To The Intent

[phareztamar]

TO THE INTENT

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

Being born again is a marvelous awakening…across the pages of time…to who, and what, and where we are. The testimony of centuries is, that it is indeed, life more abundantly. But in our autumn and winter seasons, we also take a daring turn, to confront why we are. Exactly what is that eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord? Why life? Why creation? Why death and transformation? With what, shall we occupy eternity?

We know that our Lord, has gone up into the sky, to prepare a place for us. A heavenly place. In our text, Paul also speaks of heavenly places…almost as heavenly nations…populated by heavenly citizens…and ruled by heavenly powers. All of this going on…all around us…but a stitch away from our five senses. We…living our lives in the physical, tangible realm. They…the principalities, powers, angels, spirits, and God…existing in an invisible, heavenly realm. Both realms somehow in parallel, and linked by events in the other.

For us in this realm, the eternal purposes of God are, as yet, indistinct. Even with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we see through a glass darkly. For them in that realm; Paul tells us these powers that rule…in these heavenly, invisible lands…can now see the incredible wisdom of God. How? By simply looking at the church…in our visible realm.

John also sees faint traces of his eternal purposes:

For this purpose the son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

Here, for a second time, the two realms are linked by events in the other. An invisible being from that realm…the Devil…is destroyed by events in our visible realm…the appearing of the son of God. Two realms in parallel, and linked by events in the other.

As John’s message continues, we are taken again, back to the beginning:

For the devil sinneth from the beginning.

And perhaps rightly so. No better place in time, could we be closer to His original intent, than in Eden…before the fall.

Eden…the garden of God…where God liked to walk in the cool of the evening. A place where:

Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

Eden…where the very God of heaven, would meet…and talk with…the crown jewel of his creation. No firmament between our two realms here. The Spiritual talked with the physical. And the physical man…in the Garden of Eden…talked with his Spiritual God.

So when did this garden…eastward in Eden…appear? During which part of the creation week was it planted? On which of the seven days, were the gates erected…and the lattice fence plumbed? The time honored answer, is the sixth day.

In chapter one of Genesis, God creates man:
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
God goes on to bless the male and female…gives them their dietary rules…and bids them well. Go. Be fruitful and multiply. Replenish the earth.

This account from Day six, is void of man being formed of the dust. No mention is made, of God breathing into mans nostrils the breath of life. No notion here, that man became a living soul. The record simply states; that male and female were created, instructed, and sent forth. They were the final creative act of the six days…before God’s great summary:
And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Chapter two of Genesis, then opens with the seventh day. It is the final day of the creation week. God declares it a holy day of rest. And so, the creation is complete. No mention of a garden, or a land called Eden. No record of Eve…or Adam…or the fall of man. If the account ended here, one might suppose that God’s very good creation, is well on its way.

Then comes Monday morning. The day after the day of rest. God forms man from the dust of the ground. He breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living soul. And thus is born…the parenthesis theory. Since God created man on Day six, we’ve allowed that He left out some details of that creative act…which He now fills in. Although man becoming a living soul is written after the seventh day…it is a re-telling of the events on Day six. That is the parenthesis theory.

On Day six, God created male and female. On Day eight, He forms man from the dust of the ground. If we move the events of Day eight to Day six, we must move more than the living soul alone. We must also move the Garden of Eden, Eve, and the fall of man to Day six. A Day when God proclaimed every thing that He had made very good.

Moreover, after man becomes a living soul…and without a seventh day of rest in between…God plants His garden. There, He places the man He has made.

This entire account, is told after the seventh day. The choice is clear. Either the garden was planted on the Eighth day, or on the Sixth day. If, as most, we choose the Sixth day, then the garden story…though written after the day of rest…is again, a re-telling of events from Day six.

And in this re-telling of the sixth day…after man is placed in the Garden of Eden…God causes trees to grow from the ground. He forms birds from the ground, and beasts of the field. Adam was formed from dust outside the garden fence. But these trees…these birds…these beasts…are from the ground inside the garden gates.

God had made trees on the third day. He made birds on the fifth day. In checkers, our parenthesis theory has just been crowned a bracket. We must now modify it as follows:

On the Eighth day…during a re-telling of events from the Sixth day…God waxes nostalgic, and is re-telling events from Days three and five also.

Ah, the tangled web we weave. In Eden…in the beginning…we come nearest to God’s intent for humanity. But we can faint move on to Ezekiel’s Eden…to unlock this mystery…except we rightly arrange the order of things in those first eight days.

Consider for a moment, the account as written. The events of the eighth day, actually occurring on the eighth day, and not the sixth. What we have then, is two created races of humanity. Those created on the sixth day are humans, who have the breath of life. Those on the eighth day, became living souls. It certainly helps explain why there was a neighborhood of humanity…a land of Nod…around Adam and Eve, when they were ousted from the garden. Either way…after the flood…only the eighth day creation remained.

We were made to dress and keep the garden of God. In Hebrew, keep means to protect from…to guard against. Guard against what? According to the parenthesis theory, we’re still in the time of innocence here. No sin or death. No carnivorous beasts. The only humanity on the planet is Adam and Eve. Guard against what? Perhaps there is a bit more to this Garden of Eden, than the little story we tell our children.