Scripture
Genesis 5:1
[1] This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
This is the 92nd Lecture on Genesis.
Tonight, we will begin Genesis Chapter 5.
Genesis 5:1 starts by saying, “This is the book of the generations of Adam.” In this chapter, there is a family line from Adam to Noah.
It is the record of about 1,600 years from the day when Adam was driven out from the Garden of Eden to this earth.
Tonight, we will take a look at part of Adam lineage.
Genesis 5:1 continues to say, “In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.”
From this verse, we can find once again how God created us.
God created man ‘in the likeness of God.’
God created man to resemble not only the outer appearance, but also the ‘inner side- the heart’ of God.
By giving man ‘spirit’ which is immortal, God made man a spiritual being.
God made man be able to communicate with God and share love with God.
Even though man was created in the likeness of God, from the beginning man was not perfect.
When the first man, Adam, and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden, they didn’t know about ‘evil,’ and ‘flesh.’
They knew only about goodness and spirit.
In other words, they had no comprehension of the concept of ‘relativity’ back then.
Knowing only goodness without understanding evil, and knowing spirit without flesh is not perfect understanding.
God knows evil in depth yet He is goodness itself; He knows all about the attributes of evil of flesh, yet He is spirit itself.
And so, He is perfect.
God desired man who was created in His likeness also to be a perfect being.
God wanted His children to know both evil and goodness, yet to choose always goodness over evil; He wanted them to pursue spirit though experience with the flesh.
That’s why He began human cultivation.
Before He began His work of creation, He had already harbored all of this.
By the way, even though ‘human cultivation’ is a way of blessing, God didn’t force Adam to choose the way of disobedience he chose.
God already gave Adam freewill, and let him choose his way by himself.
That is, God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the center of the Garden, and told him that he would surely die if he eats from the tree.
God clearly told him about its result and warned him, but Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in his freewill.
As its result, he had to be driven out of the garden and to the earth, and eventually began to receive human cultivation.
He felt the things he had not felt in the Garden of Eden such as tears, sorrow, pain, and suffering.
He came to know what true happiness is, what true joy is, and what true peace is.
He also realized in desperation how miserable the situation could become by disobeying God and committing sin.
After their lives on this earth were over, they were finally saved and went to Heaven.
Although they dwell in Paradise, which is the lowest dwelling place in Heaven, it is still better than the Garden of Eden.
All the children that Adam and Eve gave birth to on earth also receive human cultivation.
God the Father earnestly desired to have true children who would cultivate their hearts into spirit and whole spirit.
Whenever such a true child of God accomplishes this cultivation, God forgets the labor and sadness of His long endurance as His heart is consoled.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Our God the Father is truly merciful, full of affection, soft, and gentle.
Of course, He also has divinity; great dignity and authority.
Please don’t forget that He also has humanity that is equal to His divinity.
God desires all men who are created in the likeness of God to realize that God is their Father, and to come before God.
And so, God gives the authority of becoming His children to whoever accepts Jesus Christ.
Even the fleshly people with evil in their hearts know how to deal with their little children.
Most of them love their children so much that they give their children hugs and kisses.
They try to express their love the best they can.
God the Father and the children of faith can also have this intimate relationship.
Those with weak faith feel the divine nature more than humanity of God, and so they may become afraid of God.
To the extent their faith grows up, however, they can deeply feel the love of Father God.
It is because they can experience that they always receive Father God’s delicate love and protection, and that God is always with them.
In many parts of the bible, you can find how closely intimate the relationship God had with the forefathers of faith who accomplished whole spirit.
First, whenever Elijah was in trouble, God Himself fed him and took care of him.
In 1 Kings Chapter 17, it is described how God made ravens bring bread and meat to Elijah.
He also strengthened Elijah who was exhausted be sending an angel to him.
That is, 1 Kings 19:5-8 says, “He lay down and slept under a juniper tree; and behold, there was an angel touching him, and he said to him, “Arise, eat.” Then he looked and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. So he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, “Arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you.” So he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.”
God walked with Enoch even on this earth.
Soon, we will cover who Enoch was and how God walked with Enoch. I’ll explain this in great detail when we get there.
You can find in Isaiah 41:8 that God Himself described Abraham by calling him ‘My friend.”
God called Abraham as His friend; He didn’t keep things secret from Abraham, but shared things with him.
That is, in Genesis 18:17, God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do.”
He also told Abraham about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah beforehand.
What about with Moses?
Exodus 33:11 says, “…the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend…”
Just like these forefathers of faith, once you reach the 50th percentile (or ‘gain more than 50% ) of the fifth level of faith, there is no trace of flesh; the fruit of spirit fills your heart.
God is able to use such people, according to their natures, as much as He desires.
God can use them as instruments to reveal His glory.
It is because they are one in heart, and one in will with God.
When God created the first man, Adam, he was like the true child that God earnestly desired.
They are the children who are full of affection and intimacy to share true love both on earth and in Heaven.
I pray in the name of the Lord that you may fulfill such desire and hope of God the Father.
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