60 We should immediately note two important principles relevant to the discipline of history that Paul highlights in this passage. First, God is the mover of history, establishing both the geographical and chronological borders of all kingdoms and nations — not just Israel’s. Secondly, because God is at work in history, history has a moral and intelligible purpose: God is directing all events for the reason of enabling humankind “to seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27). What this means is that history is the record of God’s redemption — the spiritual restoration of His people. And so it is imperative that we start at the very beginning of this remarkable story, as revealed to us in the biblical account of Creation and the Fall. The Creation and the Fall in History When God created man, the Lord gave him dominion over the creation. Bearing the divine image of the Creator himself, humans are God’s vassals — administrators empowered to rule in God’s name as stewards over the created order. All that the earth has to offer, the Father placed under the authority of our first parents for cultivation — with the exception of one thing: the “tree of knowledge of good and evil.” This tree epitomized rational self-sufficiency — knowledge attained independently of God’s Word. Its purpose was to provide man with his first spiritual test: Will man submit to God with all his heart, body, and MIND or would he, instead, lean on his own understanding (Prov. 3:5–6)? God created man to be dependent on Him, to live “by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3), always to walk by faith in the Word of God, who alone determines good and evil, for it is “in thy light that we see light” (Ps. 36:9). Tragically, our first parents, rather than submitting to the command of God, were enticed by the serpent to evaluate God’s command using natural revelation (or reason) and the standard of their own finite intelligence. In doing so, they made the categorical mistake of subjecting God — who embodies and defines the totality of all knowledge — to an evidentiary test based on fallible human logic and understanding. By placing God in the dock (witness stand), Adam and Eve made themselves judge over Him who alone is Judge (Job 38–41; Ps. 50:6). In this way, they fulfilled the serpent’s declaration: “you will be like God” (Gen. 3:4) — that is, independent, self-sufficient, and rationally autonomous. Genesis 3:15 — “Enmity” The result of this insubordination was unremitting hostility between man and his Maker. But God, being rich in mercy (Eph. 2:4) would make many alive through His Son. In Genesis 3:15, we see the first articulation
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