All things in the heaven and on the earth were created by God and for Him. The glory of God was evident in everything in the heavens and on the earth. Everything bore some imprint of the LORD. Since God was the Maker of everything that was visible and invisible, He possess the right of ownership.
You are Mine!
Genesis 2:7-8 HCSB Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there He placed the man He had formed.
Of all of creation, man alone was created in the image and likeness of God. God personally formed them from the dust of the ground and personally breathed the breath of life into their nostrils and they became a living being (soul). Man was uniquely made with a spirit and soul. He was formed so that he would be able to have fellowship with God on a different level than any other created thing. As soon as they sinned, a dramatic change occurred in Adam and Eve.
Genesis 3:7-9 NKJVThen the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
God created Adam and Eve specifically for Himself.
They were God’s crowning creation. Of the millions of things God created, man was the only creation that was in the image and likeness of God.
Now, they are in a great dilemma.
Being created to fellowship with God, they had fallen into sin and were separated from God. As usual, God came down in the cool of the day, but Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of God. God is walking through the garden, calling out for Adam. Adam, where are you?
Adam said: “I heard your voice and I was naked and I hid myself.”
What should God do?
They broke covenant with God and His word. When they did this, God went out and killed an animal to make clothes to cover their nakedness. This first sacrifice to cover their sin was not a cure for sin. They are still guilty, but now they are covered. This is the first prophecy of atonement for man’s sin. God was so good and merciful to cover them and hide their nakedness.
When God made provision for the people to tabernacle with Him, He instituted the sacrifice for atonement and covering.
The blood of bulls and goats had to be offered yearly for atonement and covering for sins. Sacrificial offerings had to be made to appease God. The sacrifice pacified God, but it did not take away sin. It covered man, but it did not clear him. The blood of bulls and goats could not satisfy. The ashes of a heifer were inadequate to cover, cleanse and appease God. Nothing that was offered could satisfy God until the blood of Jesus hit the mercy seat in heaven. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can cover man’s sin. When the blood of Jesus hit the mercy seat, the angels saw God satisfied.
Revelation 5:11-12 NKJVThen I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
It is the blood of Jesus that brings our salvation.
Salvation is only secured by the blood of the Lamb of God. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice. He did something in time at the cross that altered eternity. When he died, something powerful happened in heaven and on earth.
Don’t minimize salvation to what you have learned.
Salvation is more than what you do and what you do not do. Salvation is much more than your works. It is more than knowing that we sinned and asking forgiveness. Adam and Eve covered themselves with the works of their hands, but it was not enough. Standing before God they said, we knew we were naked so we hid ourselves. Then God told them the depth of their transgression and what would happen. After showing them the depth of their fall, God made a covering for their nakedness.
This is an awesome and incredible love story.
God was reaching down to wrap Himself around His beloved. The story of salvation is God’s love story to fallen humanity.
The law and prophets spoke of God mending the tear.
Hebrews 11:13 NKJV These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Those great people of faith earnestly looked for the day that you are living in right now. The presence of God only visited them. They were touched by the power of the Spirit of God.
God would stop by.
The Holy Spirit came upon Sampson, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, Saul, and David. The Holy Spirit would visit them, but there was no abiding place for God and man. The intimacy was taken out of the relationship. They were disconnected.
God had to establish a place of reconciliation and restoration.
God told Adam: “I missed you.” “I missed our intimacy.” “Adam, where are you.” They were hidden from God by their transgression and sin.
God wants to establish a place where He may dwell with us.
He wants to come down and meet us here. This is a place to meet with and worship Almighty God.
Isaiah 59:15-16 LB The Lord saw all the evil and was displeased to find no steps taken against sin. He saw no one was helping you and wondered that no one intervened. Therefore He Himself stepped in to save you through His mighty power and justice.
God was looking for a way to bring together what was torn apart.
The relationship between God and man was broken. Throughout the ages of time, God worked through prophets, priests, and sages trying to knit back what has been torn. God was too holy to live near sin. We were too sinful to live in holiness. We were separated by our condition and sin.
God lives in a perpetual state of holiness.
He is perfect in all of His ways. God is holy and separate from sin. God does holy things because He is holy. God is holy. It is beyond His capacity to lie. He cannot fail. He is perfect in all of His ways.
God said: “I cannot meet with you because it is not in my capacity to be evil.” “You cannot reach me, because it is not in your capacity to be good.”
We need a place of meeting.
God is saying: “I cannot be like you and you cannot be like Me.”
We need a place for you to come as close to Me as you can. I need a place where I can come as close to you as I can.
God says: “I need a place where we can come together.” “When you were perfect and innocent, we could be together.” “I created you in my likeness and in my image.” “When I finished, everything was good.” “When you sinned, you became distant and separated from me.”
“Adam, where are you?”
God was saying: I created you for Me. I created you for closeness and fellowship. I was going to meet you in the Spirit. In My glory, I created you and wanted to be with you. I wanted to walk and talk with you in the cool of the day in the garden. Now, I cannot take that walk with you because there is a breach between Me and you. I call out and you do not hear. I come near and you cannot respond. Sin has made you want to hide from My presence.
When Adam sinned, God stopped having a time of rest with them.
The Bible does not speak of the Sabbath rest for 2,500 years. The Sabbath rest was a place and time provided by God for man.
Genesis 3:19 NIV By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.
From Genesis to Exodus chapter 20, God does not talk of rest.
The entrance of sin broke the Sabbath rest. Man’s rest in the presence of God was broken. Life was hard and death was upon them.
When Abraham came along, God started a new blood line in the earth.
God waited until Abraham’s body was dead. He did not need Abraham to do it. When Abraham could no longer produce a seed, God gave him a seed. When Sarah was too old to have a child, God gave her a son.
When Christ comes, He is “the seed of Abraham.”
God started a new creation of people who serve the invisible God. The Hebrews worshiped the God no one could see. The Egyptians worshiped gods their own hands created. Before Abraham had Isaac, God promised that He would bless all people through his seed.
God told Abraham: “Your descendants will be strangers and slaves in Egypt for 400 years.” (Genesis 15:13-14)
They were in Egypt 430 years. They were afflicted and in bondage 400 years. God said, “when they come out of Egypt, they will come out with great substance.” (Fulfilled in Exodus 12:40.)
When God makes a promise, He remembers and keeps His word.
Even though Abraham was dead, God remembered His what He had said and saved them. In the furnace of affliction, God prepared them for blessing. Seventy (70) souls went into Egypt. After the people were developed, God brought more than 1½ million people out with great possessions.
Exodus 5:1-3 NKJV Afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘Let My people go, that they may hold a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” And Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” So they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go three days’ journey into the desert and sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest He fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
Moses and Aaron walked past gods that could not see or hear to represent the God they could not see.
God said: “Let My people go that they may worship Me.”
Pharaoh said: “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.”
Moses and Aaron said, “There is a place where God wants to meet with us.” “Let us go a three-day journey into the desert so that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not strike us with plague or the sword.”
God wants to be reunited with His people.
There is a place.
Finally, Pharaoh let them go.
He tried to recapture what he let go, but God was not willing to let His people go back.He claimed them for His own special people.
Isaiah 43:1-3 NKJVBut now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.
They said, “there is a place God wants to meet with us.”
Let us go meet our invisible God in a visible place. They said, “if you try to stop us, our God would send a plague or the sword.”
Our God is calling us out to meet with Him.
Pharaoh tried to stop them, but God was not willing to let them go back. God had claimed them for His own.
Moses had been to the place and saw the burning bush.
He had spoken with the Almighty God. God told Moses to go into Egypt and bring My people out that I may meet with them in this place.
God is going to meet with His people.
He is calling His Church to come to that place of meeting. He has prepared a place in Christ where we can come together and meet with God.
