2. A Preview of God’s Plan

1. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psa. 19:1). “He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over noth-ing” (Job 26:7). “He sits enthroned over the circle of the earth, and its people are like grass-hoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in” (Isa. 40:22).

These verses present a simple and logical description of the earth’s creation by God. It does indeed have a circle (it is round), and hangs “upon nothing.” (KJV) The truth of these words have been proven by modern science. The creation of the earth does indeed reveal God’s handiwork and declares His glory.

2. The Bible presents a clear and truthful description of how God created the earth for man-kind’s habitation. The Bible verses provided here are but a few of the many which can strengthen the faith of anyone who is open-minded enough to believe the earth was created by a supreme being. We know it was God who made this planet. Let us now learn why He made it.

3. Wherever we look on this planet earth, we can find beauty. Nature offers a hundred shades of green in fields of grass and the trees of forests. The earth abounds with different types of animals and birds, separated by size, shape and color. Each type of animal and bird offers us its own pleasing beauty. The impression is presented that a great artist took his brush and painted each one separate from the other. The oceans, lakes and rivers teem with fish. If on-ly it were distributed properly, the farmland offers an abundance of food. As we look around us at all this beauty, we can but wonder how things must have been when Adam and Eve walked through the garden called Eden. How much more beautiful the earth must have looked back then than it does today.

4. Everything God created, He did because of His love for His human creation. The earth was made for mankind to live on forever. Everything living on this planet was designed by God to continually replenish itself, so mankind would always have it to enjoy. “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31 KJV).

5. “The highest heavens belong to the LORD, but the earth he has given to man” (Psa. 115:16).

6. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground’....God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’” (Gen. 1:26,28).

7. These verses show how in the beginning the earth was meant to be mankind’s eternal home. Adam and Eve were created to live forever on this earth. They would still be here today if they had not sinned. We shall dwell further on this point in a future lesson. Please keep in mind that man’s fall from that perfect condition was not a mistake in God’s plan. Man had to learn through experience what sin was.

8. Adam and Eve were created to be the parents of a perfect human race who were to spread out across the planet. Had they remained in harmony with God’s laws, there never would have been any wars, crime, or starvation on the earth. As long as God was obeyed, evils such as these would never have come into the world. However, mankind’s paradise home was not to be at that time. Only Adam and Eve, of all who have ever lived on this planet, had the opportunity to gaze upon the beauty of that paradise God originally designed. Paradise then came to an end because of a rebellion, and ages of wrath began.

1. “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die’” (Gen. 2:16,17).

2. An interesting observation we can make from this test is that at one time there was no such thing as human death (or any other death) on this earth. As long as Adam and Eve left that one tree alone, they would live forever.

3. By imposing this one restriction on Adam and Eve, God gave them a choice. They had been created by God as free moral agents, having the ability to choose for themselves, and could decide on matters pertaining to their lives. God wanted Adam and Eve to choose to serve Him out of love, rather than serve Him as the earth serves the tree, with no feeling of love. This action by God also left an opportunity for the fall of man, so that all mankind would learn from experience how bad sin really is.

4. This restriction could also have been a reminder to Adam and Eve that God alone was su-preme Ruler of the universe. As Creator of every living thing, God also had the right to de-cide what was good and bad for His creation. Such a requirement God commanded Adam and Eve to obey was not so strict that they could not abide by it. The penalty for not obeying it, however, was indeed severe.

5. “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman” (Gen. 3:1-4).

6. In order to understand who the serpent was, as mentioned in the preceding text, we must go to other books in the Bible. Rev. 12:9 calls Satan “that serpent.” Satan is not literally a ser-pent, because the Bible teaches that he is a spirit being. However, there are possibly two reasons why he is spoken of as a serpent in Gen. 3:1-4. One is the fact that serpents are of-ten used in the Bible to represent something evil or treacherous. In both Psa. 58:4 and Prov. 23:32, this is the case. Another possibility is that Satan spoke through the serpent to Eve. Regardless of how we interpret the serpent speaking to Eve, the fact remains that Satan was not literally a serpent. He is a very powerful spirit being and is even called the “god of this world” in 2 Cor. 4:4 (KJV).

7. Let us refer to Gen. 3:1-4 again. In the fourth verse of that text, we read where Satan told Eve she would not die if she ate of that one tree. In other words, he accused God of being a liar. It should be very easy for you to see that it was Satan who was a liar, not God. Through this lie, Satan set himself up as God’s “adversary.” The word Satan means adver-sary. Satan also became the “Devil,” which means “accuser” or “slanderer.” In a future study you will learn more about Satan.

8. According to Gen. 3:6,7, Eve believed Satan’s lie and did eat of the tree from which God had commanded them not to eat. Adam also ate of that tree. When God saw what they had done, He sent them out of the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:23,24). Not only did Adam and Eve lose their paradise home, they also lost their everlasting life on earth.

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Gen. 3:19). This is what God declared to them.

9. After passing sentence on Adam and Eve, God in His wisdom foreknew that to merely de-stroy Satan and his evil influence upon the human race would not be an everlasting lesson necessary to accomplish His plan. He knew that man in his fallen condition would continue to sin and be condemned over and over again. Instead, God allowed Satan to be the ruler of this world, so that every generation has experienced the “sinfulness of sin” (Rom. 7:13). As a result, mankind will be able to intelligently choose between good and evil in the age to come.

5. The Bible offers many promises that death will not always be the great enemy it is today. As you progress in these studies, you will learn that the curse of Adamic death, passed down through generations, will one day be lifted. As a small ray of hope, you can find this hidden thought in Jer. 31:29,30: “In those days people will no longer say, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’ Instead, everyone will die for his own sin; whoever eats sour grapes--his own teeth will be set on edge.” We will deal with this text in greater detail in a future study.

6. The first ray of hope we find in the Bible, though somewhat veiled (in hidden language), is found in Gen. 3:15. While sentencing the serpent at the time of transgression, God indicated a Savior (seed of the woman) would come who would free mankind of the curse.

7. Another ray of hope for mankind is found in Gen. 12:1-3 and 22:18. In these verses we read how God made Abraham a promise that all families of the earth would one day be blessed through Abraham’s “line” or “seed.”

8. This “seed” of Abraham is presented throughout the Bible. One Bible scholar even refers to the Bible as “the highway of the seed.” This “highway” leads us through to the New Testa-ment, where we read a wonderful description of who the seed of Abraham is. “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ mean-ing many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person, who is Christ” (Gal. 3:16). Yes, it is Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, who will one day bless all families of the earth, praise God!

9. How many people from among all the nations who have ever lived have been blessed by that seed of Abraham? Compared to the billions and billions who have lived, only a very small number of people throughout history have even heard the name of Jesus Christ. When God’s plan for humanity is completed, however, Gen. 22:18 will find its fulfillment. It will be then that all families of the earth will have been blessed.

10. In ancient times there lived a righteous man named Job who saw hope beyond the grave by way of a future resurrection. Though death was often very near at hand, Job did not seem to fear dying. Because of the plagues that came upon him, he seemed to long for death. In death he knew all his earthly problems would be over. “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest....Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure....?” (Job 3:11-13,20,21; also Job 7:21; 17:13,16).

11. One reason why the thought of death did not bother Job was that he viewed it as a temporary condition. He had the courage to face death because he had faith in a future resurrection of the dead. “If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made” (Job 14:13-l5).

12. Yes, Job believed that God would remember him in a future resurrection, at which time he would be raised from the dead. God allowed Job to see into the future to a time when death, the penalty for sin, will not be the great enemy of mankind, for it will be eliminated. Further on in this course, you will find an entire study devoted to the subject of the Resurrection. Scriptures such as our Lord’s own words in John 5:28,29 will be covered in great detail. They are found throughout the Bible.

13. Job was not the only one who had a hope of living again after death. The people of Israel shared Job’s hope of rising from death. In Hosea 13:14 God speaks of this resurrection hope for Israel and states that He will even destroy death itself at that time. “I will ransom them for the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (KJV).

Daniel’s Hope:

14. The prophet Daniel also believed in a future resurrection of the dead. God promised him that though he would rest in death until “the end of the days,” he would rise at that time (Dan. 12:13).

In Conclusion:

15. The time that has passed since Eden can be called both an age of wrath and an age of hope. Although God’s wrath has rested on the earth ever since that time, He has NOT left mankind without a future hope. God has offered this hope to the world, through the writings of the Prophets and Apostles. When you are finished with all the studies in this course, you should know exactly how God’s promises of blessing all families of the earth will be carried out..

Many thoughtful people wonder if there will be sufficient room on this earth to accommo-date the over five billion people living today, plus the many millions that will be resurrected from the dead. Not to worry. Our God doesn’t make mistakes. He has planned for many thousands of years for the Millennial Age, and everything is set as planned by Him in His Plan.

The commission given to Adam after he was created was “be fruit-ful and multiply and re-plenish the earth” (Gen. 1:28), not to overfill. The word replenish is the Hebrew “male,” to fill fully and completely. Man was commissioned to fill the earth and is doing this.

Will all the dead be restored to life at once? We don’t think so. Food, clothing and homes must be ready to welcome all the dead back to life. Considering the famines that have caused the death of millions in the last few years, many question where all the food will come from to feed so many people. Again, not to worry.

Believe it or not, even today there is available land for growing the food so vast a host will require. The Scriptures say that on that blessed day streams shall break out in the deserts and the wilderness will become fertile land. Just think of the Sahara Desert in Africa, said to be as large as the United States, and other deserts in Asia and in the American continents, being turned into gardens that will bloom like a rose, producing food to feed millions. Crops will grow where none grew before. The curse (Gen. 3:17-18) that God pronounced on the ground to produce thorns and thistles to man will be removed (Rev. 22:3). In every respect, nature will respond to the willing labors of men, and there will be an abundance of food for all, especially when the profit motive will be no more. “The land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruits.”

As mentioned above, we don’t think all the dead will be restored to life at once. There must be an orderly return to allow for the increasing needs of food, clothing and housing. How many years the resurrection of all the dead will require is not known. It is not revealed, but we believe it will be in the reverse order of going to death; that is, the last to die will be the first to be re-stored to life back to Abel, the first to die. This makes sense, because the last to die on their resurrection will be reunited with family and friends, while those who died hundreds of years ago would be among complete strangers at their resurrection.

The resurrection of the dead is promised in the entire Bible. Daniel, in the 6th century B.C., was told that he would “stand in his lot at the end of days” (Dan. 12:13). And Job, in the 17th century B.C., talking of his faith in the resurrection, asked the Lord to “appoint a set time, and remember me....All the days of my appointed time will I wait, until my change come. Thou shalt call and I will answer thee” (Job 14:13-15). And the Apostle Paul said, “But every man in his own order” (1 Cor. 15:23). The resurrection of all the dead is guaranteed by the death and resur-rection of our Lord.

Gaetano Boccaccio