March 7,1997
Dear Br. Boughner:
Here’s a Bible question for you. When God finished creating the world, what was the first thing he did. The answer is in Genesis 2:2.
The Bible says that God rested. Was he tired? Did he get tired
creating the world and Adam and Eve? Does God get tired today?
Why does the Bible say that he rested?
There are many reasons why God rested at the end of creation week,
but he wasn’t tired. God never gets tired of creating or
for any other reason, as we get tired at the end of a hard day’s
work or because we don’t have enough sleep. God’s resting
was a symbolic resting, implying a completeness to his work of
creation. On the sixth day, of creation week, he finished his
work of creating, and, on the seventh day, he rested, that is
rested from creating.
It is significant that he rested on the seventh day or Saturday,
rested from his work of creating. By implication, he did not create
anything after the end of the sixth day of creation week.
If God ended his work of creation on the sixth day of creation
week and rested on the Seventh day or Saturday, when did he create
you and me? I was born on July 15, 1944, but certainly I wasn’t
created on that day, only born, not created. I came into existence,
that is conceived, almost nine months earlier, sometime around
October 15,1943, but was I created then? It may seem strange to
say I was created when I was conceived, but if I wasn’t created
on or around October 15,1943, when was I created?
God said he finished his work of creation on the sixth day, yet
I was conceived on or around October 15,1943, almost six thousand
years after he finished his creation. Is there a difference between
being created and being born? What is the difference?
I would like to suggest that I was created at the same time Adam
was created on the sixth day of creation week but wasn’t
born until July 15,1944, almost six thousand years later. If this
is true, then where was I between day six of creation week and
1944? I believe the Bible has the answer to this perplexing and
possibly confusing question.
“Levi also, receiveth tithes, paid tithes in Abraham. For
he was yet in the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.”
Hebrews 8;9,10
You remember from your Old Testament studies that Levi was born
after Abraham and yet Paul, in his book of the Hebrews, says that
Levi paid tithes to Melchisedec before he was born. The Bible
clearly says that Abraham paid tithes yet Paul also says that
Levi, who wasn’t even born, also paid tithes. How can this
be and why is it important?
When God created Adam, he also created you and me, at the same
time as he created Adam. We were in the Garden of Eden because
Adam was there, we were there also. When Adam sinned, and suffered
the consequences of his sin, because of his disobedience of God’s
law, we also suffered the same consequences, but not Adam’s
guilt. The principal of heredity affirms that all humanity descended
from Adam, and because God says that he finished his work of creation
on the sixth day and rested on the seventh day, therefore, we
were created when Adam was created, and we suffer the consequences
of his sin as a result. This is why we are born with a sinful
nature and why babies are selfish. We are all sinful, because
Adam sinned and because we were created in the garden of Eden.
But we are not sinners until we disobey God’s laws on our
own account.
Because Adam sinned, we have a sinful nature and also sin. When
Christ entered the world, he came as a baby with a sinful nature
just like ours, yet he did not sin. Christ was not created in
the Garden of Eden but he took our sinful nature upon himself
and endured the same consequences of sin that we must endure,
yet he did not sin. He could have sinned if he choose, but he
choose to remain loyal to his Father’s law.
Christ became the second Adam. He took Adam’s place and lived
a righteousness life through faith in his father. Just as we were
created in Adam, so we are recreated in Christ. Just as we live
sinful lives because of Adam, so we can live righteousness lives
through Christ. Just as we cannot escape the consequences of Adam’s
sin and fall, so we all receive, as a free gift, the righteousness
of Christ. Because Christ lived a righteousness life, so we may
also live a righteousness life, if we believe it.
We were lost through Adam, we are saved through Christ. We sin
because of Adam’s sin, we can live a righteousness life because
of Christ’s righteousness life. Just as we did nothing to
receive the consequences of Adam’s sin so we do nothing to
receive the righteousness of Christ’s perfect life. Both
sin and righteousness, therefore, come to us as a free gift through
the actions of another.
Because we were created when Adam was created, we received a sinful
nature, similarly, because we live in Christ, who is the second
Adam, we receive his perfect, righteousness life. Yet we sin.
Now, it is as impossible for us to sin, because of our life in
Christ, as it was impossible for us to save ourselves after Adam
sinned, but we still sin. Here is a problem.
What is the answer? If we sin on account of Adam’s sin, ought
we to live righteousness lives on account of Christ’s perfect
obedience to the law? The answer is yes, but we sin still! We
sin because we do not believe what Christ did for us on his cross
and what he gave us as a consequence of his perfect obedience.
When we believe Christ’s righteousness is ours, just as Adam’s
sinful nature is ours, then we shall be delivered from sinful
acts, but not from our sinful nature. Belief, then is the key
to living a righteousness life, not our endeavor to keep God’s
law. When we believe that it is as impossible for us to sin through
Christ as it was impossible for us to be righteousness through
Adam, the righteousness of Christ becomes operative in our lives,
that is we choose not to sin. While Christ’s gift of righteousness
was given to us at the time of the cross, it is not effective
in our lives until we believe this free gift is ours. The power
of the Lord, over our sinful natures, is stronger then the power
of the Devil over Christ’s righteousness. We are perfect
in Christ because of what he accomplished on the cross for us,
but not because of anything we do, only whom we believe.
May the Lord bless you. Your brother in Christ.
Allen A. Benson