Featured The Will of God in the Fall of Man

But 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 2:17

Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: Gal 3:19,21 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law.

If Adam had not sinned, had not eaten of the tree, he would have been righteous and in no need of the promise. His righteousness would have been by the law. There would have been no need for the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If Adam could have been righteous by keeping the law, others could also. There would be no need for the promise of God.

Adam - For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. - And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, - For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. - so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. And that wasn't Adam.

 

From scripture it is evident that it was not God's will that man remain in the garden. I call your attention to Genesis 1:28, "28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it". The word "replenish" means to "fill up". From this it can be seen that instead of God meaning for them to remain in the garden, He meant for them to fill up and inhabit the entire earth. Now look at the very next verse, " 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat." Here we see from this, that man was intended to inhabit the entire earth, from the fact that the fruits that did grow on all the earth were to be meat, or food, for him. And in the second place, we see that the fruit of every tree on earth that bore seed was to be meat for them.

Next look at Acts 17:24-26, "24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;" It is clearly seen from this that God's purpose was (not that man should remain in the garden, but) that he should dwell on all the face of the earth. That is what Paul says that He made them for.

 

The first purpose of God in placing man upon the earth was that he should multiply and replenish it. God made the earth not in vain; he made it to be inhabited. If Adam was able to stand, he was able to defeat God’s purpose in this; for had he stood, there is no ground to believe that the earth would ever have been inhabited; for, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” John 12:24. These words of Jesus set forth a universal fact in nature, a deep and comprehensive truth. The same truth may be stated in these words: Without death there is no reproduction. In the vegetable world seed must die before they germinate and reproduce their kind. The same principle, although not so plainly exhibited, extends into the animal world. The animal organism embodies both animal and vegetable life mysteriously combined, and the power of reproduction, growth and repair lies in the vegetable life. The multiplication of the human race did not begin until death passed upon the man; so from this it is seen that if Adam was able to stand, he was able to render the creation of the world in vain.

 

"All", therefore, includes Adam's fall.

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Brother IntheLight,

Yes, it was God's will for the fall to occur. Adam disobeyed God's commandment when he transgressed, but he did not violate any purpose of God. This is similar to the situation in scripture when God commanded Pharaoh by Moses, saying, "thus sayeth the God of the Hebrews, let My people go" (Exodus 9:1), yet He also told Moses, "Yet I will harden his heart and he will not let them go, and I will get Me honor upon him and his host" (Exodus 10:1, 20, , 27, 14:17-18). Did not Pharaoh disobey God when he refused to let them go? And did he not at the same time fulfill God's expressed purpose when he refused to let them go? Then God punished him for his disobedience and was just in so doing just as He was just in punishing Adam.

 

I don't believe that. I was pointing out to SovereignGrace that if someone says all is decreed by God then it must include Adam's rebellion and sin.

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I agree. When you point this out to them they either clam up or complain because you are not using scripture. As if the Bible contains definitions of logical fallacies.



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Well, the God of Calvinism commands all men everywhere to repent but does not give these "dead" people any ability to do so, and condemns them to Hell for it.

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Hi brother,

I will let scripture answer your question, "according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Ephesians 1:11). Does "all things" here mean "all things" or "some things"

Now that I answered your questions, I have a few of my own and hope for an answer. Is God the first cause of all causes, if not, who is? Are there effects without causes, if so give an example?

What intelligent man, going to build or create something, does not first consult his will as to what he wants it to do? And having determined just what he wants it to do, does he not then engage his wisdom to devise a plan for the making of it so that it will meet and perform the exact demands of his will? Is God less intelligent than man? If what if what God has made is doing that which He did not will or purpose for it to do, and is leaving undone that which He did will or purpose for it to do, does not His perfection stand impeached by the workmanship of His hand just as truly as man's perfection does when judged by the same rule? If man wouldn't create something knowing in advance that it wouldn't turn out as he intended, why do you think God would? That is illogical,

I look forward to your answers.

God bless,

Brother Joe

 

“The devil, and the whole train of the ungodly, are in all directions, held in by the hand of God as with a bridle, so that they can neither conceive any mischief, nor plan what they have conceived, nor how muchsoever they may have planned, move a single finger to perpetrate, unless in so far as he permits, nay unless in so far as he commands, that they are not only bound by his fetters but are even forced to do him service” (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 17, Paragraph 11)

“thieves and murderers, and other evildoers, are instruments of divine providence, being employed by the Lord himself to execute judgments which he has resolved to inflict.” (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 17, Paragraph 5)

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