Gospel and Kingdom 6, “The Kingdom Revealed in Eden”

The Creation Story as the Basis for the Kingdom of God

The creation story must never be regarded merely as a sort of biblical once upon a time. The fact that God is creator and that man is his creature establishes at the outset the basis for understanding the kingdom of God.

When we speak of the sovereignty of God, we use a word which means his kingship, a kingship which is absolute and uncompromised. The creature is ruled and belongs as a creature within the sphere of God's perfect rule, and making all things by the power of his word, like in 2 Peter 3, verse 5, God shows the right he has as creator to rule all things.

The only perfect existence for the creature is that which is found within the framework of the rule of God. The creatorship of God tells us that all reality is God's reality, all truth is God's truth.

Nothing exists except by the will and word of God. One could write whole books on the implication of creation for a Christian approach to education, politics, economics, family life, moral values, or scientific research.

If we believe in God as creator, we may not divide the world into spiritual and secular. The fact that all reality depends upon the creative word of God means that the word of God must judge the ideas of men about truth and error, not the other way around.

Thus the Christian doctrine of the authority of scripture has its roots in the creation. The famous comment about the Bible's authority made by the 19th century preacher C .H. Spurgeon, defend the Bible, I'd as soon defend a lion, is well known and appropriate.

But we also need to be reminded of the relationship of God's word to the reasoning of man, the creature, about what is true. One does not take a pocket flashlight and shine it on the sun to see if the sun is real.

The truth of God's word cannot be subject to the puny light of man's self-centered reason. God's word created what is and must interpret what is. What is our image in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26? God created man in his image and delegated to humanity authority over the rest of the created order in Genesis chapter 1 verse 26.

Some scholars see this dominion of humanity, his rulings function and creation as the image of God. Others point out that humanity in the image of God is both male and female. The image may therefore be seen in the relationship of man and woman, particularly that which comes to its fullest expression in the union of husband and wife and which is based upon their sexual polarity in Genesis chapter 2 verse 24.

If the Bible does not clearly define the image of God in humanity at this stage, it will later point to Jesus Christ as the true image of God. The basic points to notice at this stage are, one, the uniqueness of humanity as the summit of God's creation and the image of God, and two, the creaturehood of humanity who is wholly dependent upon the creator for his existence.

Eden as the Pattern of God's Kingdom

As creation speaks to us of the king, so Eden speaks to us of the kingdom of God. In the previous chapter we saw that the kingdom of God, a New Testament term, is a wholly biblical idea. The concept of the kingdom dominates the whole biblical story.

The point where the pattern is established is the garden of Eden. Here we see the people of God, Adam and Eve and their innocence, the garden paradise, the place which God prepared as the perfect environment for his people, and the rule of God expressed by his word.

God is the sovereign king, sets the limits of freedom. You may freely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. In Genesis chapter 2, verses 16 and 17, because this is the kingdom, the king may not be challenged by his subjects.

The perfect relationship between creator and creature, between ruler and ruled, cannot exist if the creature seeks to usurp the role of creator by rejecting his rule. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall die.

In Genesis chapter 2, verse 17, the description of the garden of Eden does not tell us everything about the kingdom of God, but it does provide the essential framework for understanding the nature of the kingdom as God's people, Adam and Eve, in God's place, the garden of Eden, under God's rule, the word of God.

We shall see this pattern emerge over and over as the goal of all of God's activity. As it was in the creation, so it will be in the redemptive process which leads to the new creation. It is not accidental that the tree of life, which was denied to rebellious Adam, turns up in the description of the new Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 22.

Compare Genesis chapter 3, verse 22 and following, and Revelation chapter 22, verse 2. Or it appears in John's prophecy of the victory of the saints in Revelation chapter 2, verse 7, to him who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

The Fall, Death, and the Loss of Eden

As with the creation, so it is easy to underestimate the significance of the effects of the fall. If the creatorship of God is given its full weight, then the fall as the outcome of man's unilateral declaration of independence is a very serious thing.

The serpent's temptation was directed to this end. Has God said? This initially subtle questioning of the authoritative word of God is followed by the outright denial of the truth of that word, you shall not die, in Genesis chapter 3, verses 1 to 4.

The result was that Adam and Eve rejected the rule of God and asserted that even in the activity of reasoning, they were quite self-sufficient and independent. It is impossible for God to be true to himself and at the same time tolerate his own dethronement by the creature.

Thus, judgment is both inevitable and radical in the sense of striking at the root of the situation. On the day that you eat of it, you will die, said God. And die, humanity did. The fact that the final physical sign of death and the dissolution of the body was not immediate did not lessen the fact of death which came upon humanity.

Dead human beings are sinful human beings. Human beings who have rejected the kingdom of God. Dead man is man outside the garden. We need to distinguish here between the absolute sovereignty of God and the kingdom of God.

Neither humanity nor the devil can escape the sovereign power of God, no matter how hard either may fight against it. In the end, all who rebel against the creator will be forced to submit to the undeniable reality of God's lordship.

But the kingdom of God, as the Bible reveals it, is the sphere of God's rule in which his creatures submit willingly to this righteous rule. God's sovereign rule is universal. The kingdom of God is not.

There is hell as well as heaven, the word of darkness as well as the kingdom of light. At this stage, it's not necessary to supplement the records of Genesis with the New Testament material which enlarges upon the meaning of the sentence of death which came upon humanity at the fall.

The Genesis account provides the framework upon which the scriptures elaborate. It is impossible to separate the seemingly contradictory elements in the fall of humanity, the righteous judgment of God, and the incredible graciousness of God.

The judgment involves, firstly, the disruption of the relationship between humanity and God. This is seen clearly in the ejection of humanity from the garden. Secondly, there is the disruption of the relationship between man and woman, as the perfect harmony of male and female gives way to rivalry and accusation, as in Genesis 3, verses 12 and 16.

Thirdly, there is a disruption of the relationship of humanity to his environment, as the physical creation is no longer seen to be under the dominion of humanity, in Genesis 3, verses 17 and 19. The word disruption is not intended to detract from the seriousness of the sentence of death.

Humanity outside the kingdom is not merely under the sentence of death, but he is dead. The real meaning of death lies in the separation of humanity from the willing relationship of the kingdom. Autonomous human beings are God-denying and therefore life-denying as well.

Fallen humanity is spiritually dead. Outside of Eden, there is no return. Humanity has made his choice to be a rebel and is bound by that decision. Nor is there any free choice for the posterity of Adam.

Adam's fall from the garden kingdom is a fall of the whole human race. Every person is born outside the garden. Every person is born an active rebel, asserting autonomy and independence of the God of life.

Human history and scripture will show that humanity's death state means that he infallibly chooses to hate God, for that is his outside Eden nature. It is no longer a question of freedom to choose right or wrong, for humanity is free now, only to be what he is, a sinner who hates God.

Humanity has become a slave to sin, a slavery that is death. Grace refers to the attitude of God toward rebellious sinners and showing them mercy which is not only undeserved, but the very opposite of what is deserved.

This attitude of God is not an abstract thing, but is known to us only through the saving activity of God. The incredible story of Genesis 3 is one both of judgment and grace. To begin with, we note that God does not purpose to obliterate humanity as he might justly have done when Adam sinned.

The very fact that the race is preserved and that God continues to speak to humanity is a mark of grace. Grace is seen in the judgment of the serpent. God is righteous and the father of lies is destined for his ultimate reward.

Genesis 3, verse 15 has long been recognized as a word of grace, a proto-evangel, proto-eugelion, that is, the first reference to the gospel, promising that the seed of woman shall actually share in the reversal of wrong.

The serpent has led man to his fall and is blameworthy. Humanity is also blameworthy because he was willingly led. Grace operates in the face of blameworthiness. Grace is seen in the mateness of some semblance of society.

The image of God in humanity is not entirely obliterated and hence humanity retains some dignity over the rest of creation. Man and woman continue to relate and to propagate even though the relationship is corrupted.

The universe, in order to remain under humanity's dominion and despite its ongoing challenge to humanity's dominion, is made to fall with humanity. The world outside the garden is fallen. For humanity cannot survive in an unfallen world.

The creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of him who subjected it in hope, in Romans chapter 8, verse 20. Genesis chapters 4 to 11 contains a compact story which covers a very long period of time.

Genesis 4 to 11: The Two Lines of Humanity

In keeping with the method of biblical theology, we look at the emphases of these chapters in order to discover the overall message they contain. This first history of fallen man in a fallen world is an example of history that is theologically oriented.

The two lines of people characterized by the heads of the lines Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve, are arranged schematically. The device of genealogy, or family tree, is used a number of times in the Bible and we should not be too quick to dismiss the genealogies as uninteresting or spiritually irrelevant.

The diagram opposite demonstrates the genealogical structure of Genesis chapters 4 to 11. The narrative of Cain and Abel depicts one effect of the fall of humanity, rivalry and murder. The account then turns to the genealogy of Cain's ungodly line of descendants characterized as developers of the city and of industry as climaxed by the viciousness of Lamech in Genesis chapter 4 verses 17 to 24.

The godlessness of humanity is again stressed in Genesis chapter 6 as God declares his intention to destroy humanity. This godless line, of course, disappears in the flood. Meanwhile, a godly line begins with Seth who takes the place of his murdered brother in Genesis chapter 4 verse 25.

The exemplars of this line are Enoch, who walked with God, and Noah, who found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The salvation of Noah and his family is an act of God's grace leading to a new beginning. Again, however, there comes division of mankind with Ham as the principal representative of the godless.

Shem is the father of the godly in Genesis chapter 11 verses 10 to 26. We now have a godly line shown in a genealogy of ten generations from Adam to Noah and ten generations from Noah to Abram. Clearly, this is not haphazard.

The story is moving towards a goal and we shall have to examine the significance of Abram in order to find out where. For the moment, we may say that the foundations of redemption are being laid. Humanity, the rebel, dead in his sins and wickedness in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1, is the object of God's promise and grace.

God's grace was shown in the saving of Noah and the continuation of a godly line. Already there is evidence of the relationship which God wants to have with a new race of humanity, and there are signs that the kingdom of God will break into the fallen world in a demonstration of redemptive mercy.

Humanity can dare to hope that once again he will see the kingdom which is characterized by God's people in God's place under God's rule.