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In this chapter we will continue to consider God’s way of salvation to deal with man’s first fall.
God dealt with man’s first fall by seeking man, by judging the serpent, and by giving a promise to man. He also dealt with man’s fall by subduing man through suffering. After judging the serpent and giving a promise in His word of judgment, God said to the woman, “I will greatly multiply / Your pain in your childbearing; / In pain you will bring forth children” (Gen. 3:16). God’s judgment on the woman did not include death or destruction; it involved pain, suffering. This word is still being fulfilled in mankind. Women go through a painful process in childbearing, including pregnancy, delivery, and raising children. This process was arranged by God. However, women also are saved through childbearing, “if they remain in faith and love and holiness with sobriety” (1 Tim. 2:15).
God had another special arrangement for the woman: “Your desire will be to your husband, / And he will rule over you” (Gen. 3:16). This means that, on one hand, the woman must focus her heart on her husband, and on the other hand, she must be under the rule of her husband. With her heart attached to her husband and her person ruled by her husband, a woman is limited in other inclinations and cannot readily assume the headship, thus saving her from much trouble. If a woman is willing to accept God’s arrangement to whole-heartedly love her husband and absolutely submit to the authority of her husband, this arrangement will become a salvation and protection (1 Tim. 2:11-12).
God gave the man a different kind of suffering. A man must toil all the days of his life; that is, by the sweat of his face will he eat bread (Gen. 3:17-19). Before the fall it was easy to work the ground, but after the fall it was no longer easy to work the ground, because it gave forth thorns and thistles. Although most of us are not farmers, we still need to toil, labor, and sweat until we return to the ground. Returning to the ground is the consequence of sin in man’s body. Hence, God uses suffering to deal with both the man and the woman.
No one thinks that suffering is good, and no one wants to suffer. Although suffering is not a good thing, it is appointed by God, just as medication is prescribed by a doctor for his patients, even though it may be bitter. God’s intention in assigning sufferings to us is to subdue us and save us. After the fall it is good to have sufferings because it is dangerous to be at ease. A person who is at ease commits more sins. If a person works hard every day, he will have no time to sin. The more a person suffers, the less he commits sins, but the more a person is at ease, the more he commits sins.
There are three things that are both good and bad for man: suffering, sleep, and death. No matter how bad a person is, it is unlikely that he will be bad for one hundred and twenty years, for he may die by the age of eighty. Man has this “greater” death and also a “smaller” death, which is sleep. If fallen mankind lived an easy life without sleeping or dying, eventually, the people in the world would all be old and crafty. No matter how evil a person is, he cannot escape death. There are many evil people in the world today, but we do not fear their evil, because one day they will die. Committing evil shortens a person’s life. The more a person commits sin and does evil, the sooner he will die. Those who sin more will die sooner.
It is good that man must die. It would be terrible if there were no death. Suffering, sleep, and death are God’s protection. Without death this world would be much more corrupt. The same can be said about suffering. A man who labors and toils to take care of his family and to fulfill his duties at work and does not wander around will avoid many opportunities to sin. If he lives an easy life, however, he will commit many sins and do many evil things. He also needs to stop and sleep every day. Those who like to play mah-jongg are the least willing to sleep. Eventually, however, everyone has to sleep due to fatigue. Sleep reduces the time for playing mah-jongg. The world today is full of evil things. Without suffering, sleep, and death, it is difficult to say what this generation would become. Suffering is a remedy, protection, and salvation.
After World War II many women in Europe and America did not want to have children, because they wanted to enjoy an easier life. This is an offense to God. Women who do not want to have children tend to live dissolutely. One of the best ways to deal with a dissolute woman is for her to have three children; then she will become sober. There was once a woman who was so dissolute that her parents and teachers did not know what to do with her; eventually, however, she was subdued by her two children.
We should not think that God’s arrangement is wrong. It is God’s arrangement for women to raise a family and for men to sweat in making a living. This arrangement enables human beings to maintain a normal living and prevents fallen people from becoming worse. If suffering does not subdue someone, God will make him sleep. This is as if God were saying, “Take a break! You have sinned enough.” If this “smaller” death cannot subdue him, he will still die one day. No matter how much evil a person commits, he will eventually die. This is what it means to be subdued through suffering. Because of suffering, sleep, and death, there is a continuing human history. Without suffering, sleep, and death, fallen mankind would be out of control. Subduing man through suffering is the way to deal with man’s fall in order to save and preserve man. God does not intend to destroy man; rather, He wants to preserve man, and He wants to redeem man.
Even though God came to seek man, to judge the serpent, to give a promise to man, and to subdue man through suffering, Adam and Eve were still sinful and naked. Hence, God provided an anticipated redemption by probably slaughtering a lamb as a sacrifice for them (v. 21). The sacrifice was innocent and sinless, but it was killed as a substitute for the sake of redemption. The meaning of sacrifice is substitution. Adam and Eve might have understood that they were supposed to die because of their sin, but God killed a sacrifice, shedding its blood on their behalf. Hence, Adam and Eve did not have to die. When they saw the substitutionary sacrifice, they surely must have had a sense of peace. God’s sacrifice in the garden was an indication that Christ the Lamb, whom God prepared for man, would be killed in order to accomplish redemption for man.
Adam and Eve did not die, but they were still naked. Hence, God made coats of skin and clothed them (v. 21). The coats of skin were to cover their shame. When Adam and Eve first saw their shame, “they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves” (v. 7). This means that they were trying to be saved by their own conduct and merit. They had offended God, but they tried to have some accomplishment and merit, covering and hiding their transgressions with their conduct. God’s way of salvation, however, is not for man to do something. Rather, God killed a sacrifice and used the skin of the sacrifice to cover their shame.
When Adam was clothed with the skin of the lamb, he was identified with the lamb. Adam was the lamb, and the lamb became Adam. The lamb and Adam were identified as one. This symbolizes Christ as the Lamb of God shedding His blood to redeem us from our sins. It also symbolizes God giving Christ to us as our righteousness. For this reason the Bible says that all those who are saved are clothed with Christ; that is, they have put on Christ (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27). Adam’s putting on the coat of skin signifies that those who have Christ have put on Christ and are identified with Christ the Lamb as one.
The efficacy of the Lamb is based on identification. If we are not identified with Christ, His blood will have nothing to do with us. If Adam had not been identified with the lamb, the efficacy of its blood in type would not have been applied to him. The shed blood dealt with Adam’s sins before God, but he still needed to put on the coat of skin so that he would not be naked. It was not until Adam put on the coat of skin and was identified with the lamb that the efficacy of the blood shed in the lamb’s substitutionary death was applied to Adam. The giving of this anticipated redemption caused Adam to have peace. Of course, this was a type of the coming redemption; it was an anticipated redemption. The accomplishment of this redemption did not occur until after Christ’s incarnation. Before Christ came, God allowed man to live before God under this anticipated redemption.
Although God provided man with an anticipated redemption, redemption had not yet been accomplished. Therefore, God closed the way to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). The tree of life signifies God. God created man as a vessel for Himself. His original intention was for man to choose the tree of life in order to contain Him. However, because God is great and wise, He will not force man to receive Him. Hence, He placed the man whom He created in front of Himself as the tree of life, giving man the freedom to choose. If man loved and chose Him, God would enter into man. Regrettably, Satan, God’s adversary, came to tempt man first. God gave man the freedom to choose in order to express His greatness and wisdom. In order to gain man for himself, however, Satan, the evil one, came in to tempt and deceive man to keep man from freely choosing God. As a result, Satan’s evil life entered into man as an empty vessel, and man became impure, complicated, and corrupt.
It was not possible for man, as a corrupted vessel, to contain God. Before dealing with the corruption within man, God forbade man to touch the tree of life, drove man away from the tree of life, and closed the way to the tree of life. The tree of life denotes God. Hence, to close the way to the tree of life is to close the way to contact God. Man is a vessel to contain God, but because evil things entered into him, God forbade man to receive Him, by closing the way for man to draw near to Him.
God closed the way to the tree of life not only because man was corrupt inwardly but also because man had a record of sin before God. The tree of life, which the created man was placed in front of, signifies God. However, when man sinned before God, he lost the right to contact God as the tree of life. For this reason God closed the way that led to the tree of life.
Before man fell, there was nothing between man and God. But after man fell, God drove man away from the tree of life. God closed the way to the tree of life by placing cherubim to guard the way to the tree of life (v. 24). From this point forward, man had to be approved by the cherubim in order to contact the tree of life. The Bible reveals that the glory of God rests with the cherubim (Ezek. 9:3). The cherubim guard the glory of God. Hence, cherubim represent the glory of God. In the Holy of Holies the expiation cover upon the Ark was guarded by the cherubim of glory (Heb. 9:5). Therefore, the cherubim’s closing the way to the tree of life means that God’s glory closed the way to the tree of life, and the cherubim’s forbidding man to contact the tree of life means that the glory of God prevented man from contacting the tree of life.
Why did the glory of God forbid man to contact the tree of life? Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This means that after sinning, man was no longer up to the standard of the glory of God; he could not match the glory of God. For example, when I invite guests for a meal, my house is cleaned, and my children are dressed properly. If one of my children comes in covered with mud after my guests arrive, and we are ready to eat, I cannot allow him to eat at the table, because his condition does not match the condition of the table. The condition of the table is one of glory, but his condition falls short of this glory. Likewise, the life of God is glorious. The man whom God created for His glorious life matched the glory of God originally. But when man fell, he fell short of the glory of God and no longer matched the glory of God. Hence, the glory of God guards the way to the tree of life, forbidding man to come close.
The second item that guarded the way to the tree of life was a flame (Gen. 3:24). In the Bible the flame of fire refers to the holiness of God, and fire is often used to destroy that which does not match the holiness of God. For example, in Leviticus 10 Nadab and Abihu presented strange fire before Jehovah, and fire came out from before Jehovah and consumed them (vv. 1-2). Hence, the Bible says, “Our God is also a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29; Deut. 4:24). God’s holiness prevents filthy man from approaching Him and receiving His life. This is the significance of the flame guarding the way to the tree of life.
The third item that guarded the way to the tree of life was a sword (Gen. 3:24). The slaying sword indicates the righteousness of God. God’s slaying of a sinful man is according to His righteousness. God is righteous, so He will by no means clear the guilty. He must mete out punishment, and this punishment is death. The sword is for putting man to death, and death is the result of sin. Sinful man would not have to die if God’s righteousness did not condemn him. Hence, man has to die not only because of his sin but also because of God’s righteousness. After man sins, God’s righteousness comes in to convict man with death. Therefore, the sword’s guarding of the tree of life means that God’s righteousness does not allow sinful man to contact the tree of life.
These three items—the cherubim, the flame, and the sword—indicate that the tree of life is surrounded by God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness. When the children of Israel came to Mount Sinai, they had a heart to draw near to God. However, the condition of Mount Sinai was terrifying. The cloud, representing God’s glory (Exo. 24:15-17), the fire, representing God’s holiness (19:18, 22-23), and the righteous law, representing God’s righteousness (20:1-17), prevented them from drawing near to God. This picture at Mount Sinai reflects the glorious cherubim and the flaming sword guarding the way to the tree of life. The children of Israel wanted to draw near to God, that is, to contact Him as the tree of life, but God was surrounded by His glory, holiness, and righteousness, which prevented them from drawing near. Because man fell, God closed the way for man to contact the tree of life until the redemption of Christ was accomplished.
The tabernacle is another example. Outside the tabernacle was the outer court; within the tabernacle were the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, where God was. Separating the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was a veil embroidered with cherubim, which represent the glory of God (26:31-33). In the Holy of Holies was the Ark, and inside the Ark were the tablets of the covenant, upon which the law was written (40:20-21; Heb. 9:3-4). The law represents the righteousness of God. Furthermore, within the tabernacle there was a consuming fire, which represents the holiness of God (Lev. 10:1-3). These three items in the tabernacle—God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness—prevented sinful man from contacting God. Hence, God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness closed the way to contacting God.
Since the time of Genesis 3:24 man in his sinful condition could not draw near to God. The way to the tree of life was closed until the Lord Jesus died on the cross. When the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross, the veil of the temple was split (Mark 15:37-38), meaning that the closed way was opened. Therefore, Hebrews 10:19-20 says, “Having therefore, brothers, boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus, which entrance He initiated for us as a new and living way through the veil, that is, His flesh.” The Lord Jesus shed His blood for us, initiating a new and living way for us to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact God directly. The way to the tree of life was closed until the Lord Jesus died on the cross.
The death of the Lord Jesus on the cross took care of the glory of God, satisfied the holiness of God, and fulfilled the righteousness of God. On the cross the Lord Jesus met the requirements of God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness. As a result, God opened the way to the tree of life. Based on the work of the crucified and resurrected Lord, every sinner can now come to God, and God must accept him. Man can now draw near to God and contact God to touch the life of God (James 4:8; Heb. 4:16; 10:19, 22).
