WHAT HAPPENED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN PART 2. BEFORE THE BEGINNING

What happened in the garden part 2.  Before the beginning.

The Bible is the final and only authority for what we believe. In the part one of this series, we saw that the tree of knowledge of Good and evil and the tree of life are not physical trees. Click here to read part one if you have not read it. In this part, we will be looking at before the beginning, God’s eternal purpose. What was God’s intention before creation ? Why did God make man? God’s intention was stated even before He created anything. The interpretation of Genesis to Malachi which is the epistles reveals this intention that was stated in mysteries in Genesis. God's intention has always been to have men in Christ. The eternal purpose of God is in Christ. This is where predestination lies.
Romans 8
29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Whom He calls He predestined to be in Christ. Christ being the firstborn doesn't mean He was created first.  It means He existed before creation. John said all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. John 1:3. He is the firstborn of every creation means He existed before creation. Things were created to fuse into Him. He has prominence over the creation.  Let’s look at Ephesians 1.
Ephesians 1
9  Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
10  That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: note
11  In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
12  That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Here Paul reveals that the mystery of His will has been made known to us which God planned in Himself. This mystery is that He might gather ALL THINGS IN CHRIST. It is in this, we have been predestined. So before the beginning, before God made man, He already stated the purpose which  is Christ.
Collosians 1
15  Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Christ is the image of the invisible God. So when God said in Genesis 1:26, Let us make man in our image. He was stating His intention to make man to be in Christ. Hebrews 1:3 also explains that Christ is the image of God. This was what Adam fell from. God’s intention for creating man is to have man in Christ. For more on this read my post on God in man: The dream of the father come through
In Colossians 1 :16-18, we see that all things were made by Christ and for Christ. By Christ all things hold together.  Notice verse 18 says He is the head of the church, the first born from the dead ( that is, the first to resurrect from death unto life ) that He might have preeminence in all things. The Greek word used for preeminence is prōteuō.  It means to be first, hold the first place. God’s plan has always been for Christ to hold the first place.

Let’s look at Genesis 1:3. God said this before He ever made anything, light be. He sets light as the foremost of creation.  John giving account of the creation in John 1 said in Christ was life and the life was the light of men. Jesus calls Himself the light of the world in John 8:12 and John 9:5. Let’s see what the epistles reveals about light.
2 Corinthians
3  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
5  For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.
6  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Looking at the above scriptures, we see that the light is in the gospel of Christ. Those that believe not are those the devil has blinded from this light. This light is the image of God as seen in verse 4. It is the same person we preach to people today. Notice verse 6. God commanded the light to shine out of darkness. That light is in the knowledge of the Glory of God in Christ.
Even in Genesis 2, where it was said that God rested the seventh day, rest there is figurative for the rest we have in Christ now. This rest is explained in Hebrews to be believing in Jesus .
Hebrews 4
4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. (Compare)
5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.
6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: note
7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. note
9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. note
10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as Goddid from his.
11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
The rest is in Christ. It is this rest that was preached to Adam that Moses wrote as God resting on the seventh day. As we have said earlier, Genesis  to Malachi is explained in the epistles. God created days. He doesn't dwell in time. He is eternal. Therefore cannot be resting on any seventh day. So when Moses said He rested, God was showing Adam how he should believe in Jesus to receive the life of CHRIST (also portrayed as the tree of life ). This Adam refused when he yielded to the temptation. Satan tempting Adam was because he envied this life in Christ which only man can have. Man instead chooses to live by the knowledge of Good and evil which is morality outside Christ.
Titus 1
2  In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Eternal life was promised before the world began. It is this life that Adam rejected when He was tempted by the devil. What is God’s eternal purpose?  It is in this life of Christ. Before the beginning , God has already mapped out the plan. God doesn't change. It is man that changes. Due to the loving kindness of God, redemption has to take place to bring man back to God’s original  plan. Man brought sin into the world. Jesus died to pay for the sin of man so that man can have the life of God as originally planned by God. Thank God for redemption. We are back to God's original plan. Any man that doesn't believe in Jesus doesn't have life. Such a person is doomed to perish.

By OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY
www.emekemodesty.com