Feed My Sheep (Christian responsibility to the World) by Harold Camping
A Scriptural view Of the Christian's responsibility To the world
around him.
Copyright 1972 Family Stations, Inc.
290 Hegenberger Road Oakland,
California 94621
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 DEATH COMES TO THE WORLD
May There Have Been Animal Death in Eden?
Does the Bible Prohibit the Idea of Pre-Fall
Animal Death?
Man and Animals Destroyed
The First Judgment
Herbivorous Animals in Eden
Herbivorous Animals in Eternity
CHAPTER 2 ADAM FAILS AS KING
Fill the Earth
Till and Keep the Garden
Dominion Over the Creatures
Adam is to Subdue the Earth
When Did Satan Fall?
Creation Cursed
Creation Redeemed
Christ Shall Have Dominion
CHAPTER 3 MAN'S TASK
God's Victory Timetable
Why Does God Delay?
The Cross and Satan
Sinless Man
Sinless Man Falls
Man, The Slave of Satan
God's Man, the Believer
Does the Believer Exercise Judgment?
The Believer's Task
He Must Reign Over His Body
He is a Prophet
He is a Priest
CHAPTER 4 FEED MY SHEEP
Abel Keeps Sheep
Cain - A Type of Modern Man
Ecology: A Desperate Question
Population Control
Man and Animals on the Same Level
Abel - A Type of the Believer
The Wisdom of the World Versus
the Foolishness of Preaching
Man's Rebellion Against God is Escalating
INTRODUCTION
Any true believer worth his salt must be deeply concerned about his
responsibility in relationship to the world in which he is living. He
must realize that his salvation resulted from an act of completely
undeserved love by his Savior. Because he has become a citizen of
Christ's Kingdom, he should want to make certain that he is living in
obedience to this King. He should know that Jesus saved him for
Christ's glory. But he should also know that to live as a saved
believer to the glory of Christ involves obligations to the world in
which he presently exists.
As mankind becomes more bewildered, and as sin multiplies, the
believer is even more pressed to make certain he is faithfully
discharging his duty to God, in relationship to Him, all other truth,
phenomena, and reality will pass away.
But can he know precisely what his mandates with reference to the
world actually are? Can these be articulated in such plain fashion that
he will have precise guidance in such common place areas of his life as
choosing his vocation, and spending his money?
In general, we could probably say that two answers are offered to
the question of the believer's task in the world. The first is that he
is first of all a witness of the Gospel of Christ, and this is to be
the motivating philosophy undergirding every decision. As a first
responsibility, he is not to be at all concerned about the other
spheres of life such as governmental, scientific, business, etc. As
long as he is witnessing, he is within the will of God.
The second is that which is held by many, and which indicates that
while we are witnesses, we do have dominion over this earth. We are to
bring it into subjection in the name of Christ. Thus, we are to become
scientists, statesmen, philosophers, and building contractors that we
might assist in building a better world in which to offer the Gospel.
We are to rule over every aspect of this creation as God's vice-gerund.
Which answer is the more Biblical? Or is there another answer? We
must go to the Bible to find our solution. Only it is trustworthy and
authoritative.
This is an important question. Upon its answer hangs the whole
philosophy of the education of our Christian youth. Upon its answer
depends the nature of each Christian's livlihood. Indeed, to its answer
the whole cause of Christ in the world today relates.
In this paper we shall attempt to find the Biblical answer. In order
to find this we must begin at the beginning--in the Garden of Eden. For
it is there that man is first shown to us. We shall examine him in his
world of long ago, and in so doing shall discover our responsibility to
today's world.
As we search for these answers we shall also get a fresh look at the
entrance of sin into the world. We shall not only determine the
timetable of Lucifer's fall into sin but also the certainity of his
destruction.
CHAPTER 1
Death Comes to the World
Any attempt to discover the task of the believer in the world today
must begin with Genesis I. For it was in this first chapter of the
Bible that God gave the initial decisive information regarding the role
of man in the world.
But when we look at the language of Genesis I, we are confronted by
a contradiction in statements that seems to frustrate us at the very
outset in our attempt to develop a clear understanding regarding the
question we are examining. In Genesis 1:28 God said after He had
created our first parents, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the
earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon
the earth."
To be fruitful, to multiply, to fill the earth, and to have dominion
over its creatures is language that poses no apparent difficulties. The
Bible appears to teach that the earth together with its creatures was
created good and beautiful. There was no sin, and no curse of sin. Man
was placed here as the crown of God's creation to serve as God's
vice-gerund, as the Lord of His creation. Logically, he would exercixe
dominion or rule over the lesser creatures.
But there is included in these verses the phrase "subdue it." A
contemplation of this phrase produces a whole host of questions. If
this world was created good and perfect, what was there to subdue? One
subdues something that is an antagonist or that is in rebellion. Maybe
the world, before the fall of Adam into sin, wasn't as perfect as we
always thought. And isn't it a fact that God placed Adam and Eve in a
garden? Doesn't this suggest that the world outside the garden was wild
and in need of subduing? Moreover, didn't the angel Lucifer, and his
fellow angels rebel against God at some earlier date? Couldn't they
already have contaminated the earth in some fashion so as to
necessitate the command to Adam to subdue the earth?
These are not idle questions. For some reason, as we shall see in
later chapters of this study, the command to subdue the earth and have
dominion over its creatures was never repeated again in the Bible. It
is imperative, therefore, that we ascertain whether theses commands
related only to man before his fall into sin, or whether they relate to
all mankind throughout history.
An understanding of the Biblical statement "subdue it" is,
therefore, exceedingly crucial if we are to understand the believer's
task today. If there was indeed rebellion in creation before the fall
of man into sin, then God's command to Adam to subdue the earth would
apply in a similar fashion to man today. But if the earth was good,
without any rebellious elements which we commonly associate with the
curse of sin, then there must be an altogether different explanation
for "subdue it" than that which appears at first glance; and man today
would, therefore, have a somewhat different responsibility toward the
world and its creatures than Adam did before he fell into sin.
We should therefore, examine the world that existed before man's
disobedience in the Garden of Eden to discover if there was anything
there that looks like that which would result from sin's curse on the
earth.
A most obvious place to begin in our search is to examine the
question of death in the world before the fall of man. God decreed to
Adam that in the day that he disobeyed God, he would surely die (Gen.
2:17). Death, then--at least death for mankind--was an immediate and
terrible result of sin. And since we read in Genesis 1:30 that the
animals apparently were herbivorous--"I have given every green plant
for food"--whereas today and during known history many animals are
carnivorous, we suspect that the curse of sin (death) could have
applied to animals as well as man.
A study of the question of the timing of death's coming into the
world, therefore, should be made. If death did occur in the animal
world before man's sin, we could readily believe there were other
rebellious elements in the world at that time. We Would then see the
reasonableness of the command to Adam to subdue the earth. On the other
hand, if we could know that there was no death in the animal world
before the fall of man, we would suspect that an altogether different
solution must be found to the command "subdue it." This solution would
also have much to say about man's task today.
May There Have Been Animal Death In Eden?
Let us first ask if the Scriptures in any way suggest that there may
have been animal death before the fall? In a number of places the Bible
speaks of animals and birds using other animals as food. But none of
these statements relates in any sense to the pre-fall era. The only
verse that could possibly be of significance is that of Psalm 104:21,
"The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God."
Some believe that this verse, which is speaking of carnivorous
animals, is set in the context of a Psalm dealing with the creation of
the world. If this is so, we have already found an answer to the
question of animal death before the fall of Adam. But is this so? Let
us look at this Psalm more carefully to determine if this verse is
pre-fall or post-fall in its application.
It is true that verses within this Psalm speak of the initial
creation. Verse two--"who has stretched out the heavens as a tent, "
verse five, "thou didst set the earth on its foundations," verse
nineteen--"thou hast made the moon to mark the seasons, " all surely
are speaking of creation. But these themes do not assure us that the
entire Psalm speaks of creation. They are often used in other places in
the Holy Canon to speak of creation but within a non-creation context.
(cf. Isa. 48:13.) Moreover, several verses of Psalm 104 definitely do
not have reference to the creation. Verses 6 to 9 speak of the waters
standing above the mountains, followed by the raising of the mountains
and the sinking of the valleys. The promise is then enunciated that the
waters "might not again cover the earth." The word `again' indicates
that something different than the separation of the dry land from the
seas as detailed in the creation account is being considered. For
Genesis 6 to 9 tells us of the covering of all the earth with water,
and that event occurred long after creation. These verses in Psalm
104:6-9 are, therefore, none other than a description of the flood of
Noah's day. The mountains were covered at that time (Gen 7:19) and God
faithfully promised He would never again destroy all flesh with a flood
(Gen. 9:8-17).
Other verses of this Psalm also describe things unrelated to the
creation program. Verse 26 speaks of ships, a much later phenomenon
than Genesis 1:3. And verses 27 to 30 indicated that death comes to all
who look to God for food. But "these all" who look to the Lord must
include the fish, the animals and man himself who are the subject of
the preceding verses. Since man's death was without question a result
of Adam's sin, we know that these verses must be referring to
conditions after the fall of Adam. Finally, Genesis 1:30 clearly states
that plants were given to man and animals for food. Psalm 104:21 does
not conform to this condition and, therefore, must relate to conditions
after sin entered the world.
We see, therefore, that Psalm 104:21 must be speaking of a situation
prevailing during the lifetime of the Psalmist. Since this appears to
be the only Biblical passage which might possibly relate to animal
death before the fall, we conclude that the Bible offers no information
that would suggest there was death amongst animals before the fall.
Does The Bible Prohibit The Idea of Pre-Fall Animal Death?
Let us now approach the Bible from another viewpoint. Does it
suggest in any way that there could not have been death among the
animals before the fall? This question must be answered affirmatively
as we shall see.
When we look at death we are surprised to see the close link between
animals and man. We know, of course, that man is altogether different
from animals in that man is created in the image of God with a soul
that lives beyond the grave. He dies when the soul leaves the body. But
we can also properly say that he dies when the breath of life, which is
also called spirit, leaves his body. In this the animal is like man. By
the same token, in this context, we can not speak of plants dying,
inasmuch as they do not have the breath of life. In fact, the Bible
very particularly indicates that the created function of plants was to
serve as food (Gen. l:29, 30).
In Psalm 104:27-29 we have an example of this relationship between
man and animals. There we read "these all...are dismayed; when thou
takest away their breath they die." The phrase "these all" includes man
and animals as the context of this Psalm shows. Death is the lot of all
men and all creatures who have the breath of life. This same truth is
given in Ecclesiastes 3:19-21 where we read, "For the fate of the sons
of men and the fate of the beasts is the same; as one dies so dies the
other. They all have the same breath...who knows whether the spirit of
man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down to the earth."
Interestingly the word "spirit" or "breath" is the Hebrew word `ruach'
whether used of man or of animals.
Since this identification of man with animals, by virtue of the fact
that each has the breath of life, extends throughout the Bible, we can
expect it to be true at the time of Adam's sin. It begins to appear
that when death came to man it also came to animals. The spiritual
aspects of this death (eternal death) apply only to man. The physical
aspects (removal of breath) would apply to man and animals.
Man and Animals Destroyed
When we look at the major judgments of God we discover in even more
striking fashion the parallel relationship that exists between man and
animals in the area of death. These judgments show that the weal or woe
of animals is directly parallel to that of men. The first judgment
after Adam was that that of the flood of Noah's day. Of this judgment
we read, "And all flesh died...birds, cattle, beasts and all swarming
creatures,... and every man; everything on the dry land in whose
nostrils was the breath of life died, " (Gen.7:21-22). A second
judgment is that upon Sodom and Gomorrah; "the Lord rained on Sodom and
Gomorrah brimstone...and he overthrew those cities...and all the
inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground," (Gen. 19:24,
25). A third judgment is that upon the Egyptians; "the Lord smote all
the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who
sat on his throne to the first-born of the captive who was in the
dungeon, and all the first-born of the cattle," (Ex. 12:29).
Another judgment is that upon the inhabitants of Canaan, with the
destruction of Jericho serving as a prototype; "Then they utterly
destroyed all in the city, both men and women, young and old, oxen,
sheep, and asses, with the edge of the sword," (Joshua 6:21). This was
in strict accord with the commandment of God as recorded in the fifth
book of the Pentateuch; "But in the cities of these peoples that the
Lord your God gives you for an inheritance, you shall save alive
nothing that breathes, but you shall utterly destroy them"(Deut. 20"16).
Amazingly in all of these accounts, animals are destroyed with man,
even though it is man who was the cause of the judgment, rather than
the animals. This would explain the statement found in the last verse
of Jonah where we read, "should I not pity Nineveh...in which there
are...much cattle." The weal or woe of the cattle would be in direct
relationship to that of the Ninevites.
The First Judgment
But one other judgment must be considered. That is the initial
judgment, a judgment so severe that its shock waves continue through
all of time and on into eternity. Adam and Eve sinned. God's judgment
was immediate and quite fatal. They were condemned to death. In Genesis
3, where we read of this sad event, the animals are not specifically
mentioned as sharing in this judgment. But we have seen that all of the
other judgments upon man were shared by the animals. Therefore, since
God is consistent and orderly in His dealings with His creation, we
would expect that animals would also suffer death in parallel fashion
to man.
The Bible nowhere intimates this is not the case. In fact, Romans
8:20 indicates the creation was "subjected to futility not of its own
will." Animals were a part of creation so they, too, must be included
with that which was brought into the bondage of decay. Genesis 3:17
states that the ground was cursed and Romans 8 surely indicates that
this is to be understood as the whole creation including animals. Hosea
4:3 further shows us this bondage as including animals; "Therefore, the
land mourns and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of
the field and the birds of the air." We must conclude, then, that
animals were subjected to death in like fashion with man, because of
man's sin.
Herbivorous Animals In Eden
This concept is further strengthened when we note that in the Garden
of Eden the animals were herbivorous: "I have given you every
plant...for food, and to every beast of the earth..., I have given
every green plant for food" (Gen. 1:29, 30). Note the close
relationship between animals and man. We do not know when animals
became carnivorous, but undoubtedly the results of the curse upon
creation brought about this condition. We do know that God must have
killed animals when He brought skins to cover Adam and Eve (Gen.3:21).
We know Abel killed a lamb and his offering was very acceptable to God.
But these events were after the fall. To clarify this post-fall
relationship, God told Noah in Gensis 9:3, "every moving thing shall be
food for you." Following the fall, the plan of God was that animals
were to be killed. Before the fall, the herbivorous nature of animals
accorded perfectly with the concept of the absence of death amongst
animals.
Herbivorous Animals in Eternity
If we look for a moment now at the weal of man, we shall find
additional evidence that shows how animals are related to man in God's
plan. In Genesis 9:8-17 we read that God convenanted with man and with
every living creature with the breath of life that He would never again
destroy the world with a flood. And in Exodus ll:7 we read that the
animals of the Israelites were to be spared God's judgment of the tenth
plague. No wonder Christ spoke of the Father's concern of a sparrow.
This concern of God for animals and all creatures with the breath of
life is pictured for us all the way into eternity. When judgment day
comes, all animals will be destroyed with the unsaved, even as they
were destroyed in Sodom and Jericho. But even as animals were saved
with Noah out of the flood judgment, and with the Israelites out of the
tenth plague judgment, so, too, out of the final judgment God gives us
word pictures of weal or blessings for animals along with man. In Hosea
2:18, 19 we read, "I will make for you a covenant on that day with the
beasts of the field...and I will make you lie down in safety." The
picture is one of peace and security with no fear of death. An even
stronger statement is that of Isaiah 11:6-9, "the wolf shall dwell with
the lamb...and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den."
That these conditions prevail in the new heaven and earth is assured us
by the testimony of Isaiah 65:17-25. There we read, "the wolf and lamb
shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like an ox" (Isa. 65:25).
The question at hand is not whether there literally will be animals in
the new heaven and earth. Rather the truth imparted in these passages
is the revelation of the completion of the predetermined program of
God. The creation that was "subjected to futility, not of its own
will...will be set free from its bondage of decay and obtain the
glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:20, 21).
For mankind this glorious liberty means that death has been
destroyed and all decay has ceased. Since the rest of creation is to
obtain glorious liberty like man, death and decay must likewise be
removed from all of creation including animals. This is the new earth.
The covenant made with all living creatures in Hosea 2 will be
fulfilled. Death will have been destroyed (I Cor. 15:26). The evidence
of the fulfillment of that promise includes the word picture of Isaiah
65 that shows that the animals are again herbivorous. God, therefore,
relates the picutre of herbivorous animals to the concept of the
absence of death. The herbivorous animals in Eden should then give the
same concept, i.e., the absence of death.
Moreover, since the promise of the removal of death from man as well
as animals must be understood as being included within the language of
the `glorious liberty' into which the creation will be restored, death
amongst animals must be a result of the curse into which the creation
was subjected by Adam's sin. The pre-fall animals, therefore, did not
die since there was no curse upon creation at this time.
The language of Genesis 1:31 supports this whole idea of Eden being
without death amongst animals. There we read that God saw all that He
had made and it was "very good." This had reference to man without the
ravages of decay and death. But it also had reference to animals since
they are a part of creation. Since man with the breath of life was
without death and was "very good, " the animals which likewise have the
breath of life must also have been without death in order to receive
God's commendation "very good."
We, thus, see that the Bible gives much evidence that points to the
absence of death amongst animals before the fall. This,
incidentally, means that the fossil record is that of animals which
have died after Adam's sin and explusion from the garden. Thus, the
General Theory of Evolution or the idea of a so-called "theistic
evolution" must be rejected as idle speculation. For these evolutionary
theories require long periods of time during which lower creatures
lived and died while gradually evolving to the highest being, man.
CHAPTER 2
ADAM FAILS AS KING
We have thus far determined that the Bible teaches that there was no
death before the fall of Adam amongst the creatures (man and animals)
with the breath of life. Thus, we sense that no aspects of the curse of
sin (storms, thorns, thistles, earthquakes, decay, etc.) were present
before the fall. We, at this point, are very comfortable with all of
the teachings of the Bible relating to creation and our first parents.
Everything was good. The animals and man were herbivorous (Gen. l:29,
30). Thorns and thistles came after sin (Gen.3:18). The six days of
creation must have been twenty-four hour periods as the Bible seems to
indicate, for long periods of time would have required death. Even
Romans 8 fits beautifully into this understanding as we read there that
creation itself was subjected to futility (Rom.8:20).
The command to subdue the earth must, therfore, have been strictly
for our first parents and must have no relationship to the believer
today.
But wait a moment. We still haven't faced the question of the timing
of Lucifer's fall into sin. If he sinned before Adam was created,
couldn't it still be possible that some part of the earth was still
cursed? Then to subdue it could still have meaning for the believer
today.
In this chapter we shall study more intently the meaning of "subdue
it" and in so doing also discover the timing of Lucifer's fall into
sin. We shall then be better prepared to begin to study more
specifically the task of the believer today.
Fill The Earth
In seeking light on the phrase "subdue it, " let us look briefly at
other statments in Genesis 1 relating to our first parent's
responsibility toward the world. Perhaps, by studying these we may get
some insight into the meaning of the phrase "subdue it."
The first phrase we should look at is the phrase `be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth'(1) (Gen. 1:28). We see this phrase does
not relate in any sense to a mandate to conquer, or to subdue. This
language is employed to indicate God's blessing upon man who would fill
the earth with progeny. Not only is it a blessing to man to see his
seed, but a mandate is surely implied here that this should be one of
his goals in the world.
Identical language is employed in Genesis 1:22 after God created the
fish. There we read:
And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.
The fish, of course, do not conquer or subdue the sea. They simply,
under the blessing of God, multiply and fill the sea which is the
environment in which they exist. This phrase, then, does not help us to
understand the command to subdue the earth.
Till And Keep The Garden
A second phrase that relates to Adam and his work before his fall
into sin is the command given to Adam in Genesis 2:15:
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till
it and keep it.
In this command Adam is told to till the garden and keep it. Let us
examine these tasks. The word "keep" is the Hebrew word shamar which
means to keep, observe, take heed (Young's Analytical Concordance of
the Bible). Shamar is translated as "keep" at least 284 times in the
Old Testament. Keep my commandments, keep all the words of this law,
are typical Old Testament sentences employing shamar. The implication
is that of maintaining the present state of affairs. There is no
suggestion in this word of bringing into subjection or bringing into
control that which is out of control. Adam was to maintain a creation
that was good and perfect. This command is, therfore, also unrelated to
the word "subdue."
The command to dress or till the garden is the other part of Genesis
2:15. The word "to dress" or "till" is the Hebrew word abad.(2) It
really is the opposite of a word like "subdue" or "dominion." It is
translated some 214 times in the Bible as "serve." It tells us that
Adam was to work in the garden, tilling it and doing what was necessary
to maintain production. It also carries no implication of Lordship over
the earth, or of having the earth in a state of subjection to man.
Rather, it implies that man was to maintain that which was already good
and perfect.
Dominion Over The Creatures
Thus far then, we have discovered no statement in the Biblical
record of man before the fall that relates to this intriguing command
to subdue the earth. There is one word, however, that appears to be
quite related to it. That is the word "dominion." In Gen. 1:26 we read:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creeps upon the earth."
And immediately following the command to subdue the earth we read
(Gen. l:28):
...and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of
the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.
The word "dominion" which is the Hebrew word radah means to rule or
reign. It is, thus, at least somewhat related to the idea of subduing
or bringing in subjection. The word radah can be found twenty-four
times in the Bible. It is normally translated "dominion" or "rule." But
significantly, while in Genesis 1 it is used twice to indicate man is
to have dominion or rule of all other creatures, exclusive of man, it
is never used in this manner again. It is used to indicate rule over a
slave (Lev. 25:43, 25:46, and 25:53) rule over those who built
Solomon's temple (I Kings 5:16, I Kings 9:23, II Chron. 8:10); rule of
the enemies of God over God's people (Neh. 9:18, Lev. 26:17); rule of
God's people over the enemy (Judges 5:13, Numbers 24:19, Ps. 49:14,
Isa. 14:2, Ps. 58:27); rule of the enemies of God over the nations
(Isa. 14:6, Ezek. 29:15); rule of Christ over the nations (Isa 41-2,
Ps. 110:2, Ps. 72:8); rule of false priests over God's people (Jer.
5:31, Ezek. 34:4); rule of Solomon over the land and kings between the
Euphrates River and the Mediterranean Sea (I Kings 4:24).
What can possibly be the intention of God in using "radah" twice in
Genesis I to indicate man's relationship to the lesser creatures of the
world and then never repeating this? Instead God uses the same word to
emphasize man's relationship to man and to the nations.
Especially interesting, too, is the statement made to Noah after the
flood. Genesis 9:1 is almost identical to Genesis 1:28--, except that
where Adam is told to subdue the earth and
dominion over its creatures, Noah is given no such mandate. Rather
he is told that God had put fear and dread of man within the other
creatures and into mans' hand they were delivered. Why this complete
change in language? Something drastic must have happened between the
events of Genesis 1:29 and those of Genesis 9:1, 2.
The word "dominion" (radah) thus appears to introduce more questions
into our search for the meaning of the command to Adam to subdue the
earth. Since we sense that there is an intimate relationship between
"subdue" and "dominion" it is time to look forth rightly at the phrase
"subdue it." In so doing we will discover the answers to the questions
raised by the word radah, and we shall also discover the correlation
between the words "subdue" and "dominion." Moreover, we shall also find
answers to the questions concerned with the timing of Satan's fall, and
the possibility of death and decay being present in the world prior to
Adam's fall.
Adam Is To Subdue The Earth
We must logically look for our answers from the pages of Holy Writ.
The Bible is its own interpreter. It does offer a valid and beautiful
solution to the proper understanding of this key phrase "subdue it."
The word "subdue" which is the Hebrew word "kabash" is used twelve
times in the Old Testament in addition to this use in Genesis 1:28. It
is variously translated subdue, subjection, assault, etc. An
examination of these twelve usages will help greatly to understand the
meaning of its use in Genesis. Four times it is used to indicate
mastery as in the relationship of a master to a slave. These passages
are:
Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children are as
their children; yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be
slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved; but it is
not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our
vineyards (Neh. 5:5). But afterward they turned and took back the male
and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection
as slaves (Jer. 34:11).
And now you intend to subjugate the people of Judah and Jerusalem,
male and female, as your slaves. Have you not sins of your own against
the Lord your God? (II Chron. 28:10). But then you turned around and
profaned my name when each of you took back his male and female slaves,
whom you had set free according to their desire, and you brought them
into subjection to be your slaves (Jer. 34:11).
Once it is used in the book of Esther when Haman threw himself on
the bed of Esther to plead for his life. The king, who entered the
room, suspected Haman was trying to seduce the Queen. We read in Esther
7:8:
And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they
were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was
and the king said, "Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in
my own house?" As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered
Haman's face.
The word kabash translated "assault", therefore, in this instance
also means mastery over, or bringing into subjection even as in the
case of the master-slave relationship.
Five times the word kabash is used in relationship to the Israelites
and the land of Canaan.
And every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the
Lord, until he has driven out his enemies from before him and the land
is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be
free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel; and this land shall be
your possession before the Lord (Num. 32:21-22).
And Moses said to them, "If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben,
every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you
over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you
shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession (Num. 32:29).
Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at
Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; the land lay subdued
before them (Josh. 18:1).
Is not the Lord your God with you? And has he not given you peace on
every side? For he has delivered the inhabitants of the land into my
hand; and the land is subdued before the Lord and his people (I Chron.
22:18).
These also King David dedicated to the Lord, together with the
silver and gold which he dedicated from all the nations he subdued (II
San. 8:11).
In these verses, too, the word subdued (kabash) is emphasizing
mastery. But over whom or what had they obtained mastery? Was it over
the physical land of Canaan as suggested by the phrase "land is
subdued" or "land shall be subdued." Had they gone into the land,
reclaiming the wilderness, planting vineyards and building cities?
Having done all this, was the land subdued or in subjection before them?
The fact is that this is precisely what they did not do. They were
to possess the land and these provisions of plants and buildings were
completely prepared for them with no effort of any kind on their part.
In Joshua 24:13 we read:
I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you
had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards
and oliveyards which you did not plant.
To subdue the land of Canaan, therefore, must have reference to
something entirely different to that of subjugation of the physical
land. If we look again at these passages where kabash is used, we note
that in each case it deals with the subjugation of enemies. The land
was subdued only when the enemies within the land, who also claimed
possession to the land, had been destroyed from the land. Even as
kabash is used to relate to mastery over a slave, so, in these passages
it used to indicate mastery over an enemy. In neither case does it
relate at all to material substances such as a physical land.
It was an enemy who must be removed from this land flowing with milk
and honey. Until he was removed, the Israelites could not claim their
mastery over it. The land was not their possession in actuality
although it had been given to them as their right. When they stood at
the boundary of the land of Canaan they were to go in and subdue it.
They were to claim their rightful ownership, their Lordship, over this
good and wonderful land by destroying or enslaving the enemy who also
claimed ownership of the land.
When we look now at Genesis 1:28 we see that man is to "subdue it."
The word "it" without question refers to the earth. Thus the language
employed here is exactly parallel to that of "subdue the land" when
Canaan was in view. Adam was to "subdue the earth." We, therefore, must
conclude that even as in the case of subduing the land of Canaan, Adam
was not to subdue a physical land but an enemy of some kind. Adam was
to enslave someone or destroy someone. He was to become master over
some other personality. This person or persons could be an enemy who
also wanted to
possess the land which had been given to him, even as the Amorites
who claimed possession to the land of Canaan were the enemy who were to
be destroyed by the Israelites as they subdued or subjugated (kabash)
the land.
Note now the parallel that exists between the Israelites at the
borders of Canaan and Adam as the first man on this earth. The creation
lay before Adam. It was completed without his effort. Similarly, the
land of Canaan lay before the Israelites. It was a good land. The
cities and vineyards had been completed without any effort on their
part.
Adam was promised by God that this creation was to be under his
dominion. He was to fill it with his progeny. The Israelites were told
that the land of Canaan had been given to them as an everlasting
possession. They simply were to go in and possess it.
Adam was told to subdue the land. An enemy threatened. He was to
claim his right to the land by bringing this enemy into subjection.
Likewise, the Israelites were to subdue the land of Canaan. The enemy
who required subjugation were the Canaanites who also wanted ownership
of the land. Israel would subdue the land--conquer this enemy--by being
obedient to God. Adam could also subdue the land--conquer the enemy who
threatened--by being obedient to God. The parallelism being the two
situations of Adam and Israel is certainly striking.
But who was this enemy in Eden? It surely was not someone who
already occupied the land, for the creation was good. The enemy was
someone who had become jealous of God. He, too, wanted to be a King.
This enemy was one of the highest of the angels, Lucifer. His envy
would lead him to a terrible act. The New Testament points to this envy
and pride of Lucifer who became the devil, Satan. In I Timothy 3:6 we
read:
He must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit
and fall into condemnation of the devil. And in James 3:14, 15 the
Scriptures declare:
But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts,
do not boast and be false to the truth. This wisdom is not such as
comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish.
Apparently, the sin of pride was driving Lucifer to this overt act
of rebellion against God. And the creation of the world provided the
golden opportunity. If he could enslave man, he would automatically
become King of this beautiful creation. Since Adam had been given
dominion over it, the master of Adam would also be master of all which
was subordinate to Adam.
But how could Adam subdue this potential enemy? How did the
Israelites subdue the land of Canaan? By obedience to God. In the
measure they obeyed God, they came into possession of the land of
Canaan. God would lead in the destruction of the enemy.
One man of you puts to flight a thousand, since it is the Lord your
God who fights for you, as he promised you (Josh. 23:10).
In the measure they disobeyed, they became slaves to the enemy in
the land. The several hundred years of history, recorded in the book of
Judges, give vivid testimony to their enslavement, which followed when
they did not obey God by destroying the enemy who also claimed
ownership to the land.
Adam, of course, failed the test. Lucifer came into the garden and
the battle was joined. He apparently took on the form of a serpent for
it was the wisest of all the animals (Gen. 3:1). The Hebrew word for
"subtle" or "crafty" in the verse is translated most often in the Bible
as "prudent." Of all creation this wisest of all animals would most
easily be obeyed by Eve. He, of course, did not join the battle head on
with Adam. He carefully planned his strategy by capturing a lower
echelon ruler first. Then her obedience to Satan would insure victory
over the king, Adam, himself. Satan follows the same technique today as
he seeks to overthrow the work of Christ by working through the bride
of Christ, the Church.
I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I bethrothed you to Christ to
present you as a pure bride to her one husband. But I am afraid that as
the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led
astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ (IICor. 11:23).
Adam was to subdue the earth by destroying Satan. He could assure
the destruction of Satan by his perfect obedience to God. This
understanding of the word "subdue" (kabash) matches the usage of this
word elsewhere in the Scriptures.
The implementation of this command was assured by the words of
Genesis 2:16, 17:
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of
every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.
Here we see how God set up the testing arena. A tree was included in
the garden from which he was not to eat. This is where man and Satan
met to determine who was to be Lord of creation. As we continue our
study, we shall see how this battle affected both heaven and earth. But
at this point in our discussion we see clearly that the phrase "subdue
it" of Genesis 1:28 gives no aid or comfort to those who might believe
there was death in creation before Adam's fall. And the understanding
of this key phrase opens up a door to much other significant truth that
relates to a historical Adam.
But before we develop this thought further, let us address ourselves
to another question which also suggests the possibility of death in the
creation before the fall of Adam. If the angel, Lucifer, fell into sin
and had access to this earth, could not his sin also have brought death
or decay in some measure to the universe? Let us return to Eden to
answer this question. Let us attempt to determine the timetable of
Lucifer's fall into sin.
When Did Satan Fall?
In I John 3:8 we read, `the devil has sinned from the beginning.'
Was this the beginning of Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created?"
Did it occur before the six days of creation? Then Satan must have been
created a sinful being, or his rebellion must have been so close in
time to the time specified in Genesis 1:1 that to all intents and
purposes it must have been alsmost simultaneous with the `beginning' of
Genesis 1:1. But other Biblical evidence points to a time when Satan or
the angel Lucifer did walk in perfection. This is suggested by the name
given to him in Isaiah 14:12, as well as the statement concerning him
in this same passage.
How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are
cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low.
This thought, of sin in the world of angels coming some time after
their creation, is also suggested by such Biblical statements as that
found in II Peter 2:4:
For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them
tnto hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until
the judgment.
Perhaps a clue to the timing of the angel Lucifer's sin can be found
in Mark 10:6. There we read:
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
Note that this verse also speaks of beginning even as I John 3:8
spoke of the beginning when Satan fell. But "beginning" in Mark 10:6 is
identified with Adam and Eve. This would suggest that possibly Satan
did not sin at least until Adam and Eve were created.
This concept of Satan's rebellion occurring at about the time of
Eve's sin is further strengthened when we witness God's curse upon him
in Genesis 3:14, 15:
The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed
are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly
you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will
put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
In the case of man and creation it was at this moment in history
that the ground was cursed (Gen. 3:17-19), and man was condemned to
return to the dust. The parallel curse comes upon Satan. One could
expect then that Satan's fall was also simultaneous with that of man's.
Incidentally, we sometimes think of the curse of Genesis 3:14 as
being applicable to the animal which was the ancestor of the snake. The
snake may well be the descendant of a serpent which was cursed as a
result of it's involuntary involvement with the sin of Satan. But the
curse in its primary emphasis is on the serpent, the devil. Verse 15
has reference only to Satan, and there is no change in the object of
God's statement between verse 14 and verse 15. Moreover, the Bible
expressly calls Satan a serpent in a number of places, a most notable
place of which is Revelation 12. Furthermore, in Isaiah 65:25, God
speaks of the new heaven and new earth, and in this context he speaks
of dust being the serpent's food. This can only be a fulfillment of the
curse of Genesis 3:14.(3)
So the earth is cursed, man is cursed by death and travail in
childbirth and Satan is cursed. Satan and mankind stand equally guilty
before God. Upon both are pronounced the condemnation of God. Only man
is given hope as God intimates victory for mankind over Satan, as he
promises a Redeemer in Genesis 3:15. Significantly, it appears that the
final judgment upon Satan is also simultaneous in time and parallel in
character to that upon mankind. Both will be thrown in the lake of fire
(Rev. 20:10 and 15). Both are destroyed from this earth when Christ
returns in judgment (Rev. 19:11-21). This parallel termination of man
and Satan emphasizes the possibility of a simultaneous falling into sin.
We have seen thus far that for a number of reasons Satan's sin
probably occurred simultaneously with that of man's. None of these
reasons is in itself conclusive. But all are within the intent of
Scripture. There is, however, one other rather impressive reason that
points to Satan's initial sin occurring simultaneously with man's.
When we examine God's statement to Adam in Genesis 1:28, we see that
he is to subdue the earth. We have determined that this must be
understood as a mandate to Adam to conquer and destroy the enemy,
Satan, who would attempt to subjugate Adam. He was to expose and
destroy Satan by his perfect obedience to God. But nothing is said to
Adam by God relative to the question of redeeming a universe or heaven
from the ravages of Satan's sin. We know as a fact that Satan's sin
produced real distress in heaven for many of the angels rebelled with
him. Moreover, as we have seen, his rebellion also produced a cursed
earth and death in man and the lesser creatures. If Satan had rebelled
much earlier than the time of the episode in the Garden of Eden, so
that there already were results--death and decay--in the universe as
well as rebellion in heaven, one surely could expect some provision for
redemption of the earth and heaven. None, however, is suggested or
intimated before the fall, in regards to Adam's mandate. His only job
was to conquer Satan by his perfect and loyal obedience. Could this
have been because Satan's fall was simultaneous?
When we look at the last Adam, Jesus Christ, however, we see
immediately that He had a two-fold task. He must destroy Satan by His
perfect obedience as part of His mandate. In this He paralleled the
first Adam.
But the God-man Jesus must also destroy the work of Satan. He must
redeem a cosmos that had become ruined and deranged because of the
dominion of Satan. The havoc of Satan's rebellion not only resulted in
a wrecked earth but also in a heaven that required renewing. This
renewing was Christ's task as we see in Ephesians 1:9.
For he has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of
his will, according to purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan
for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven
and things on earth.
This corresponds to the statment of II Peter 3:12, 13--that the
heavens as well as the earth are to be renovated, and new heavens and a
new earth to be provided:
Waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of
which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will
melt with fire. But according to his promise we wait for new heavens
and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Adam was given no mandate relative to the work of Satan and,
therefore, we must conclude heaven as well as earth were without the
ravages of sin until this moment in history when the temptation took
place. Therefore, Satan's fall must have been simultaneous with man's.
Creation Cursed
Now the whole picture of misery lies unfolded before us. Satan is
cursed so that whereas in his pride he wanted to be King, he now is
told that he is to be less than the least of the animals. He, who
aspired to rule over man who was created in the image of God, is cursed
to be less than the least of the creatures with the breath of life. The
creation, too, was cursed. Because Adam, who had been given dominion
over the creation, was cursed, all that over which he was to reign was
also cursed.
This is the significance of the words of Romans 8:19-23: For the
creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God;
for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by
the will of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself
will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious
liberty of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has
been groaning in travail together until now; and not only the creation,
but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan
inwardly as we wait for adoption of sons, the redemption of our bodies.
The creation which had been given to Adam as a loyal, obedient,
wonderful, living creation now had become rebellious,
and deranged with death as the evidence of this futility. The ground
was cursed so that it brought forth thorns and thistles. It would no
longer be obedient to King Adam who was to till it and keep it
(Gen.2:15). Instead man must draw his living from this rebellious
cursed earth by the sweat of his brow (Gen. 3:18, 19).
Man was cursed. In the day he disobeyed he died. He died spiritually
in that he was separated from God by his sin. He died physically as
indicated by the decay that began in his body. The evidence of this
death was the eventual return of his body to the dust. Even as his body
dedayed, the entire creation would be subject to decay and death. The
instructions given to Adam in Gensis 1:28 were given before the
entrance of sin into the creation with all of its horrible
consequences. Adam and Eve as the first people in their beautiful world
were given the guide lines for their kingsship over it. But they
disobeyed and, instead, were made subject to Satan.
It is very enlightening to read in the Bible God's mandate to Noah
when he left the ark. Then the world, which had become too sinful to
continue, had been destroyed; and God began again with Mr. and Mrs.
Noah and their three sons and their wives. Now all the curses of
Genesis 3 have been declared. The world is under the dominion of Satan
as prince of the earth. God, however, again gives an outline of man's
responsibilities in this sin stained world. He uses very parallel
language to that given in the garden to Adam.
In Genesis 9:1, 2 we read the mandate given to Noah: `And God
blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply,
and fill the earth." The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the air, upon
everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea; into
your hand they are delivered.'
Note the similarities of Genesis l:28, 29: And God blessed them, and
God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and
subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the
birds of the air and over every living thing tht moves upon the earth."
And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which
is upon the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit;
you shall have them for food.
Both Adam and Noah are blessed, both are commanded to be fruitful,
to multiply and to fill the earth. But at this point the similarity
comes to a crashing halt. Adam is told to subdue the earth and have
dominion over all of its creatures. God is silent with reference to
Noah's subduing the earth, or having dominion over its creatures.
Instead, the beasts are to live in fear and dread of him. How clearly
the Bible describes the change in creation in these verses. Noah cannot
be told to subdue the earth because he is a slave of Satan. By Adam's
sin, man has lost his claim to Lordship over this earth. Satan is
rightly called the "prince of this earth, " and the "prince of the
air." He has enslaved man and robbed him of his kingship and authority
over the creatures. Even though Satan has been cursed, he has become
the ruler of man and creation. The beasts are not loyal, willing
subjects to man as they were before the fall. Instead, they obey man
only because of fear. They are slaves of slaves.
Creation Redeemed
This dark, dismal picture sets the stage for the coming of Jesus
Christ. Already in Genesis 3:15 God promises that a Redeemer will come
who will destroy Satan. This Redeemer, who is the seed of the woman,
that is, he, too, is a man, will crush the head of the serpent. He will
utterly enslave him and destroy him by his perfect obedience to God. He
will do what Adam failed to do. By his perfect obedience to God he will
claim this creation as his own possession. He will have mastery over it
and reign over it as king. This is why Paul in Romans 5:14 calls Adam a
type of Christ. This is why Jesus announced in Luke 4 at the beginning
of his publice ministry that he had come to set the prisoners free.
They were to be set free from bondage and enslavement to Satan.
Satan fully realized Christ's threat to his kingdom. He attempted to
kill the baby Jesus using Herod as his tool. He came to Jesus in the
wilderness to tempt him. The language of Matthew 4:1 is very pertinent:
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil.
Christ must establish his claim to this earth by subduing the enemy
Satan. He is following the footsteps of Adam. God had set the stage for
Adam's test by the command that they were not to eat of the tree. If
Jesus, too, succumbed to the temptations of Satan, the present ruler of
the earth, he, also, would become his slave and the creation would be
Satan's forever, or God would have to introduce an altogether different
plan for its redemption.
Christ is the seed of Abraham. The seed of Abraham is also spiritual
Israel, the body of Christ. Even as Israel was tested by God for 40
days while Moses was on Mt. Sinai, 40 years while they were in the
wilderness, and 400 years during the period of the judges, so Christ
was tested for 40 days. Adam had failed. Israel had failed again and
again. Now Christ had come to do what Adam had failed to do. Now Christ
had come to do what Israel under the law had failed to do. So he was
driven into the wilderness to prove His obedience, His rightful claim
on this creation which He created.
Did he fail? No. By his perfect obedience He won a resounding
victory over the enemy. And try as he might throughout the years of
Jesus' ministry, Satan was unable to break through this obedience.
Satan's doom was sure. But would Christ be obedient even unto death?
Jesus had said to Nicodemus, "For God so loved the world He gave his
only begotten son." Christ's mandate was far more serious and complex
than Adam's. Adam was to claim possession of a perfect world by his
perfect obedience to God. Christ must not only claim possession of the
world, but also must do what was necessary to make that world perfect
again. The world of Adam needed no improvement. It was good. It was the
ideal kingdom. All of it was loyal, obedient and loving in relationship
to King Adam. The world that Christ had come to redeem was wrecked. It
was cursed. It had been under the dominion of Satan for 11000 years.(4)
Time after time God had had to visit it with judgment. At one time God
had even destroyed the earth by the great Noahic Flood, because of the
degradation into which it had fallen. The work cut out for Christ was
indeed formidable. And because Christ was God He knew with awful
certainty the awfulness of God's wrath that was to be poured out on
this world as penalty for its rebellion and sin. Satan thought that
crucifying Jesus was a tremendous solution to his problem. With Jesus
dead, Satan's kingship was secure. He hadn't succeeded in causing Jesus
to disobey God during the 40 days of temptation in the wilderness. And
even though Satan and his demons recognized that judgment day was
coming and that Jesus was involved in this ("Have you come to torment
us before the time?" Matt. 8:29). Satan, who had introduced death into
the world, believed death was the only answer to his problem with
Jesus. Already in Genesis 3:15 it had been prophesied that Satan would
bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. Christ was the seed of the
woman. Something dreadful was to happen to Jesus, in fulfillment of the
prophesy that his heel would be bruised. Could this dreadful thing be
the death of Jesus?
So Jesus is betrayed by Judas under the power of Satan. Will He go
through this awful sacrifice in obedience to the will of the Father? "I
do as the Father has commanded me" (John 14:31), was the desire of
Jesus. And because of the sheer horror of the path He must walk, Jesus
asks, is there another way? Could the cup be removed from Him? And then
in perfect obedience He declares "not my will but thine be done" (Luke
22:42).
Jesus hangs on the cross. He has become sin for all who believe in
Him. He is satisfying God's justice on behalf of all who had or will
place their trust in him. He endured the pain, the equivalent
punishment of an eternity in Hell for all of these, and had not been
destroyed by the very magnitude of the wrath of God.
When the penalty was paid, He had to prove that death also had been
vanquished. Moreover, He must complete his identification with this
world He had come to redeem. After declaring "It is finished" and
commending His Spirit into the hands of His Father, He allowed His body
to be buried. But His body did not decay (Acts 2:31). Death had been
vanquished. Decay which came with death into the world as a product of
sin and death had been complete and final on the cross.
Further proof of his victory over death was given in magnificant
fashion by the empty tomb on that first Easter moring.
Christ had come to destroy the devil. Through his death he
accomplished this.
Since, therefore, the children share in flesh and blood, he himself
likewise partook of the same nature, that through death he might
destroy him who has the power of death, that is the devil (Heb. 2:14).
He came to destroy the works of the devil. He who commits sin is of
the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the
Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil (I John 3:8).
By Christ's perfect obedience Christ had subdued the earth. He had
established his rightful claim as Lord of creation. No wonder we read
in Hebrews 1:8:
But on the Son he says, "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever,
the righteous scepter is the scepter of thy kingdom.
By his death, with its resurrection proof, He established that death
no longer had any hold on men, if they believed on him. There was to be
a resurrection for them, even as He arose from the dead. Thus, he
destroyed the work of Satan, the most terrible evidence of which was
decay and death.
At the beginning of this discussion it was indicated that, in
addition to Genesis 1:28 where Adam is told to subdue the earth, there
were twelve places where the Hebrew word for "subdue" is used. The
Hebrew word is kabash. Ten of the verses were listed. Let us now look
at the remaining two. They are:
He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities
under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea
(Micah 7:19).
The Lord of hosts will protect them, and they will devour and tread
down the slingers, and they will drink their blood like wine, and be
full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar (Zech. 9:15).
Notice here that these prophetic verses used the word "kabash" as
indicating on the one hand that the enemies, the slingers, were to be
trod down, and on the other that our iniquities would be trod under
foot. This was prophetic language describing the coming victory of
Christ over sin and Satan.
Parallel language is easily found in the New Testament: And he has
put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things
for the church (Eph. 1:22). But to what angel has he ever said, "Sit at
my right hand, till I make thy enemies a stool for thy feet" (Heb.
1:13). ...putting everything in subjection under his feet (Heb. 2:8).
The subduing of the earth had truly been accomplished by Christ.
Christ Shall Have Dominion
Early in this chapter we saw how Adam before the fall was given
dominion (radah) over the lesser creatures. We noted with amazement
that this command or mandate to have dominion over these creatures was
never repeated after the fall. Rather when we examine the use of radah
in the Scriptures we see especially four usages in addition to that of
Genesis I. In Leviticus radah relates to dominion of a master over a
slave. In this it is parallel to the use of the word "subdue" (kabash)
to indicate mastery as that of a master holding a slave in subjugation.
The second usage is that of the enemies of God ruling over the
nations of the world or over the people of God (Neh. 9:28, Lev. 26:17,
Isa. 14:6, Ezek. 29:15, Jer. 5:31, Ezek. 34:4). In this we are given
symbolical or figurative language showing Satan's dominion over this
world. Radah is the word that God uses in these passages because this
world, which was to have continued under the dominion of man as King of
this world, and as outlined in Genesis I, has instead come under the
dominion of the enemies of God headed up by the prince of this world,
Satan. This parallels the situation of Israel when they failed to
destroy or "subdue" the enemy. They instead were brought into
subjection by the enemy.
The third use of the radah is in those passages which speak either
directly or figuratively to the dominion of Christ over this world
(Isa. 41;2, Psalm 110:2, Ps. 72:8, I Kings 4:24). This is a result of
Christ's victory over Satan and his rightful place as Lord by virtue of
his redemptive work. The new Testament addresses itself to this
dominion by Christ in such passages as I Peter 5:11;(5)
To him be the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
The fourth usage is that of God's people having dominion over the
enemies of Christ (I Kings 5:16, I Kings 9:23, II Chron. 8:10, Judges
5:13, Numbers 24:19, Ps. 49:14, Isa. 14:2, Ps. 68:27). This is surely
prophetic language of the Christian believers ruling over Satan in
Christ. This begins in this life when we are saved, and will find its
ultimate fulfillment in the new heaven and new earth.
We thus see that the dominion of Genesis I as employed throughout
the Bible is in perfect accord with the use of the word "subdue"
(kabash) in the Holy Canon.
In summary we have seen that from every viewpoint the Bible
emphasizes the truth that there was no death before the sin of Adam and
Eve. We have seen that the mandate they received to subdue the earth
was a command to perfect obedience in the face of the enemy Satan. Thus
man would establish his legitimate right to Lordship over this
creation. The angel, Lucifer, Satan, saw in this creation the
possibility of satisfying his own desires.
But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own
desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin
when it is full-grown brings forth death (Jas. 1:14, 15).
So Lucifer, who became Satan, subdued man and simultaneously he, the
earth, and man were cursed. All were judged by God and were made
subject to His wrath. By conquest Satan had become prince of this earth.
Adam's task was relatively limited. The world in which he lived was
good and sinless. Death and decay were non-existent anywhere in the
entire world.
Christ, the last Adam, came to do what the first Adam did not do.
But Christ's task was infinitely greater than Adam's. He must not only
vanquish Satan, but must also redeem the cosmos from the curse of God,
and from the results of Satan's dominion. Truly, the Bible teaches that
there was no curse in any sense upon the world before Adam's fall.
Many questions have been raised by this chapter. If Satan was cursed
in the garden, why was he permitted in the presence of God as we read
in Job? And if Christ destroyed Satan and his works by his atonement,
why is Satan still operating in the world? And how does all of this
help us in our quest for an answer to the question of the believers
task today?
We shall continue in our study to look at these questions.
(Notes to numbered passages in Chapter 2) (l) In the KJV the word
"fill" of this phrase is translated `replenish.' To replenish something
signified that it once was full or had plenty; it became empty, and now
must be filled again. The Hebrew word is male. It is translated seven
times in the KJV as replenish or to be replenished. But is it
translated at least 175 times as fill, or full or fulfill. There is no
basis in the text or the context of the entire Bible that insists that
the translation of male must be "replenish" in Gen. 1:28. In fact, the
later translations, (RSV, ASV, etc.) have changed this usage in this
text to "fill." This agrees with the teaching of the entire Bible. (2)
See Chapter 4 of this book for a more complete analysis of this phrase.
(3) An interesting parallel exists between man and Satan in this
regard. Man returns to the dust as a result of the curse upon him.
Satan ultimately is to have dust for food which is to suggest he is in
the dust or is of the same level with the dust. (4) For an analysis of
the history of man established by biblical reckoning see "The Biblical
Calendar of History" by Harold Camping in Journal of the American
Scientific Affiliation, Sept. 1970, p. 102. (5) See also I Peter 4:11,
Jude 25, Rev. 1:6.
CHAPTER 3
MAN'S TASK
We shall now continue in our study to answer some of the questions
raised and left unanswered in the previous chapter. As we discover
solutions to these questions we shall also get closer to the end of our
search for the Biblical answer to the question of man's task in the
world today.
God's Victory Timetable
The first question we shall try to answer is: If Christ had
destroyed Satan and his works by His perfect obedience, why does Satan
still continue to bind the hearts of men throughout the New Testament
period? Why is death and decay still as prevalent as ever? Where is the
evidence of the victory on the cross?
The fact is, of course, that while Christ's work as Redeemer, as the
last Adam, has been completed, the time for the full impact of the
victory upon this sinful world and upon Satan has not as yet arrived.
That God has a timetable in dealing with Satan is suggested in the Old
Testament. In Genesis 3:14 we read:
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals! Upon your
belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life."
But while the physical snake moves around on its belly, Satan, the
real object of this curse, took over this world as its prince. He
actually appeared to lose almost none of the prerogatives he had had
before the fall. The book of Job gives startling evidence of his
continued freedom to be in heaven. Thus, while the curse was certain
and sure, the final effects of it were not to appear until some future
date.
Similarly, while Christ was completely victorious over Satan, the
final evidence of this victory is for the future. This is intimated in
I Corinthians 15:24-27:
Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father
after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must
reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy
to be destroyed is death.
"For God has put all things in subjection under his feet."
But when he says, "All things are put in subjection under him, " it
is plain that he is excepted who put all things under him.
It is even more clearly stated in Hebrews 10:12, 13: But when Christ
had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at
the right hand of God, then to wait until his enemies should be made a
stool for his feet.
And in Hebrews 2:5-9 we see that the subjection is not be be
complete in this world:
For it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of
which we are speaking. It has been testified somewhere, "What is man
that thou are mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou carest for
him? Thou didst make him for a little while lower than the angels, thou
hast crowned him with glory and honor, putting everything in subjection
under his feet."
Now in putting everything in subjection to man, he left nothing
outside his control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in
subjection to him. But we see Jesus, who for a little while was made
lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor because of the
suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death
for everyone.
These verses are quoted from Psalm 8:4-8. While the Hebrew word
radah is never used outside of Genesis 1 to describe man's rule over
the creatures, in Psalm 8:4-8 the Bible does use the Hebrew word mashal
to describe such a rule. There God declares, "Thou madest him to have
dominion (mashal) over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things
under his feet, all sheep and oxen, " etc.
While this appears to be a statment relating to the condition of man
today, a commentary found in the Bible on these verses indicates
otherwise. That commentary is Hebrews 2:5-9, where these verses are
qouted to show that it is in the world to come that this condition will
apply. The whole world is brought into subjection to Christ (Ephesians
1:22) because of Christ's work on the cross. But "we see not yet all
things under Him" (Hebrews 2:8). This will be in the world to come.
Moreover, the man that is in view in Psalm 8 is not mankind. It is
not the believers either. Hebrews 2 clearly shows that the man God is
speaking of in Psalm 8 is Jesus Himself, who was made a little lower
than the angels. By this magnificent victory on the cross He brought
everything into subjection . This subjection includes Christ's victory
over Satan.
It is in the world to come, the new heaven and new earth, that the
full destruction of Satan will be realized. At judgment day Satan and
all who are his followers, both demons and men, will be cast into the
lake of fire. Then, too, death itself together with the place of the
dead, Hades, will also be cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:14). In
other words, at judgment day the full consequence of Christ, s victory
on the cross will be realized. At that time the full impact of the
curse of Genesis 3:14 will be seen.
Note the language of Isaiah 65 which indicates the conditions that
will exist in the new heaven and new earth (Isaiah 65:17). In verse 25
we read:
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw
like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt
or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.
Note that the statement speaks of conditions similar to those that
existed in the garden of Eden. There is peace. The animals are again
herbivorous. Note the serpent. The curse of Genesis 3:14 has been
brought to full fruition. His humiliation is complete. In Hell he is
the lowest of the creatures. One is reminded of the language of Isaiah
14 which speaks of the end of the king of Babylon. I believe there is
adequate Biblical evidence to show that the king of Babylon is
presented here as a type of Satan. Note:
But you are brought down to Sheol, to the depths of the Pit. Those
who see you will stare at you, and ponder over you; is this the man who
made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a
desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?
All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb, but
you are cast out, away from your sepulchre, like a loathed untimely
birth, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down
to the stones of the Pit, like a dead body trodden under foot. You will
not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your
land, you have slain your people. May the descendants of evildoers
nevermore be named. (Isaiah 14:15-20)
The passages quoted in Isaiah 65 and Isaiah 14 are obviously word
pictures of conditions that will exist beyond judgment day. How much we
can understand them literally is not the burden of this discussion. The
picture of the final punishment of Satan is easily seen.
Why Does God Delay?
Why, we might ask, did God delay carrying out his curse on Satan?
Why has He delayed for almost 2000 years throwing Satan into the lake
of fire? Some light is shed on this question in Ephesians 3:8-11:
To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was
given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and
to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in
God who created all things; that through the church the manifold wisdom
of God might now be made known to the principalities and powers in the
heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose which he has
realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The delay of God, in bringing into effect the final destruction of
Satan and his works, is necessary to permit the development of the
church. God has in view a vast throng of people who were chosen from
eternity to be his sons. Until all of them have been born of Christ,
the church will not have come to full fruition.
It is through this church that Christ's wisdom is being made known
to angels and demons, to all of the inhabitants of heavenly places.
The Cross and Satan
However, while Satan's destruction is destined for judgment day, the
impact of Christ's victory on the cross was experienced by Satan at the
time of the cross.
Because Christ was entirely victorious over Satan by his death and
resurrection He was enabled to do with Satan as He willed. His mastery
over Satan is emphasized by the statement that He has the keys of Death
and Hades. In other words, Christ is the complete master of Satan as
evidenced by His mastery over the works (Death and Hades) of Satan.
I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of
Death and Hades (Rev. 1:18).
He has become the supreme master of the earth, even though Satan is
permitted to continue for the time being as prince of the earth.
And from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the first-born of the
dead, and the ruler of kings on earth (Rev. 1:5). Now is the judgment
of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out; and I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself (John
12:31, 32).
He has removed the authority and power of Satan over this creation,
which Satan had obtained by virtue of his victory over Adam. During the
Old Testament this authority and power of Satan was not total. It was
limited by God because God has never relinquished His care, love and
concern for this universe he created. God continued to reign as
Creator. Moreover, it was limited because the Lordship as Jesus Christ
as Redeemer King was anticipated. Thus, while Satan is called by God
the prince of this world, and the ravages of Satan's ruling are seen on
every hand, we read in Psalm 24:1:
The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and
those who dwell therein. And, For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and
all that moves in the field is mine (Ps. 50:10, 11).
This same theme is emphasized in the New Testament where we read in
I Corinthians 10:26:
For the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.
At the cross, however, the limitations placed upon Satan became more
pronounced. We read in Colossians 2:14, 15:
Having canceled the bond which stood against us with its legal
demands; this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the
principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing
over them in him.
The victory over Satan which was anticipated in the Old Testament
became a reality at the cross. Because of this reality Satan began to
experience increasing difficulty in maintaining his dominion over man.
He was cast out of heaven so that he can no longer accuse believers
before God as he had done with Job.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the
dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they were defeated
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great
dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent who is called the Devil
and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world--he was thrown down to the
earth and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud
voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power of the
kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the
accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and
night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony for they loved not their lives
even unto death (Rev. 12:7-11).
And he said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven"
(Luke 10:18).
Christ bound Satan so that he can no longer deceive the nations. By
this binding the Holy Spirit is enabled to plunder the house of Satan.
In other words, men from every nation who are under bondage to Satan
now can be made free from the shackles of Satan. Matthew 12:18, 29
speaks of this binding:
But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the
kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's
house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then
indeed he may plunder his house.
Much New Testament language is employed to indicate the freedom that
has come to men because of Christ's victory over Satan. A few verses
will serve to illustrate this:
Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings
that by nature are no gods (Gal. 4:8). And you he made alive, when you
were dead through the trepasses and sins in which you once walked,
following the course of this world, following the prince of the power
of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience
(Eph. 2:1, 2).
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the
captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those
who are oppressed (Luke 4:18).
The startling evidence that something happened to Satan at the cross
can be seen at Pentecost. For more than three years Jesus, the master
teacher, had been teaching and showing the power of God. For example,
His home environment of Nazareth and Capernaum is cited for its
unbelief. The converts were few and far between. While crowds followed
him, the conversions that are recorded are in the main those of
isolated individuals.
But then came the cross. And 50 days later Petecost. Peter preaches
one sermon and a whole multitude are saved from every nation. Just
think of it, 3000 were saved that one afternoon. Surely something had
happened to Satan's power over man.
And as we look at this dramatic proof of the fact that Satan's house
is being plundered following the victory on the cross, we might ask the
question, "what then is the mandate, the responsibility of the
Christian in this present world?" Isn't he to subdue this world for the
glory of Christ? Isn't he to probe the scientific mysteries of the
world to His glory? Isn't he to master the animals and all living
creatures so that they are again loyal subjects to him as they were
before the fall? Isn't he to build cities and rule people's to God's
praise?
In attempting to answer this question we might review what happened
to man in Eden.
Sinless Man
When we first look at man in the Bible we see that he as well as the
world is completely pleasing to God. After the six days of creation
"God saw everything he had made, and behold, it was very good." It was
without the ravages of sin and the decay and death that followed when
sin entered the world. In every aspect of creation there was loyalty,
obedience and felicity to God.
Man who was created in the image of God was given dominion over this
perfect and wonderful creation as God's vice-gerund. He was to rule
over it, to care for it and maintain it in its pristine state of
goodness. He was to multiply and fill this earth with his progeny. He
was to be the head of a great people that would serve and glorify their
creator in perfect obedience to Him. They were to live in a perfectly
hamonious relationship to God the Lord of creation. They would walk as
a holy race in personal fellowship to God. The lesser creatures, the
animals, the fish, the birds together with the ground itself were to
exist in a harmonious relationship to their lord and master, man. And
as man ruled over them they too, would glorify God in their loyalty and
service to man. All creation, both animate and inanimate, praised God
as Lord and Creator.
Sinless Man Falls
But one slight condition was imposed upon our first parents Adam and
Eve. They, as the head of mankind, must claim it by their perfect
obedience to God. To give them opportunity to claim their right to be
king of this creation God set up the testing program. He put a tree in
the garden called the tree of good and evil and told Adam and Eve they
were not to eat of it. This tree, together with this command, provided
the arena where Adam would claim his lordship as comprehended in the
command to subdue the earth.
The angel Lucifer, Satan, was the enemy who also wanted to assert
his lordship over the earth. We saw that Adam failed the test. Satan
became prince of the earth and man became his slave. The creation was
cursed as was Satan.
What was man's new relationship to the world? What was his new
relationship to God after the fall? By virture of his obedience to
Satan he had repudiated his own lordship over creation. He, in fact,
became a slave of Satan. Creation itself was subjected to the bondage
of decay in parallel relationship to man's enslavement.
Man, The Slave Of Satan
Because man had become a slave of Satan he no longer wanted to
please God. Instead he transferred his affection, his loyalty, his
allegiance to Satan. The evidence of this transfer was in his lack of
desire to please God and his all consuming desire to please himself.
He, himself, was now the only King who must be served.
He was under God's condemnation because God's perfect justice
required punishment as a penalty for such a rebellion. He lost his
fellowship and his communication with God. His sin-darkened mind and
being provided the avenue through which Satan could assert his mastery
over man.
Because he had repudiated his lordship over creation, that lordship
was actually taken from him. Never again was he told to have dominion
over the creatures as Adam was given dominion before the fall (Gen.
1:26 and 28). Rather the earth and the creatures rebelled against man
as man had rebelled against God. The earth instead of obediently
serving man would bring forth thorns and thistles. Earthquakes,
tornadoes, the raging seas, forest fires, drought, famine, floods,
epidemics, insect infestations, wild animals, and poisonous reptiles
are surely all manifestations of a rebellious creation over which man
no longer had dominion.
The cosmos would continue to praise God as creator (Ps. 19). Even
the wrath of man would praise God (Ps. 76:10). God was still Lord of
His creation. But man's position as His vice-gerund had been removed
because man had surrendered to Satan. The perfect order established at
creation had been destroyed. Instead of being King, man had become a
slave.
Because man (Adam and Eve) was created in the image of God, that is,
with the ability to know God and serve him with perfect obedience, he
could blame no one else for his sin. He alone was responsible for his
fallen state. And since Adam was the head of the human race all mankind
who were his progeny stand in the same relationship to God as Adam. His
kind, the human race, also are enslaved to Satan and in that sense are
likewise totally depraved.
The evidence of man's depravity can be seen in his lack of selfless
love for his fellow man as well as in his perversions relating to
himself. Perhaps, the depths of his depravity can be seen in the manner
he worships. He was created to worship God as his Lord and creator. In
turn he was to bear the responsibility as lord over the creation and
its creatures as well as the inanimate part of creation. The sun, the
river, the crocodile, science, material possessions, a fellow man, or
the human body are typical objects of depraved man's worship.
But man's enslavement to Satan and the curse upon creation is not
absolute. If it were, man would destroy himself in the shortest
possible time. Satan is the very essence of death. God had a plan for
his creation which required a prescribed period of time to carry out.
Therefore, certain restraints were placed on Satan, and on mankind his
slaves, so that God's plan could be carried out.
God's plan for this creation was established by God because God
loved this creation, and at no time did he relinquish this love even
for a moment.
The love of God manifests itself in the warm sunshine, the cool
streams and the beautiful sunset. It also manifested itself in the fact
that God put the fear and dread of man within the animals and delivered
them into his hand. Thus, man would not be destroyed by the lesser
creature, and they would provide food for man. It also manifested
itself in the fact that God did not remove the knowledge of God (Rom.
1:19), or of guilt of his sin from man's being. God allowed man to have
a conscience (Rom. 2:15). He left the laws of God's kingdom imprinted
upon his heart (Rom. 2:15). This gave him a sense of right and wrong
together with a realization that only by attempting to do right could
he maintain any decent level of existence.(1) The knowledge of an
eventual judgment day that God left within man also served to restrain
him from total rebellion. One evidence of this restraint upon man is
revealed by the measure of kindness and mercy shown by natural man to
his fellow man (Matt. 7:11).
God also restrained Satan in his mastery of man. Satan, therefore,
cannot lead his slaves, man, into anymore extensive disregard of God's
laws than God will permit.
The knowledge of God and his laws which God has left within man,
together with the blessings of nature, of health, of a sense of well
being, etc. that God bestows upon all mankind, further condemns man and
emphasizes his personal responsibility before God to live in obedience
to God. As he continues to refuse to acknowledge or praise God in the
face of this knowledge and these blessings, he further condemns himself.
As part of God's plan for man to perpetuate himself, God established
government amongst men. Man was given the responsibility of ruling over
his fellow man. This authority manifested itself as parental authority
over child, master over servant or slave, and government over its
peoples. This authority of man over man is not related in any sense to
the Edenic command to Adam to subdue the earth, or to have dominion
over its creatures. These latter responsibilities and prerogatives
ceased with man's surrender to Satan. Rather this phenomena of
government may be found in every level of God's creation. It can be
seen, for example, in the angelic world, (archangels versus angels);
amongst humans as we have seen; amongst animals (the bull elk ruling
over the herd) (the bull sea lion ruling over the sea lions) (the bird
pushing the fledgling from the nest). This rule of man over man enabled
the working out of the blessing of God upon man to multiply and fill
the earth to be realized.
in line with his rule over his fellow man, he was also given the
mandate to make judgment in areas of good and evil and to punish the
wrongdoer (Gen. 9:6; Prov. 23:13; Rom. 13:4). This also extends to
every level of authority i.e. parent to child, master to servant, etc.
He is used of God to carry out God's plans in the world. Thus the
Babylonians were used to bring judgment upon the nation of Judah.
Because God is the ultimate Soverign, this use of man is even
paralleled by God's use of Satan and the evil spirits (cf I Kings
22:13) to carry out God's programs.
He is used by God to care for this world, to cultivate it and
develop it for food. (Gen. 3:23--"the Lord sent him forth...to till the
ground." Again this work of man is unrelated to the pre-fall command to
subdue the earth or have dominion over its creatures. Rather the
creatures were delivered into his hand. He is to derive his shelter
from the earth as intimated by the animal skins provided by God to Adam
and Eve (Ge. 3:21).
Natural man is endowed with the desire to discover. He is curious
about everything. This is probably a function of the blessing and
mandate to fill the earth, as well as the decision of God that every
green food and all flesh were given to him for food (Gen. 9:3). Because
of these privileges and relationships, man has constantly sought to
explore and discover. In this he is again paralleling the lesser
creatures. They, too, have natural curiosity, and seek to explore their
natural habitat especially discovering that which is edible. (Consider,
for example a cat prowling in a house.) Thus, in this endowment man is
not relating at all to the command to our first parents to subdue the
earth or have dominion over its creatures.
We, therefore, see clearly that natural man, the slave of Satan,
whose chief purpose in life is self service, has been given blessings
and mandates which he is to carry out even though he has become an
enemy of God.
The commands to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, to receive
every green thing and animal for food and to till the ground, are
foundational within man. These commands and blessings, which were
specifically given to fallen man, are the basis for man's desire to
know more about this world in which he lives. We shall see later how
natural man began to excel in these endeavors.
But are all men, who have ever been born to live on this earth,
estranged from God? Certainly not as we shall see.
God's Man, The Believer
A small percentage of the human race who are completely unique must
now be considered. While all men are members of the human race as
descendants of Adam, not all remain in bondage to Satan. Rather in all
generations since the very beginning a remnant of people has been freed
from servitude to Satan. Let us look at these, who we will call God's
man, (as distinguished from `natural man' who continues as a slave of
Satan), to determine their relationship to God and to this creation.
We might note first of all that God's man is genealogical and
anthropoligically a member of the human race, even as is natural man.
As such, all of the blessings mandates and prerogatives given to
natural man are also given to God's man. As a part of the human race he
rules over his fellow man, (he is a parent, a master, a government
official).
He enjoys all of the blessings of God that are common to all mankind
(sunshine, the beauties of nature, health, a sense of well being, the
privilege to procreate). He, too, cultivates and cares for the world to
derive his food and shelter from it. He too, is curious about this
earth with which he is so intimately related and, therefore, searches
it out to discover how it might more efficiently produce for him and
his peers.
How then does he differ from natural man? If he is no longer a slave
of Satan, to whom is he related? The Bible tells us that he has become
a son of God. This has changed his whole motivation. Natural man
performs with his highest motivation to recognize and glorify self, as
revealed by self pride, self orientation, self serving. Some of his
more humane actions may be consciously or subconsciously a result of
his inherent fear of God and His judgments. Some of his actions may
even be a result of God's restraint upon him so that he does show some
capacity for mercy and love for his fellow man. But natural man's
ultimate drive is one that only recognizes himself as king, because in
so doing he is unwittingly showing that Satan is king.
With God's man has been given a new inner being, a new nature, a new
heart. He is born again. Whereas natural man's inner being is darkened
by his bondage to Satan so that he will not acknowledge God as Lord of
his life, God's man's spiritual eyes have been opened so that he sees
himself as a sinner hopelessly condemned by God's perfect justice. He
accepts in childlike trust the substitutionary atonement of Christ for
his sins (the condemnation of God for his sin was paid for by Christ as
his substitute). And God has come into his life in the person of the
Holy Spirit and motivates him to live to God's glory. He, therefore,
wants to please God in all that he does. He has become a part of a new
race of people headed up by the last Adam, Jesus Christ. His
citizenship is with Christ as his King. Satan no longer has any claims
on him.
Since God's man has become reintroduced into the family of God, we
would expect that the commands to subdue the earth, to have dominion
over its creatures must somehow again relate to him. Shouldn't he now
bring this earth and its creatures into submission to God's glory?
Shouldn't he now have dominion in the earth as Adam was commanded?
The answers to these questions are in the negative. Let us consider
why this is the case.
Let us recall that Adam was made king (given dominion) of a perfect
creation. He had to claim his kingship by subduing the enemy who
threatened, Satan. Because he failed to subdue Satan, he lost his
dominion over the creatures. He was reduced to a slave of Satan.
Christ, the last Adam, was eminently successful in subduing this
earth by conquering Satan. He, therefore, has become Lord of this
creation not only by virtue of being the creator but also because He is
the Redeemer. Christ, therefore, is preeminent in every sense (Col.
1:18). We saw, however, that the subjugation of Satan would not be
finalized until judgment day when the new heaven and earth are reality.
By the same token Christ's dominion over this creation will also be
finalized at that same time. We read very significantly that every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Phil. 2:10). But
this will not occur until judgment day.
The dominion over the earth by the believer, who has become a
citizen of God's kingdom, cannot occur until Christ's dominion is seen.
Christ said very significantly; "My kingdom in not of this world." This
is the same world (cosmos) that God loved so much that He gave his only
begotten son to die for it (John 3:16). But this cosmos remains under
the curse of sin until judgment day, even though in principle it has
been freed from the effects of Satan's reign. Jesus declared that when
the signs indicate Jesus' return is imminent, "the kingdom of God is
near" (Luke 21:31).(2) The realm of the kingdom is not this cosmos. It
is related only to the new heaven and new earth where righteousness
dwells.
But Jesus repeatedly used the phrase "kingdom of heaven" or "kingdom
of God" as of the kingdom is a present reality. John, the Baptist,
stated it was at hand (Matt. 3:2). It was at hand because the head of
this kingdom, the Lord Jesus Christ, was about to appear. It was also
at hand because Jesus was ready to make provision for the kingdom. He
began to claim His Lordship over this kingdom by his perfect obedience
in the face of Satan's temptations in the wilderness. He completed his
claim of Lordship over this kingdom by His victory on the cross.
He told the 70 who were sent out to declare, `The kingdom of God has
come near to you', to the people they visited (Luke 10:9). It was near
these people because the 70 missionaries were citizens of the kingdom.
Their presence near the people to whom they witnessed brought the
kingdom near. It was also near in the sense that they had only to
believe to become citizens of the kingdom.
For there is one place in this present world where it can be seen.
It is the same place where the victory of the cross can be seen. And
this is as it should be, for the victory of the cross was to usher in
the kingdom of God. It cannot be seen in the physical world. The earth
and its creatures exclusive of God's man remained unchanged because of
the cross. Objectively speaking, the rose is no more beautiful, peaches
no more tasty or music is no more harmonious after the cross than
before the cross. Creation continues to groan and travail awaiting the
revealing of the sons of glory, awaiting judgment day when the new
heaven and earth will be ushered in.
The redemption evidence of Christ's victory on the cross can only be
found in one place--in God's man. Only in him does the first evidence
of the kingdom of God appear. Only in him has a transformation
occurred. He in his inner being, in his soul, has passed from darkness
into light, has been made free from Satan's dominion. That is the
reason that wherever a believer is, the kingdom of God has come near
all others who meet him. That is the reason Jesus said the kingdom is
within you. John, the Baptist, declared the kingdom was at hand because
Christ was about to go to the cross to defeat Satan, and to provide for
Christ's Lordship over the Kingdom.
Christ himself is the head of this kingdom, and his appearance at
the Jordan River was the primary evidence of the kingdom at that time.
Christ gave other evidences of the immanence of the kingdom. He
healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, raised the dead, and
cast out demons. Do you recall that this is the evidence which he
showed to John the Baptist to prove the genuiness of His Messiahship
(Matt. ll:5). This, also, was the evidence that He gave to his
disciples and the seventy who were sent out. Those who were offered the
Gospel could know it was the true Gospel by these miraculous acts as
the ravages of Satan's dominion (sickness, death, blindness, demons)
were removed from man. These evidences of the victory of Christ on the
cross could be shown because He had obtained authority over Satan at
the cross. We saw how this further restraint of Satan, this binding of
Satan, made it possible that his house could more effectively be
plundered of the souls of men. The miracles of healing, casting out
demons, etc. were but preliminary evidences of the miracle of salvation
that resulted because of Christ's victory.
Beginning with the temptation in the wilderness, when Jesus began
deliberately to follow the footsteps of the first Adam, Christ showed
himself as the genuine Lord of creation by His perfect obedience.
Throughout His ministry the evidences of His victory over Satan
multiplied. At the cross His work was completed, and Pentecost revealed
in final form on this side of Judgment day the reality of this victory.
Christ's second coming will reveal in a much greater degree the extent
and degree of Christ's victory over Satan.
In the Old Testament Christ's victory was anticipated. One leper was
healed (Naaman, the Syrian), one lad was raised from the dead, Hezekiah
was give 15 years of added life. And in the area of salvation a remnant
of Israel was saved, a few individuals
became believers, one city repented (Nineveh). The atonement of
Christ was so certain and sure that its redeeming effects reached
backward all the way to Adam.
And then Christ himself came on the scene. The atonement was now to
happen momentarily. The shadow of the cross brought greater and greater
evidence of Christ's coming victory. The King himself was present.
Numerous persons (but mostly Jews) were being freed from the ravages of
sin. Many believed and followed Jesus.
And then the cross was occupied by Christ. Satan was conquered. Now
in the New Testament dispensation the impact of this victory reached
forth into every nation, every tongue, every people. And as believers
multiplied, the kingdom of heaven was brought and is being brought into
the eyesight and hearing of every people. At the cross the kingdom of
God became a reality. The believers, the invisible church, are the
citizens over whom Christ reigns. Satan's claim of Lordship over the
cosmos has been shattered, even though he is allowed to continue as
prince until all those who are to believe are saved.
Christ continues to reign over the cosmos as Creator even as He has
throughout all history. But after the cross Christ as Lord of the
heavens and earth is shown to be seated at the right hand of the
Father. He has thoroughly subdued Satan and reigns over him and over
all creation as the Redeemer. But only after He returns will the cosmos
be shown to be in subjection to him.
As king he continues to bring all his enemies into subjection (I
Cor. 15:25). This cannot be a reference to Satan being brought into
subjection for he has already been overcome. But as the world continues
since the cross countless thousands of new slaves of Satan are created
as people multiply. Each is an enemy of Christ unless he is transferred
into the kingdom of God. As an enemy, a slave of Satan, he, too, is
subject to Christ's victory. He is under God's wrath.
Then comes the end when all that is under the curse of sin is judged
and removed from the earth. This includes Satan and his demons,
unregenerate man, the cosmos itself (it will be burned with fire, II
Peter 3:10-12). Christ will bring in the realm of the kingdom (the new
heaven and earth) and the reign of the king in its fullest sense. Death
itself, the most dramatic evidence of the work of Satan, will be
abolished.
Does The Believer Exercise Judgment?
But the question still persists. If Christ is the head of this new
race of God's men, and if he has been victorious over Satan, shouldn't
the believer begin to exercise dominion over the creatures in some
sense. Doesn't he somehow have some responsibility to bring this
creation under the dominion of Christ. Again, the answer must be
repeated in the negative. Christ has done all this and the fruition of
his efforts must await His return. This in no sense is the born again
believers task or responsibility.
The truth can be shown in another way. Noah was told that the
animals would be in fear and dread of him (Gen. 9:2). This is a result
of his loss of the prerogative to have dominion over them. This was an
accommodation by God to prevent the animals from turning on man and
destroying him. Now if redeemed man was again to have dominion over the
creatures in any sense, this would be a good place to show that he has
dominion. The fact is, however, that saved man relates to the animals
in identical fashion to that of the unsaved. The animals have identical
fear and dread of both kinds of men.
Likewise, the Christian farmer cannot grow bigger tomatoes or finer
cattle than the unbeliever. He has just as much trouble with blight and
thistles and harmful insects as the non-Christian farmer. The carpenter
who is a Christian is not necessarily any finer craftsman than the
natural man who is a carpenter.
What then is the man of God's task in this world? Is it to do all
the things the unsaved man does--care for the earth, provide food, and
shelter, show mercy, govern his fellow man--with a higher motivation
than his unsaved friend? Yes, that could be expected. The Bible says
that whether we eat or drink or whatever we do we are to do it to the
Glory of God.
But the Bible also says that the kingdom of God is not meat or drink
but righteousness and peace. In other words, when we do the things
natural man does--seek a living, find food and shelter, etc.--we are to
do these things to God's glory. But this is not the kingdom. There is
something else that is of far greater consequence. It is citizenship in
the kingdom of Christ. This cosmos is the environment in which the
Christian is to show the evidence of his heavenly citizenship. His
efforts therefore, are to be especially directed in those areas that
relate to the Kingdom of God.
A very interesting phenomena is revealed in the Scriptures. Let us
look at the activities of the two lines in early Biblical history.
Natural man was going forth with all zeal to conquer this world--for
himself. The descendants of Cain--he, who was especially cursed by
God--built the first cities, became the first musicians, and the first
ironworkers. They were the mighty men, the men of renown. Surely, God's
man should have been doing likewise--only with a motivation to do it to
God's glory. But what does the Bible record? God's man, the descendants
of Seth "walked with God (Enoch), " looked for "relief from our work
and from the toil of our hands (Lamech), " and built an ark to escape
God's judgment on the world. For some reason the development of arts
and crafts, of shelter for mankind, was not very important to God's man.
Let us pursue this thought a bit further. The next Biblical report
of the two lines of men is that of the sons of Noah. Significantly, the
descendants of Ham, whose son Canaan was especially cursed, were the
great builders. It was Nimrod, the descendant of Ham, who founded the
first great civilization of the world on the plains of Shinar. It was a
descendant of Ham who founded the second great civilization of
antiquity. This was Egypt. But of the descendants of Shem, the brother
who was in the line of God's men, we read of no accomplishments.
That is, except for a brother of Abraham. God had narrowed the
Messianic line through Terah. Terah was the father of three sons,
Abraham, Nahor, and Haran. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees. But Nahor
built a city (Gen. 24:10). What do we read of God's man, Abram? He was
promised the world (Rom. 4:13) but he dwelt in a tent as a stranger and
a sojourner. The only land he owned was the cave of Machpelah (Hebron),
which he purchased as a burial ploy for his wife, Sarah.
Surely, the Biblical record indicates that the believer's task is
not only completely different in motivation from natural man's, but
also different in kind. God's man is human and a resident of this world
and, therefore, is concerned about the same tasks confronting natural
man. But he has a far greater and more glorious task that takes
precedent in his life. He has become a follower of Christ. Christ is
his King, and he wishes to follow him in perfect obedience. Only in
this way can he relate to the kingdom of God of which he is a citizen.
But if he is a follower of Christ, his king, he must do what Christ
does. Let us see how he can do this. We shall thereby discover how
through the believer the kingdom of God is extended to all the peoples
of the world.
What was the task of Christ? We have seen that Jesus' primary task
was especially twofold. He must defeat Satan by his perfect obedience
and thus claim Lordship over this creation. In this endeavor He was the
last Adam and He became the head of a race of people who are the
believers.
Secondly, he must redeem this world from the ravages of 11,000 years
of sin. The most important aspect of this is the redemption of mankind.
The only way they could be redeemed was to provide a substitute to
bear the penalty for their sins in order that God's perfect justice
could be satisfied. This Jesus provided by going to the cross and
suffering the equivalent of an eternity in Hell, as God poured out His
wrath upon Him for man's sins. Because the weal or woe of the rest of
creation is parallel to that of mankind, the rest of the cosmos which
was redeemed at the cross will also be made free from the bondage of
sin when Christ comes again to finalize the salvation of mankind. This,
of course, is the time when God's men will receive their resurrected
bodies. They will then live eternally with Christ as their King in a
new heaven and new earth from which all that is sinful has been
banished.
But the believer cannot follow Christ by becoming the last Adam. He
cannot atone for his sins or for the sins of the world. He cannot
destroy Satan for Satan's doom was already made certain by Christ at
the cross. He cannot become the last Adam for Christ is the last Adam.
He and He only is Lord of this creation.
The Believer's Task
But there is an area of Christ's work in which the Christian can and
is, in fact, mandated to follow Jesus. He is our example, our leader,
our King, and His wish is our command. We, therefore, as citizens of
His Kingdom wich to be entirely obedient to him. And there is a
glorious area of Christ's ministry where we can follow and are indeed
mandated to follow.
Christ preached the Gospel. During his ministry He declared to the
multitudes that the Kingdom of God was at hand. And this is the mandate
He gives to God's man, the believer.
Jesus said in Matthew 28:19:
Go therfore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
In II Corinthians 5:20 the command is a bit differently given:
So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
And in I Peter 2:9 the same truth is enunciated:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's
own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The born again Christian, who has been adopted into the family of
God and who has become citizen of the kingdom headed up by Christ,
declares to the world what Christ has done at the cross.
This is why he is called an ambassador of Christ. The Christian
himself is the evidence of Christ's victory on the cross. This is the
only area of the cosmos where the effect of Christ's work on the cross
can be seen on this side of judgment day. The redeemed soul of the
Christian is the only portion of the cosmos that is changed because of
the cross. The creatures and the earth must await judgment day before
the evidence of Christ's victory will be seen in them.
But even in God's man the victory of the cross is not manifested as
a total victory. While his soul has been transformed--it needs no
further changing to enter heaven--his body, his old nature, has not
been changed at all as a result of the cross.
But because man is an integrated personality consisting of both body
and soul, it is in his body that he can first demonstrate the power of
Christ in his life. When he became a citizen of Christ's kingdom, he
was freed from bondage of Satan, in both body and soul. While his soul
was renewed by the Holy Spirit (he was born-again), his body was
unchanged. It still bears all the desires of the natural man. It still
lusts after the world. But it was freed from Satan's power. This is the
reason the Christian longs for the resurrection of the body. The
resurrected body is the hope of the Christian.
He Must Reign Over His Body
Therefore, this becomes the arena where the victory of the cross is
shown to the unsaved world and to principalities and powers. A man's
soul, his inner essence, cannot be seen, but his body can. He is,
therefore, told by Christ to reign over his body. He is to crucify the
flesh, put to death the old nature. He is to show in his body, as he
exercises control over it, that Christ's victory on the cross is what
the Bible says it is. He, of course, has infinite God in the person of
the Holy Spirit indwelling him to give him the strength. He has Christ
to call upon for aid. He has the Word of God to guide him. He has the
love of the Father as an ever present source of comfort. His body,
thus, is the testing arena where he gains victories over Satan. Because
he is attempting to bring an unchanged natural body under control, he
never totally succeeds. His successes strengthen him in Christ and his
failures repeatedly bring him to the cross as he confesses his sins and
experiences anew the pardon of Christ.
Thus, as the Christian shows the fruit of the Spirit in his life,
(love, joy, peace, long suffering, etc., Gal. 5:22,23), and this can
only be shown as he crucifies the flesh and its desires, he shows to
his unsaved peers the power of a transformed life.
He Is A Prophet
The believer's task to witness goes beyond showing to the world the
redeeming work of Christ as he reigns over his body. Christ, as our
King, preached the Gospel. And he expects us also to preach the Gospel.
Christ has provided the salvation. He, as the head of all believers,
set the example for his followers as he preached to the multitudes. In
God's mysterious divine economy He gave to his believers the task of
sharing the news of the victory on the cross to all men. In the Old
Testament this was done in a limited fashion (Noah to the citizens of
his day, the spies to Rahab, Naomi to Ruth and Orpah, Jonah to Nineveh,
Solomon to the Queen of Sheba, the prophets to the Israelites, and the
heathen nations).
But then came the cross and Pentecost. Satan was bound so that his
house could be plundered of captives from every nation. The promise was
given that the gates of Hell could not prevail. (The gates of Satan's
prison that keep men from entering heaven could not keep out the
powerful Gospel that would free men.) The church was given the key to
these prison gates of Hell. That key was the Gospel. The Holy Spirit
was poured out to give power to those who would witness and to provide
the power that would unlock the prison gates (the hearts of men). God's
man was to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. He and he
only is the one that holds within his hands and heart the knowledge
that can set men free.
As parents, he preaches as he witnesses to his children. The
housewife presents the Gospel by her testimony to her neighbors, the
business man to his associates. The concern to preach the Gospel is
manifested in the Christian's support of missionaries and mission
ventures. The believer engages in tract and Bible distribution
programs. The methods and means of bringing the Gospel are as manifold
as and as varied as there are believers. When one of God's men or one
organization lies down on the task, God raises others up to carry the
Gospel in other ways. For the Gospel will go out.
He Is A Priest
But the Christian must follow Christ in another dynamic way. Christ
prayed for his people. He interceded on their behalf. This task, too,
is given the believer. He is given an open channel to the throne room
of God to bring his petitions and thanks. Natural man has no
possibility of audience with the King because he is not a citizen. Nor
does he want such an audience for Satan is his master, and he believes
that he, himself, is the
King of his life. But God's man realizes every gift is from above.
And he comes to God on behalf of those who are in spiritual bondage. He
prays for the salvation of his friends, of his fellowman.
He also prays for the needs of this world for in its welfare he
finds his welfare. This is the environment in which he is to live and
work as God's man. He, therfore, prays for those who govern (I Tim.
2:1-3). He prays for the temporal needs of his fellow man. He does,
indeed, belong to a kingdom of priests and has great concern for the
needs of this world. He knows that God loves this world and, therefore,
the believer's requests are well received by God.
But there is another dynamic way in which God's man shows his
tremendous concern for this world. In this he is also showing Christ as
his example.
In his priesthood he completes the suffering of Jesus Christ. In
Colossians 1:24 the Bible declares:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I
complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his
body, that is, the church.
This suffering is not the suffering of the atonement. No man can
take part in that. But Christ also suffered in bringing the Gospel. He
suffered as men reviled him, as he endured physical hardship in
preaching the Gospel., as he was slandered, beaten, and cursed. The
bringing of the Gospel caused great suffering for Christ completely
apart from the redemption suffering caused by his perfect obedience to
God in bearing the wrath of God for our sins.
And the church, the society of God's men, is the body of Christ. It
is as it were Christ himself, continuing to present the Gospel. Christ
ascended to heaven but he left his citizens here to complete his
suffering--to be his ambassadors, his representatives, his body, his
presence. The Christian is to endure hardship, persecution, revilings,
and deprivation in order that he might bring the Gospel as Christ
brought it.
The focal point of the Christian's life is obedience to Christ as
his King, as his Savior. His task is not in any sense to bring the
world into subjection, or to have dominion of this world. This was
accomplished by Christ, but will not be revealed until judgment day.
Geehardus Vos (3) as well as others would include much more within the
kindom than we are setting forth in this discussion. He does say:
The kingdom remains to all intents a supernatural kingdom (p.44).
and he further declares: It would not be in harmony with Jesus' view
so to conceive of it, as if by gradual extension of the divine power
operating internally, by the growth of the church by the everwidening
influence of the truth, the kingdom which now is will become
all-comprehensive and universal and so pass over into the final
kingdom. This would eliminate all true eschatology and obliterate the
distinction between the two aspects of Jesus' teachings on the subject
(p. 45).
But he also states;
There is a sphere of science, a sphere of art, a sphere of the
family and of the state, a sphere of commerce and industry. Whenever
one of these spheres comes under the controlling influence of the
principle of the divine supremacy and glory, and this outwardly reveals
itself, there we can truly say that the kingdom of God has become
manifest...we may safely affirm two things. On the one hand, his
doctrince of the kingdom was founded on such a profound and broad
conviction of the absolute supremacy of God in all things, that he
could not look upon every normal and legitmate province of human life
as intended to form part of God's kingdom.
Vos is unable to provide any direct Biblical basis for this latter
conclusion. In fact, he himself declares in reference to the question
of including these spheres as a part of the kingdom:
Now our Lord in his teaching seldom makes explicity reference to
these things (p. 89).
He also comments:
As already stated, this is a subject on which our Lord's teaching
does not bring any explicit disclosures and which can only be treated
by way of inference (89).
We might add that philosophically this extension of the kingdom as
suggested by Vos and others appears very logical, even though there is
no direct Biblical warrant for it. But when such statements as God's
command to subdue the earth and have dominion over its creatures are
studied in the light of the whole Word of God, we have seen that this
idea will not accord with Biblical revelation. It appears,
unfortunately, that Vos did not explore the Biblical revelation from
the aspect of these direct commands.
Rather he is to be content with his lot in life because his
citizenship is in heaven. He, with Abraham, is a stranger and a pilgrim
here. The city he is looking for is the heavenly city. But he is living
here as in a foreign land with a glorious task. In the carrying out of
this task, he utilizes the products that man (both natural and God's
man) has produced, even as Jesus used a boat when he preached. The all
important aspect of Jesus' ministry, however, was not the boat, but the
Gospel message. Likewise, the all important aspect of the Christian's
task is not the production of means of communication but communication
itself--communication of the Gospel.
The Christian shows mercy, the Christian loves and the Christian
provides food and the cup of cold water for the same reasons that Jesus
healed the sick, wept over Jerusalem and fed the five thousand. In
these programs he is obeying Christ and showing the love of God. And as
he manifests his love in these endeavors, he is providing the context
and contact for presenting the Gospel that will set men free. He is
truly the aroma of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Christian realizes that he is heir to this earth. Jesus promised
this when he said "the meek shall inherit the earth." But he knows that
his inheritance will become a reality when Christ gives it to him as a
new earth following judgment day. Then the enemy, Satan and all his
followers, both demons and men, will be removed, will be destroyed from
this earth. Today they claim possession of this earth. They appear to
be very successful. But victory for God's man is certain. He will be
the prossessor, the heir of this earth, because Christ has been
entirely successful in his subjugation of Satan. God's timetable calls
for the final evidence of Christ's victory to be shown at His return
when only God's man and the angels will be eternally present with God
in the new heaven and new earth, wherein righteousness dwells.
How glorious is the salvation offered by the Lord Jesus Christ to
whosoever will believe on Him. How glorious is the task of the disciple
of Christ as he follows his Lord and Savior.
(Notes to numbered passages in Chapter 3) (1) The 12 rules of
Alcoholics Anonymous are a good example of this fact. If these rules,
which are derived from Biblical truth, are followed, the members of
this organization are able to stay sober. This in itself can never
bring salvation, but it does permit alcoholics to live decent lives.
(2) In the same context Jesus indicated that when it is time for
Christ's return, "your redemption is near" (Luke 21:28). The kingdom
of God is exactly parallel to salvation. At conversion man's eternal
salvation in all of its fullness is guaranteed--at the cross the
eternal kingdom of God was assurred in all its fulness of the new
heaven and new earth. At conversion salvation can only be seen in the
soul of man and in his body as he reigns over it with his new soul.
This side of judgment day the kingdom of God can only be seen in the
redeemed souls of men as believers reign over their bodies. At Christ's
return redemption will be totally completed--both of man's body as well
as the cosmos. The kingdom will come to full fruition.
(3) Vos, The Kingdom and the Church, Erdmans 1951.
CHAPTER 4
FEED MY SHEEP
In this volume we have explored many avenues of truth. We have begun
with creation and have concluded with the Christian's task today. We
discovered that the believer, God's man, has a glorious mandate and
opportunity of bringing the Gospel to this sin cursed world. Christ,
the last Adam, has provided redemption for this cosmos. The good news
of this tremendous historical event is to be shared with all men. Thus,
each is provided the opportunity to forsake his sin and to enter the
kingdom of God.
One might wonder if there is other information in these opening
chapters of Genesis that might lead us to the believer's mandate or
task today. Surprisingly, there is, as we shall see.
Let us turn back to Genesis 3:23. There we read of the expulsion of
Adam and Eve from the garden following their terrible defeat by the
hand of Satan. We read:
...therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from which he was taken.
In this passage we want to focus our attention upon the word "till"
which in Hebrew is abad. As we reflect on the Bible's use of this word
we shall discover very significant truth for man today.
The word "till" was first used in the garden before the fall of man
into sin. In Gensis 2:15 we read:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till
it and keep it.
Adam and Eve, in their perfect pristine relationship to God and the
cosmos, were told to "till" or "dress" the garden. It would appear as
"till" is used in this context that they were to cultivate it. They
were to care for it and maintain that which was already good. In this
way the ground would supply the needs of man.
In Genesis 3:23 we are told man was driven from the garden and told
to "till" (abad) the ground from which he was taken. At this point in
history the implication of this command should have been identical to
that of Genesis 2:15, except that the "tilling" of the ground was to be
far more difficult and unrewarding. Whereas in the garden there was
perfect harmony between man and the ground, so that the ground as a
subordinate to man responded willingly and loyally to man's care, sin
brought rebellion in the ground. Man must now work by the sweat of his
face (Gen. 3:19) and thorns and thistles would come forth as a reward
for his efforts (Gen. 3:18). Whereas in the garden "tilling" the garden
was a joyful, God-glorifying activity, after the fall it became a
painful difficult pursuit in which he must engage if he was to eat and
have shelter.
In its Biblical use in the first three chapters of Genesis there is
no suggestion or intimation that "tilling the soil" should in any sense
make a man a servant of the soil. In the garden he clearly was lord
over the ground and all creation. After the fall man was no longer lord
of creation, and the ground had become an adversary. But he had not
become a subordinate of the ground. Even as man was cursed, so was the
ground. If man alone were cursed and not the ground, a very difficult
situation would have developed. In a real sense the ground would have
become superior to man, for it would have continued in a perfect
relationship to God the Creator, while man had become estranged from
God, as a slave of Satan. Thus by cursing the ground (Gen. 3:17) God
assured that the creation order was continued. Before the fall this
creation order was a glorious thing with man reigning as king
(dominion), as God's vice gerund. There was perfect obedience and
loyalty of subordinates to those above. After the fall the creation
order continued, but man had lost his kingship and Satan had become his
master and prince of the world. Because the creatures of the world
continued in a subordinate relationship to man, he was to use them for
food and clothing. But his kingship over them had ceased. They had
become rebellious toward man and would destroy man if possible. To
safeguard man and to maintain the proper creation order, God put the
fear and dread of man within the animals and actually had to deliver
them into his hand (Gen. 9:2). This phrase, "deliver them into his
hand, " is an evidence of the total loss of dominion sustained by man
by the fall. The situation required special intervention by God to
maintain any semblance of order in the sin-cursed world.
Similarly, the ground which was to supply the needs of man, also,
continued as a subordinate of man. But man was no longer king o |