It is about a stumbling incident (misuse of free will, failure due to lack of gratitude) that happened in the family of God.
I will begin with the disobedience of our ancestors, Adam and Eve. The cause of this will be explained at another time.
Adam's failure and the Hope He was given
God said, "You will die" on the day of eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and bad.It meant to return to the earth which is a lifeless state before being created.
God did not say that Adam and Eve "would be destroyed."
God declared that they would "die" and both Adam and Eve knew what "death" meant.
And immediately after the immature Adam and Eve stumbled into sin, God gave them and their descendants the good news of hope.
It was to destroy the stumbling block, symbolized by the serpent, a powerful spirit being later known as Satan.
Adam and Eve were allowed to produce the "seed" to crush the head of Satan.
And while Adam and Eve were forced to go through the hardships to reap the consequences of their own failure, they were allowed to live for hundreds of years, leaving behind many descendants and eventually returning to earth according to God's word.
And as God promised, the promised "seed", Jesus Christ, will free all mankind, including Adam and Eve, from "death".
So what is "death"?
It's about resetting the stumbling block of sin.
The sinner would need to be reset legally and physically.
In any case, the dead have the hope of resurrection.
God has treated His children on earth in this way.
So the dying human race can rejoice in the hope of salvation from sin and death that God has given us.
There is no despair in the biblical record of how God dealt with Adam and Eve.
Rather, it is very hopeful and kind.
So Eve said that she had given birth to her firstborn son according to God's "promise of a seed."
Ge 3:15, 20-21
15 And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He (Christ) will bruise you (Satan) in the head and you will bruise him in the heel."
20 After this Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she had to become the mother of everyone living. 21 And YHWH God proceeded to make long garments of skin for Adam and for his wife and to clothe them.
Ge 4:1, 25
1 Now Adam had intercourse with Eve his wife and she became pregnant. In time she gave birth to Cain and said: "I have produced a man with the aid of YHWH."
25 And Adam proceeded to have intercourse again with his wife and so she gave birth to a son and called his name Seth, because, as she said: "God has appointed another seed in place of Abel, because Cain killed him."
Ge 5:1-5
1 This is the book of Adam's history. In the day of God's creating Adam he made him in the likeness of God. 2 Male and female he created them. After that he blessed them and called their name Man in the day of their being created.
3 And Adam lived on for a hundred and thirty years. Then he became father to a son in his likeness, in his image, and called his name Seth. 4 And the days of Adam after his fathering Seth came to be eight hundred years. Meanwhile he became father to sons and daughters. 5 So all the days of Adam that he lived amounted to nine hundred and thirty years and he died.
Notice the expression "The book of Adam's history."
The historical record of the beginning of Genesis is taken from "The book of Adam's history."
What does this mean?
It means that Adam recorded exactly what happened.
Why?
Because he was convinced of the hope that God had given to his family.
So there is no despair in the biblical story of Adam and Eve, as the Watchtower erroneously portrays it.
Why does the Watchtower go beyond what is written and insist on the erroneous view that "Adam and Eve were judged in Gehenna"?
It is to threaten JWs that they will suffer the same fate if they leave the Watchtower.
Please take away the fear that a religious organization imposes on you. Realize the care and compassion of our loving God.
If you can do that, you can't help but love God.
1Jon 4:19
19 As for us, we love, because he first loved us.
No comments:
Post a Comment