds; so far from the nature of things becoming clearer with the advance of science, it is becoming more and more obscure and difficult for the mind to grasp.

• Many of the leading scientific thinkers of the day are freely admitting themselves baffled in their attempts to get to the bottom of things, and are being driven to invoke divine action as the only reasonable explanation of the course of events.

How reassuring this is to those who accepted the divine account of things, but who were troubled and perplexed by the scorn passed upon it during the period when materialism was at its height.

• Truly they can re-echo the words of the Psalmist,
  • "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way", Psalm 37: 7.

The marvellous character of God's creative activities is apparent when scientists tell us that the earth is probably unique amongst the millions of heavenly bodies in its suitability to support a highly complex form of life.

• No other body whose characteristics are known would be suitable for the purpose; and it is believed to be improbable that the exact combination of conditions required exists in any other part of the universe.

How this brings into relief the superiority of the moral over the physical!

• The stars are dismissed in this chapter in one short sentence: millions of heavenly bodies, most of them vastly greater in size than our earth, and yet, so far as we know, none of them able to furnish an intelligent response to God.

• One fragile human being, made in the image of God, is infinitely greater in the scale of values than the vastest nebula. Failure to see this is at the root of much modern criticism of Christianity.

4. "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light", Genesis 1: 3.

The majestic simplicity of this statement, standing at the head of the account of God's creatorial activities, cannot fail to impress the mind, and to convey an idea of the fundamental importance of the action recorded.

• The thought of light is very prominent throughout Scripture: it is an influence and source of energy coming from outside man,
  • and yet perfectly adapted to his physical structure, and essential for all healthy life and development.

• No ordered life would be possible without it: its absence leads to stagnation and decay.

It is not therefore surprising to find the mandate,

• "Let there be light",

• placed in front of all other mandates – the material and natural are, here as elsewhere, clearly to be taken as a type of the spiritual.

The thought of light is repeatedly used in Scripture to denote the outshining of God in revelation;

• indeed, God Himself is said to be "light" – pure, unadulterated Light, with no admixture of darkness.

• There are now no reservations; God has fully declared Himself to man in Christ, who said of Himself,
  • "I am the light of the world".

• This revelation becomes a source of life and health to man; and, as received in faith, produces in him a corresponding condition.
  • "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light", Ephesians 5: 8.

• The health-giving influence of the outshining of God in Christ becomes characteristic also of the Christian, who should be a source of radiation of health and blessing to those around, thus producing a constantly widening diffusion of the light.

The calling of light into being did not annihilate darkness; the two had to be separated.

• In the moral sphere, darkness continues to exist side by side with light; and we may look on the history of man as a struggle between the two.

• The apostle John could speak of the darkness as passing – 1 John 2: 8, New Translation – passing in the souls of innumerable believers;

• and we look forward to a day when it will have entirely passed, and when the knowledge of God will fill the scene.

5. "And God made the firmament … and God called the firmament Heaven," Genesis 1: 7, 8.

The word "firmament" signifies expanse; and the passage seems to convey the idea of a sphere of operations, enveloping the earth, and essential for the maintenance of life thereon.

• The atmosphere is clearly part of the firmament; the sun and moon are said to be set in the firmament; and the clouds are divided from the earth by it.

The fundamental thought seems to be that not merely was God at work on the earth itself in providing a habitation for man;

• but that His activities were to be recognised in a system of things lying outside the earth, upon whose influence man was to be dependent for life and health.

• The sun and the moon, the wind and the rain, are all to be regarded as speaking of God's beneficent activities towards His creatures.

The principle of division is prominent in this chapter. We are told that

• God "divided the light from the darkness":
• "God … divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament":
• He divided the dry land from the sea:
• and the day from the night.
  • See Genesis 1: 4, 7, 10, 14.

This principle represents an important feature in the dealings of God with man.

• If there is to be progress from chaos to order, division must enter at every stage.

• Each of the divisions here referred to may be regarded as having a moral counterpart.

• The effort of Satan has constantly been to thwart God's ways by introducing confusion
  • between light and darkness,
  • between heaven and earth,
  • between the church and the world, and
  • between the present and future dispensations.

• God would have His people distinguish between things that differ; and His word is said to pierce to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit. Hebrews 4: 12.

• The principle of division will lead to the rejection of much that appears commendable to man naturally;

• but the Lord Jesus spoke of it as a cardinal feature of His activities – see Luke 12: 51 – and the neglect of it inevitably leads to a lowering of the Christian position.

6. "And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind," Genesis 1: 11.

This is the first reference to growth, and thus embodies an important divine thought.

• Growth could not have taken place till the necessary conditions had been provided, by
  • the introduction of light,
  • the setting of the firmament in its place, and
  • the separation of the dry land from the waters.

• Then living organic matter appears on the scene, with power of assimilation, growth and reproduction.

All this has its counterpart in the moral sphere. God's thought for man is growth and reproduction –

• a living race growing up into the likeness of Christ, and renewed constantly by multiplication after its own pattern.

• With this end in view He has provided all necessary conditions – environment below, and influences from above; and it is for us to avail ourselves of them.

• Growth is the normal thing for Christians, and should be going on throughout their earthly pathway; but how often it is checked by
  • "the cares of this world and the lusts of other things",

• stunting growth and hindering fruitbearing.

7. "God made two great lights;" [for signs and for seasons and for days and for years] "the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night", Genesis 1: 16.

Light had already come into being, but is henceforth concentrated, so far as the earth is concerned, in two great centres.

• All man's activities are dependent on the sun, the source of heat and light, the sustainer of life and health; as the radiant fount of energy, it may well be said to rule the day.

In addition to the beneficent rule of the sun, we must not forget the immense value of sun and moon, in their apparent courses, as regulators of human life.

• God is not a God of confusion; and it is a matter for wonder and thanksgiving that He should have had in view, in His creatorial activities, the orderly regulation of human affairs by days, months, and years.

It seems beyond question that sun and moon, ruling the day and night, speak to us of spiritual realities

• on the one hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, who was the Light of the world, and will in due course be manifested as the Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings, Malachi 4: 2;

• and on the other, the secondary light shining on earth by reflection during the sun's absence – Israel, during the dispensation of law, and, in the present period, the church.

The "rule" of the sun is strikingly described in the nineteenth Psalm,

• "In them" [the heavens] "hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race … There is nothing hid from the heat thereof".

• The moral counterpart to this follows:– conversion of the soul, making wise the simple, enlightening the eyes.

• The apostle had experience of it on the way to Damascus; and he can say, as a result of his own experience,
  • "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light", Ephesians 5: 14.

8. "God created … every living creature that moveth" [i.e., fish and fowl] "… God made the beast of the earth after his kind", Genesis 1: 21, 25.

The shining of the sun is followed on the fifth day by another great creatorial activity, the production of animal life, accompanied by movement – again described by God as good.

• The abundance of this life is emphasised, and the varieties specified – marine monsters, fowl, beasts and reptiles, produced in orderly succession.

• The thoughts of movement and variety are prominent here, as the thought of growth was in connection with the vegetable creation.

• These again have their moral counterpart. God had in view a living race, infinitely varied, yet all springing from His own sovereign activities and endowed with freedom of movement – the power to walk, to leap and to praise God. See Acts 3: 8.

9. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion", Genesis 1: 26.

Here we have a completely new departure – a creature made "in the image of God", and therefore of an entirely different order from the rest of the animal creation.

• The account in the second chapter supplements this by telling us that God "breathed into his" [man's] "nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul", Genesis 2: 7.

The image of God is a wonderful thought, and clearly indicates man as being the crown of God's work. The expression is not even used of angels.

• It seems to carry with it the thought of a moral personality, with ability to represent God, and capacity to respond to Him.

• There can be no doubt that the incarnation was in view from the outset – the introduction of Christ as the last Adam, with a view to the bringing into being of a race of men who,
  • deriving their life from Him, and formed by the Holy Spirit, are brought into the image of their Creator in a far fuller way than was possible for man in innocence. See Colossians 3: 10.

• The incarnation must always be a mystery far beyond our comprehension; but it seems clear that the manifestation of God to man
  • and the representation of man before God in one and the same person – the incarnate Son of God – could only have been possible by reason of the fact that man was made in the image of God.

If this be so, we are bound to regard the first creation, perfect in its order, as provisional only, and as pointing forward to something far richer and fuller which God had in mind from the outset –

• a new creation, with Christ as Head and Leader, able to respond fully to God's disclosure of Himself and to form an eternal object of pleasure to Him.

Man is spoken of in the New Testament as

• "the image and glory of God", 1 Cor. 11: 7.

• The possibilities of glory and dignity for natural man are very great; the human body, and still more the human mind in its highest development,

• give us some indication of the marvels of God's handiwork, marred though it is by the entry of sin.

• Man was to represent God on the earth, over which he was given dominion; and he was to replenish the earth and subdue it – the whole resources of the earth being placed at his disposal.

10. "Male and female created he them. And God blessed them", Genesis 1: 27-28.

The differentiation between the sexes is here seen to be fundamental.

• The tendency today is to minimise it, and to confuse the spheres and functions of the two sexes;

• but this is clearly not in accordance with God's original thought, and is expressly deprecated under the law. See e.g. Deuteronomy 22: 5.

There is no suggestion of superiority or inferiority in this primary reference; but each sex has its own proper sphere and function, one being complementary to the other.

• This thought is taken up in the church of God, where God's primary thoughts are recovered:
  • "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord", 1 Cor. 11: 11.

Man always fails to hold things in true balance. For long periods of the world's history, woman was denied her proper place, and relegated to a position of entire inferiority.

• The influence of Christianity has largely rectified this in Christendom; and we now see a movement to break down the natural barriers between the sexes.

• It is important to seek to maintain God's thought, fundamental equality in their individual relationships with God,
  • with differing spheres and functions so far as external order is concerned.

"God blessed them". His attitude towards man, revealed more fully in the New Testament – "God so loved the world" – is here indicated.

• There was nothing in His heart towards them but goodwill and lovingkindness; and this has been His attitude throughout the ages.
  • The "kindness and love of God our Saviour towards man"

• was fully manifested in the gift of Jesus; and this is the culmination of a series of beneficent activities calculated to draw men's hearts to Himself.

• The apostle appeals to the men of Lystra to turn to
  • a God who "did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness", Acts 14: 17.

11. "God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good … And he rested on the seventh day from all his work", Genesis 1: 31; 2: 2.

On the completion of creation we get for the first time the expression "very good," indicating clearly God's satisfaction in His work.

• This is apparent, too, from references to the creation in Job and in Proverbs, and from descriptions of nature in many of the Psalms e.g., Psalm 104: 31,
  • "The Lord shall rejoice in his works".

• The Lord Jesus Himself called the attention of His disciples to the beauty of the lilies of the field.

• The creation has been marred by sin, resulting in disease and death, and it has doubtless been affected by the curse;
  • but it still retains much of the glory of God's handiwork, and should be a source of delight to man and an occasion of worship of God as Creator. See Revelation 4: 10.

• The material creation is, as it were, a preliminary to the spiritual sphere – "first … that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual", 1 Corinthians 15: 46
  • – and if we rightly understood it, every part of it would doubtless speak of some spiritual reality.

Disparagement of the material creation, taking the form of asceticism, has been one of the snares of the enemy throughout the ages.

• Abstention from physical pleasures for certain definite objects is doubtless an important element in the Christian life, and in accordance with God's will;
  • but the refusal of nature as being evil is entirely contrary to the teaching of Scripture.

• It has often resulted from a confusion of the terms "the earth" and "the world":
  • the former being the material sphere in which God has placed man, and which, although marred by sin and its consequences, still retains much of God's handiwork in which we can delight;

  • the latter a word frequently denoting a moral sphere, the work of fallen men, characterised by lust and pride, and hateful in the sight of God.

We should rightly dread "earthliness" – or as the apostle says, "the minding of earthly things", Philippians 3: 19;

• but so long as we have material bodies, we are not called upon to refuse earthly things as evil in themselves, but to put them in their proper place in our affections,
  • i.e., to regard them as wholly subordinate in importance to spiritual realities.

The "rest" of God indicates the completion of creatorial activity.

• The earthly scene had been brought into being; man had been placed in charge; and the conflict between the forces of good and evil in the human sphere was about to commence.

• The earth, a minute fraction of the physical universe, had been chosen for the display of God's character and His ways.

12. "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden", Genesis 2: 8.

The change in the designation of God is to be noted – the term Lord – Jehovah – being introduced for the first time.

• This term indicates a definite relationship between God and an earthly people, based on the truth of the faithfulness of God; and was not formally announced till the appearing of God to Moses from the burning bush. Exodus 3.

• It is, however, frequently used in the account given of God's dealings with men at an earlier date: the nation of Israel, looking back from the days when God's covenant was established with them, could recognise
  • that the God whom they now knew as revealed, was the God of their forefathers, who had entered into relationship with them also in days gone by.

The first chapter of Genesis deals with the creation generally, and with man as a part of it; and no question of special relationship between man and God arises.

• The second chapter, however, deals with man as a moral being – the material creation being merely looked at as the setting in which man was placed;
  • and a relationship between God and man is established, which foreshadows the more definite relationship to be associated later with the name Jehovah.

• Hence the name Jehovah is appropriately introduced at this point of the narrative.

The description of the garden is very touching; every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food placed there, and a river to water it.

• God's care for man's welfare and enjoyment was manifest.

• He would place His creature in surroundings calculated to supply every natural need – whether of the body or the mind.

• The first creation, when unspoilt by the entrance of sin, was complete and harmonious; even now the beauties of the world around us, and the marvellous richness of its endowment, give us a hint of
  • the perfection of God's original handiwork, and of His care for the material welfare of man.

• We are reminded of the words of the apostle to Timothy,
  • "Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer", 1 Timothy 4: 4-5; and

    "The living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy", 1 Timothy 6: 17.

• The material creation, when taken as a gift from God, is still a source of rejoicing to the Christian, and a subject of praise and thanksgiving to God.

13. "The tree of life also in the midst of the garden", Genesis 2: 9.

It seems clear that this tree, situated in a central place, represents the centre and crown of God's gift to men – the opportunity to live in relationship with Himself.

• God's thought was to have a creature in His own image, representing Him, and responding to Him;
  • and had it not been for the entrance of sin, the tree of life would doubtless have been available for man, to enable him to live before God in the light of the knowledge of Himself which God had vouchsafed to him.

• This opportunity was lost as a result of man's fall but the purpose of God for man has not been frustrated, and the tree of life, lost to mankind on the earth,
  • reappears in the heavenly scene with healing and sustaining powers, and is one of the promises to the overcomer. See Revelation 2: 7 and 22: 2, 14.

• In the meantime, life towards God has been made available for the believer through the coming of Christ, who has abolished death, and brought life and incorruptibility to light by the gospel. 2 Timothy 1: 10.

14. "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", Genesis 2: 17.

Here we have the one restriction placed on man's freedom – to be disregarded only on the penalty of losing life.

• Obedience was the natural and proper characteristic of the creature as towards the Creator;

• and God's lovingkindness and care, so plainly manifested in the abundant provision for man in the garden, should have made the obedience asked for, within so limited an area, an easy requirement to comply with.

This tree also doubtless has a deep symbolic meaning. What was prohibited to man was clearly something that was not good for him – although outwardly attractive – in the conditions in which he was placed.

• Evil was already in existence in the unseen world, and would seek an entrance into man's sphere.

• Man in his natural condition was incapable of discriminating between good and evil – of refusing the evil and choosing the good;
  • and if man was to remain in innocence, it was essential that he should not attempt to handle the question of good and evil.

• The only protection from the temptations of the evil one was to be found in implicit obedience to the commands of God.

Such a state was of course a limited one, and did not allow of full response to God in the perfection of His moral being.

• God had in view the production of a race who should be able to handle the question of good and evil – to refuse the evil and choose the good;
  • and in His own time He brought forward the appointed Head of such a race –

    One who was able to pass through the world of evil as an overcomer, entirely uncontaminated by contact with it.

• In the meantime, the handling of evil could only lead to death; man must necessarily he contaminated by it, and so become unfit to live before a holy God.

The question has often been raised as to the exact meaning of the judgment of death pronounced by God upon the partaking of the forbidden fruit.

• It seems clear that death in its fullest sense is to be understood, as constituting the judgment of God upon sin –
  • "The wages of sin is death".

• Physical death did not overtake Adam for many hundreds of years after his act of disobedience; but the penalty clearly began to take effect at once –
  • he was driven out of the presence of God, and he and his descendants lost the access to the tree of life, and all that the garden of Eden represents.

• Man was no longer in a place of free and unhindered access to God; from henceforth he is at a distance from God, and can only return to God in the appointed way.

• All this seems to be involved in the thought of death; it was the termination of the relationship established between God and the first order of man – an order which therefore had to come to an end –
  • "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return".

This is the thought running through the treatment of this subject in the fifth and sixth chapters of Romans.

• "As sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life", Romans 5: 21.

  "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life", Romans 6: 23.

• The contrast is here not between physical death and physical life; but
  • between death in its fullest sense – the severance of the relationship between man and God –

    and eternal life – the establishment of such a relationship on a far higher plane.

So in 1 Corinthians 15: 22:

• "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."

• The apostle is again going far beyond the thought of physical death and physical life:
  • he is looking forward to the marvellous richness of the life beyond the power of death, and the triumph which God has achieved as the result of the introduction of Christ as the last Adam.

The Lord Jesus Himself spoke in the same way.

• "The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live," John 5: 25.

  "He that believeth in me, although he were dead, yet shall he live", John 11: 25.

• In fact, one of the fundamental thoughts in the teaching of the New Testament is the universal scope of death, as the state of all men before God,
  • and the necessity of the impartation of life if man is to be in relationship with God.

15. "And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should he alone", Genesis 2: 18. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my hones, and flesh of my flesh … she was taken out of man", Genesis 2: 23.

Much instruction is embodied in this part of the narrative. It is clear that the companionship of man and woman is a primary thought in connection with the first creation;

• and the Lord Jesus quotes the passage as showing the indissolubility of marriage – what God has joined, man must not separate. See Mark 9: 6.

• God is wiser than man, and knows what is best for him; and any attempt to loosen the marriage tie, on account of admittedly hard cases – resulting from the hardness of man's heart – is bound, in the long run, to lead to moral degeneration.

Apart from the symbolic teaching contained in the formation of Eve, as representing the church

• deriving its origin from the death of Christ, and partaking of His nature – "bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh" –

• the incident also conveys an important item of instruction in that it narrows down the human race to one single point of origin in tracing it all to Adam; so that his fall affected all men alike.

The apostle speaks of God having made "of one blood all nations of men"; and bases his teaching respecting Christ as the last Adam – see Romans 5 – upon

• the analogy of a single head of the human race, all of whom derive their being and characteristics from their head.

• It is important, in view of modern theories, to bear in mind that the derivation of the race from one man possesses doctrinal significance, and is clearly taught both in the Old and New Testaments.

We get, too, the important thought that woman, whilst derived from man, and thus dependent on him,

• is complementary to him – he is not complete without her.

• This double relationship is taken up in Christianity, and placed on a higher plane; and we get there, on the one hand, the truth that
  • "the head of the woman is the man", and on the other,

    "Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord", 1 Corinthians 11: 3, 11

• – headship, so far as outward order is concerned, companionship and mutual affection within.

16. "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed", Genesis 2: 25.

We have here indicated the condition of innocence prior to the entry of sin.

The creation had been pronounced to be very good by God, and was doubtless full of beauty – both physical and moral; but it was limited in character.

• There can be no doubt that the entrance of sin, with all its terrible consequences, has been so over-ruled by God that
  • far greater glory to Himself and blessing for man will accrue than could have arisen in a condition of innocence.

• The struggle between the forces of good and evil deepens the work of God in men's souls; and the triumph resulting for God in the display of His character and ways through men and women amidst the most adverse circumstances is
  • of far higher value than would have been the obedience of innocent creatures in a scene free from temptation.

The values that will pass over into eternity from this sin-stained earth are, it may be said with confidence,

• infinitely greater than those which would have been produced in a world of innocence.

17. "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made", Genesis 3: 1.

We now come to the entry of evil into the scene. It comes from outside – for it is clear that the serpent represents to us the approach to man of Satan himself,

• "that old serpent, called the Devil," Rev. 12: 9.

• And yet he was part of God's creation, perfect in his ways till iniquity was found in him on account of his heart being lifted up. See Ezekiel 28.

• It is important to bear this in mind; for we often unconsciously think of a power of evil so great as to be almost independent of God.

• Satan was God's creature; and although given a certain amount of freedom, has never had unlimited power.

• The believer can always count on the support of a greater power when in conflict with him:
  • "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world", 1 John 4: 4.

The characteristic of the serpent mentioned here – subtlety – is one that is emphasised frequently in Scripture, and is no doubt that which constitutes him such a source of danger to men.

• The Lord Jesus speaks of him as
  • "a liar, and the father of it", John 8: 44; and in the Revelation he is spoken of as

    "the devil that deceived them", Revelation 20: 10.

• His endeavour has throughout been to present a false view of things, to "call evil good and good evil", to "put darkness for light and light for darkness".

• This deceit has been going on through the ages, and is much in evidence around us today;
  • false doctrines and new religions are active on every hand, and are presented in so attractive a guise as to beguile the minds of the simple.

• We need to be in constant watchfulness and dependence that we may not be ensnared by his devices.

It is clear from this passage, and other Scriptures, that evil existed before the fall of man.

• We are given very little light on the problem that has puzzled men so much, 'the origin of evil'.

• It seems clear that Satan fell through pride and independence – see Ezekiel 28 – so that in his case, as in that of man, the very freedom allowed by God was misused, and was the cause of his calamity.

It is of little use to speculate in regions of this kind which are not the subject of revelation;

• but we may safely assume that the origin and development of evil were not beyond the control of God.

• In the wisdom of His ways, He granted freedom within certain limits, both to angelic spirits and to men; and we may be assured that the results will in the long run redound to His glory and the blessing of His creation.

18. "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?", Gensis 3: 1.

Here we get one main form of the subtlety of the tempter

• – misrepresentation of God, the suggestion that He was keeping back from man what would benefit him –

• all the more dangerous because thrown into the form of an apparently innocent question.

It has been Satan's aim, throughout the ages, to misrepresent God to men, and to induce them to judge Him by outward appearances.

Our imperfect knowledge and limited intelligence often prevent us from fully understanding God's dealings,

• and from appreciating the necessity for commands or restraints which in His perfect wisdom He has imposed.

• A child is often unable to grasp the reasons for its father's commands and has to accept them in trust, knowing that they have only its welfare in view.

• The limitations of a child relatively to its parents are but a faint shadow of our limitations in relation to
  • "the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity"

• – One who knows the end from the beginning, and whose dealings with His people have in view not only their welfare in this life, but also – and still more – in that which is to come.

The truth of God's fatherhood, as often spoken of by the Lord Jesus, is one to be held to firmly, as conveying the thought that, in our earthly pathway,

• we are the subjects of the care of One whose power, wisdom and love are infinite, and upon whom we are exhorted to cast all our cares because "your Father knoweth".

19. "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil", Genesis 3: 5.

The temptation to man to step out of his place as a creature, and seek independence of God, his Creator, was the occasion of his original fall,

• and has been Satan's chief weapon against him through the ages.

The very richness of man's endowment from God has led him, fallen as he is, to resent the place of dependence and humility which alone befits him as a creature before his Creator;

• and his constant endeavour has been to assert his independence, to give effect to his own will, and to cast off any restraints which God has imposed upon him.
  • "Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us", Psalm 2: 3.

• The full development of this will be seen in the Antichrist, who will
  • "sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God," 2 Thessalonians 2: 4.

In the present day the tendency has reached a point perhaps beyond anything which the world has seen before.

• All restrictions imposed by religion and morality are openly disparaged: 'self-expression' is the watchword, as indicating the direction of advance;
  • and some of the most popular writers of the day are openly advocating the complete abandonment of Christian standards of morality.

• The result is to be an increase of power and enlightenment. "Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil".

It used to be widely taught that, whilst the doctrines of Christianity could safely be thrown overboard, its moral standards were of the highest value, and should be preserved;

• but today in many quarters the moral standards are openly attacked as being, obsolete and a hindrance to progress.

The result of the assertion of independence is a certainty, and is clearly foretold to us at the outset.

• So far from becoming gods, man had started on a downward pathway; and very soon we read that
  • "all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth", Genesis 6: 12.

Any departure from the creaturely position and attitude only leads to disaster.

• The devil himself fell because his heart was lifted up; and the fall of man was in principle the same. The only safe attitude is that of the Psalmist,
  • "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me", Psalm 131: 1.

• So long as this attitude is maintained, we can count on divine guidance and enlightenment:
  • "the meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his way", Psalm 25: 9.

What a contrast between the desire of men to become as gods, and the pathway of the Lord Jesus, a divine Person,

• yet One who here in manhood was meek and lowly in heart, and lived in entire dependence on God.

• Satan presented to Him the same kind of temptation as that which he presented to Adam and Eve; but His answer was an expression of His dependence.

• The "mind which was in Christ Jesus" is the safeguard for us against the dangers of the pathway here.

20. "The woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise", Genesis 3: 6.

The temptation presented to man had a threefold appeal – to his sensual, aesthetic and intellectual being, in fact to the whole range of his personality.

• The whole personality should be under the control of God; and so long as it remained under that control, man would have been in his right position,
  • and the tree of life would have been available to enable him to live towards God.

• The tempter persuaded him to throw off that control, and to give free scope to his own desires – to pursue that which appeared good, pleasant and desirable: the hope being held out that thereby a godlike capacity would be developed.

• Not only was this the initial temptation; it represents the permanent temptation presented by Satan to the human race, through
  • "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life", 1 John 2: 16,

• the characteristics of the world of which he is the god and prince.

• Thousands of years have elapsed; and it is probably more apparent now than at any previous period of human history.

• We hear on every side the desire for 'self-expression', the plea that all man's faculties should be fully developed with little regard to moral considerations, and the attack on any form of restraint.

The result was remarkable. Their eyes were opened, as the tempter had said; but instead of becoming as gods,

• they realised that they were naked and hid themselves from God, recognising that they were unfit for His presence.

• The way that appeared so attractive, as leading to fuller development of the personality in independence of God, proved to be a downward pathway, leading only to degradation and shame.

This is the story unfolded to us in the first chapter of Romans.

• Man had the opportunity of correspondence with God, of communion with Him, as a result of which he would doubtless have grown in the knowledge of God, within the limits of his condition.

• Instead of this, he acted in independence, pursuing his own line, which seemed more attractive; and in result not only fell away from God, but fell below the level of the animal creation, over which he had been placed.

• It is a terrible warning, standing on record for all ages and the neglect of it at the present day seems bound to lead, not to an upward development of the human race,
  • but to a downward movement, increasing in speed and marked by degradation of every moral standard.

• The end must inevitably be
  • "the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God," Romans 2: 5.

21. "They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day", Genesis 3: 8.

Here, as in a number of other passages, particularly in the Old Testament, we have actions of God described in terms of human activities.

• This has sometimes proved an unnecessary stumblingblock.

• Such descriptions are used to present divine actions to men's minds in a clearer and more vivid fashion than would be possible if abstract terms only were used;
  • but in every case we may safely say that important teaching lies behind the symbols.

• Thus, in the present case, we have presented to us the thought that God was habitually near His creatures, and in close communication with them at a time when they were most free from human occupation.

A word of caution in this connection may not be amiss.

• The attribution to God of human activities and characteristics is possible because man was made in the image of God;
  • but we must be on our guard against attributing to God any of the characteristics of fallen man – e.g., jealousy – in the current sense of the word – and cruelty.

• All passages which might suggest thoughts of this kind must be read in the light of the revelation of God in Christ, when His character was fully declared.

• Both jealousy and severity are to be found in the teaching of Christ – e.g., Matthew 10: 37, and the whole of chapter 23 –
  • but the jealousy is the result of love, and of ardent desire for the welfare of its object;

  • and the severity is displayed against those who had hardened their hearts against every appeal of grace.

• Qualities that were implanted by God in human nature at the outset have been defiled by sin, so that the image of God has been defaced;
  • and the attribution to God of human characteristics must be interpreted in the light of scriptural teaching as a whole.

• Neglect of this has led to time most serious consequences: the character of God has been misrepresented, and many evil deeds carried out in His name.

• We must always bring every thought concerning God to the test of the full declaration of Himself in Christ.

22. "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself", Genesis 3: 10.

The first result of the fall is here seen – a change in man's relations with God.

• No longer is there confidence and dependence: man becomes conscious of his unfitness for God's presence – ashamed of his nakedness;

• and he hides himself when the voice of God is heard, feeling that he needs a covering.

From this point onward, conscience, that mysterious monitor within man, warning him against departure from the standard of conduct made known to him, comes into evidence.

• Adam realised that he had disobeyed God's command and exercised his faculties in independence of God and his desire for a covering clearly indicates the working of his conscience.

• The conscience implanted in man is a wonderful proof of God's interest in, and care for, His creature.

• It is a standing witness within a man, calling his attention to the moral standard, so far as he knows it; and whilst, like every other human faculty, it can be perverted or allowed to decay,
  • it has been a protection, throughout man's history, against the overwhelming force of evil.

• It is important to remember that conscience itself is not an infallible guide; man has not an 'inward light', as is so often taught, but is dependent on enlightenment from without.

• Conscience is a monitor, constantly urging man to act according to the light he has; but it will not carry a man beyond that light.

• Hence the action of conscience differs according to the measure of enlightenment; and as light increases, conscience becomes more sensitive, and if listened to produces greater results.

This imposes a very serious responsibility on all men. If the dictates of conscience are disregarded, it loses its power and becomes increasingly ineffective;

• and an appeal to conscience that, at one stage in a man's history, might have been successful, at a later stage may be without result.

• Similarly the neglect to receive divine light, or the admission of anything contrary to it, will in due course cause a weakening or perversion of the conscience, with disastrous results.

The maintenance of "a good conscience towards God and towards men" is a thing to be coveted;

• it can only be secured by constant self-judgment, in the light of God's revelation of Himself in Christ.

23. "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel", Genesis 3: 15.

Here we get the foreshadowing of a personal hostile power in the world, permanently opposed to the true welfare of man.

• Deceit remains his principal weapon; and by it he attains a place of power, so that he is finally spoken of as the god and prince of this world – i.e., of
  • a system built up under his influence which is marked by hostility to all that is of God.

• It is of vital importance to realise the fact of this hostility; one of the chief aims of the devil is to slur it over, and to break down the barrier between Christians and the world.

• It has been said that the world got into the church at the time of Constantine, and has remained there ever since.

Men to-day have largely given up the belief in the existence of such a personal power – the most that is admitted is a kind of impersonal evil tendency;

• but the personality of the devil is clearly taught here, his influence indicated, and his doom foretold.

There can be no doubt that the struggle between the serpent and the seed of the woman finds its climax at the cross;

• where Christ, meeting the power of Satan, and outwardly overcome by it, accomplishes a complete victory, by which Satan is vanquished for ever.

Through death He annulled him that has the power of death, that is, the devil – see Hebrews 2: 14 – and He Himself said,

• "Now" [i.e., at the cross] "shall the prince of this world be cast out", John 12: 31.

To recognise that Satan is for us a defeated foe is of the greatest importance; it enables the apostle to say,

• "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you", James 4: 7.

• It is necessary for us to be sober and vigilant, for the power is still a reality; but there is a greater power available for us, if we are walking in humility and dependence.
  • "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world", 1 John 4: 4.

24. "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception", Genesis 3: 16.

The governmental penalty for sin in the case of the woman was to be the pain and sorrow connected with child-bearing, a form of suffering largely confined to the human race;

• and yet in the goodness of God this sorrow is turned into joy.

• The woman, as Paul tells us, is
  • "saved in childbearing", 1 Timothy 2: 15;

• it is the distinctive glory of a woman and by it the maternal character, one of the most beautiful things known to us on earth, is formed and developed.

• The influence exercised by a mother is incalculable, whether for good or evil; and the judgment on the woman, if accepted and welcomed, may be turned into blessing of the richest character.

Men are trying to-day to belittle this, as so much else that is of God; but what the world will lose if motherhood loses its place of honour it is impossible to estimate:

• the escape from anxiety and sorrow, though superficially attractive, will be bought at a terrible cost.

25. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground", Genesis 3: 19.

As the woman's judgment is sorrow and conception, so the man's is sorrow and toil.

• No longer could he be trusted to lead a life of liberty his freedom must be limited by the necessity to obtain his livelihood by the sweat of his brow.

As in the case of the woman, this judgment can, in the goodness of God, be turned into blessing.

• Man being what he is, a life of idleness is invariably demoralising; and daily labour is in reality man's salvation, keeping him from evil, and exercising the most salutary effect on his character.

• Scripture is full of references to the importance of the daily occupation; for the Christian there is always the encouraging thought that it can be performed "unto the Lord", and not merely unto men.

• It is part of God's providential ordering; and we make a great mistake if we regard it in our present state as a regrettable necessity.

26. "Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return", Genesis 3: 19.

That is the end foretold for the first man – he will make no progress, but will return whence he came.

• He might have prospered had he remained in subjection to God, and been allowed to feed on the tree of life.

• Having forfeited this, he returns to the dust, and has to be replaced by a different order of man.
  • "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is out of heaven", 1 Corinthians 15: 47, New Translation.

• The generation formed from the dust is being replaced by a new generation, formed after the pattern of the heavenly. The new man is
  • "created after God in righteousness and true holiness", Ephesians 4  24;

• the image of God, defaced and largely lost so far as the first man is concerned, is being produced in the new order of man; this will not return to the dust, but will pass over to another scene.

It is a humiliating thought that, so far as our bodies are concerned, we are liable to decay and corruption; and yet,

• in these very bodies, the triumph of God may be displayed, and they become earthen vessels with treasure within them, and can be used in the service of God.
  • "Glorify God in your body", 1 Corinthians 6: 20.

27. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve;" [i.e., Life] "because she was the mother of all Living", Genesis 3: 20.

This seems to be an extraordinary indication of faith and intelligence on Adam's part;

• he sees past the return to dust, and the loss of the tree of life, and reaches forward to a life beyond death. Life through the gateway of death – this is one of the primary thoughts of scripture.

It may be gathered from this that Adam accepted the divine judgment in faith and hope.

• This is the only pathway to blessing; all our sufferings can be utilised and made fruitful, if only they are taken as from God, and made the subject of exercise.

• Adam might well have been crushed by the terrible nature of the judgment pronounced; his only recorded response is the giving of a name indicating indefinite fruitfulness, resulting in a living race in the place where the judgment was pronounced.

28. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of Skins, and clothed them", Genesis 3: 21.

God covers man; here we get the atonement foreshadowed at the very outset of sin.

• The word atonement in the Hebrew language signifies covering – something objective provided from outside,
  • and not merely an inward subjective change, as so much modern teaching very dangerously implies.

• The idea of covering is closely linked up with the thought of forgiveness.
  • "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered", Psalm 32: 1.

    "Hide thy face from my sins", Psalm 51: 9.

• The atonement does not annul sins; but it covers them so that God no longer imputes them to the believer.

• This is not a fiction, an unreal relation between God and man;

• God sees us, not as we are now, but as we are going to be when He has completed His work in us, partakers of His holiness.

• Balaam, when viewing Israel beneath the cover of their tents, could say,
  • "He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel … it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!", Numbers 23: 21, 23.

It is remarkable that the first reference to death should be found in that which foreshadows the sacrifice of Christ –

• the coats of skin, speaking of death accomplished;

• and that this should follow immediately on the pronouncement of judgment.

• God's goodness is not affected by man's perverseness; His mercy and grace move out towards His fallen creatures at once,

• and He provides a covering for their nakedness, speaking of the propitiation for the whole world set forth by God in the death of Jesus.

29. "So he drove out the man", Genesis 3: 24.

The period of innocence is over; approach to God is no longer free. Man has fallen, and can only return to God by God's appointed way.

How vividly this part of the story emphasises the reality and far-reaching character of the fall.

• The carefully prepared garden rendered useless free intercourse between God and man ceasing; the tree of life no longer available; man's return to dust decreed.

• Man's position as the crown of creation was shaken to its very foundation and he became an exile, at a distance from God, unfit for God's presence, with an enemy constantly at hand to drag him downwards.

Satan has done his utmost to discredit the story of the fall, and to represent sin as an incident in man's development;

• but the teaching of this chapter places the whole matter in the clearest light.

• A terrible catastrophe has befallen the human race as a result of disobedience and departure from the creaturely position.

• A root of evil was thus implanted in the race at the outset; and no descendant of Adam is free from the taint.

• Consequently mankind is found in the outside place, and subject to death and the judgment of God, and can only return to God in the way that He appoints.
  • "By one, man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned …

    "As by one man's disobedience [the] many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall [the] many be made righteous", Rom. 5: 12, 19.

The doctrine of the fall lies at the very root of Christianity. Its denial

• falsifies the character of God;

  effaces the distinction between good and evil, sin and righteousness;

  and deprives the death of Christ and His atoning work of any real meaning.

• and while speaking much of the action of the Holy Spirit, dwells but little on the work of Christ on the cross.

• It is of vital importance to hold the balance between these two sides of the truth; Christ is said to have come "by water and blood"; and the Spirit's work is to bear witness to this.

• The Spirit can only act where the water and blood have cleared the way; and on this line the deepest exercises of the soul are met.

• Unless sin and the fall are given their due place, there is a great tendency to a shallow and easy-going Christianity.

• The great apostle was constantly in the sense that he owed all to the grace of God, which had met him in his sinful condition;
  • and so far as this is absent, Christianity is weak at its very foundation.

30. "She" [Eve] "conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel", Genesis 4: 1, 2.

The story of Cain and Abel is full of instruction. We have just seen man driven out from God's presence, with the way to the tree of life barred.

• God cannot, however, be satisfied with this; and we get His way of return for man at once foreshadowed.

But first we must notice a feature prominent throughout the history of God's ways with men – the choosing of the younger in preference to the elder.

• Cain and Abel, Ishmael and Isaac, Esau and Jacob, Joseph and his brethren, David and his brethren, these and many others are illustrations of this principle in the divine dealings with men.
  • "The elder shall serve the younger".

• In the ninth chapter of Romans the apostle cites it as an instance of God's sovereignty; and challenges the right of the creature to criticise the Creator.

There has been much misapprehension on this matter.

• God's sovereignty has been represented as an arbitrary exercise of divine omnipotence, un-moral in its nature and almost depending on chance; and the apostle's rebuke to the critic,
  • "Who art thou that repliest against God?"

• has been regarded as an attempt to maintain a position which could not be defended by argument.

This, however, is not in the least the meaning of the apostle's treatment of divine sovereignty – nor indeed of the teaching of scripture on the subject generally.

• The apostle is contending against the idea, which has largely governed man's thoughts of his relations with God, that natural advantages or gifts confer a claim to divine favour.

• Birth, rank, wealth, ability, natural character, all of these have on innumerable occasions been regarded by their possessors as entitled to some weight in their relations with God.

• The whole argument of Romans 9 is that God recognises none of these things as conferring any claim upon His favour;
  • that He acts on entirely different principles;

• and that the only right attitude for man is to submit to the divine choice, as being based on considerations which are largely beyond man's power to grasp.
  • "God is greater than man. He giveth not account of any of his matters", Job 33: 12-13.

• This was where Israel went so completely wrong. They assumed that natural descent from Abraham gave them a claim on God's favour, irrespective of their moral condition.

• They had to learn that this was not so; that blessing had to come to them on the same footing as to the Gentile;
  • and that if they refused it, God had no alternative but to exercise His sovereignty by putting them aside as a nation, and forming His assembly from among the Gentiles.

• At a later date, God's sovereignty will again be exercised by bringing Israel into blessing.

The danger is a very real one, and assumes many different shapes. One of its most subtle forms is to be found in

• the thought that natural advantages – wealth, ability, eloquence, or even natural kindness and amiability – if dedicated to God, give a man a claim upon Him.

• All these things can indeed rightly be used in the service of God if brought to Him in humility and self-judgment; but there is no question of conferring any claim,
  • it is rather the return to God of something which He has given us, and of which we should regard ourselves as stewards.

The importance of recognising that God's dealings with man in blessing are not based on these natural considerations is so great that we get the whole series of instances where

• the younger son is chosen in preference to the elder – notwithstanding all the natural advantages of the latter.

• God often chooses the most unlikely instruments; and deliberately sets aside, as unsuitable for His service, men whom we should regard as eminently fitted for it.
  • "Base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen … that no flesh should glory in his presence", 1 Corinthiams 1: 28-29.

31. "Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord", Genesis 4: 3.

In Cain and Abel we have exemplified the two methods of approach to God which have been followed from that day to this – the wrong and the right way.

Cain's offering would have been appropriate in Eden; what was wrong with it was that it ignored the change that had taken place in man's relations with God.

• The fall, the judgment pronounced, and the expulsion from the garden, were all ignored; and Cain sought to approach God as if nothing had come between them.

• As the apostle says of Israel, in effect he went about "to establish his own righteousness".

This has been the great feature of religious man – the claim to stand up in the presence of God, as an equal, and to obtain favour with God by virtue of man's own merits.

• The more upright and blameless a man is naturally, the greater is the tendency to take this attitude.

• It does not lead to blessing; it ignores the fact that the taint of sin is in man's moral being, and that, unperceived perhaps by him, he is full of that which unfits him for God's presence.

• The very fact of our possessing a sinful nature makes us incapable of rightly gauging the holiness of God and the true character of sin.

God does not undervalue anything that is good in man – the Lord Jesus loved the young man who claimed to have kept the law;

• but the claim to possess a status with God by reason of what we are or what we have done is to ignore the facts of the case, and is derogatory to the holiness of God.

• The "way of Cain" will not lead us to God; He has provided another way, which makes nothing of us and leaves all the glory with God.

32. "Abel … brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering", Genesis 4: 4.

Cain's way of approach was not acceptable to God; Abel's way, doubtless revealed to him by God, established the divine principle which has held throughout the ages – the way of sacrifice.

• Cain's approach ignored the facts of the position; Abel recognised the sin that now characterised man, and the holiness of God, in consequence of which sin was abhorrent and man unfit for God's presence.

• His offering involved an acknowledgment that he, a sinful man, could not approach God in his own merits, that his life was forfeit, and that he was subject to the judgment of God;
  • and that if approach to God was to be known, it must be by way of death, and in virtue of an excellence outside himself, by means of an offering free from the blemish that was upon him.

• To put it in New Testament language, Abel was marked by repentance and faith, the two fundamental requisites if sinful man is to be pronounced righteous. Consequently, we are told that
  • "Abel obtained witness that he was righteous … and he, being dead, yet speaketh," Heb. 11: 4.

• He testifies to all time of the only way of blessing for man.

33. "If thou doest not well, [a] sin [offering] lieth at the door … and thou shalt rule over him", Genesis 4: 7.

This seems clearly to indicate the long-suffering grace of God, which would not leave Cain without a final appeal to him.

• A sin-offering was available for him, just as much as for Abel; what was wanting in him was the consciousness of sin, of "not doing well", which would have led him to seek Abel's remedy.

• Had he availed himself of it, he would have taken up the place of leadership to which, as firstborn, he was entitled.

• God recognises the claim of the firstborn to a position of priority, just as, at a later stage in His dealings with men, He recognises government and authority.

• It has never been part of His ways with mankind to set aside or belittle that which is appropriate and seemly in the natural sphere; subversive teaching finds no place in Scripture.

• This passage makes it clear that God did not put aside Cain simply because he was the elder; the grace of God was available to both brothers alike, and Cain's rejection was due to his own failure to make use of it.

• We get a similar appeal of grace to the elder son in Luke 15.

34. "Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. And the Lord, said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? and he said, I know not", Genesis 4: 8, 9.

We see now the full-blown results of the fall. What at the outset appeared to be good and pleasant and desirable leads on to murder and deceit.

• Satan had obtained an entry; and he produces characteristics in man corresponding to his own, those of a murderer and liar.

• The Lord Jesus traces back the characteristics of the Pharisees to this source; and their hatred of Christ and His disciples is vividly portrayed to us in the gospel of John.

• It is a solemn fact that the display of what is according to God tends to arouse the hostility of the human heart; we do not need to go outside our own hearts to discover this.

The characteristics that manifested themselves in Cain very soon became widespread; the earth became full of violence and corruption.

• A system came into being animated by Satan and not by God; and the scene had to be cleared by the judgment of the flood.

This condition of things, however, was merely a foreshadowing of what was to follow.

• We are still in the midst of a world of which Satan can he spoken of as the "god" and "prince";
  • a world where the principles of violence and corruption are to be seen on every hand, and in which hatred of those following the way of Abel, is still manifest.

• The judgment of the flood was clearly stated by Christ Himself to be an anticipation of what will come upon this earth in "the day of the Son of man", Matt. 24: 37.

Abel's sacrifice was the precursor of a long line of sacrifices, only terminating when that which they all foreshadowed took place, the sacrifice on the Cross.

• It was of vital importance that man's sinfulness should be kept in constant remembrance; and that the impossibility of man's approach to God in virtue of his own merits should be emphasised.

• Hence we get the institution under the law of an elaborate system of sacrifices, setting forth in type and figure the various aspects of the death of Christ, by which atonement was to be made once and for all.

It is noteworthy that Abel is spoken of in the epistle to the Hebrews as the first of the line of faith.

• The first action of faith is linked up with the acknowledgment of sin and the acceptance of sacrifice; and the first result is the imputation of righteousness.

• All this is found in principle in Abel, the pioneer in the way of sacrifice.

The importance of insisting on this cannot be overestimated. On every hand to-day we find the principle of sacrifice discredited.

• Sects and schools of thought flourish around us which teach that sacrifice is an obsolete idea; that man is on an upward pathway;
  • and whilst professing to reverence Christ, and to accept Him as a perfect Man and a divine example, and even as a source of spiritual life and power, belittle the value of His atoning work.

• The idea so widely held of Christ as an 'elder brother' is a striking example of this danger.
  • Such teaching cuts at the very root of true Christianity, in which the atonement occupies an absolutely central place.

• We may not be able to understand, still less to explain, the atonement in all its bearings;
  • so profound a conception as is involved in one of the persons of the Godhead becoming Man, and offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of mankind, must necessarily be beyond our comprehension.

• We must be content to regard the atonement as containing an element of mystery; but we can glory in the fact that it answers to one of the deepest needs of the human soul
  • that it has proved a source of joy and strength to countless believers;

• and that it reveals the character of God to us in a way that nothing else can.
  • "The Son of man must be lifted up … for God so loved the world", John 3: 14-16.

Those who follow the way of Abel will always provoke the hostility of those in the way of Cain.

• The acknowledgment of sinfulness and need is not an attractive position to man naturally.

• It is, however, the only position that takes account of the realities of the situation;
  • that places man in right relations with God;

    and that results in his "obtaining witness that he is righteous".

• It is not for nothing that the incident of Cain and Abel stands at the outset of the record of man's history on the earth.

35. "Am I my brother's keeper? And he said … The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground", Genesis 4: 9, 10.

God is not indifferent to the cruelty on the earth, nor to the sufferings of His creatures; their voice cries to Him from the ground.

• He does not accept Cain's disclaimer of responsibility for his brother's welfare; He has made men "of one blood", and would have them care for one another.

• One of the principal features of the reign of Christ will be that
  • "He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence; and precious shall their blood be in his sight", Psalm 72: 14.

• Like every divine principle regarding man, this is an obligation which should be fulfilled in the Christian company.
  • "This is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother", 1 John 3: 11-12.

    And we have the solemn word, "If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things", 1 John 3: 20.

• He knows how far we are fulfilling our obligation to care for our brethren; and we shall find our reward by more abundant entry into life.

36. "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord … and he builded a city", Genesis 4: 16, 17.

The first city referred to in the Bible is Cain's city, built after he had left God's presence.

• A city represents an ordered system; and Cain's city clearly indicates a system deriving its character from him, and through him from the wicked one who was morally his father.

• That system has been in existence ever since; and represents what in New Testament language is called the world, a human organisation built up in independence of God, and marked by
  • "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life"

• – the result of disobedience in partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and consequently falling under the power of evil.

Various human activities, not harmful in themselves, are found in connection with the city – agriculture, art, and manufacture, the pursuits followed by Cain's descendants – Genesis 4: 20-22 –

• but when followed in disregard of God they form part of the world system, and thus tend to the exclusion of God from human life.

God created man in His own image, in order that man might represent Him, and be in happy relationship with Him, as a creature with a beneficent Creator;

• the world system, as built up by Cain and his descendants, left no place for this.

• By leaving God out, the way was paved for the entry of every evil principle. As the Psalmist says,
  • "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good", Psalm 53: 1.

• The knowledge of God is the only protection for man; Satan's triumph has been to bring into being a system which shuts God out.

• This system has been judged by God in the cross of Christ; and it is to be removed altogether and replaced by another kind of world, of which Christ will be the centre, and where all man's activities will be exercised under His guidance and control.

37. "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord", Genesis 4: 26.

Abel, the pioneer in the line of sacrifice, was cut off by his brother's hatred; but God raised up another seed to take his place, who carried on the line.

• The result is that we have men calling upon the Name of the Lord, maintaining relations with Him and answering to His thoughts.

• A line of faith is preserved through all the period of corruption and violence ending in the flood; it is preserved through the judgment; and comes out in Noah to form the beginning of a new dispensation.

• God is never without His witnesses; and however bad things on the earth may seem to be, we may be assured that all is under His supreme control, and that what He has established will be carried through to the end.

It is interesting to compare the early chapters of Genesis with the Book of Revelation, to trace the result of the dealings of God with men.

In place of the empty and formless earth we have

• the order and beauty of the heavenly city;

• the sun and moon are no longer necessary, being replaced by the glory of God and the Lamb;

• the tree of life is freely available for men;

• the curse is removed; and God is found dwelling amongst men in unhindered relationship.

During the intervening period, the earth has been the battleground of good and evil;

• to an observer the battle would seem to be swaying this way and that, and the cause of evil to be often about to triumph;

• but the Christian has the assurance that God cannot be defeated and that His purpose for man will be fulfilled.

The glorious vision foreseen by the prophets will in due course be realised;

• God will be universally known and served;

• evil will be expelled and Satan put under final restraint;

• and all the consequences of the fall banished from the scene.

No other end is consistent with God's revelation of Himself. No power in the universe is beyond His control;

• and we are entitled to believe that the entry of evil has been allowed by Him for His glory and the greater blessing of His creatures.

This is the faith of the apostle, when after dwelling on the mystery of the ways of God, he breaks forth in the doxology:

• "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.

  "For of him and through him and to him are all things; to whom be glory for ever. Amen", Romans 11: 33, 36.

We may well pray that this should be the language of our hearts in reviewing God's dealings with men, in the light of the revelation of Himself in Christ.