Echoes from Eden
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KINGDOM BIBLE STUDIES "Teaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God..." e-book Echoes From Eden By J. Preston Eby Table of Contents Chapter /Title 1 The Garden 2.In the Midst of the Garden 3.In the Midst of the Garden (cont. ) 4.The Tree of Life 5.The Tree of Life (cont. ) 6.Three Trees in the Garden 7.Three Trees in the Garden (cont. ) 8.A River out of Eden 9.A River out of Eden (cont. ) 10.A River out of Eden (cont. ) 11.A River out of Eden (cont. ) 12.A River out of Eden (cont. ) 13.Dressing the Garden 14.Dressing the Garden (cont. ) 15.Dressing the Garden (cont. ) 16.Dressing the Garden (cont. ) 2 Chapter 1 THE GARDEN The Book of Genesis is probably the most important book ever written. The Bible is unquestionably the one Book that has exerted the greatest influence on history of any book ever produced. The Bible, however, is actually a compilation of sixty- six books, and the Book of Genesis is the foundation of them all. If the Book of Genesis were somehow removed, the Bible would appear absurd and incomprehensible. It would be like a building without a foundation, or a bridge with no support. The books of the Old Testament, narrating God’s dealings with His ancient people of Israel, would be bigoted and racist, were they not set in the context of the progressive development of God’s wise and gracious purposes for all mankind as laid down in the early chapters of Genesis. The New Testament is, if anything, even more dependent on Genesis than the Old. There are at least 165 passages in Genesis that are either directly quoted or clearly referred to in the New Testament by Jesus and the apostles, having to do with the redemptive purposes of God and the principles of His Kingdom. I do not hesitate to say that the writings of the New Testament, describing the execution and implementation of God’s wonderful redemptive purposes in Jesus Christ, is completely unintelligible except in the light of the magnificent revelation of God’s great and glorious plan of the ages, as established in the record of man’s beginnings, recorded only in Genesis. The word “genesis” of course means “origin” or “beginning,” and the Book of Genesis gives the only true and reliable account of the basic entities and conditions of the universe and of life. Genesis yields vital information concerning the origin of ALL THINGS – and therefore the meaning of ALL THINGS! Let every man know that in the whole of the universe there is no greater truth than this one sublime truth that THE FUTURE IS BOUND UP IN THE PAST. A man’s belief concerning his origin will inevitably determine his belief about his purpose on earth and his eternal destiny. T Russell wrote: “The incomprehensible darkened and utterly deluded mind of the evolutionist believes that out of the warm slime along the shore of some primordial sea, spontaneously and without cause or guidance, protoplasm arranged itself and evolved into a microbe, or maggot, which squirmed and twisted and reproduced its own species, and then finding use for a tail, developed one. Later on, one of its still more intelligent offspring concluded that oars, or fins, would be useful, and developed them. Another, later on, got chased by a hungry brother and, jumping clear of the water, got the idea that the fins further developed would be wings, and liked the new style, so that he stayed out of the water, and then decided that legs and toes would be a convenience and developed them. Others of the family followed other ‘notions,’ of which they 3 seemingly had an inexhaustible supply, as evidenced by the great variety of animals we see about us. However, in due time one of these descendants of the first maggot which had reached the monkey degree of development, got a noble idea before his mind – he said to himself, I will discard my tail, and cease using my hands as feet, and will shed my coat of hair, and will develop a nose and a forehead and a brain with moral and reflective organs. I will wear tailor-made clothing and a high silk hat, and call myself Charles Darwin, LL. D., and write a record of my evolution!” The fact is, however, that the probability of life originating from accident or by spontaneous generation is comparable to the probability of an unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing plant. A naturalistic, animalistic concept of beginnings specifies a naturalistic, animalistic program for the FUTURE. But an origin at the hands of an omnipotent, holy, loving God, on the other hand, necessarily predicts a divine purpose in history and an assurance of the ultimate consummation of that purpose. A revelatory understanding of the Book of Genesis is therefore prerequisite to an understanding of God and His meaning to the human race – His dealings and purposes in OUR LIVES! Let me say it again: THE FUTURE IS BOUND UP IN THE PAST! If man had his beginnings by accident as a product of the slime of earth, then his eternal end is in the silent and lifeless dust of the ground. But if man’s past is linked to the God of omniscience and omnipotence, then his future is to be discovered in the eternal purposes of the all-wise, all- powerful and all-loving Creator! Life does exist. No one questions this fact! No one, that is, except a few philosophers who for the sake of an argument will contend that the world might be an illusion, just a dream; and that there is really nothing that does exist.” How would one know?” they ask in idle speculation. These silly dreamers never stop to realize that it takes SOMETHING to even think the deep thoughts they think – except for the fact that they themselves DO EXIST they would be unable to even dream about the so-called “illusion,” or question the world’s existence! The real problem is this: Life exists. Just where, when, and how did it come into being? The Bible begins with the most simple but sublime of statements, “In the beginning God created…”And Paul tells us that “He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Col 1:17). Although it is impossible for us to comprehend fully this concept of an eternal, transcendent God, the only alternative is the concept of an eternal self-existing universe; and this concept is also incomprehensible, Eternal God or eternal matter – that is the choice! The later is an utter impossibility by the scientific law of cause and effect, since random particles of matter could not by themselves generate a complex, orderly, intelligible universe, not to mention living persons capable of applying intelligence to the understanding of the complex order of the universe. A personal God, an omniscient Mind, and omnipotent Power, a transcendent Architect, is the only adequate cause to produce such effects. Your life, my friend, is an effect – therefore God’s life is the Cause! It cannot be otherwise. 4 Paul saw that there was an allegorical teaching in the book of Genesis that paralleled the experience of spiritual birth in the earth. He stated that “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts…” (II Cor 4:6). Just as God commanded light to shine out of darkness – God has shined in our hearts. What has He radiated into our minds and hearts? The “light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Just as light shined in darkness, so has the invisible, unknowable, unsearchable, unapproachable, unreachable, hidden God shined in our hearts. And what has He shined? The light of the knowledge. All knowledge is not light. But this knowledge has given us light in a dark world. And you cannot know your complete identity in Christ without knowing the origin of that identity in its beginning. Go back to the beginning, for the end is the same as the beginning. We want to explore the mystery of our beginning upon this planet. When Jesus walked upon this earth, we will never understand His supernal reality apart from the understanding of the origin and true nature of all things. God is a spirit, Jesus taught. In the beginning God proclaimed, “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness” (Gen 1:26). This wonderful purpose of God to make man in His own image had been settled in the divine councils of God from eternity. The blessed Lamb had, in the determination of these councils, been slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8); the names of all the redeemed of earth had been written in His book of life before the foundation of the world (Rev 17:8); and all the blessed sons of God, predestinated to be holy and without blame before Him in love, predestined to be CONFORMED TO THE IMAGE OF THE SON OF GOD, were selected and chosen in Him before the foundation of the world (Eph 1:3-5). This is a profound and mysterious truth, impossible to fully comprehend apart from the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God. The carnal minds of men cannot even begin to imagine in their wildest dreams and hopes the ineffable glory that is determined for man IN THE IMAGE OF GOD. Those appointed to the obtaining of this glory have been chosen “in Him” because Jesus Christ Himself is “the outshining of God’s glory, and the express image of His Person” (Heb 1:3).