"The manifestation of the Glory of the Blessed Trinity is the utmost end of all the works of God." Edward Samuel (1812-1896)
To that purpose, the Glorification of His Beautiful Triune Essence, a threefold plan flowed out of the will of the Father, found its manifestation in the Delighted Obedience of the Son, and its Glorious implementation by the Holy Spirit. Be careful in trying to establish sequence here, our God is Eternal and time and sequence as we are bound by has no part in His Essence. We must humbly accept that and depend on His Revelation--the Bible, and what it says.
Let me speak of this plan in terms of three epochs, the first two building to the climax of the Full Glory of God being manifested in the Face of Christ Jesus, the God/Man. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Epoch #1 Creation, the fall, & the dispersing of humanity.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.....Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our Image, according to our Likeness........The Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden and there He put the man whom He had formed." Genesis 1:1, 24, & 2:8 God created the perfect man, from the finest "blueprint", gave Him the incredible resource of His Own Image, placed him in the perfect environment, a garden of His Own Making, with a compatible companion suitable to him, & gave him an honorable occupation. Imagine tending a garden with no weeds, no mud, and no pois0n ivy or mosquitoes!
Oh, by the way, the Triune God included one small prohibition, a very small prohibition. "Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. (Notice, no resume' or job hunting!) And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat , for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Gen 2:15-17 There is a lot more to the details of this epoch, man couldn't resist the temptation to be as God, entered the realm of unbelief which is the domain of death--became eternally separated from the Life of God and the Promise of Peace, Joy, and Provision. And crucially, the Image of God in created man was shattered in this "death plunge". It is interesting that there is much debate about what this image of God in man was/is. That discussion in itself verifies the tragedy of the image loss! We can't see the Glory of the Image of God in man, we can only guess as to what it meant. We see hints, but as we look at ourselves and other human beings, we definitely do not see God! We could go on and trace out the "death throes" that grew out of the first couples' unbelief, but that is outside this brief outline. What was God's purpose in this historical time frame, creation, fall, death and scattering? Let me suggest that God is teaching us that even a perfectly created man, placed in a perfect environment, made in the image of God, but who is not indwelt by, inseparably united to the Triune God, cannot maintain adoration, worship and obedience to that Glorious Good God for more than a "blip" in time.
Ah, but there is a glimmer of anticipation of the greater Glory! In the curse on the serpent we read, "and 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." Genesis 3:15 The Seed of the woman! (See the article, "Satans' hatred of Women")
Next time: Israel and the Law.
To that purpose, the Glorification of His Beautiful Triune Essence, a threefold plan flowed out of the will of the Father, found its manifestation in the Delighted Obedience of the Son, and its Glorious implementation by the Holy Spirit. Be careful in trying to establish sequence here, our God is Eternal and time and sequence as we are bound by has no part in His Essence. We must humbly accept that and depend on His Revelation--the Bible, and what it says.
Let me speak of this plan in terms of three epochs, the first two building to the climax of the Full Glory of God being manifested in the Face of Christ Jesus, the God/Man. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Epoch #1 Creation, the fall, & the dispersing of humanity.
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.....Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our Image, according to our Likeness........The Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden and there He put the man whom He had formed." Genesis 1:1, 24, & 2:8 God created the perfect man, from the finest "blueprint", gave Him the incredible resource of His Own Image, placed him in the perfect environment, a garden of His Own Making, with a compatible companion suitable to him, & gave him an honorable occupation. Imagine tending a garden with no weeds, no mud, and no pois0n ivy or mosquitoes!
Oh, by the way, the Triune God included one small prohibition, a very small prohibition. "Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. (Notice, no resume' or job hunting!) And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat , for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." Gen 2:15-17 There is a lot more to the details of this epoch, man couldn't resist the temptation to be as God, entered the realm of unbelief which is the domain of death--became eternally separated from the Life of God and the Promise of Peace, Joy, and Provision. And crucially, the Image of God in created man was shattered in this "death plunge". It is interesting that there is much debate about what this image of God in man was/is. That discussion in itself verifies the tragedy of the image loss! We can't see the Glory of the Image of God in man, we can only guess as to what it meant. We see hints, but as we look at ourselves and other human beings, we definitely do not see God! We could go on and trace out the "death throes" that grew out of the first couples' unbelief, but that is outside this brief outline. What was God's purpose in this historical time frame, creation, fall, death and scattering? Let me suggest that God is teaching us that even a perfectly created man, placed in a perfect environment, made in the image of God, but who is not indwelt by, inseparably united to the Triune God, cannot maintain adoration, worship and obedience to that Glorious Good God for more than a "blip" in time.
Ah, but there is a glimmer of anticipation of the greater Glory! In the curse on the serpent we read, "and 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." Genesis 3:15 The Seed of the woman! (See the article, "Satans' hatred of Women")
Next time: Israel and the Law.
RSS Feed