Paradise Restored: The Unveiling of Man's Potential through Christ’s Atonement and Resurrection
Man’s Primitive Condition
Theologians often discuss the condition of man in the Garden of Eden before the fall. God is all-knowing, so why did He place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden if He foreknew that man would eat of it? It would seem that God had a purpose for this primitive condition.[i]
All creation was made for man, a garden of exploration that would captivate our imagination, a world that would continually move us to stand in awe of our creator. And so, God made us the caretakers of His creation, to have dominion over His earthly kingdom with the same delicacy and reverence as our creator. “This, in fact, is the whole purpose of man, and the purpose for which he, and all the worlds, both upper and lower, were created: that God should have such a dwelling-place here below — how this earthly abode for God is the purpose of all creation.”[ii]
Adam was created with basic instincts, needs, drives, and impulses. These are self-preservation, the desire for food, the urge for procreation, the need for acquisition, and the determination to have dominion.[iii] Adam and Eve were commanded to be fruitful and multiply.[iv] We read, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24, NKJV).[v] While all these passions are good when retained within a Biblical framework, if we are not careful, they can also constitute the “lusts of the flesh.” We would be wise to remember that what God created for good, man’s sinful nature corrupts and turns towards evil.
Adam was created for companionship and communed with the Lord in the Garden of Eden.[vi] The Lord also created a companion for Adam. We read, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him” (Genesis 2:18). The word “helper” in Hebrew is ezer (עֵ֖זֶר). It is used in scripture to describe aspects of God’s character: He is our strength, our rescuer, our protector, and our help. Thus, Eve was not just created to be Adam's corresponding and equal partner. In the words of R. David Freedman, God created woman to be “a power equal to a man.” Eve’s strength was to provide Adam with a companion and counterpart that would help and strengthen him in every way.
God gave Adam the task of naming the animals and was given dominion over them, and he even called his wife Eve. This work implies that Adam was learning and acquiring knowledge and was created to labor in the Garden. Creativity and accomplishment are essential for personal fulfillment. And we surmise that in God’s time and Adam’s maturity, he would have been given the understanding of the “tree of knowledge.”[vii]
As Adam and Eve were created perfect in God’s image, we also see them as partakers of God’s holiness and righteousness. Often described as “innocence,” Adam was created in holiness devoid of evil.[viii] We read, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). And they were created to be eternal beings as they were given the Tree of Life. Death only occurred when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, ate of the forbidden tree, and were banished (divorced) from God’s presence in the Garden.[ix]
Their sin resulted in shame, guilt, alienation, and death for them and the entire human race. Given the evil and consequent destruction from sinfulness, why would a loving and all-knowing God subject Adam and Eve to this level of temptation in the first place?[x] We read, “What is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:18-19). This raises another question. Adam and Eve, having been subjected to God’s presence and His immeasurable love and living in a perfect Garden where every need was provided, why would they have deliberately chosen to disobey Him?
The Bible does not tell us God’s reason, so all we have are suppositions based on the totality of scripture. We have some insight into Adam and Eve’s motivation, but even their desire to seek knowledge to become equal with God does not fully reason with their ultimate actions—the consequence of death.
Adam and Eve were created with intelligence, emotions, cognitive reasoning, and free will or, more precisely, the freedom to choose. There is a significant difference. The Lord declared to Israel: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you [a choice between] life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19). God provided Adam and Eve the same choices and gave them the ability to disobey Him and eat of the forbidden fruit. Because without the freedom to choose, there can be no moral accountability. Since we are created in the image of God, He has made us accountable for our decisions and hence His righteous judgments.[xi]
God has given us similar choices concerning our destiny as one of two paths, one that leads to eternal life and the other to destruction. We are not given an unbound sphere of decision-making concerning our eternal existence. Jesus warned, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). We can choose eternal life in Christ or eternal separation from God outside His Kingdom, and this is all.
Adam and Eve were created in God’s holiness and with a holy nature. So, again, it seems irrational that they could sin against God. However, being created with a holy nature does not imply they had developed a holy character. That can only happen due to testing in which good choices are made using the intellect, emotions, and cognitive reasoning that God has given us. Hence it is written: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). Therefore, while man’s holy nature came as a result of the creation, man’s holy character would only happen as a result of God’s testing.
Therefore, we can see the Garden of Eden as more than paradise; it was a place of trial where God could test Adam and Eve’s obedience and loyalty to Him. And most significantly, it would try their love for Him because it is impossible to deliberately hurt someone you care about. Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God was motivated by selfishness. Hence we read, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6). Their choice was not a moral failing; it was solely one of disobedience motivated by their own desires. Hence, we read, “Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15).
God similarly tested Abraham by simply asking Abraham to offer his only son as a sacrifice, which was a personal request, not a moral one. Moral laws should be obeyed because they are right to follow. For example, God’s commandment not to murder or steal. On the other hand, the prohibition of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil was a law that tested Adam’s obedience to God because the knowledge of evil was not yet self-evident. Again, Adam’s choice to disobey God was not evil. It was purely an act of willful disobedience that was sinful, but more so, it has resulted in a world filled with evil.
Adam’s freedom to choose was necessary for him to develop a mature, holy, and blessed nature, and a loving and all-knowing God would not have subjected him to this test if it were not for his ultimate good. If Adam had obeyed God and resisted the serpent, he would have developed a holy character and experienced greater blessings and a deeper fellowship with God. On the other hand, God, foreknowing that Adam would disobey Him, already provided a plan of redemption through the incarnation and vicarious death of His own Son.[xii] Either way, Adam’s testing was necessary and reasonable, given that either choice would lead him to a final state superior to the Garden of Eden. Even now, we are presented with a choice: will we believe in and obey the commands of Jesus, or will we, through a willful act of disobedience, reject God and His gift of salvation?
The temptation of Adam and Eve is attributed to the serpent, who we read, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1). Paul compares the serpent to the deceptions of a false spirit, saying: “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4).
Many theologians attribute the serpent to Satan, either an incarnation or his possession of a beast of the field. Usually disguised, he assumes the appearance of another being, a benefactor or one able to fulfill his selfish ambitions.[xiii] Jesus said, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it” (John 8:44). “While Satan has many followers and deceivers, he is the originator of all lies and deception. We read, “The great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (Revelation 12:9). Therefore, the likelihood is that the serpent in Genesis is Satan.[xiv]
So, what kind of motivation could Satan employ to tempt a holy and innocent being to disobey God? We had already discussed that Adam and Eve were created with certain self-preservation and motivating instincts, and Satan targeted several of these when he spoke to Eve. We read, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6). Nothing about these instincts is inherently evil. However, desire becomes lust when it is contrary to the Spirit of God. John said: “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
The term “world” does not mean the earth; it means the kingdom ruled by Satan that governs the nations of the earth. And the word “flesh” does not mean the body but the whole person's body and soul dedicated to the kingdom of darkness. Paul said: “You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
While Satan appealed to Eve’s natural and motivational instincts, he first had to cast doubt in her mind about the Lord. Satan’s opening question, “Has God indeed said?” was followed by a statement intended to cast God as a liar or, at least, disingenuous, and not entirely truthful. He said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5). Whether Eve was deceived by doubt, pride, or selfish motivations, possibly, all three played some part in her rebellious decision.[xv] And the outcome was a sinful action that led to her and Adam’s fall from the Garden of Eden into a subsequent world filled with evil.
The Fall of Man
Genesis chapters one and two describe the creation of man as perfect and holy, Genesis three details his disobedience and fall, and Genesis four through eleven portray Adam’s descendants as living with calamity and strife. Humanity retains a thread of its divine origins, but our history of war, perversion, greed, and corruption gives indisputable evidence of our fall. Only by God’s intervention through Christ’s incarnation, resurrection, omnipresence, and promised return can we find any hope in this world.[xvi] Orthodox and conservative theologians view the account in Genesis as figurative and literal, not myth or allegory. There is no transition in scripture from allegorical to historical, and Paul made direct parallels between Adam and Christ. An allegorical antitype does not fit a historical fulfillment.[xvii] And Adam is listed in two genealogical accounts, including those of Abraham and Jesus, and in geographical locations, such as Assyria and the Euphrates.[xviii]
The fallen condition of man is real and very literal. Despite substantial scientific progress, humanity has not evolved morally, ethically, and socially. And the continual presence of evil in the world suggests a supernatural force that continues manipulating and motivating human activity. Man’s fall resulted in God’s judgment against the serpent, the man and woman, and the earth.[xix] The serpent was humiliated to eat the dust of the earth, the woman to sorrow in pain during childbirth, and the man was to toil to bring forth food from the earth. God’s judgment on the land was thorns and thistles, suggesting a lower yield. We read: “Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field” (Genesis 3:8). These became a symbol of evil and Satan’s works, as Jesus illustrated, saying, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit” (Matthew 7:16-17).
When the Lord descended upon Mount Sinai, He revealed Himself to the Israelites.[xx] From the root sin-nun, the Hebrew word Sinai means "thorn" or “thorn bush.” It is believed that Moses saw a burning thorn bush on Mount Sinai called Mount Horeb (h’horev).[xxi] The Hebrew word h’horev comes from the root h’harav, which means "to lay waste," "be dried up," and "to fight." In Hebrew, the words Sinai and h’horev are synonymous with a dry wasteland filled with thorn bushes. And there is an interesting correlation and similarity between Mount Sinai and the Garden of Eden, which are dichotomies.
When God expelled Adam and Eve from Eden, He placed a flaming sword at its entrance.[xxii] The Hebrew word for "sword" is h’herev. H’herev comes from the same root, h’harav, and implies “to fight” and “make waste.” It also derives from the word h’horev (called Sinai), which, as we just learned, also implies “a wasteland filled with sharp thorns.” Thus, it is believed that the burning thorn bush Moses saw is a picture of the flaming sword at the entrance to the Garden of Eden.
Again, when Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the Garden of Eden, they brought a curse of thorns and desolations (h’horev) upon the creation. On the cross, and wearing a crown of thorns, Jesus took upon Himself our curse of thorns (h’horev). We read: “And they clothed Him with purple; and they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head” (Mark 15:17).[xxiii] The immediate consequence of the fall was a sense of shame. They had lost their innocence, covering their nakedness with fig leaves. The knowledge they gained from the tree did not make them divine, only fear, and alienation from the Lord.[xxiv] And the fatal consequence of the fall was death and permanent separation from God.[xxv] Their knowledge of evil now only gave them an understanding of the consequence of their sin against God. And without the tree of life, disease and mortality would enter the creation.
Physical and Spiritual Death
The Lord told Adam: “For in the day that you eat of [the tree of knowledge] you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17). After Adam ate the forbidden fruit, the Lord cursed Adam, saying: “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Death had now entered the creation—physical and spiritual. In the Old Testament, only Enoch and Elijah escaped death.[xxvi] And in the New Testament, only those who are taken up in the Rapture escape it.[xxvii] Jesus raised several people from the dead, as did Elijah, and we assume these people later died again.[xxviii]
These incidents recorded in scripture seem to contradict the writer of Hebrews, where he said: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). But Jesus told us: “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death” (Revelation 2:11). This statement implies there are two deaths, the first is physical, and the second is eternal. Paul said, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). Paul’s clarity affirms that when a person’s physical body dies or goes to sleep (not to be confused with soul sleep), their soul separates from the body, constituting the transition from the visible to the unseen world.[xxix] Jesus spoke to the man who hung next to him on a cross, assuredly saying, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).
Therefore, physical death is not the end of our existence, only the temporary shift of our soul away from this material world. For the believer in Christ, our soul, the new creation in Christ, is released and freed from the physical body that holds it captive to the old nature of sinfulness and rebellion that dwells within the flesh. Our sins have been annulled by the propitiation of Christ’s atoning work on the cross.[xxx] Although we die physically, we are alive in Christ, and the curse and sting of death are gone forever. Hence, we read, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55).
Although we grieve momentarily, we do not grieve as one without hope.[xxxi] Our physical death is a triumphant declaration over death itself, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). Jesus said, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).[xxxii] In Christ, our disembodied soul will enter the presence of Jesus forever.[xxxiii] We have passed from death to eternal life, and our souls will be reunited at the first resurrection with a new, glorified, incorruptible physical body.[xxxiv] Jesus declared, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:6).
Spiritual death is the separation of our soul from God in this world and the age to come. When the Lord declared to Adam, “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17), Adam and Eve died spiritually. They were cast out of the Garden of Eden and separated from God. Mortality had begun, but their physical bodies lived for hundreds of years. Therefore, Jesus said, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22). He was saying, “Let the spiritually dead bury the physically dead.” Paul, writing the Ephesians, said, “You He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Paul said they were dead spiritually. But the one who is redeemed and saved by their faith in Christ is made alive in Him and passes from death into eternal life.[xxxv]
However, if the person is not a believer, their soul will go to “Hades.” There, they will wait until the final judgment, when their soul will be resurrected at the end of the Millennial Kingdom (the second resurrection), and stand before God’s throne in the “Great White Throne of Judgment.”[xxxvi] These unrepentant souls were not only spiritually dead in their sins and trespasses but were physically dead as well. However, in judgment, their spiritually dead souls will be resurrected into an eternal body to be condemned forever. This state is called the second and eternal death, from the Greek aionios, meaning “without end.” These will be cast out of God’s Kingdom and eternally alienated from Him in what is called everlasting fire, punishment, judgment, destruction, and damnation.[xxxvii] However, eternal death does not mean that they cease to exist. Eternal death is an everlasting punishment, where “their worm does not die, And their fire is not quenched. They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:24).[xxxviii] Jesus warned, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28).
Any person whose name is not found in the Book of Life, though they stand in judgment before God, their body and soul will be thrown into the “lake of fire” (Gehenna, from the Hebrew Gehinnom), also called “the place of outer darkness.”[xxxix] Gehenna was a figurative name taken from the perpetual fires that burned in the valley of Hinnom or Gehinnom, just outside of Jerusalem, and considered a place of divine punishment in Jewish eschatology.[xl] Hinnom or Gehinnom is derived from the Hebrew Gei Ben Hinnom, meaning the “Valley of the Son of Hinnom.” In Hebrew, the word for “hell” is Sheol, translated as “the place of the dead” and “the grave.” In the New Testament, the lowest part of Sheol, in Greek, is Hades, carried over from the Septuagint version.[xli] However, the Hebrew word for the final state of perdition is Gehenna, also translated as “hell,” which confuses the intermittent place of the dead and the place of final judgment in English. Yet, they are different. Therefore, the appropriate wording for the intermediate state of the dead is Sheol or Hades, and the place of final judgment is Gehenna or hell.
There is no biblical justification for purgatory or soul sleep. Both violate the clear scriptural teachings of the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to cleanse us of all sin and salvation by grace through faith.[xlii] Purgatory is a Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox doctrine that describes a place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who expiate their sins before going to heaven.[xliii] The length of time varies depending on the seriousness of their offenses, anywhere from a few hours to centuries, only to be terminated at the final judgment. The Catholic Church teaches that the time in purgatory can be shortened by gifts or services rendered to the church or prayers and masses sponsored by relatives. Their doctrine is based on a passage from the Apocrypha in the second book of Maccabees.[xliv] The Apocrypha is not part of canonized scripture but is included in Catholic Bibles.
Soul sleep is considered a state of soul unconsciousness until the resurrection taught by the Seventh-Day Adventists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and several other small denominations. Their argument is based on verses in the Bible that refer to people being asleep after they die.[xlv] Jesus referred to the first death as “sleep,” telling His disciples to “make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping” (Matthew 9:24). This and other verses have been taken out of context, as Jesus was not talking about the soul sleeping, but the physical body. Those who believe otherwise suggest that our physical bodies and souls will sleep until the resurrection. Their assumption is the soul cannot function apart from the physical body. Therefore, it cannot awaken until the resurrection. They also deem it inappropriate for a departed soul to be blissfully in the presence of Jesus while the unrighteous suffer in Hades until after the final judgment.[xlvi]
In stark contradiction, Jesus told a parable about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus (not to be confused with Lazarus of Bethany, whom Jesus raised from the dead). Both men had physically died, but their souls were awake. We read:
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom” (Luke 16:19-23).
While the beggar was comforted in Abraham’s bosom, the rich man was tormented in Hades for lack of water. His thirst signifies he was spiritually separated from God, a form of spiritual death but not eternal death.[xlvii] And while the rich man could see Lazarus and the angels with him, an expansive chasm separated them.[xlviii] Even with all his cries for mercy, Abraham said: “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us” (Luke 16:25-26).
The rich man had no second chance or purgatory; his fate was sealed. And contrary to what some believe, the second death is not a disappearance into nothingness. It is a condition beyond imagination or comprehension. Hence, we read to fear God, as it is written: “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name” (Revelation 14:9-11).
Jesus descended into the earth for three days and nights and preached to the dead.[xlix] We surmise that the intermediate place of the dead is somewhere deep inside the earth. Jesus did not enter the abode of the wicked but only to those in Abraham's bosom. After the resurrection, those who knew His voice, the righteous ones, followed Him out of the Hades into the heavenly realm—paradise.[l] Paul spoke of his desire to depart this world and be with Christ. He expected that when he physically died, he would be in the presence of the Lord forever.[li] And he comforted us with these words: “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-11).
Unfortunately, there is an intermediate condition for the unrepentant soul, and it is not a good place to be. While Hades is intermediate and temporary, it is still a place of torment for the unrepentant souls, as seen in this Parable of Lazarus. When the unbeliever dies, their soul goes immediately to Hades, the abode of the wicked who have died. Their soul was already spiritually dead, but now it continues to live in this spiritually dead condition even after physical death. For this reason, the wicked cannot hear God’s voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me” (John 10:27).
Oh, how pitiful is our fallen, sinful condition? The Psalmist declared: “You have set our iniquities before You, Our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; We finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:8-12).
Man’s Potential
Despite man’s fallen condition, Isaiah prophesied God’s lifting the curse and removing the thorns from the creation.[lii] Thus, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us…” (Galatians 3:13). He has now laid waste (h’harav) our sins and has called all men to repentance.[liii] Jesus has fulfilled the Law given on Mount Horeb (Sinai) and freed us from its condemnation leading to death. And in the same mountain (earthly kingdom) of h’horev, which is a wasteland filled with thorns, He has fought against (h’harav) our adversaries with a flaming sword (h’herev).
We have been given a second chance and the opportunity to be part of a new humanity and Christ’s eternal Kingdom.[liv] Adam corrupted human nature through his disobedience and rebellion. Christ redeemed mankind by taking on human nature and, in perfect union with His divine nature, lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to His heavenly Father. We have now been given a new nature, Christ’s nature, and daily, we defeat the old sinful ways through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.[lv] And we experience continuous renewal and refreshing.
Paul said: “Put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24);[lvi] “Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16); “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
In Adam, paradise was lost, but in Christ, heaven on earth will be restored. In Adam, all humanity faces sin and death. In Christ, we have been freed from the dominion of sin and death and given a new eternal life and fellowship with God.[lvii] Christ’s atoning works on the cross have provided peace and salvation for all who believe. We have the hope and promise of the resurrection and a perfect Kingdom. In Christ, we are members of His body, a new creation, and one new humanity.[lviii] Even now, we have Kingdom authority to minister in the Name of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit.[lix] We are the redeemed of the Lord, surrendered to Christ, and witnesses to every nation of God’s love and salvation for all humanity.
[i] Duffield, Guy P. and Van Cleave, Nathaniel M. Foundations of Pentecostal Theology. Foursquare Media. 1910.
[ii] Chabad.org. Lessons in the Tanya, Likutei Amarim, Chapter 33. March 9, 2016.
[iii] Genesis 1:29, 2:15, 3:3.
[iv] Genesis 1:28.
[v] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[vi] Genesis 3:8.
[vii] Genesis 1:28, 2:19-20.
[viii] Ephesians 4:24. Colossians 3:9-10.
[ix] Genesis 2:16-1, 3:3, 3:24.
[x] Psalm 14:1-3. Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:12-21.
[xi] Revelation 16:7.
[xii] Genesis 3:15,3:21, 4:4. 1 Peter 1:18-20.
[xiii] 2 Corinthians 11:14.
[xiv] Genesis 3:14-15. Isaiah 14:12-15. Ezekiel 28:12-15.
[xv] 2 Peter 2:10. 1 Timothy 3:6. James 1:5-8.
[xvi] Romans 5:12-14. 1 Timothy 2:13-14. Job 31:33. 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45.
[xvii] Romans 5:14. 1 Corinthians 15:22, 45.
[xviii] 1 Chronicles 1-2. Luke 3:23-38.
[xix] Isaiah 65:25. Genesis 3:16-18.
[xx] Exodus 19:4.
[xxi] Benner, Jeff A. Mount-Sinai. Ancient Hebrew Research Center.
[xxii] Genesis 3:24.
[xxiii] John 19:2-5.
[xxiv] Genesis 3:7-13.
[xxv] Genesis 2:17.
[xxvi] Genesis 5:24. 2 Kings 2:11.
[xxvii] 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
[xxviii] John 11:43-44. Acts 9:40.
[xxix] 2 Corinthians 5:8.
[xxx] Romans 5:12-15. 1 Corinthians 15:26.
[xxxi] 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 5:9-11.
[xxxii] 1 Corinthians 15:54-57. 2 Timothy 1:10. Hebrews 2:9, 14-15, 9:15. Philippians 1:21.
[xxxiii] 2 Corinthians 5:1, 8. Philippians 1:23.
[xxxiv] Ephesians 2:4-6. 1 John 5:11-12. Colossians 1:13-14, 1:18-23. 1 Corinthians 15:54-57. Romans 5:12-14.
[xxxv] 1 John 3:14.
[xxxvi] Luke 16:22-23. Matthew 10:28. Revelation 20:13.
[xxxvii] 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10. Revelation 3:1, 20:11, 13-15. 2 Corinthians 5:6-11. Mark 9:43. 1 Timothy 5:6. James 5:20. Jude 7. Matthew 18:8, 25:41, 46. Hebrews 6:2. 2 Thessalonians 1:9. Mark 3:29.
[xxxviii] Mark 9:44, 46. Acts 12:23. Revelation 8:11.
[xxxix] Matthew 8:12, 22:13, 25:30. Revelation 19:20, 20:10, 20:14-15.
[xl] Wikipedia. Gehenna.
[xli] Isaiah 14:13-15.
[xlii] Hebrews 10:10-23. Ephesians 2:8-10. Romans 3:24-28, 5:1-2, 9-10, 8:31-39, 10:8-11. 1 John 2:1-2, 3:1-2.
[xliii] Oxford Dictionary. Purgatory.
[xliv] 2 Maccabees 12:41-43.
[xlv] 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14. John 11:11-14.
[xlvi] Hebrews 9:27.
[xlvii] Ephesians 2:1-3.
[xlviii] Luke 16:22-31. Genesis 37:35. Deuteronomy 33:22. Ezekiel 32:23-24.
[xlix] 1 Peter 4:6.
[l] Ephesians 4:8-10. Matthew 12:40. Numbers 16:33. Psalm 16:10. Acts 2:27.
[li] Philippians 1:23. 2 Corinthians 5:8.
[lii] Isaiah 55:12-13.
[liii] Acts 17:30.
[liv] 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 15:45-48. Colossians 3:9.
[lv] Romans 6:8, 12, 14. 2 Peter 1:4.
[lvi] John 1:11-13. 2 Corinthians 5:17.
[lvii] Mark 16:19-20. Matthew 16:19, 18:18. Luke 9:1-2. John 5:24. Romans 6:11. Ephesians 2:1-6.
[lviii] Philippians 1:1. Ephesians 2:15.
[lix] 2 Timothy 4:18. 1 Peter 1:4. John 14:2-3.