Part 3
"And the Lord God commanded the man saying...of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Genesis 2:16-17.It is not uncommon when we broach the subject of death, to immediately relate it to the expiry of that which is natural and physical. We think of funeral parlors, grave sites, and monument stones. It can be a time in which we reflect on the mortality of our own lives, and how quickly the years seem to pass. The older I become the more I ponder on those things left undone, and the opportunities that are past the doing of them.
Advertisers taking advantage of our fear of aging, use it to sell their products. Creams to erase the tell-tale lines around the eyes to give the appearance of youth. Dyes to cover the gray hairs to make the appearance of having cheated the aging process.
Exercise machines, and health foods, diet pills, and spas are multi-billion dollar businesses to keep the illusion alive of the "fountain of youth" for this mortal body.
Whether we dye it, or hide it, cover it, or exercise it, whether we paint it, or get it lifted, or tucked; if we live to be seventy, or a hundred and seventy, the end of this fleshly body is an inevitable testament to the consequences of that first disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
What can we understand then, about what is meant when the Word says: "for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die?" We know that Adam did not physically die that day, for he lived on for some nine hundred years afterward. I have heard many explanations that try to offer a solution to this seeming contradiction. One that is common is, because Adam died before he was a thousand years old. And we know one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day, therefore Adam died in a day. Another explanation says the original reads: "in dying thou shalt die." Meaning only the death process has begun.
While we can agree there is merit to these explanations, I believe there is another level in which to consider what was meant. Death is the ending of one realm, and the catalyst for the beginning of another.
When a baby is in the womb of its mother, the birthing process is the "death" of existence for that baby’s life in the realm of the womb. That which has been the extent of the baby’s environment since conception ends when it emerges into the beginnings of life outside the womb. There is a change of living conditions. The ending, or death of one is the beginning of another.
So we see this same principle being applied to that which took place in the garden. The fact is, whether we say that Adam lived in a garden, or the garden was in him, or both; this change of condition meant that no longer would he enjoy the walking of God in that garden in the cool of the day. There was the ending, or the death of that realm of existence for Adam, and all of his descendants. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Rom. 5:12).
Therefore we see, that Adam’s disobedience to the command of God brought sin into the world. The consequence of sin brought this change of condition, or realm of living; what the Scriptures refer to as death. However, if we were to relate that death only to the physical ending of this body, we would miss the greater significance of what took place.
Adam did not die physically that day,(though the process of physical death had begun). We cannot say Adam died Spiritually, because the Spirit cannot die. What we can say is, that very day there was the ending of that realm of fellowship and existence that Adam had known and lived in since his beginnings. This is the death Adam would die that day. No longer living in a "Kingdom of heaven," but now cast out to live in a "kingdom of earth." No longer living in a garden of Eden, Adam was cast out of the garden to "till the ground (earth, flesh) from whence he was taken." (Gen. 3:23). A kingdom of flesh had been placed between Adam and God. Adam was now "dead" to the Kingdom Life of God, and this death was passed on to all mankind.
The Bible talks about two completely separate kingdoms. Two different and diametrically opposed kingdoms, or governments, or realms with separate ruling principles for each. There is a heavenly Kingdom, and an earthly kingdom. The one is a Kingdom of Life; the other is a kingdom of death. The one is a Kingdom of Light; the other is a kingdom of darkness. The one is a kingdom of carnality; the other, a Spiritual Kingdom.
Jesus shows us by contrast of example what it is to live on this earth, and yet to not be of it. To live within an earthly kingdom, and yet not to be molded, or pressed into its shape, to live out of the realm of a Kingdom within a kingdom. He said: "My Kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight." (John 18:36.) Neither is it necessary to fight to enter into this Kingdom, "For it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:32.)
The purpose for Jesus coming, was to pay the way, thereby to reconcile creation for entrance into this Kingdom of God. Jesus said: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." (John 10:10.)
Man considers life as it relates to this mortal flesh. The Scriptures consider that which relates to living in the mind set, under the ruling principles of this mortal flesh as death. It is only the mind set on the Spirit, and living under the ruling principles of the Government of God that truly is life. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be Spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." (Romans 8:6,7.)
It is with this understanding, that it can be said: "Everything outside of God is death." God is Life. In Him there is no darkness at all, neither is there shadow of turning. Everything that is in God has to receive that Life. Everything God touches, receives of His Life. In order for death to exist, it has to function outside the "essence" of God.
This does not mean that God is not in control of death. Death is created by God for His purpose. When death has done its perfect work, there will be no more need for it. Death shall be swallowed up by life. The death of death is to be cast into the lake of fire. All that can remain is life. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death." (Revelations 20:14.) "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." I Cor. 15:26
"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Cor. 15:54-56.) AMEN.
END.
