20 | A New Creation Perspective of Genesis

As we begin to look more closely at the Genesis 2-3 narrative, we’re going to do so by applying the work of Yeshua the Christ as a larger context for understanding those events. The revelation of the Son of Man is the light of this larger context, revealing the new creation for humanity in Christ himself.

Exiting the Garden

Let’s begin with the final event of the narrative – Adam and Eve’s departure from the Garden of Eden. Was it the result of penal punishment or rejection of humanity on God’s part? Could it even be considered as God separating himself from disobedient mankind? Since these ideas and others like them do not find their origins in Scripture, we’ll see that they derive from the speculations of scribes and commentators attempting to resolve what appear to be theological contradictions.[1] It is my observation that many of these contradictions arise from an incomplete context of the work of God in Christ. In the case of Adam and Eve’s exit from the garden, there’s no need for speculation since the inspired narrative reveals God’s own declaration for their departure. Our challenge is to understand the context in which God is achieving his will to bring many sons and daughters from the mist and the dust into his glorious kingdom, which is achieved through Adam and Eve’s disobedience and ours.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

 

The language is clear and simple; God wanted to prevent them, after taking from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, from having access also to the Tree of Life. God was preventing something from occurring in that window of time when their eyes were just opened (3:7).

He was preventing them from also taking from the Tree of Life, by which they could live forever in his kingdom.[2]

 

To understand clearly what God was protecting, we must look to the revelation of the larger context revealed in Christ. The apostle Paul provides this clarity:

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Corinthians 15:45-50)

 

Here are some observations about what Paul is saying:

• Adam was created a living being, a living soul, made from the dust, mortal and perishable
• Yeshua, the last Adam, became a life-giving Spirit; our tree of life
• The first Adam was from the earth, a man of dust
• The last Adam came from heaven
• Those who originate from the dust are dust. This corresponds precisely with God’s reminder to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:19; for dust you are and to dust you shall return. It is consistent with the mist and the dust from which they were created (2:6-7).

 

Paul goes on to share the hope and encouragement of this reality; just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. Paul is describing the scope of the process he referred to earlier in verse 46; it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. This too points back to the context of the garden narrative. God wasn’t rejecting or punishing Adam and Eve by putting them out of the garden. He was protecting the process of creation for his children, a process that begins in the natural realm and will be completed in the spiritual realm. We simply have to be willing to set aside the myriad of speculations and follow the truth of the Spirit where it leads.

• Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.
• It was God who formed the world in which we dwell and all the universe that supports it as perishable.
• If God had intended Adam and Eve to initially be perfect and complete in his God-like image and suitable to dwell in his divine kingdom, he wouldn’t have started with the perishable. He would have started with the imperishable, and there would be no need for the Tree of Life since those created imperishable already possess eternal life.
• This leaves immortality for humanity as something to be gained, not lost.[3]

Creation as a Process

The process of leading his children from the mist and the dust to righteousness and eternal life in Christ represents an ongoing work of creation into the image and likeness of Yeshua the Christ. If we miss the process being worked out through Christ on our behalf, we misunderstand his role and ours. The evidence of our incompleteness is there in the Genesis 2-3 narrative for us to see if we have ears to hear. Does God himself not say – Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. If man was complete in his God-like image prior to taking from the Tree of Knowledge, how is it that something could be added? If flesh and blood are incompatible with the kingdom of God, as Paul declares, then either God made a mistake or we were created from the mist and the dust for a reason. That reason is revealed in Yeshua the Christ, the second Adam who is a life-giving Spirit. In him and by his gift of the Holy Spirit, humanity regains access to our tree of eternal life, completing the process from the natural to the spiritual.

 

Clearly, this was by God’s design. When the two God-like characteristics we obtain in Christ and are necessary to inherit his kingdom are the very same characteristics we see represented by the two trees in the garden narrative, we can see intention. This process of natural first, then the spiritual is a different form of creation than that applied in the heavenly realm. Clearly, God desired something different for his children, first making them lower than the spirit realm. By bringing humanity into maturity and righteous character within the constraints of the physical realm, it ensures their loyalty and trust are tested and proven through struggle and suffering, thereby mirroring the process exhibited by the man from heaven – putting the cross before the crown.

 

Whether we recognize or appreciate the full weight of this process, it also serves to build trust and faith in God. Having suffered in our walk through water and fire in order to receive the promised inheritance, these sacrifices become an expression of our trust and God’s faithfulness to deliver his promises just as he did for his beloved Son. This expression of God’s faithfulness is even more evident in that, like Adam and Eve, we too continue as incomplete, imperfect, and mortal children vulnerable to the weakness inherent in the natural realm. Yet God gave them everything they needed to satisfy his prime directive, and he blessed them in it.[4]

 

God created the natural realm and us in it to have dominion over it as his vice-regents, participating in this ongoing creative effort. It’s not accidental that the author of the natural creation and the finisher of the new creation are one and the same – Yeshua the Christ. His role, like ours, was established before the foundations of the world were laid. It was never Adam and Eve’s role to gain access to the heavenly realm. Their role and ours is to inhabit the natural realm and to faithfully fulfill the mandate given by God. Through this process, God would make us fit for his kingdom through the righteousness and eternal life revealed in Christ our Lord.

Creation will bear Fruit

To achieve the final goal of making humanity partakers of Christ’s nature and sharing in his glory, as I described in the beginning of this book, God knew what was necessary for our growth. We were the seed being planted in the world, and God’s creation would bear the fruit intended.

Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds

rain down righteousness;

Let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit;

let the earth cause them both to sprout;

I the Lord have created it. (Isaiah 45:8)

 

Yeshua the Christ is the manifestation of God’s intent to rain down salvation and righteousness upon the earth. He is the hope and assurance of God to see the fulfillment of the earth’s purpose in leading humanity to the new creation. This is the process that God saw as very good in the natural creation.[5] The apostle Paul reflects this same thinking when he describes humanity as the kernel to be planted and the seed which must die in order to reveal the life within it.

You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.

Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. (1 Corinthians 15:36-39,42-46,49)

 

Here in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul is referring to our mortal souls as the kernel. The seed planted in the earth must die in order to come to life, and the kernel being planted from the mist and the dust is not the life that is to be. Humanity was planted in dishonor but will be raised in glory. It was planted in weakness but is raised in power. Humanity was planted on the earth a natural kernel but will be raised a spiritual fruit.

So it was with the first Adam, sown of the earth, a man of dust. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, a descendent of the first Adam, so shall we also bear the image of the man from heaven as co-heairs with Christ, the firstborn of all creation.[6]

 

Paul builds further on this illustration of the process and clarifies the steps God has planned and is working out in Christ to bring his children to glory. The focus of that plan returns to the resurrection of the dead, where Paul contrasts the seed that is sown in the first Adam against the fruit of the seed in the last Adam. I suggest reading the entire chapter first. As a summary, I’ll outline Paul’s contrast in a table.

The seed that’s sown verses the fruit of the seed
Is sown perishable	Is raised imperishable (vs 42)
Sown in dishonor	Raised in glory (vs 43)
Sown in weakness	Raised in power (vs 43)
Sown a natural body	Raised a spiritual body (vs 44)
Sown as a living being (soul) (vs 45)	Raised in the image of the man from heaven (vs 47-49)
Sown of the dust (of the earth)	Raised from heaven (vs 47-49)
Is sown flesh and blood	Raised imperishable to inherit the kingdom (vs 50)
Is sown mortal	Raised with immortality (vs 53-54)

 

This entire chapter, beginning with verses 17-19 and concluding with verse 55, nullifies completely the idea that humanity now possesses immortality or ever did. For if we did, of what value would Yeshua, the source of life eternal, have for us except in his death? Yet Paul clearly claims that without Christ’s resurrection and ours, we all perish (vs 17-19).

 

In all this, the most significant realization of the will of God for all humanity is quietly hidden in this contrast between the natural and the spiritual, the mortal and the immortal; the context for God’s process. When Adam and Eve were made of the dust, mortal, natural, of flesh and blood, they were conceived as the kernel. They were not created initially in their final form, in the fullness and likeness of the Son of Man; that would come later. That glory to come later, which would dwell in the land, is hinted to by the Psalmist for God’s chosen people.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way. (Psalm 85:8-13)

 

The faithfulness and trust God will engender to his children, who are formed from the mist and the dust of the ground, will unite with the righteousness brought down from above in the person of Yeshua the Christ. In the context of God’s salvation, the earth will give birth to the dead.[7] And in the context of his mystery in Christ, God will achieve this also for a disobedient people, making them priests and ministers to the nations of the world. His salvation in Zion is the fruit of the earth, and in righteousness and praise, they will sprout up before all the nations:[8]

• God will plant them in their land with a new covenant.[9]
• He will sow them for himself in reconciliation.[10]
• He will raise them in glory for their benefit and his.[11]

 

All this God has done and will do by the incarnation of the last Adam – the firstfruit of the earth. And upon his subsequent reappearance, he will be followed by many sons and daughters into glory. The culmination of this process and God’s creative work in Christ results in God’s reign over God’s people in God’s place. That is why God sees the natural creation as very good for achieving the purpose for which it was created; as the field to plant his children so that salvation and righteousness would bear fruit. Eden was never the final goal for humanity. It was the garden where the kernel of the children of God was to be planted with the intention for it to spread and fill the earth, completed by the new creation in Christ.

The dependency and innocence of the garden was a temporary starting point waiting for humanity to exercise its free will. The goal was always a higher relationship, a more intimate and interdependent relationship. A relationship bound in the unity of faith, the unity of purpose, and the unity of wills. To achieve the maturity and likeness of Christ requires individual character development. This is not something that can be given but must grow over time. It’s initiated in dependency but is led into independence. This is what we see in the garden narrative as Adam and Eve emerge from their innocence and dependency into independence and the beginning of maturity. Only through the knowledge of good and evil, together with the maturity and wisdom it provides, would humanity as a whole be ready for the interdependent relationship offered through the Spirit of God.[12]

 

Yet was humanity ready for that interdependent relationship? Even after many millennia, the most learned in Israel from among God’s chosen people and the keepers of the law could not grasp the heavenly and spiritual reality brought to light by Christ.[13] Yeshua was always meant to be the first of the firstfruits of humanity harvested into life eternal by the power of God.[14] Only through that lens can we clearly see what God claimed; that the emergence from innocence by Adam and Eve brought them closer to the likeness of God, for which they were purposefully created incomplete.[15]

 

But they would only attain that maturity through testing, struggle, challenges, and even suffering. To tame their free will and self-determination, each person must come to see their own limitations and inability to achieve the righteousness later revealed in Christ our Lord.[16] Only then, through their free will and humble surrender to the Son of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, can one receive the abundant grace and free gift of righteousness leading to eternal life in Christ.[17] It’s fitting then that the last Adam completes the work of imaging God’s children in the God-likeness that was started by the first Adam, stepping out of innocence and closer to the maturity and likeness to be later revealed in Christ.

There is No Plan B

Admittedly, on the surface, one might infer or suggest that Adam and Eve were tempted by God into sin, and all that follows in human history is God’s reaction to their disobedience. Such superficial perspectives, common in many traditional views of the Genesis 2-3 narrative, overlook what Leibnitz refers to as the infinite complexity of human development visible only to God. Leibnitz’s accurate observations regarding the “states of affairs” surrounding God’s antecedent and consequent will bear repeating.[18] In our superficial understanding, we might conclude there was an obvious choice between an obedient Adam and a disobedient Adam. Yet the complexities apparent in the reality of our life in this physical realm should easily contradict any reliance on such superficial observations, yet we continue to cling to them.

 

Though we cannot fully understand all these complexities, we can trust that God chose the process most appropriate to achieve his antecedent will, which was for an obedient Adam, to be achieved over time. Even in our own constrained awareness and wisdom, have we not come to recognize greater value in achieving obedience in our relationships through building trust as opposed to using coercion? Though the latter might prove useful in the short term, it fails miserably in any long-term relationship. Even our Lord, during his interactions with his chosen people, reminded them where God’s focus resides as it regards our development – with justice and mercy and faithfulness.[19] What place would justice, mercy, or even faithfulness have in a world where humanity lacked free will or the need to mature in the context of good and evil? These valuable character traits would mean little in such a world. But use these same traits to overcome evil with good, and now you have stories of victory worth telling; lives bearing fruit to righteousness and salvation.

Reactive or Proactive?

What’s being suggested by the process God is using to complete the image and likeness of Yeshua in his children leads to another challenge to our presuppositions; was God acting reactively or proactively through the redemptive work of Christ? I would suggest that although it may not be evident on the surface, it becomes much clearer the deeper one delves into the promises and prophecies of old, many of whom were fulfilled with the incarnation of our Lord and Christ – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

For those who’ve come to value the result of that event in our history, both personally and collectively, the question may never enter into our minds as to the origin of the Lamb’s role beyond his claim of being sent from God the Father. Christ made the reality of that claim clear by both his words and his deeds. Yet the larger context of his role, as it relates to achieving God’s ultimate will for us, was left to others through direct revelation. Since Yeshua was fully motivated by the Father’s will, something he claimed and was committed to throughout his life and death, it becomes valuable for us to understand that broader context, that deeper will of God.

Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
(Fourth Gospel 6:28-29,35-40 ESV, emphasis mine throughout)

 

Clearly, the removal of sin and reconciliation with our Creator is an important aspect of Christ’s work and God’s will. But if we stop there, we’ll be missing out on an equally important part – the resurrection to glory through the gift of righteousness and eternal life in Christ. The apostle Paul refers to this process as being renewed after the image of our Creator.[20] This takes us back to Genesis 1-2, where our initial creation begins in God’s image and likeness, though it was incomplete. The Son of God later arrives to complete that which was started in the mist and the dust. Yeshua is both author of all things and finisher of all things. It was through him and for him that all things were made.[21]

The author of the Fourth Gospel reveals the first glimpse of the role and scope of God’s work in Christ. But where does that role begin? Where did it originate? At his incarnation?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he (God) chose us in him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he (God) predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6)

 

Is that blessing only for the future, or does he enable us through the sanctification and righteousness of Christ to grow in the wisdom and understanding of God’s will for us now?

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his 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. (Ephesians 1:7-10)

 

That plan accounts for the fullness of time, to lead his children, starting with his firstfruits, into the image of the Son.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:11-14)

 

Paul, through the revelation of Christ, recognized our calling into Christ was preordained because the Son of Man was preordained. It was always God’s will and intent that, through Yeshua the Christ, we who are in Christ were predestined to be adopted as His children. It was God’s will, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, our time, to unite all creation in him, since it was for him that all things were created. It was he who dwelt in the flesh that he should be the firstborn from the mist and the dust into this new creation – the express image of God. In this, we see the fullness of God’s plan laid out, but it took a man from heaven to achieve that goal.

1. Christ was sent from God as his express image to make known his will and purpose, having shared God’s glory before the world existed and having a part in its initial creation.When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (Fourth Gospel 17:1-5)
2. All things were created through Christ and for Christ. He’s the author of the first creation and the finisher of the new creation.He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)
3. This Christ, having died for all, reconciled all so that we might then become the children of God in the image and righteousness of Christ our Lord.

 

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-21)

 

We are left to conclude then that in the case of this new creation in Christ, God’s plan was conceived and established before the foundation of the world. This reflects clearly God’s proactive character and nature in providing for the completion of his children into the image and likeness of the Son. The question that remains for us individually is whether that reality impacts our perception and understanding of the events of the Garden of Eden, now seen through the lens of the new creation in Christ.

God’s Faithful Purpose

What does the Genesis 2-3 narrative reveal about God’s proactive approach and how does this impact our understanding of it? If we step back momentarily from the choice that Adam and Eve made, we can look objectively at all the conditions which they’re faced with and how those conditions came about. In other words, if we stop the story at the end of Genesis 3:5, before Eve makes a choice, we can observe what has transpired to bring her and Adam to this fateful intersection?

• Adam was created mortal from the dust of the ground (2:7) and Eve was created from him. (2:21-23)
• God created them in his image and likeness (as his imagers), and in the image and likeness of the elohim who dwell with the Godhead in the unseen spiritual realm.[22]
• That God-like image is incomplete. Being mortal, of the dust (2:7; 3:19), and made male and female, Adam and Eve are equipped for reproduction within the physical realm in which they inhabit.
• Adam and Eve are not equipped with an imperishable nature necessary to dwell in God’s heavenly kingdom, so God descends to earth and dwells with Adam and Eve in a walled garden of his own making (2:8).
• The command of greatest importance – be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it – is consistent with their mortal and physical nature since reproduction is essential if they’re to continue. Adam and Eve were created fully capable of fulfilling this command and were given the freedom of marriage to do so.[23]
• God placed the two trees in the midst of the garden; the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was done before Adam was placed in the garden (2:8-9,15-17). It isn’t clear in the scriptures that Adam and Eve were made aware of the Tree of Life. It doesn’t arise again in the story until after they’ve taken from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (3:22).
• The lesser command[24] points to the exception of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as a source of food in comparison to all other trees in the garden which were pleasant to the sight and good for food (2:9,16). There is no mention of the Tree of Life in this choice placed before Adam and Eve; not by God, not later by the serpent (3:1-5), nor even by Eve.
• Adam and Eve were created with free will and self-determination. This is evidenced by the greater command, by the command of exception for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and by the fact they could be tempted by the serpent. Both commands require a choice to be made, and a temptation can only exist as a condition with at least two possibilities resulting in a conscious choice.
• Whatever choice Adam and Eve might make is done so from innocence, without the knowledge and experience afforded them by taking of the fruit. The choice comes before their eyes were opened, not after their eyes were opened.
• The existence of free will and self-determination by its nature allows for obedience as well as disobedience and even rebellion. Since this is inherent in their makeup, Adam and Eve possessed the nature for obedience and disobedience before the command was given and prior to the arrival of the serpent.

 

In addition to these points taken from the narrative, there are additional clarifications available to the follower of Yeshua by looking at the mystery of God in Christ and his work to bring about the new creation:

• It is God who subjects the creation to futility, but he did so in hope;[25] and that hope is Yeshua the Christ, by whom, in whom, and for whom all things were created.[26]
• It is God who subjects all his children to disobedience that he might have mercy on all,[27] and that mercy and grace comes to us through Yeshua the Christ.[28] The disobedience upon all did not come through what Adam did but from what Adam and Eve are; incomplete, imperfect, and mortal, capable of disobedience. It was out of that capability, that freedom to choose, that Adam and Eve chose to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and to further pursue the God-likeness in them. It’s out of that same capability that all their descendents would likewise choose.[29]
• The role of Yeshua the Christ as the Redeemer of Mankind was established before the foundation of the world.[30]

 

In his infinite wisdom, God chose to bring his children from the dust of the ground to the fullness of the image of their elder brother Yeshua the Christ. He would subject them to disobedience by their own choice and lead them to glory as an expression of his abundant grace, faithfulness, and righteous judgment. This was not leading them to their fall as seen from the traditional perspective. God was allowing them to step out of innocence (not knowing) so they could eventually grow into the knowledge and wisdom revealed through the Spirit of God, leading them into Christ’s righteousness (innocence and knowing). This too would come by their choice to repent and believe and exercise the Spirit of life eventually offered to them.

Life is a Test

The traditional comparison of states before and after Adam and Eve took of the tree of exception is always viewed from a hindsight perspective by those already having the moral discernment gained from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is evidenced by our constant assignment of moral judgment upon our first parents for a decision that was relational, not moral,[31] as they had not yet eaten of the tree of exception from which they would gain such moral discernment. The connection between God and mankind at that point was one of Creator and created, Father and children. It was based on relationship.

But like the prodigal son,[32] humanity’s choice to dwell in God’s presence needed to come through the realization and maturity that only life can teach us. In order for our relationship with the Father to derive its greatest value, it needed to come not only by the will of the Father but by the choice of the sons and daughters as well.

 

When seen with a separate set of presuppositions, arrived at by the role and work of Yeshua to achieve the new creation, the transgression of Adam and Eve becomes an emergent step for humanity, as imperative to the creation process as that of a maturing child’s need to venture out of their father’s house; to mature from dependency, into independence, and later into interdependence. This relational connection is evident in the new covenant. Our connection to Christ is also formed through relationships based on trust and faith, leading us into a maturity exemplified by his character and commitment to the will of the Father. A commitment that leads to a lasting obedience of faith; a commitment that comes by choice.

 

One cannot overstate the importance of choice in this condition which the Father has subjected us to. Within the spiritual and unseen realm, the Godhead has countless beings created to fulfill various roles in the heavenly realm. Yet not a single one of these glorious beings chose to be in a relationship with its Creator. Like a father who brings many sons and daughters into this world, not by the child’s will and desire but by the will and desire of the parents, so God has created many glorious beings in the heavenly realm according to his will.

Yet for his divine children whom God seeks to bear in righteousness and eternal glory, choice becomes an essential part of that relationship. Out of his exceeding love for his children, God imbued them with free will and self-determination, well aware that the possibility for disobedience and rebellion were just as real as that of obedience. Knowing his creation and the weakness of the flesh, certainly God understood our propensity to miss the mark and be lead astray by our own limited knowledge and arrogance. It is to resolve this condition that the Lamb of God was prepared before the foundation of the world as a means to redeem humanity, resolve God’s righteous judgment, and lead those who would receive his grace into righteousness and eternal life offered by the Son of Man.

 

It might appear that God placed the temptation before Adam and Eve with the intent of their fall, but we know that God does not tempt us to evil,[33] but always provides a way through it.[34] Yet from God’s perspective, this was never a fall; a stumbling perhaps but not a fall. God’s own claim confirms their emergence out of innocence and more toward the God-likeness for which they were created. Though that emergence comes through disobedience and in innocence, each must take ownership of their choices.[35] This is the first step in righteous character. By the example of Yeshua the Christ, clearly this was not a temptation but a test. And not a test only for Adam and Eve but for each of us who are equipped with free will and self-determination; that when faced with the realities of life, we would learn to choose life.[36] And though we might fail continually in our attempts, God remains faithful and provides hope for us through the Son of Man, in whom righteousness and eternal life are made available for those who will receive the grace of God and dwell in the obedience of faith in a relationship with him.

With Choice Comes Suffering

This test of our first parents was unique in its complexity, purpose, and role for the development of humanity. Because it needed to be grounded in choice, tension was necessary in various forms.[37] Likewise, this tension needed to have elements suitable to motivate and test the adolescent mind, leading it out of its natural innocence and into a larger reality; the knowledge of good and evil. To get to this choice, it was necessary that the Godhead extend grace, mercy, and great forbearance toward his creation, humanity included. This he did for Adam and Eve on multiple occasions if we simply look for it:

• The blessing of dominion over the creation as God’s imagers (1:26)
• The blessing of marriage and reproduction, essential to sustain those living in the physical, mortal realm (2:23-25)
• The gift of honorable work and purpose throughout our lives (2:25; 3:23)
• Clothing their nakedness upon exiting the garden (3:21)

 

This and more, which the Godhead imbued humanity with, was not lost after their disobedience, as so many wish to claim, but continues until now. Even their incompleteness for the spiritual realm, by lacking the moral righteousness and eternal life inherent in Yeshua the Christ, God has provided the motivation necessary for those who would willingly receive the grace of God and be reconciled with their Creator. And how does God do this? By removing the very sin and futility he willingly subjected all creation to, in order to bring many sons and daughters to glory.[38]

 

It is not sin alone that we find ourselves subjected to, but suffering also. This suffering, as burdensome as it is, has value. Like Christ, we show our faithfulness and commitment, putting our cross before the crown of glory prepared in advance for each of us. The wisdom in Christ reveals to each of us the need to bear our respective crosses willingly. Doing so ennobles us to Christ while simultaneously giving value to our own suffering. It was his willingness to suffer on our behalf that was of greatest value. And our suffering, though of lesser value, will sustain us as we grow into the obedience of faith. We need not seek to root our sin and suffering on the disobedience of our first parents. The choice they made was the only lasting choice available to them. It was always Christ’s role to bridge the gap between the natural realm and the heavenly realm. It was never a role assigned to Adam and Eve.

Salvation through the Last Adam

Yeshua the Christ was always intended to be our Tree of Life, as he alone is the source of eternal life.[39] And all of this Christ delivers to all mankind, though it came through the disobedience of the first Adam. By the disobedience of our first parents, we were introduced to the knowledge of good and evil and the resulting moral discernment that comes by seeing and experiencing the impact of our choices. With this understanding, we can then perceive what is good and what is evil. In this knowledge, we can perceive the righteousness that is Christ our Lord, which he delivered on our behalf.

Without the Law, there is no Sin

What is required for sin? According to Paul, without the law, there is no sin.[40] Yet it was God who provided the object of his test and the object of Adam and Eve’s focus – And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (2:8-9) He also provided the law, or the command – And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely 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 surely die.” (2:16-17)

 

Though Eve’s desire was to grow in the God-likeness to which they were created (3:5-6), it came about by their free choice and through disobedience. In doing so, Adam and Eve did for humanity what Israel did for the nations. By receiving the covenant and the law, Israel exposed the world to the knowledge of God’s law and the sin which would result. By taking of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve exposed humanity to the awareness of morality and death through disobedience. The goal was always to overcome judgment resulting from disobedience with the righteousness inherent in Christ, and this by choice.

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:21-29)

 

The lesson comes from comparison of the two covenants; one founded in law, the other founded in faith. Like the law of the Sinai covenant, humanity’s exposure to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil resulted in revealing sin to us along with the moral consequences which result from poor decisions, including the second death of judgment. Under the new covenant, disobedience and even rebellion are overcome by faith and trust in God. Through the obedience of faith and the power of the Spirit of Christ in us, the consequences of our disobedience and rebellion are turned upside down and instead work to mature us into the character and God-likeness of our Savior and elder brother. In this new condition, we can learn to bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, fruit worthy of our repentance and reconciliation with the Father.

 

Admittedly, there is a prodigal aspect to the natural creation which is fully resolved by the new creation in Christ for all those willing to surrender to the obedience of faith. We find an example of this in part in the parallel between Adam and Eve’s expulsion from Eden and Israel’s expulsion from the promised land.[41] Though McDonough doesn’t go there, this similitude has greater reach and impact when compared to the role Israel plays in the context of the Abrahamic covenant. As the apostle Paul outlines in Romans 9-11, Israel’s stumbling was ultimately for the inclusion and blessing of the Gentiles (the disinherited nations). Although Israel suffers in this role and bears the shame, they are ultimately rewarded with greater glory and honor than all other nations.[42]

 

Now apply what is revealed by Paul in Romans 11:32 to the role of Adam and Eve, and you suddenly have a similar take on their role. How is it then that we all come to God through disobedience? We have no problem accepting that it was true for Israel and his descendants just as it’s true for those now being called into Christ. Why would we have a problem accepting it for our first parents? Though they suffer directly from the introduction of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, ultimately, it is for the benefit of all humanity in that it fulfills God’s intention and his initial commands:

• Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis 1:26a)
• Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, (Genesis 1:28a)

 

One who will come from the loins of Adam, and Jacob (Israel), and Judah, will fulfill what the first Adam could never achieve, nor was he ever meant to. The last Adam alone would provide the way, truth, and life for all to attain the righteous character necessary to become the children of God they were created to become in the image and likeness of Christ.

Yeshua the Christ became Sin and the Law

Now Paul is speaking of the promises in Galatians within the context of covenants; the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with Israel. Yet there was also a promise in God’s covenant with Adam and Eve and their descendants – Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (1:26). Because that image is incomplete, there remains the promise of the complete creation which we see revealed in Yeshua the Christ. And within the garden narrative lies the hope for humanity’s redemption in the curse of the serpent – I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. (3:15)

 

Because that redemption was established in Yeshua the Christ before the foundation of the world, the disobedience of Adam and Eve which exposed the world to the consequences of sin and death, becomes a necessary step in their development into the maturity and character of our Lord. It is in Yeshua that God has faithfully fulfilled all promises, those inferred and those spoken. In the Son of Man, God completes the image of God in mankind:

• Christ establishes the righteousness by which God’s children can dwell in the presence of the unseen God. This divine trait, initially missing in Adam and Eve, had its seed in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
• Christ establishes the eternal life necessary for the children of God to dwell in God’s heavenly abode and for God to dwell in them through his Spirit.

 

The grace of God was always sufficient to overcome the sin of man,[43] and the gift of God would always reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.[44] This is the will and purpose of God; to lead many sons and daughters into glory, even through disobedience.

“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? (Ezekiel 18:21-23)

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9)

For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
(Fourth Gospel 12:49-50)