Our last paper closed with this expression: The Divine will was all-sufficient for him in every respect, while he was occupied therewith, but the moment he lost that as an object, that moment he failed. Like Peter walking on the water.
The Divine will had been expressed. (Matt. 14:28,2928And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. (Matthew 14:28‑29).) " Lord if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come." This illustrates the point. While Peter was occupied with the Divine Person, in obedience to the Divine will expressed in the word " Come," he could walk on the water. It was all-sufficient for him. So he could have ascended to Heaven by the power of the same word, if it had been expressed in that direction; as Enoch and Elijah did. Compare Psa. 33:6,96By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. (Psalm 33:6)
9For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. (Psalm 33:9); 2 Peter 3:5,75For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: (2 Peter 3:5)
7But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:7). I am not speaking of the principle of faith which Enoch and Elijah had, but simply of the all-sufficiency of the word of the Divine will. For we hear nothing of faith until after sin came in.
The creature (man) was in the Divine presence, but did not partake of the Divine nature, and he had not a Divine life; for a Divine life can only spring from a Divine nature. 2 Peter 1:3,43According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3‑4). " According as His Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
Faith being the activity, so to speak, of the new or Divine nature, as we shall see hereafter, was not a condition of Adam's standing, but it was of Abel's after sin came in, (Heb. 11:44By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. (Hebrews 11:4).) and thence forward. But the condition of Adam's standing was simply one of will, as we have seen: hence obedience. All things on the earth and in the sea were subject to the creature will, but the creature will itself must have no expression outside the Divine will.
Let me repeat: Two wills were there, and the test of the forbidden tree was evidently the key to Adam's position, as raising the question, which will was to be supreme, God's or man's.
In man then in Eden, we have an innocent creature without holiness, without righteousness, without Divine life because without a Divine nature, and without faith, but simply innocent; and yet set in blessing and endowed with power, even the dominion of all under Heaven, but he himself, and through him, all under Heaven is held in dominion under God, by simple obedience to the Divine will expressed in Gen. 2:1717But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:17). " But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." And the next thing said is, "It is not good that the man should be alone," and a "helpmeet" is given to share his joys and responsibilities. In the inscrutable wisdom of God, this " helpmeet " proved his ruin, but in becoming so, did but give room for the accomplishment of the deeper counsels of God in redemption, and transfer the platform of the dealings of God with man from that of creature responsibility to sovereign purpose in grace; and through this one by whom the fall came, " hope " was to dawn of future blessings, when kin had brought in ruin, and a bondage of corruption.
There was evidently weakness in Adam's position; he stood in his own strength, needed a " helpmeet;" but the side of his peculiar weakness was evidently that through which deeper and fuller blessings than he then possessed, was to come in, viz: his "helpmeet;" and thus was Eve at once the channel for ruin and also of redemption; for cursing and also for blessing; to the fires of Hell, and also to the glories of Heaven; at once the channel for all earthly bliss and onward to eternal glory; or of all earthly sorrow and woe, and onward to eternal despair. How wonderful is this!
This then is Adam's weakest point, and here is where the attack is made. Satan is wiser than Adam; the dominion of God on the earth he will subvert, and Adam's blessing he will spoil, and he does it through the channel of Adam's bliss and joy. Alas! how often is this the case even now! that earthly blessing is the key to our ruin. But God is wiser than Satan, and has laid plans ahead. Glory be to His blessed name! Accordingly with the setting sun of the first man's paradise arises the second Man's glory. Blessed be God! We do not rejoice in the ruin, but in Him who is infinitely above the ruin.
But let us turn again to the man in Eden. We have seen his weakness and the channel through which his ruin came; now let us see if we can find the turning point of that ruin, or rather the point when his innocence ended and his sin began. Gen. 3:11Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (Genesis 3:1). " The serpent said unto the woman, yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? " Here is the bold insinuation that love and goodness is not perfect which had forbidden anything, and that happiness was not complete while creature appetites and gratifications were in any manner subjected. The woman is beguiled by this sophistry, and though her answer seemingly regards the Divine will; yet it betrays a trifling estimation of it, for she adds to it a thought of her own, for the expression, " neither shall ye touch it," was not in the expression of the Divine will; and if she may add, she may also reject, so that now she is prepared for the second step. " And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as Gods, knowing good and evil." And now the barrier is broken down, the Divine will is set at naught in her heart, and then comes in the full power of her creature appetite. " And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
Here surely is the turning paint. If the Divine will is cast off, the creature will will be then supreme in the earth; and this was to become like Gods sure enough: for if the Divine will is rejected, the creature will is established, and the man was not wise enough to see that the rejection of God's will was the establishment of Satanic will; and that in choosing for himself in opposition to the Divine will, he would become the bond slave of Satan. But so it was. And thus the "image of God" in min, was lost in the fall, and the " likeness " ( in dominion as the head) becomes the expression of self or Satanic will. Hence " the will of the flesh," or " carnal mind, is enmity against God: is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7). " And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image." Gen. 5:33And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth: (Genesis 5:3). And thus the Divine will is supplanted, and the creature will led on by Satan is brought in, and now the creature has become by his own choice, as to his will, a child of the Devil, and begets his offspring in Ms own likeness and image.
To recapitulate for a little, we have seen that the man's responsibility flowed out from his relationship; that his relationship was that of innocence and blessing in the Divine presence, and the measure of his responsibility was to walk in that relationship in perfect obedience, and this was morality.
To choose for himself outside the Divine will, was to sin, and bring in ruin upon himself and all his dominion, and all his future posterity. To test his loyalty, the forbidden tree is given, which proved that Adam was but a " creature," and could not stand alone. With his fall the deeper counsels of God in redemption come into play, and the ground is cleared for the second Man, " the Lord from Heaven."
And, the fact that the turning point of the first man was in the ascendency of the creature will above the appointed lot, is seen more clearly when we take just a glance at the opposite, as expressed in the second Man. " I came not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me," and " Lo I come to do Thy will, O God."
Nothing is plainer in the Gospel than this one point, viz: The perfect obedience of the " second Man." He had no will of His own, no choosing for Himself, everything was given from above. Compare John 5:19,20,3019Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. (John 5:19‑20)
30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. (John 5:30), also 8:26, 29, also 12:50, and 14:10. The very place morally, where the first man failed, was the very place where then second. Man triumphed.
And another evidence of the same fact is brought out in the temptation of the wilderness. Satan met Him on the same ground, morally. First, " He was an hungered. ' Something to eat. The very place where Adam went down. But the "second Man" lives by every word of God. No trifling here. No light estimate of the Divine will expressed. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Matt. 4:44But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4). " And He that sent Me is with Me; the Father hath not left Me alone; for I do always those things that please Him." John 8:2929And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him. (John 8:29). " Very good," was all that could be said of the first man, even in his best state, and before he had met Satan at all; and this was God's estimate of him. But God's estimate of the second Man can only be expressed when the Father's heart cries out from the opened Heavens, " This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Thus far, and we have seen: First, that responsibility always arises from relationship; that Adam's relationship was that of innocence in the Divine presence; that his responsibility was to walk in the relationship in simple obedience to the Divine will expressed, and this was morality. And to choose for himself, or to have a will of his own, in opposition to the Divine will was to sin, and bring in ruin upon himself and all below him, and that the forbidden tree was the test of obedience; hence the key to his standing was simply a question of will.
Second, that there was weakness in Adam's position, being a creature standing in his own strength; that the peculiar side of his weakness was his "helpmeet," who in the wisdom of God was allowed to become at once the channel of his ruin, and also of his redemption; and that the very point, morally, where he failed, is the very point where the "hope " of future and deeper blessing dawned through the " seed of the woman " that should bruise the serpent's head.
Third, that the creature will, being beguiled by Satan, becomes itself Satanic; and man morally as to his will, becomes a child of the Devil, while he establishes his freedom from God, (a free moral agency, but alway evil,) under the sentence of death.
God willing, our next paper will take up the question of his responsibility in the new state of things.
C. E. H.