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We're going to have you turn to Genesis chapter number 1. Tonight we began taking a look at the dispensations. We're going to deal with the first dispensation, the dispensation of innocence. You missed last week. I still have some copies of what we handed out last week. I'm not going to give that to you right now. I know a couple of you weren't here. If you remind me, I'll give them to you after the service, and that way you can kind of know a little bit more about what we're talking about when we talk about a dispensation. Dispensation is really, think about it as a stewardship that God has given different time periods, different people, groups of people, and those that were in that designated time period and we're going to be taking a look at how each of these have failed in what the Lord gave them to do. We'll begin tonight with the dispensation of innocence. Of course we know that when the Lord created everything, and by the way, Sunday morning we're We're going to be dealing with part two of Genesis 1-1. I'm probably looking at a part three to give you some additional stuff on it. It's just so full. That one verse is unreal. Some of the things that I have found in studying. Just trust that you'll be here Sunday morning for part two of In the Beginning God Created. But when the God did create, on the sixth day, He created man. There in Genesis 1. And look at verse number 26, and God said, Let us make man in our image and after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, and the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. Mankind is the only of God's creation that He created in His own image. The animals were not created in the image of God. They are wonderful creations. There's no doubt about that. All of God's creations are wonderful. But he created man special and gave man a stewardship. We'll take a look at that stewardship. We designate this period of time when man was first created up until the time that mankind fell as the dispensation of innocence. Adam and Eve understand that they were not ignorant people. You know, when we grew up in school, they had early man, you know, scratching on cave walls and doing all this kind of stuff and grunting and, you know, not communicating. That's not the way it was, okay? It's not the way it was. In fact, I believe that Adam and Eve possessed great intellect. great intellect because it was not tainted by sin. Ours is tainted by sin, but theirs wasn't in the beginning. In the beginning, they were not ignorant, but understand that they were ignorant of good and evil. Adam and Eve could only be said to be holy up to the fall, and that they were created by God for his particular purposes. That's part of the meaning of holy or sanctified. They were created by God for his particular purposes. But understand that it was an untested condition of holiness that they possessed. An untested condition of holiness, that's what we refer to as innocence. Innocence is neutral. We know sin is negative and righteousness is positive. And this period proves to be man's most disastrous failure because of the fall of mankind. Now let's take a look a little bit more at the stewardship that was given to them, the dispensation that was given to them in chapter number 2 and verse number 16 and 17. Now let's back up to verse 15. The Lord God took the man, put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, for in that day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And so there man was given one commandment. And he couldn't, he didn't keep that one commandment. How sad, right? Chapter number 3, we know what happened here in chapter 3 and verse number 7. When they sinned, of course, Eve was deceived by the serpent, by Satan, there in Genesis 3 and verses 1 through 6. Look at verse 6. When the woman saw 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." That's an important phrase there. Last phrase, she gave it unto her husband, and he did eat. He was not in the deception. In fact, We're told that he was not. We'll show that a little bit later on. Look at verse number 22. And the Lord God said, this is after they had sinned, the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become as one of us to know good and evil. And now lest ye put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Can you imagine living forever in the condition of having sin on your life? our lives, living forever in this sinful flesh that we have with all the many problems that sin has caused. It would be bad, wouldn't it? Look at verse 24. So he drove out the man and placed at the east of the Garden of Eden cherubims and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the three of life. Of course, we know in the New Testament, Romans 5.12 says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. So, we're talking about the dispensation of innocence. We say it began with the creation of man there. It ended with the expulsion. Citation there, Genesis chapters number 1 through 3. As I said, from the creation to the expulsion is the limitation of it. The dispensation of innocence lasted from the creation of Adam until the fall of man by the sin of both Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden." Well, how long were they there before they sinned? We don't know. Anything we might say would be speculation. We're not given a time frame. We know that they did not have children until after this point. We know that It says that in chapter number 4, verse number 1, Adam knew his wife. She conceived and bear Cain. Said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And then it talks about how she bore Abel also. But we're not given a time frame on when their births took place. We are given a time frame on Seth. Adam lived 130 years and beget a son in his own likeness after his image and called his name Seth. That's Genesis 5 and verse number 3. But we're not told how long that mankind lived there in that condition of paradise. At the beginning of this dispensation of mankind, They lived under the most favorable conditions. Garden of Eden. Paradise. I think it's more wonderful than what we can imagine. I just really do. I don't think we've got a clue. But God gave Adam a help meat for him. Look back at Genesis 1. Let's go ahead and look at chapter 1 verse 26 through 29. We read where man was created there in verse 26 and 27. And God created them in their own image. But it says in verse 28, God blessed them. That's a mouthful right there. When God blesses you, they were blessed. And God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air. and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for meat." So He gave to man there what man needed. He planted a garden. Can you imagine having God plant a garden for you? Look at chapter 2, verse number 8. The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. There He put the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, a tree of life also in the midst of the garden, a tree of knowledge of good and evil. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads." You skip down there to verse number 15. The Lord took the man, put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. dressing and keeping. There was activity that man was doing there in the garden before sin brought the sweat of the brow and the labor that's involved in what we do now. But we know that God gave Adam a helpmate. It says there in, look at Genesis 2 verse 18, the Lord said, It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him and help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called, every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found and help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. And he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Of course, their eyes had not been opened at that point. But God gave Adam a help meat, is what it's called. A help that was meat for him. That means an aid or a help that was fit for him. So Eve was an aid or help that was fit for Adam. And of course, before the fall, there was, we know there was no need for salvation. Adam and Eve were perfect in their sinlessness and in their devotion to God, who obviously walked with them daily in the Garden of Eden. We, we find them that chapter number three, look at chapter number three and verse number eight. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves among the presence of the Lord and amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? The Lord was used to the daily walks with His creation there. And when they didn't show up, God knew where they were at. He wasn't asking that question for His benefit. He knew where they were. He was getting them to look at themselves and see where they were at. But even there, their faith was subject to a test, a very simple test. We don't know how long, but for a period, that's an undetermined period here, refraining from eating the fruit of that certain tree that God said was forbidden for them to eat. It doesn't say that they immediately went and undid that command. I kind of sort of think that probably they lived a while. I don't know. We don't know. We'll find out when we get to heaven. But they, without Satan's help, seemed to be doing okay, I think. But the obligation was here, the obligation, obedience to the word and will of God. And as long as they kept the faith, In other words, believe God's Word when God said there in chapter 2 and verse number 16 to 17, that when He said in verse 17, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it, of one command. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And there was the consequence for not obeying. But as long as they kept the faith, they enjoyed the advantages of life in paradise. Now, their works could kill them, but their works could not save them once they sinned. If they decided, well, we're just going to eat anyway. then that's what sin is. As long as they believed God's Word, that they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit, then they would live if they obeyed Him. But we see the transgression, and that is deliberate disobedience. Understand that Adam deliberately disobeyed the Word of God. Genesis 3 and verse 6 there. When his wife gave him to eat, he did eat. I think he was very well aware where that fruit came from. You know, if you get orange off an orange tree, you know it's an orange, don't you? you know, and I'm sure that they both saw what that fruit was, but Adam deliberately disobeyed the Word of God. Eve was deceived, but Adam was not deceived, and 1 Timothy chapter number 2 verse 14 actually tells us that very thing. It says, and Adam Well, I'm going to quote two verses here. 1 Timothy 2 verse 13 and 14. For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. We see that she was deceived. We know that. When Eve believed the serpent, she chose to believe the serpent rather than God. What did God say? Don't eat of the tree. The day that you eat thereof, you're going to surely die. Well, you're either going to believe what God said or you're going to believe what Satan says. Oh, you shall not surely die. That's what Satan had to say. There's a lot of folks that listen to Satan. I can preach this word until I'm blue in the face. A lot of times I get aggravated. I'll preach, and I'll preach, and preach on something, and then somebody just goes right directly against what I preach. I can't help it. It's not on me. It's on them. They choose to do wrong. or choose to believe someone else or something else other than the Word of God. It was when Eve believed the serpent rather than God that she ate the forbidden fruit and died spiritually and began to die physically. And she no longer believed God that she would die, and it was her lack of faith in the Word of God that caused her to do that, which killed her. Eating the fruit was the manifestation of the sin that she committed when she failed to believe God. The sin was not believing God. When he got her to turn away from believing God, he got her to be able to eat there. Adam, though, was not deceived. He did not believe that he would become like God, as the serpent had promised Eve, who was deceived. Adam knew that he would die, and he made a conscious choice to do so. I can only assume that he did that rather than live without Eve, whom by this time he loved. He knew she was history. Well, if she's history, I think it was basically suicide. If she's going to die, I'm going to die with her. I can't live life without her. We don't know, but that's my conjecture of what we see happening here. I don't know why else he would partake of the fruit. His was not a lack of faith, but a willful decision to suffer the consequences, choosing the things of the flesh over the word of God." He could have chosen to trust that God would provide someone more faithful than Eve. Could God have given him another woman? Most certainly, God could have. Eve could have died and Adam remain in the state of innocence, but that's not what he chose. If his trust had been in God more than his own reason, I'm sure he was reasoning this thing out. Sometimes when we try to reason things out ourselves, we don't make good decisions, do we? We just don't. Still today, sometimes if we're not trusting the Lord, if we're not believing on Him, we decide, well, I know the Bible says that, but I'm going to do this. Well, you know you are setting yourself up for trouble. When you know what the Word of God says and you do the opposite, just bank on it. That's not a good choice. But during the dispensation of innocence, the test was really simple. Don't eat the forbidden fruit. The consequences were devastating. Death and condemnation. Adam and Eve both failed this test, as men and women have failed in every subsequent test. We will see that as we move through the dispensations. We will see man's failure. But we have the program of Satan given here. I preached the message a good while back when we were taking a look at the first First Mention Principle. Remember when we talked about the First Mention Principle, we looked at the First Mention of Satan here, and said, you know, what we see in Satan, there's a lot of things that just flow right with him. There are things that are added later on, but this that we see here flows all the way through Scripture. And we see his program is given there, and he tempted Eve in three areas. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. All three of those are found in verses 5 and 6 of Genesis 3. Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life. Well, 1 John 2.16 says, For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father. but is of the world. And who is the prince of this world? It's Satan, right? All right. The condemnation. Well, God named what the consequence of sin was, death, the grace of God, was required in this dispensation as it would be in every dispensation when men failed their particular test. There's nothing that indicates to us how long Adam and Eve lived faithfully in the dispensation of innocence. We're not told how much time passed before Satan successfully deceived Eve But we know with certainty that he did succeed and that both of these people failed making the grace of God absolutely necessary if they were to be saved. We all need grace because we're in Adam. Adam and Eve is all of our parents. Scientists will tell you I say, everybody's traced back to a male and a female. There was one male and one female in the beginning. Well, I got one better than that. I can tell you their name, Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve, that's who they were. But as in every dispensation, their works condemned them, but their faith in the Word of God saved them and produced the good works of offering a blood sacrifice in accordance with the Word of God. The Lord showed them the blood sacrifice and making coats of skins for them. An animal had to lose a life. Blood had to be shed in order for them to be clothed. And a picture there, no doubt, of what salvation does in our life. But the consequences of sin were threefold. And I'm not going to take time to look at all this, but creation was cursed. We know that, chapter 3, verses 14 through 19. They were expelled from the garden, Genesis 3, verse 22 through 24. Death came. They were immediately spiritually dead. Ephesians 2, 1, you have to quicken who were dead in trespasses and sin. And then eventual physical death in Genesis 5, 5. All the days that Adam lived were 930 years and he died. And he died. So we had the prediction, the promise of a Redeemer. I don't know how much they realized what this was, but that promise is in Genesis 3.15, and I will put in between, between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. That's the first of the promise of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to put a correction on here. We're not on probation today because we're in Adam. The sin nature and all that goes with it passed on to us. We don't get a pass. Wherefore as by one man sin entered the world and death by sin. You realize there was no death at all? Men, no death up until that point. Death came by sin. Death came by sin. Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. And we know that it also affected all of creation as well. All right. That's our Bible study for this evening. Next time, we'll be taking a look at the and the dispensation of conscience. All right, let's pull back out our prayer list. Let's pray for the needs and we'll be dismissed with this prayer.
Dispensation #1-Innocence
Series Biblical Interpretation
Sermon ID | 81241818581713 |
Duration | 29:39 |
Date | |
Category | Bible Study |
Bible Text | Genesis 1-3 |
Language | English |
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