The Bible: One Bite at a Time Expository Sermon Series Notes Genesis to The Revelation Sid Galloway © 1999

Genesis 2:24-25 "Eden: The first country without Racism"

Audio Tape # 15 - Jan 30, 2000         (Notes Updated ..... Jan 29, 2000)
(Some images are from http://www.answersingenesis.org , by permission)

Review: (Gen 1:1-2:23) Days 1-6 See the notes on the Web

Exposition and Commentary - Genesis 2:24-25 (Strong's #'s in parentheses)

" Therefore a man shall leave (5800, azab = forsake) his father (1, ab = father) and mother (517, 'em = mother) and be joined (1692, dabaq = join, overtake) to his wife, and they shall become one (259, echad = plurality in unity) flesh (1320, basar = flesh, body).

Pointman - Adam

- God's Word clearly teaches that God created all humans from one original man, Adam. The plain words of Scripture leave no room for the evolutionary theory of the ape gene pool gradually mutating into man (homo sapiens). Remember that the theory of evolution is as old as Lucifer's rebellion, Eze 28; Isa 14. The modern, neo-Darwinian version of evolution claims that mankind evolved from one or more genetic lines, supposedly tracing all the way back to an original one-celled organism. But the number of mutations necessary to produce so many changes would be beyond calculation, and the time required would be exponentially longer than even the billions assumed by evolutionists. And don't forget, the Bible says that death did not exist in God's creation until after Adam sinned (Gen 1:26-31; 3; 9:1-3). Therefore, the theory of evolution and Scripture are diametrically opposed, one against the other. Theistic evolution is not an intellectually consistent option, folks.
- All humans are related through father Adam, so there is only one human race, "physically" (according to the flesh). Acts 17:26 describes this truth as all nations originating from "one blood", and Romans 5 says we are all from the first man, Adam.
- Eden, therefore, was the first country without racism. Racism grows as fruit up from the evil root of sin in the heart (Jer 17:9).
- The term "race" is actually misleading since it is not a Biblical concept. Darwin's infamous book, The Origin of Species, was subtitled, The Preservation of Favored Races. The idea that there are various races implies that some people groups are more "advanced" and others are more "primitive" or "backward". (See our related articles on racism, especially the review of the Jan 2000 Scientific American issue unwittingly demonstrating the racist root and fruit of evolutionary theory.) ''
- Ken Ham is correct. A better term to describe different people groups would be "cultures".
- However, the Bible does says that "spiritually", though not physically, there are two races. One race includes the people related to the first Adam (born once), and the second group represents people born-again of the Spirit through the second Adam, Jesus the Messiah.
- Pointman Adam: Notice that God's command is to the "man", because as we saw previously from Gen 1:26-2:23; and 1 Cor 11:7, he is the glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. Man was designed to represent God the Father's masculine, delegated authority. Adam was the first pointman of the human race.

"leave" "be joined", "one", "flesh"

- God's design for the human family was for man to be the pointman in the process of being fruitful and multiplying godly seed (Malachi 2), as well as ruling over creation.
- God's plan was to fill the earth with human and animal souls who could share in His life and love. Without sin and death, God's sovereign hand would have either stopped the multiplication as the earth filled up or He could have allowed man to move out into the created universe and inhabit other planets. Little known to most people is that the earth even today (after the flood) is capable of sustaining many, many times more people than currently live on the globe. The problem with population today is not the quantity of people, but the quality (sinful people & politicians). Numerous studies have proven that starvation, environmental abuse, etc., are due to what James 1:13-15; and chapter 4 so perfectly describes as the sinful desires of man's heart. With six children, my wife and I have received our share of ridicule and discrimination from many "politically correct" folks who are ignorant of the scientific facts about population and the earth's sustainability. Remember, "Planned Parenthood" was started by Margaret Sanger, who like Darwin was also a racist philosopher advocating a philosophy of planned genocide, in a selfish effort to dominate the planet with those she considered a part of her race.

Does the science of genetics verify or contradict the Biblical account of one original man and woman?

- The phrase "One flesh" also conveys the pre-scientific fact that through sexual union, genetically the man's DNA and the woman's DNA combine to form the body for a new, unique human being. Recent genetic mapping and cross cultural comparisons have indicated that all modern people groups originated from a single source.

The Mouths of Babes:      My little boy, Michael, at six tried to comprehend the wonderful truths about babies. One day he asked his Mom why children looked like there parents. She told him it was because God took a little bit of the Dad and a bit of the Mother to make each child. Michael looked surprised and then said, "Wow Mom, then there must not be much of you and Dad left after six kids".

And they were both naked (6154, arowm = naked; of the same root used in 3:1 "subtle", 6191 aram), the man and his wife, and were not ashamed (954, buwsh = ashamed, confounded)." (NKJ)

- not ashamed (or not confounded) conveys the awesome fact that there was no sin and none of sin's painful, destructive consequences.
- God creates cooperation and peaceful harmony. Prior to the entrance of sin, Adam and Eve were totally open, exposed and vulnerable to one another, without any risk of selfish judgment or rejection.
- Sin causes corruption, competition, conflict, confusion, chaos. It causes a separation from the life and love of God, and the result is physical and spiritual death.  The rebellion of Adam (Gen 3) and the subsequent escalation of "entropy" (disorder, death, & decay - dysfunctional 2nd law of thermodynamics) is the reason for imperfections as well as the selfish competition, violence, pain, suffering, fear, and death we see in the "wild kingdom" now.  *  The second law of thermodynamics was functional before Adam sinned, such as in the process of digestion, chemical processes, etc., but death and disease were not.
- Jesus warned that the sinful character of the world order just prior to His final return would be one of "ethnos against ethnos" (Mat 24) (that is, a world characterized by conflict among ethnic groups). The picture is the logical conclusion of competition and survival of the fittest.
- Eden, in contrast, was the first and only place in all of man's 6,000 years of history, when racism was non-existent. Then as soon as the seed of sin was planted in the world, the family of man under Father God became a disordered and dysfunctional family system. Rebellion against authority because the natural characterof man.

Good News !

- The sinless, cooperative character of Eden will one day return first (partially) in the millennial kingdom, and finally in the new heaven and the new earth forever and ever.
- In the Millennial Kingdom, the born-again race of God's new creation will rule under the iron rod of Messiah Jesus, and thus over all rebels who reject the second birth. Sin and unregenerated sinners will live on the earth, but will be kept in check by the mighty hand of God through His Son, Jesus the Christ. But at the end of this 1,000 year demonstration of the character of Christ, Satan will be released again to prove the gravity and depravity of man's sinfulness. (Rev 20:7)
- Finally, in the new heavens and the new earth, all rebels will be separated from God and His kingdom (1 Cor 15:24-28), and there will be no more sin, no crying, no dying, no disorder or dysfunction. All will be as it was in the beginning, a peaceful paradise, forever more (Rev 21-22). God and His law of humble, hypotasso love will be all in all to the praise of His glory, and to Him alone (Eph 1:6, 12, 14; Rev 5).

Questions for meditation and application:

Do you harbor any roots of racial prejudice? Do you tend to see folks of a particular shade of tan or from one country, all as one package of character traits? Will you submit this area of your heart to our Father and repent from such attitudes? Will you work hard to unlearn these old habits of attitude and behavior (Rom 12:1-3; Eph 4:22-23)? Write down five specific things you can do this week to begin the process of putting off the old and putting on the new.

What about interracial marriage? Interracial marriage between someone who is born-again and someone who is not, is prohibited by the Bible (1 Co 7). But inter-cultural marriage between for example a person of African ancestry and one from European ancestry is perfectly acceptable to God, if "in the Lord". Even so, it is true that a mixed culture couple will experience greater struggles blending together, and possibly prejudicial treatment from people in both of their cultures.
How will you counsel your own children about interracial marriage?
What will you do if your teen or young adult child plans marriage with a non-believer?

What about church (ekklesia), our family under Father God? Will you actively seek to build bridges with folks in our community from other cultures? List 10 ways you will actively and diligently cooperate with our Father to show others that He and we want them to be our brothers and sisters. Will you include the key of opening your home in hospitality and inviting different kinds of people into your real life? People expect what is natural, for "birds of a feather to flock together". So, come on folks, let's be different from what people expect. Let's be like our Father - holy and not of this world (John 13:34-35).