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Israel, however, did not know who composed the Trinity. Not until Jesus Christ, theLiving Word, was manifested in flesh, did man know that the Trinity consisted of theFather, Son and Holy Spirit. In His ministry of teaching, Jesus Christ revealed theFather-God.On several occasions in the life of Jesus Christ, the Trinity is manifested to man'ssenses. One time is at the baptism of Jesus, recorded in Matthew 3:13-17.When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove, descendingupon Christ, while the Father spoke in a voice from heaven, "This is my beloved Son inwhom I am well pleased."Matthew 28:19 reveals the Trinity as being the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.From this we can understand that in the beginning the Father, Son, and Holy Spiritcreated the heavens and the earth.You see, He was in the beginning a Father-God. In eternity He had a Father-nature.We can understand a father's love and desire for children. Our civilization is builtaround this fact, for the home is the basic unit of society.Ephesians 3:14-15 reveals that the human father is just a type of the Father-God.The human father's love exists because in eternity God was essentially a Father-God.It is natural that the Father-heart of God should long for sons and daughters. Thisyearning passion took form, and God planned to create a man who would walk with Himas His child.Ephesians 1:4, 5 (Rotherham), "According as He made choice of us in Him before thefounding of the world, that we might be holy and blameless in His presence. In lovemarking us out beforehand unto Sonship through Jesus Christ for Himself."Before He created a world, in His dream plan, man was marked out for Sonship. Hewas to hold the place of a son in the Father-God's love. He was to be the answer to theFather's hunger for children.Other scriptures that reveal that man was the reason for creation are: Romans 16:25and I Corinthians 2:7. These scriptures reveal that man was chosen for the place of ason first, then God created this universe to be a home for him.In our Bible Schools we have listed the attributes of God: His Omnipotence, HisOmniscience; but we have over looked the fact that He is first a Father-God.The reason for creation is the Father-heart of God.A few scriptures that reveal the Father's care for His children are: Matthew 7:11; 6:8;6:25-32; John 16:27; 17:23; I Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:6, 7, 19 and John 14:23.Satan has been very subtle in blinding our minds to the Father-nature of God. Theaverage Christian has had no real consciousness of God as being his Father. Thisignorance has been due to the fact that our minds have not been renewed by the Word ofGod. Romans 12:1-2 and Ephesians 4:23. Here we see the importance of the study ofthe Word.Sense Knowledge has taken the place of the Word of God in our lives. Jesus Christhas been manifested to man's physical senses. I John 1:1, 2, "That which we have4

handled concerning the Word of Life." Jesus Christ took upon Himself a human bodythrough which He was manifested to man.Man's mind derives its knowledge through the senses of the physical body. TheFather has never been manifested to these senses, as He is a Spirit being; thereforeman's mind can form no mental picture of Him.When a man has been born again, past sense knowledge of the life of Jesus Christhas taken the place that the Father should have had in his life. Because man couldform a mental picture of Christ, he has developed the habit of praying to Christ, praisingand worshiping Him alone. The renewing of the man's mind by the Word of God, bringsa consciousness of the Father to him that revolutionizes his life.The Attributes of GodIn this revelation, the Father nature of God has been revealed to us at creation.There are two other laws of His being revealed here: one is that He is a Faith God, andthe other, that He is Love. Love caused Him to create a universe, and He created it byFaith. He works by Faith in His Word.In the first chapter of Genesis there are six creative faith statements. Hebrews 11:3reveals that God created this universe through faith in His Word. It was through Hisspoken Word that creation came into being.Questions1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.Give and explain the two kinds of knowledge,How has God met man's need of a Revelation?What Scripture reveals that the earth is the reason for the heavenly bodies?Explain as fully as possible why man is the reason for the earth's existence.What is revealed in the word "Elohim"?Give several Scriptures that reveal the Father-nature of God.What is the reason for man? Explain your answer.Why is it that many Christians do not have faith in God and His promises to them astheir Heavenly Father?9. Give two attributes of God's nature that are revealed in creation.5

Lesson 2THE CREATION OF MANWE HAVE seen in our last lesson that man is the reason for creation. In the light ofthis tremendous fact, we turn to study the man whom God created to meet the cry of Hisbeing for fellowship.Genesis 1 gives the account of the preparation God made for man before He createdhim.First, He planned a universe for man, and in the heart of that universe He purposeda home.When Love laid the foundations of this mighty universe, he planned and purposed itall to be the home for His man.Genesis 1:25. At the completion, God put His stamp of approval upon it. It will meetman's every need. The home is now ready for man.Genesis 1:26. God now makes the solemn declaration that He wishes to make manin His own image.Knowing that fellowship is the reason for man, we can easily understand that mancould not meet the reason for his very existence unless he were created in God's image.In order to partake of God's life, he must be in God's class, in God's realm. He mustbe made in the image and likeness of his Creator.He must be created as near like Deity as possible, in order to be God's child and heir.Man, a Triune BeingGenesis 1:27 records the creation of man in the image of God. Adam was the firstman. Genesis 2:7. Through his sin came the fall of man.Man, after the fall, in his condition of spiritual death, could not know what the imageof God was, without a revelation from Him.John 4:24. Jesus Christ, the Incarnate One, revealed that the Father was a SpiritBeing.I Thessalonians 5:?3. Paul in his revelation disclosed the fact that man is a triunebeing, consisting of a spirit, soul and body.The spirit is the real man, created in the image of God. The soul includes thereasoning faculties.The Father-God created man in His own image, a spirit being, with a soul and body.Man's soul and body fit him for his life upon this material universe which has beencreated for him.The real man is spirit. Man was to walk in fellowship with the Father-God in Hisrealm, which is the realm of the spirit.6

Your body is not you. Your mind is not you. You have a mind which you use. Youpossess a body which you use. Your mind and body are merely the instruments of yourspirit, the real YOU.The man who is spiritually dead does not realize the fact that he was created inGod's image, to walk with Him.This is due to the fact that all the natural man is able to know about reality, he gainsthrough the five senses belonging to his physical body.These physical sense organs of the human body can only receive a stimulus from likesubstance, matter. Therefore, man's senses can perceive only for him a physical ormaterial realm.There exists, according to the Scriptures, a spiritual realm as well as a physical.The Father, the Holy Spirit, the Angels, Satan and Demons, are all Spirit Beings.Our physical senses do not contact this spiritual realm.Ephesians 6:1-20 reveals the spiritual warfare surrounding us, from which our senseorgans receive no stimuli.We are not aware, through any physical contact, of the presence of the Holy Spirit orAngels.Read John 16:7-15; Hebrews 1:14; John 14:23; I Corinthians 3:16; I Peter 5:8; Mark16:17; I John 4:1-6; and James 4:7.Because the doctor, with the point of his knife, has not been able to locate the spiritof man, the materialists and atheists have said that the body is the whole man.Romans 1:18-25, 28. Man has refused to have God in his knowledge, because hehas not been able to see Him with his physical eye, hear Him with his physical ear, ortouch Him.A fish might just as well say there is nothing outside of water, as for a man, limitedto Sense Knowledge, to say there exists nothing but matter.We conclude that man is primarily a spirit being, created to walk with the FatherGod on His level. We realize that when He created man, God had no body; yet man'sfellowship was perfect and complete with Him.This reveals that man's body was subordinate to his spirit, and that his spirit was todominate.Man's spirit was to rule his mind and his body.The body exists only for the spirit and soul of a body.The spirit operates through the soul or intellect, and these in turn operate throughthe physical body.At death the man and his soul leave the body. When man has left his body, the bodyhas no reason for existing; therefore, dissolution and disintegration set in at once.The Will of ManAnother crowning feature which the Father-God gave to His man was man's will.The will has the power of choice, the ability to choose, to determine one's actions.7

God assumed a great responsibility in creating a being with a will. Yet, no other typeof being could have answered the reason for Creation.Without this will, God's created one would have been a machine, not a man, apuppet or robot instead of a person.The desire of the Father is for fellowship. This fellowship must come from man, notas the response to an instinct, but as a result of his deep love, his own choice.There could be no fellowship with a puppet. Read Luke 9:23.Obedience to Him is a result of love. John 14:21-24.The Mind of ManThe Scriptures declare that when man was created, he had a mind, intellectually ofsuch character that he was able to name the entire animal creation.Genesis 2:19-20, "And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast of the field,and every bird of the heavens: and brought them to man to see what he would call them:and whatsoever man called the living creature, that was the name thereof. And the mangave names to all cattle, and to the birds of heaven, and to every beast of the field."When we realize that there are 500,000 bugs, birds, worms, animals, fish andreptiles that Adam named, we can understand that he possessed intellectual capacitiesthat enabled him to rule creation.We know that the reason for man's existence is the Father-God's craving forfellowship.Therefore, man's mental capacities were such that his mind could fellowship themind of his Creator.Man's Physical ConditionWhen man was created, he was planned a perfect human being with an endlesshuman life.His body was not mortal nor immortal. The word ,'mortal" means "death-doomed," or"Satan-ruled."Man was an eternal spirit being in God's class, with an eternal human body.Adam's body was perfect, and fit to be the temple of God's under-ruler.Man's Dominion, Authority, and Responsibility Genesis 1:28. Reading the Scripturethrough the mind ruled by the senses, we have overlooked the tremendous place manheld in the heart of God.He was the object of the Father-God's love and affection. It was the joy of the Fatherto give His man dominion over the works He had created. This man had, by creation,the ability to rule the universe.Psalm 8:3-9 is a revelation of the creation of the first man as the Father-God desiredhim to be and to live.Psalm 8:5, "Made him but little lower than God." The King James Version reads"angels," but the correct translation is "God."8

The Hebrew word is "Elohim." It is the same word that is used in Genesis 1:1. "Inthe beginning 'God' (or 'Elohim')."The thought of the Hebrew is "just a shade lower than God."Man was created as nearly like the Father-God as was possible.Man was to be God's companion and under-ruler. His dominion reached to theutmost star and planet. His dominion was as far-reaching as Christ's rule shall be whenHe shall take over the dominion of the universe.Hebrews 2:5-8 is a revelation of Adam's dominion.Hebrews 2:8 (last clause) reveals that man no longer holds that dominion (AmericanStandard Version).Hebrews 2:9 shows that the lost dominion of Adam has been given to Christ, byvirtue of His sacrifice on man's behalf.Hebrews 1:3 gives to us a suggestion as to the way Adam ruled God's creation.Jesus now upholds all things by the Word of His power.Adam ruled creation by his word. His voice was like the voice of his Creator in itsdominion over creation.Adam possessed such complete authority over creation that he had in his hands thelegal right to confer that dominion to another being.In our next lesson we shall see that he did this very thing.Man's ResponsibilityIt is impossible to over-estimate the responsibility of Adam.He was responsible for the heart-joy of the Father-God, for the human family yetunborn.God could have spoken the entire human family into existence at once, but He didnot choose that way.Genesis 1:28. He made Adam and Eve fellow-workers with Him in bringing thehuman family into the world.God gave to man the ability to reproduce himself or beget children. These childrenwere primarily for the joy and glory of God.Instead of creating the human race by one single word, the Father-God created oneman and woman. He said to them, "I permit you to give birth to My children, to rear,educate, and care for them, teaching them to love Me, and to respond to My yearning."So man's real business was to give birth to God's children.This gives a responsibility to man that can only be measured by eternity. Man givesbirth to eternal personalities, to children who will live as long as God lives.Man, then, is the custodian of God's joy.We have dwelt in detail on the creation of the human race in Adam, for a verydefinite reason, the renewing of your mind.9

Until the time that we were born again, we lived in the realm of spiritual death. Wehad known of no condition for humanity outside of the bondage of that realm. Duringthat period we all became familiar with the creation of man as given to us in Genesis 1and 2, but we know it only through the world mind, which is enmity toward God.In the story of Creation, we did not see that man was the reason for the existence ofthe universe. To us, man played a minor role. Our spirits, alienated from God, did notgrasp the Father-God's longing for children and His joy in creating a man in His ownimage, with dominion over creation. We saw instead a God for whom we felt no love ornearness, a policeman type of God.We saw the creation of man as a pitiful failure, the creation of a poor, weak worm ofthe dust. We saw it as Satan would have us see it.I Corinthians 15:45-49 (American Standard Version) tells us of two creations: thecreation in Adam and the new spiritual creation in Christ. In Adam, we see man marredby the entrance of spiritual death, losing his fellowship with the Father-God and hisauthority over creation. In Christ, we see spiritual death destroyed and man made anew creature, as free from the dominion of spiritual death as though Adam had neversinned. As you know the place and reason for the first creation, you will know what youmean to the Father-heart of God.A low conception of the creation in Adam has given to us a low conception of the newcreation in Christ.Questions1. Why did the Father-God create man in His own image?2. (a) What kind of a being is God? Is man?(b) Give a scripture for each.3. Why is it that natural man does not recognize the existence of the spiritual?4. In what realm was man to live?5. Why did God give to man a will?6. What incident reveals the type of mind Adam had?7. What kind of a body did Adam possess?8. What scriptures reveal the authority that Adam had before the fall? What authoritywas his?9. How near like God had Adam been created?10. Why is it necessary for us to see the place the first creation held in God's plan?10

Lesson 3MAN'S TREASON AND RESULTSTHE FIRST division of this course has dealt with the chapters of Genesis whichcover the period from the creation of man to the Fall.To many of us in the past, these chapters have been just a portion of past history,lifeless and uninteresting. We have studied them in a sense of duty to gain essentialknowledge.As we study them now, in the light of our Redemption in Christ, they actually livebefore us.In them is portrayed a drama of joy, love, faith, and then unbelief and tragedy, whichcenters around the Father-God and man.We see in these chapters, Love's preparation for man, the Father-God's joy increating man in His own image, and His eagerness to make man His under-ruler, bygiving him authority and responsibility.In this great drama of Creation, the Father-nature and Love of God are clearlyrevealed.During the reign of Spiritual Death that followed man's sin, in which Satan ruled inthe heart of man, the knowledge of God and His Love became lost.Not until the coming of Christ was the Father-nature of God again made known toman.It is a perfect setting for a tragedyThe Nature of Man's SinThis is the old problem that has confronted theologians in every generation: Whatwas the nature of man's original sin?It could not have been broken law, for there had been no law given, as weunderstand the term, from its connection with the law of Moses.What kind of a sin was it that impelled the Incarnation and sufferings of Calvary?Having found that man was invested with such far-reaching authority, that hepossessed an intellect of such caliber as to be the companion of Deity, and that he hadin his hands the joy or sorrows of God, we can understand now the nature of the sin hecommitted.High TreasonThe sin of Adam was the crime of High Treason.God had conferred upon him the authority to rule the universe. This Universe-widedominion was the most sacred heritage God could give to man. Genesis 1:28 and Psalm8:6.11

Adam turned this legal dominion over into the hands of God's enemy, Satan. Thissin is unpardonable! High Treason has been so considered in all ages. Adam'stransgression was done in the white light of absolute knowledge. He was not deceived bySatan. He understood the steps that led to the crime. His wife, Eve, was deceived, butAdam became the Benedict Arnold of Eternity.I Timothy 2:13-14. He knew God. He knew Satan. He knew the result of theunthinkable crime he committed.Genesis 3:1-7. Eve's deception by Satan was due to her unbelief in God's Word.Satan, through the serpent, first questioned the Word God had given to them, and thenopenly contradicted it. It is thought by some that the serpent originally moved uprightlike a man, and that it was beautiful to look upon, and perhaps possessed organs ofspeech. To a certain extent naturalists confirm this.Adam's Treason Recognized by ChristWe have come to one of the most interesting features of the Plan of Redemption.Satan's dominion over Creation.We have shown how Satan obtained this authority; let us note now some facts inregard to it.The careful student of the Scriptures will notice the perfect justice of God. He didnot take advantage over Satan. Adam had legally conferred to Satan the authority withwhich God had vested him. Had God not been perfectly just, He would havedispossessed Satan and punished man. Instead of that, His Grace makes provision forhumanity's Redemption, showing His love to man, based upon perfect justice.When Jesus began His ministry, it will be remembered that directly after He wasbaptized, He was led away by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.Luke 4:6-7. During the temptation, the devil led Him up and showed Him all thekingdoms of the inhabited earth in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "Tothee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them; for it hath been delivered untome, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shallall be thine."Now, mark, Satan comes to Jesus and declares to Him that the authority and gloryof the inhabited earth has been delivered to him, and that he can give it to whomsoeverhe wills.If the devil lied to Jesus and Jesus did not know it, Jesus was not the incarnate Sonof God. If the devil lied to Jesus, and Jesus knew

THE BIBLE IN LIGHT OF OUR REDEMPTION - BASIC BIBLE COURSE By E. W. KENYON CONTENTS 1 "The Reason for Creat