因耶穌道成肉身是要除掉我們的罪，所以首先我們要談談罪是從何而來。罪不為神所造，但神賦予了人自由意志 [1]，我們看到經文說，罪因撒但的自由意志選擇了驕傲而來，而驕傲也是人相當難對付的一項大罪。接著我們看看神悅納人的禧年和耶穌所做的事，神是愛，祂所做的都是基於愛，所以耶穌引用以賽亞書停在『和我們神報仇的日子』之前。最後我們看看『沒有先知在自己家鄉被人悅納』的經文，和耶穌為什麼舉那兩個例子。也看到了耶穌那時的時間還沒有到。J

1.  前言: 罪的起源

       我們看到了『…罪是從一人(亞當)入了世界，死又是從罪來的，於是死就臨到眾人…』(羅馬書 5:12) 也知道『…(基督)在這末世顯現一次(道成肉身)，把自己獻為祭，好除掉罪。』(希伯來書 9:26) 很顯然罪在人被創造前就存在，因為『耶和華神所造的，惟有蛇(撒但)比田野一切的活物更狡猾。…』(創世記 3:1) 而『大龍就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，…』(啓示錄 12:9) 我們已從創世記的「光」這個字在「2042 創世記的第一日及第三節的光是指什麼？ – 神原先的心意(1)」 討論過，撒但是在人現在可見的物質世界以前所創造的，而那蛇是代表撒但的。因『各樣美善的恩賜和各樣全備的賞賜都是從上頭來的，從眾光之父那裏降下來的；在他並沒有改變，也沒有轉動的影兒。』(雅各書 1:17) 顯然罪不是神所創造的。可能有人會問，這不是和以下這些經文衝突嗎？『起初神創造天地。』(創世記 1:1)『天地萬物都造齊了。到第七日，神造物的工已經完畢，…』(創世記 2:1-2) 不是所有的包括罪都應該是神所創造的嗎？這不是好像明顯的矛盾嗎？

       罪既不是神所創造的，那麼罪從何而來？  神造了自由意志，是撒但在自由意志下選擇了驕傲！為什麼這麼說？我們從以下的經文可以看到這點。『你是那受膏遮掩約櫃的基路伯(撒但)，我將你安置在神的聖山上，你在發光如火的寶石中間往來。…你因美麗心中高傲，又因榮光敗壞智慧，我已將你摔倒在地，使你倒在君王面前，好叫他們目睹眼見。』(以西結書 28:14-17) 『明亮之星，早晨之子啊！(撒但) 你何竟從天墜落？你這攻敗列國的，何竟被砍倒在地上？你心裏曾說：「我要升到天上！我要高舉我的寶座在神眾星以上；我要坐在聚會的山上，在北方的極處；我要升到高雲之上，我要與至上者同等。』(以賽亞書 14:12-14)    我們看到了這都是講靈界的事情，也看到了牠原先被創造時是美麗的，是明亮之星，早晨之子，但牠很顯然是和我們的老我一樣，以自我為中心。是的，我們看到撒但有自由意志和我們一樣。自由意志在沒犯罪前是如亞當有絕對的選擇的，要不就不叫做自由意志。撒但因驕傲選擇了和神作對！罪就開始了。

       驕傲也是人相當難對付的一項大罪，人很容易驕傲到看不到自己的驕傲！我們看到了從人的角度看約伯，神都說『…那人完全正直，敬畏神，遠離惡事。』(約伯記 1:1) 但他仍然自義，這不是因驕傲嗎？一個從神的角度看完全正直的人不會是這樣的！所以是神從人的角度看。最後神在旋風中問了他一些問題，但沒有回答他問的任何問題，我們就看到約伯知罪了，因他說：『我(約伯)從前風聞有你，現在親眼看見你。因此我厭惡自己，在塵土和爐灰中懊悔。』(約伯記 42:5-6) 他是知過能改的人。在這之後，神沒有讓約伯再受任何試探。看整本約伯記，就知道神原先的心意就是要祝福約伯，而用苦難煉淨了他。

     再看一個例子，大衞晚年數民也不是因為他的驕傲嗎？因『約押對王說：「無論百姓多少，願耶和華你的神再加增百倍，使我主我王親眼得見。我主我王何必喜悅行這事呢？但王的命令勝過約押和眾軍長。約押和眾軍長就從王面前出去，數點以色列的百姓。』(撒母耳記下 24:3-4)   這和摩西在民數記第一章的數民很不一樣，因為那時是耶和華要摩西做的。最後是『神不喜悅這數點百姓的事，便降災給以色列人。』(歷代志上 21:7) 我以前以為是聖靈感動他的心，數民後就立刻自責，但現在相信大衞是看見了神有形的懲罰，於是在『大衞數點百姓以後，就心中自責，禱告耶和華說：「我行這事大有罪了。耶和華啊，求你除掉僕人的罪孽，因我所行的甚是愚昧。」』(撒母耳記下 24:10)

    我們看到了不知約押準備了多久，也不知以後是指多久以後，但約押『他們走遍全地，過了九個月零二十天，就回到耶路撒冷。』(撒母耳記下 24:8) 所以數民至少是花了九個月零二十天，這其間大衞是驕傲到看不到自己驕傲的！真的不要意外，因為我們都很容易這樣，就像耶利米明說，『人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？』(耶利米書 17:9) 但我們也看到大衞是如以往的知過能改，就如在赫人烏利亞的妻拔示巴的事件一樣，犯了姦淫和借刀殺人的罪，雖然神赦免了他的死罪，但仍然要為自己的錯誤受到懲罰(參撒母耳記下 11-12:14) 從此以後，聖經沒有再說大衞再受過其他的試探，且聖經是說，『因為大衞除了赫人烏利亞那件事，都是行耶和華眼中看為正的事，一生沒有違背耶和華一切所吩咐的。』(列王紀上 15:5) 請注意，這經文記載時的時間距離大衞數民的事情相當遠，相信聖經是要我們看到這點，就是大衞已受過責罰的事，聖經連提都不再提，所以我們應該會很高興在今世因驕傲受的苦難才對！因已經審判過了，在來世連提都不會再提。

       在這裏我們看到了人的驕傲是很難對付的。有人可能會問，人的驕傲究意從何而來？撒但是有帶著驕傲的罪的，當他引誘夏娃時，而她『…就摘下果子來吃了；又給她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』(創世記 3:6) 亞當是從神那裏直接受到不可吃的命令的，但亞當選擇了不順服神而順服夏娃，於是罪『…從一人(亞當)入了世界，…，因為眾人都犯了罪。』(羅馬書 5:12) 我們出生時猶如遺傳般是帶著罪的。所以罪是從撒但帶著驕傲而來的，而人的驕傲是從撒但和亞當的錯誤選擇而來的。

2. 神悅納人的禧年

       『耶穌來到拿撒勒，就是他長大的地方。在安息日，照他平常的規矩進了會堂，站起來要念聖經。有人把先知以賽亞的書交給他，他就打開，找到一處寫着說：「主的靈在我身上，因為他用膏膏我，叫我傳福音給貧窮的人；差遣我報告被擄的得釋放，瞎眼的得看見，叫那受壓制的得自由，報告神悅納人的禧年。」於是把書捲起來，交還執事，就坐下。會堂裏的人都定睛看他。耶穌對他們說：「今天這經應驗在你們耳中了。」眾人都稱讚他，並希奇他口中所出的恩言。…』(路加福音 4:16-22) 對應的經文在以賽亞書如下：『主耶和華的靈在我身上，因為耶和華用膏膏我，叫我傳好信息給謙卑的人，差遣我醫好傷心的人，報告被擄的得釋放，被囚的出監牢；報告耶和華的恩年，和我們神報仇的日子；…』(以賽亞書 61:1-2)

       耶穌的所作所為包括這樣，如同馬太福音 11:4-5 說的：『耶穌回答說：「你們去，把所聽見、所看見的事告訴約翰：就是瞎子看見，瘸子行走，長大痲瘋的潔淨，聾子聽見，死人復活，窮人有福音傳給他們。』關於主的靈在我身上，我們在約翰福音 3:34 可以看到，『神所差來的，就說神的話，因為神賜聖靈給他，是沒有限量的。』說傳福音給貧窮的人，我們都是靈裏貧窮的人，『因為世人都犯了罪，虧缺了神的榮耀；』(羅馬書 3:23) 絕對是從靈裏貧窮的人開始，沒有人出生時就是基督徒，且大家都是從被罪沾汚開始的，怎麼能不謙卑呢？說到被擄的得釋放，我們都不是從被擄開始嗎？我們看看，『耶穌回答說：「我實實在在地告訴你們：所有犯罪的，就是罪的奴僕。…所以天父的兒子若叫你們自由，你們就真自由了。」』(約翰福音 8:34-36) 這不就是受壓制的得自由嗎？

     關於瞎眼的得看見，『你們這耳聾的，聽吧！你們這眼瞎的，看吧！使你們能看見。誰比我的僕人眼瞎呢？誰比我差遣的使者耳聾呢？誰瞎眼像那與我和好的，誰瞎眼像耶和華的僕人呢？你看見許多事卻不領會，耳朵開通卻不聽見。』(以賽亞書 42:18-20) 耶穌不是開了許多瞎眼的嗎？不只屬世的，也是屬靈的。『耶穌對他們說：「這就是我從前與你們同在之時所告訴你們的話說：摩西的律法、先知的書和詩篇上所記的，凡指着我的話都必須應驗。」於是耶穌開他們的心竅，使他們能明白聖經。』(路加福音 24:44-45) 神是無限，我們是有限，神要我們看見的我們就看見了。關於神不開我們的眼睛我們會看不到的這點，就像『以利沙禱告說：「耶和華啊，求你開這少年人的眼目，使他能看見。」耶和華開他的眼目，他就看見滿山有火車火馬圍繞以利沙。』(列王紀下 6:17) 再舉一個例子，耶穌對門徒明講他會死後三日復活，他們從人的角度看認為這是不可能的，雖是那時明講卻沒人相信，我們現在對這點容易多了，因為已發生了。我們實在要相信聖經所說的，不要把聖經的話打折扣。

       請注意到，新約沒有說: 『…我們神報仇的日子；…』(以賽亞書 61:2) 神給了我們一個機會，因為神是愛如約翰一書 4:16 所說，『神愛我們的心，我們也知道、也信。 神就是愛！住在愛裏面的，就是住在神裏面，神也住在他裏面。』但也要知道，『公義和公平，是你寶座的根基；慈愛和誠實，行在你前面。』(詩篇 89:14) 為了神的公義，基督虛已，『…在這末世顯現一次(道成肉身)，把自己獻為祭，好除掉罪。』(希伯來書 9:26) 除了給我們一個機會外，而且『…我(基督)來了，是要叫羊得生命，並且得的更豐盛。』(約翰福音 10:10)

3. 沒有先知在自己家鄉被人悅納的

       接著在路加福音 4:22-24『…又說：「這不是約瑟的兒子嗎？」耶穌對他們說：「你們必引這俗語向我說：『醫生，你醫治自己吧！我們聽見你在迦百農所行的事，也當行在你自己家鄉裏。』」又說：「我實在告訴你們，沒有先知在自己家鄉被人悅納的。』(路加福音 4:22-24)

       在不同的時候，『耶穌…來到自己的家鄉，在會堂裏教訓人，甚至他們都希奇，說：「這人從哪裏有這等智慧和異能呢？這不是木匠的兒子嗎？他母親不是叫馬利亞嗎？他弟兄們不是叫雅各、約西、西門、猶大嗎？他妹妹們不是都在我們這裏嗎？這人從哪裏有這一切的事呢？」他們就厭棄他。 耶穌對他們說：「大凡先知，除了本地本家之外，沒有不被人尊敬的。」耶穌因為他們不信，就在那裏不多行異能了。』(馬太福音 13:53-58) 如果我們比較前後的經文，就知道這和路加福音講的是兩件事，在這裏，我們看見了祂的鄉人以為對祂相當熟習，他們就厭棄他，更看見了信的重要。其實，當時連祂的弟兄都不相信祂，就如約翰福音 7:2-5 所明說的，『當時，猶太人的住棚節近了，耶穌的弟兄就對他說：「你離開這裏上猶太去吧！叫你的門徒也看見你所行的事。人要顯揚名聲，沒有在暗處行事的，你如果行這些事，就當將自己顯明給世人看。」因為連他的弟兄說這話，是因為不信他。』(約翰福音 7:2-5)

    在這裏我們也可以猜到為什麼先知沒有在自己家鄉被人接納的！因為弟兄姊妹和家鄉的人對先知那個人太熟習，從人的角度看，相當難接受那個人於衆不同而是先知。在較遠的地方中，人們會注意到那個人所做先知的事。

       我們接著看看耶穌舉的兩個例子。『我對你們說實話，當以利亞的時候，天閉塞了三年零六個月，遍地有大饑荒，那時，以色列中有許多寡婦，以利亞並沒有奉差往她們一個人那裏去，只奉差往西頓的撒勒法一個寡婦那裏去。先知以利沙的時候，以色列中有許多長大痲瘋的，但內中除了敍利亞國的乃縵，沒有一個得潔淨的。』(路加福音 4:25-27) 前者在列王紀上 17:8-16 敍述，後者在列王紀下 5:1-14 提到。這兩個例子都是為『沒有先知在自己家鄉被人悅納的』而講的，回頭看看北國最後還是滅亡，就可以知道以利亞和以利沙雖行了許多神蹟，還是沒有被以色列人接受，歸向耶和華，難怪神會送以利亞到外邦人那裏，而以利沙只潔淨了一個外邦人！這不是和新約時代起初相似嗎？耶穌不為猶太人接受而釘了十字架，而保羅也不為猶太人接受而主要他傳教給外邦人，就如使徒行傳 22:21 所說，『主向我(保羅)說：『你去吧！我要差你遠遠地往外邦人那裏去。』』

       這一段最後講到，『會堂裏的人聽見這話，都怒氣滿胸，就起來攆他出城。他們的城造在山上，他們帶他到山崖，要把他推下去。他卻從他們中間直行，過去了。』(路加福音 4:24-30) 當時的猶太人非常瞧不起外邦人，就如約翰福音 4:9 所說，『…猶太人和撒馬利亞人沒有來往。』難怪他們受不了耶穌的話，而且有了行動，但沒有成功。我們因此也看到了祂的時間還沒有到，人是不能傷害祂的，這就是耶穌說的，『…若不是從上頭賜給你的，你就毫無權柄辦我，…』(約翰福音 19:11) 也就是，『沒有人奪我的命去，是我自己捨的。…』(約翰福音 10:18) 祂是為我們捨命。

參考

[1] 人是照著神的形像造的，就如創世記 1:27 所說，『神就照着自己的形像造人，乃是照着他的形像造男造女。』神有絕對的主權，顯然神有自由意志，所以亞當和夏娃有自由意志，人的自由意志是神造的，所賦予的。  

 (你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

Because the purpose of the Word becoming flesh is to put away sin, we want to talk about where sin comes from. Sin is not created by God but God indeed gave man free will [1]. From several verses, we can see that Satan chose to be proud out of free will. This is where sin comes from. And being proud is also a big sin which is hard, if not impossible, for humans to tackle alone by oneself. Secondly, we take a look at the favorable year of the Lord, and also see what Jesus did. God is love, and whatever He does is based upon love. So, Jesus quoted Isaiah 61:2 and stopped at “And the day of vengeance of our God.” Thirdly, we talk about the verse regarding the fact that no prophet is welcome in his hometown. We ask why Jesus gave those two associated examples. Also, we can see that it is not time for Jesus to die.

1. Preface: The origin of sin

We see in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” We also see in Hebrews 9:26, “…but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Apparently, sin exists before man was created because “…the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. …”(Genesis 3:1) And in Revelation 12:9, it is clearly said, “…the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, …” We have already discussed from the word “light (H216)” in “1042 The first day in Genesis 1 and what ‘light’ in verse 3 means

– The original will of God (1)” that Satan was created before the material world nowadays. “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”(James 1:17) Sin is definitely not good, and isn’t created by God. Someone may think that the statement is contradictory to these two verses. In Genesis 1:1, it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And in Genesis 2:1-2, it says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.” Aren’t all created by God? Isn’t it an apparent contradiction?

We say that sin wasn’t created by God. Then where did it come from? God created free will, and Satan chose pride under the free will. Why do we say this? This can be seen in the following verses. In Ezekiel 28:14-17, it says, “You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. …”Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I put you before kings, That they may see you.” In Isaiah 14:12-14, it says, “”How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'” We can see that what talked about are spiritual things. Satan was created beautiful and was called the star of the morning, son of the dawn! But he apparently is like our old-self, which is centered by own-self. Yes, we see that Satan has free will just like us. Before the free will is contaminated by sin, it has the absolute choice just like what Adam had before his choice of disobedience; otherwise, it isn’t a free will. Satan chose to be against God. Sin then started!

To be proud is also a big sin which is hard, if not impossible, for anyone to tackle. Humans become proud easily even to the extent for him not to detect his being proud. We can see in the aspect of human, even God said in Job 1:1, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” But still “…he was righteous in his own eyes.”(Job 32:1) Isn’t it because of his being proud? A person who is righteous in the aspect of God cannot be so. Thus, it must be that God made this statement from human’s eyes. At the end, he knew that he was wrong by saying, “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”(Job 42:5-6) He is a person who can repent. After this test, God didn’t make any test happen to him. If you look at the whole Book of Job, you know the original will of God was to bless him and used tribulations to purify him. 

Let us take a look at another example. Wasn’t David counting people because of his pride? Because it is said clearly by Joab in 2 Samuel 24:3-4, “But Joab said to the king, “Now may the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” Nevertheless, the king’s word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army went out from the presence of the king to register the people of Israel.” This is very different from what was described in chapter one of the Book of Numbers, where Moses was asked to count the number of people by God. After counting people, “God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel.”(1 Chronicles 21:7) In the past, I thought that David’s heart was troubled immediately after he learned about the number of people because of the movement of the Holy Spirit, but now I see that the Bible says that he saw the worldly things about what happened to the Israelites. Therefore, in 2 Samuel 24:10, it says, “Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

We don’t know what the preparation time of Joab was or how long David repented after counting people, but at least for the period of what said in 2 Samuel 24:8, “So when they had gone about through the whole land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days.” So, counting people took at least this much time, and during that period David was proud to the extent of him not detecting his pride. Be not surprised since we are prone to behave this way as said in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” We also see that David is a person who can repent after learning about his mistakes like what happened before in the event of Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. In that event, David committed the sin of adultery and killed Uriah with the sword of the sons of Ammon. (Ref. 2 Samuel 11-12:14) Although God took away his sin and he didn’t die, but he had to pay the price for his mistakes. After the event of counting people, the Bible doesn’t tell that he went through other tests. Actually, the Bible says in 1 Kings 15:5 “because David did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the case of Uriah the Hittite.” Notice this is said in the Book of 1 King, which is far away from the event of Uriah. Therefore, the Bible makes sure that we are aware of this point.  Whatever events which David had been penalized, the Bible doesn’t count them anymore by not even mentioning them. Therefore, we should be happy that we have tribulations in this life due to being proud! For things that have already been judged and paid the price for, it won’t mention them in the future.

Here, we see that sin of being proud is hard, if not impossible, for human to tackle alone by oneself. One may then ask where the sin of being proud comes from. Satan is the one with being proud. And when he seduced Eve, and “…she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”(Genesis 3:6) Adam got the command directly from God to not eat this particular fruit. But he didn’t obey God and listened to Eve. As a result, it is said in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” When we are born, we carry sin with us like those in genes. So, sin comes from the sinful Satan due to his being proud. Humans being proud comes from Satan and the wrong choice of Adam.

2. The favorable year of the Lord

It is said in Luke 4:16-22, “And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed, To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; …”

Among what Jesus did includes what was said in Matthew 11:4-5, “Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”    

Regarding “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,” we can see in John 3:34 “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure.” Talking about “to preach the gospel to the poor,” we all are poor in spirit, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23) We are absolutely born being poor in spirit since we never heard anyone being a Christian as a newborn. We are all contaminated by sin, how can we not be humble? Regarding “to proclaim release to the captives,” do we start from being a captive? Let us take a look at John 8:34-36 “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. …So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” Isn’t it the captives getting freedom?

Talking about the “recovery of sight to the blind, it is said in Isaiah 42:18-20 “Hear, you deaf! And look, you blind, that you may see. Who is blind but My servant, Or so deaf as My messenger whom I send? Who is so blind as he that is at peace with Me, Or so blind as the servant of the Lord? You have seen many things, but you do not observe them; Your ears are open, but none hears.” Did Jesus open eyes for many blind people, not only worldly but also spiritually? It is said in Luke 24:44-45, “Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” God is infinite, and we are finite. We can only see what God permits us to see. To illustrate this point, it is said in 2 Kings 6:17, “Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servant’s eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” As another example, Jesus said clearly to His apostles that He would die and be resurrected after three days, but they thought that it was impossible in the aspect of human. Although it was said clearly, they didn’t believe at that time. It is much easier for us since it happened and was recorded. We must really believe what the Bible says without any discounts.

Notice that it doesn’t say in the New Testament, “…And the day of vengeance of our God…”(Isaiah 61:2) God gave us a chance since God is love as said in 1 John 4:16, “We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” But we need to know also, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.”(Psalms 89:14) For the righteousness of God, Jesus emptied Himself and became flesh.  In Hebrews 9:26, it is said, “Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Other than giving us a chance, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”(John 10:10)

3. No prophet is welcome in his hometown

In Luke 4:22-24 it says “And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” And He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well.'” And He said, “Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.”

In a different time, it is said in Matthew 13:53-58, “When Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there. He came to His hometown and began teaching them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief.”  

If we compare the verses nearby, we’ll know that here talks about a different event from that in Luke 4:22-24. Here, we see that they thought that they were familiar with Him and took offense at Him. Moreover, we can see how important faith is. In fact, even His brothers didn’t believe in Him at that time, as said in John 7:2-5, “Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

Also, we can guess why no prophet is welcome in his hometown! Because brothers or sisters or country men are too familiar with that prophet, and in the aspect of human it hard to accept that person is different from the rest and a prophet. In faraway places, people will notice his work of prophecy.

Then we’ll take a look at the two examples in Luke 4:25-27, “But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land; and yet Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.” The former is mentioned in 1 King 17:8-16, and the latter in 2 King 5:1-14. These two examples were used to support the idea of ‘no prophet is welcome in his hometown.’ When we look back, the nation of Israelites was perished although Elijah and Elisha performed quite a lot of miracles. Therefore, we know that they weren’t accepted and people led not to the God. No wonder Elijah was sent out to a gentile, and Elisha only cleansed a gentile. Isn’t the same in the era of the New Testament, Jesus wasn’t accepted by Jews and was nailed in the cross. And Paul wasn’t accepted by Jews and the Lord told him to preach to gentiles as said in Acts 22:21 “And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

The paragraph in Luke 4:28-30 talks about, “And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, He went His way.” Jews at that time looked down at gentiles as described in John 4:9, “… (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)” No wonder that they couldn’t tolerate what Jesus said. Moreover, they took an action but without any success. Therefore, we can also see not yet the time for Him to die and human being couldn’t hurt Him as “Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; …””(John 19:11) This is what said in John 10:18, “No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. …” He died for us.

Reference

[1] As said in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” God has an absolute authority. He apparently has free will. Thus, Adam and Eve have free will and finally made a decision of not obeying God’s command. The free will of humans is created by God and bestowed by Him.  

 (Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

First, we mention in preface that our goal is to be conformed to the image of Jesus. What then is such an image? Secondly, there are two Gospels talking about the genealogy of Jesus. We point out their differences and the controversial issues surrounding them. Thirdly, we discuss the time of the temptations of Jesus, what the order means here, and the associated controversy. We also discuss our temptations encountered. Fourthly, although Satan chose the time that Jesus was hungry to tempt Him to tell a stone to become bread, He said clearly that man shall not live on bread alone. Fifthly, in terms of the temptation of showing Him all the kingdoms of the world, He responded clearly, “You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” Jesus wasn’t tempted by worldly things. Sixthly, we discuss the temptation of throwing Yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple. Although Satan correctly quotes the verses and accidentally showed that he was familiar with the Bible. Jesus told him clearly, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Associated with that, we give one example in the Old Testament to show that once God tells us to do something, even though we think it is impossible, it no longer counts as a test but obedience is more important. We also discuss a related controversy raised by the prophecy of the virgin bearing a child.

1. Preface: The image of Jesus

We need to be conformed to the image of Jesus as said in Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” The whole Bible talks about Jesus. It is impossible for us to talk about the image of Jesus clearly since God is infinite and we are finite. Futhermore, God has the absolute authority and we can only understand the parts that the Holy Spirit reveals to us. Therefore, this is a series of sharing, which is limited by what we know about the image of Jesus.

Regarding the image of Jesus, the four Gospels state relatively clearly. We choose our sharing primarily based upon the Gospel of Luke and secondarily and on other Three Gospels since the Book of Luke says clearly that it is based on order as said in Luke 1:1-4, “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; so that you may know the exact truth about the things you have been taught.”

2. The genealogy of Jesus

We have shared some events about Jesus before. Let’s start with this fact now stated in Luke 3:23, “When He began His ministry, Jesus Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli.” We know that Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit, thus He is only supposed to be the son of Joseph in the aspect of human. The genealogy in Luke 3:23-38 and those in Matthew 1:1-17 are very different. In Luke 3:32, it says that David is “the son of Jesse, …” Before that, both Gospels are basically the same except the Gospel of Matthew states upward the fact to “…Adam, the son of God.”(Luke 3:38) After David, the names are different in these two Gospels. This is because the Gospel of Matthew talks about the genealogy from the father and the Gospel of Luke is that from the mother. Of course, they are different and thus not contradictory. This is what prophesied in 2 Samuel 7:16, “Your (David’s) house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” No matter if we see the genealogy from the mother or from the father, Jesus is the offspring of David and His kingdom is indeed forever.

The genealogy from the father in the Gospel of Matthew means that the father of Jesus is supposed to be Joseph, and the father of Joseph is Jacob, and so on till Abram. The genealogy in the Gospel of Luke is from the mother, which should be counted from Mary. Does this create a problem since the genealogy of the Gospel of Luke never mentions the name Mary? And in Luke 3:23-24, it seems clearly stated, “…being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, …” Isn’t the father of Joseph Eli? If we want to make it consistent with what described in the Gospel of Matthew 1:16, “Jacob was the father of Joseph…,” isn’t Jacob called Eli either? If we trace the genealogy upward, then we can see that this is wrong. It is impossible to make them consistent this way. The number of generations are quite different. Then, how do we explain this seemingly apparent contradiction? Here, we have to look at the historical background. At that time, the system of Jews was based upon the male, and the father represents the whole family. This point can be seen clearly in the genealogy of the Old Testament, which basically talks about males. In other words, Joseph described in Luke 3:23 represents the Mary’s whole family. In other words, Mary’s father is Eli, Eli’s father is Matthat, etc. Notice that whenever a genealogy mentions the names of females, we need to be aware of what they did.

Regarding the genealogy, there are some other questions. For example, why do we trace up to David and not stop at Zerubbabel, whose name is mentioned in both Gospels? If you trace several generations back, you’ll find out that they are not the same person but the same name. It is the custom of Jews to choose the same name for different persons. For example, we mentioned previously in Luke 3:24, “…Matthat, the son of Levi, …,” who is not the same Levi among the twelve sons of James. The other question often discussed is why several kings are not mentioned in the genealogy in the Gospel of Matthew. They are Ahaziah in 2 Kings 8:24, Jehoash in 2 Kings 12:1, Amaziah in 2 Kings 12:21, and Jehoiakim in 2 Kings 23:34. The Bible doesn’t say clearly why, and we can never get a unique conclusion.

3. The time of the temptation of Jesus and its order

The temptation of Jesus is mentioned in the first three Gospels (except in the Book of John), which are called synoptic Gospels because there are some events mentioned in two or three of them and can be used to check each other. The temptation of Jesus happened after He was baptized, which is only briefly mentioned in the Gospel of Luke. In the chapter 4 of the Gospel of Luke, three temptations are particularly mentioned in the order of: (1) Telling a stone to become bread; (2) Showing Him all the kingdoms of the world; (3) Throwing Yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple. In the Gospel of Matthew, their order is different, (1)(3)(2). Someone may ask, ‘Is the Bible wrong?’ No, absolutely not. The Bible is inspired by God, and we should ask what He wants to tell us when He puts this seemingly apparent error here? First, the Gospel of Luke is indeed written according to the order of events, not issues. The event of the temptation of Jesus happened after He was baptized. Secondly, the temptation involves more than three issues as said in Luke 4:13, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.”

Remember that Satan could not let Jesus go, but failed, as clearly stated in Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” We are tempted very often too, because “Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”(2 Timothy 3:12) Christians have tribulations for sure. At least till now, we don’t have tribulations like what happens in mainland China. God sometimes responds according to our reactions, and His responses often look very slow in the eyes of humans. But good work often results from working slowly. For example, Moses spent forty years in the wilderness before God called him, and Paul got his revelation in about three years. You must know that the verses quoted below are very true. “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”(John 16:33) And it says in 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” Every man will die for sure. Before that time, our temptations are just like what this verse says, that there is always a way to escape. Furthermore, there is always the way of repentance in the era of the New Testament as is said in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If someone says that he never encountered temptation. The person must reflect on himself. Either he encountered temptations but didn’t know, or he was not worthy of any temptation even in the eyes of the servants of Satan!

4. Telling a stone to become bread

In Luke 4:1-4, it says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.'””

Here, someone may ask, “Isn’t the Holy Spirit in cooperation with Satan?” Absolutely not, the Holy Spirit is one of the Holy Trinity and is omniscient. He knows ahead of time that Satan will not let go of Jesus. The temptations will start sooner or later, and it may start right now in His chosen time. Satan can choose the right time for maximum damage too. When Jesus became hungry, Satan then started this temptation. But Jesus didn’t take the hook, because He knew that He is indeed the Son of God. And He also knows that man lives depending on food, but shall not live on bread alone. Christians must abide in Jesus as said in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

5. Showing Him all the kingdoms of the world

It is said in Luke 4:5-8, “And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'””

Satan didn’t lie this time, and Jesus answered clearly. Indeed, “…the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.”(1 John 5:19) “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”(1 John 5:20)

6. Throwing Yourself down from the pinnacle of the temple

In Luke 4:9-12, it says, “And he led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear You up, So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'””

Satan accurately quote these verses in Psalms 91:9-12, “For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone.”  “And the great dragon was …the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, …”(Revelation 12:9) Here, we can see that Satan is familiar with the Bible. But Satan says, “…If You are the Son of God, …”(Luke 4:9) We said before that Jesus knew clearly that He is indeed the Son of God. This kind of temptation is doomed to be a failure.

In the verses of the Old Testament, they say verses like, “Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice.”(Numbers 14:22) We also see in Psalms 78:41, “Again and again they tempted God, And pained the Holy One of Israel.” Jesus knew in the beginning, “… You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”(Luke 4:12) We must do the same.

When God asks people to do something impossible, it is no longer a test. This point is illustrated very clearly in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 7:10-14, it says, “Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!” Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” Doesn’t Ahaz really want to not put a test for God? From what Isaiah said, most likely Ahaz didn’t believe that it was possible! But God already said, He will do it no matter what people say since He has the absolute authority. In the New Testament, this is verified as stated in Matthew 1:22-23, “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.””

Related to these verses but having controversy are the verses in Isaiah 7:15-16, “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.” There are two different thoughts about the period of Ahaz being a king. One is from 736 BC to 716 BC, and the other from 735 BC to 715 BC. No matter which one, the period from Ahaz to Jesus is less than 750 years. There is nothing logically wrong since Jesus absolutely didn’t know enough to refuse evil and choose good about 750 years ago. The controversy comes from the argument that Jesus has to be born in the period Ahez being a king. The Bible doesn’t say so! If we believe that the Bible is inspired by God, we’ll know that prophecy normally doesn’t specify the time. And sometimes it is even not consistent with what we think in the first glance.

For example, it is said in Genesis 15:13, “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.” Originally, I thought that the Israelites were in Egypt 400 years according to the prophecy. But I wasn’t aware of the key words, “will be enslaved and oppressed.” When James went to Egypt, “Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.””(Genesis 41:41) Therefore, they weren’t enslaved and oppressed until stated in Exodus 1:8-10, “Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.  …” So, when Joseph was alive, they should not be enslaved and oppressed. And we know, “…Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh, …”(Genesis 41:46) When James got to Egypt, “…the famine has been in the land these two years, …”(Genesis 45:6) Adding seven abundant years, James came to Egypt is when Joseph was 30+7+2=39 years old. And “Joseph lived one hundred and ten years.”(Genesis 50:22) Therefore, they have at least 110-39=71 good years. The actual time is stated in Exodus 12:40, “Now the time that the sons of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years,” which is different. There are also examples in the New Testament, where the prophecy of the time of Jesus coming again is not even specified! 

 (Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

       首先我們在前言中提到，標桿是要模成耶穌的形像，所以我們要知道這形像是什麼？第二，聖經有兩本福音書都說到耶穌的家譜，我們指出主要的不同處及爭議。第三，我們討論耶穌受試探的時間及次序意謂著什麼及爭議，也討論我們會受試探的意義。第四，魔鬼雖選祂餓的時候做了「吩咐石頭變成食物」的試探，耶穌卻不受試探而很清楚的回答，「人活著不是單靠食物」。第五，說到了「把天下的萬國都指給祂看」的試探，有別的經文的確看到了魔鬼這次沒有撒慌，但榮華富貴不能引誘耶穌。第六，我們討論了這試探，「從殿頂跳下去」，魔鬼雖正確的引用了經文，耶穌卻很清楚的告訴牠不要試探主你的神。我們也討論了一個舊約關於當神要人做事時就不再是試探的例子，並討論一個相關於童女生子時間上有爭議性的預言。

1. 前言: 耶穌的形像

       我們是要模成耶穌的形像，如羅馬書 8:29 所說：『因為他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(模成)他兒子的模樣(形像)，使他兒子在許多弟兄中作長子。』整本聖經都和耶穌有關，我們大概不可能把耶穌的形像完全講清楚，因神是無限我們是有限，且神有絕對的主權，我們只能瞭解聖靈啓示我們的部份。這會是一系列的分享，談到我們所知道有限的耶穌的形像。

       關於耶穌的形像，四福音書講得相當清楚。我們選擇了以路加福音為主而其他三本福音書為輔的分享，因為路加福音明說是按著次序的。『提阿非羅大人哪，…這些事我既從起頭都詳細考察了，就定意要按着次序寫給你，使你知道所學之道都是確實的。』(路加福音 1:1-4) 

2. 耶穌的家譜

       我們已分享過一些事情，現在從這一個事實開始：『耶穌開頭傳道，年紀約有三十歲。依人看來，他是約瑟的兒子，約瑟是希里的兒子。』(路加福音 3:23) 我們知道，耶穌因聖靈感孕而生，所以祂只是依人看來是約瑟的兒子。在路加福音 3:23-38 的家譜和馬太福音 1:1-17 的家譜很不相同。在路加福音 3:32 講到『大衞是耶西的兒子，…』之前，兩者基本上是完全相同的，只是馬太福音是從亞伯拉罕說起而已，而路加福音往上直追述到，『…亞當是神的兒子。』(路加福音 3:38) 從大衞到耶穌以後名字的不同，因馬太福音是父系的家譜，而路加福音是講母系的家譜，當然會不同，並不是矛盾的。

    所謂在馬太福音中父系的家譜是指耶穌的父親是約瑟，約瑟的父親是雅各，等等直到亞伯拉罕。所謂在路加福音母系的家譜，是從耶穌的母親是從馬利亞算起，這就產生了一個問題，在路加福音的家譜中沒有提到馬利亞啊？而且在路加福音 3:23-24 好像說得很清楚，『…依人看來，他是約瑟的兒子，約瑟是希里的兒子，希里是瑪塔的兒子，瑪塔是利未的兒子，…』(路加福音 3:23-24) 那麼約瑟的父親應該是希里啊？要和馬太福音一致，是不是雅各又叫希里啊？如果我們向上追述就會發覺這種說法是不對的，不可能讓馬太福音所述的家譜和路加福音的一致，究意要如何解釋這好像明顯的矛盾啊！這時我們就要看當時的歷史背景，那時的猶太人是以父系為主，父親是代表整個家的，看舊約的家譜描述基本上都是只講男人，所以路加福音 3:23 提到的約瑟是馬利亞一家的代表，也就是說馬利亞的父親是希里，希里的父親是瑪塔，等等。所以在家譜中如馬太福音的家譜提到女性的名字，要特別注意她們的事蹟。

    關於家譜還常有的一些疑問，譬如說，我們追述到大衞才說兩者完全相同，為什麼不說到所羅巴伯呢？所羅巴伯不是兩個福音書都提到嗎？如果你追述好幾代就會知道他們是同名但不是一個人，猶太人的習俗是會取同樣名字的，譬如剛才提到瑪塔是利未的兒子，這利未不會是雅各的兒子十二先祖之一的利未。另外常討論的問題是有幾位王為什麼在馬太福音中的家譜沒提到，就是沒有提到亞哈謝，約阿施，亞瑪謝，和約雅敬，聖經沒明說為什麼，我們不會得到唯一的結論的。

3. 耶穌受試探的時間及次序

       耶穌受試探的事除了在約翰福音外，在前三本福音書都提到，因前三本福音書有一些同樣的事情，可互相對照，所以稱為對觀福音或符類福音。耶穌受試探是在祂受洗之後，其中在馬可福音只短短的提到。路加福音第 4 章提到三件事的秩序為: (1) 吩咐這塊石頭變成食物；(2) 把天下的萬國都指給他看；(3) 從殿頂跳下去。但馬太福音第四章的秩序為 (1)、(3)、(2)。我們可能會問，是不是聖經錯了？不是，聖經是神所默示的，那麼我們該問是、祂把這明顯的矛盾放在這裏要告訴我們什麼？首先，以受試探這事件發生的秩序來說，路加福音的確按秩序寫的，是在耶穌受洗之後，而且受試探的不只是這三件事，在這次『魔鬼用完了各樣的試探，就暫時離開耶穌。』(路加福音 4:13) 

       撒但不會放過耶穌的，這從下面的經文就很清楚，『因我們的大祭司並非不能體恤我們的軟弱，他也曾凡事受過試探，與我們一樣，只是他沒有犯罪。』(希伯來書 4:15) 我們也會常受試探，因『…凡立志在基督耶穌裏敬虔度日的，也都要受逼迫。』(提摩太後書 3:12)  所以基督徒本有苦難，到目前為止，我們至少不像在大陸一樣的受逼迫，神會看我們的反應而做出回應的。常常是慢功出細活，譬如摩西有四十年和保羅約有三年是在曠野。要知道下面這些經文不是空話，『我將這些事告訴你們，是要叫你們在我裏面有平安。在世上你們有苦難，但你們可以放心，我已經勝了世界。』(約翰福音 16:33) 『你們所遇見的試探，無非是人所能受的。神是信實的，必不叫你們受試探過於所能受的。在受試探的時候，總要給你們開一條出路，叫你們能忍受得住。』(哥林多前書 10:13) 人人都有一死，但死的時間還沒到的時候，都是如此。而且好處是在新約時代留給了我們一條悔改的路，就如經文所說，『我們若認自己的罪，神是信實的，是公義的，必要赦免我們的罪，洗淨我們一切的不義。』(約翰一書 1:9) 如果有人說沒被受試探過，實在是應該反省，或是受試探自己不知道，或是撒但的差役都覺得你不值得受試探！

 4. 吩咐石頭變成食物

       『耶穌被聖靈充滿，從約旦河回來，聖靈將他引到曠野，四十天受魔鬼的試探。那些日子沒有吃甚麼，日子滿了，他就餓了。魔鬼對他說：「你若是神的兒子，可以吩咐這塊石頭變成食物。」耶穌回答說：「經上記着說：『人活着不是單靠食物，乃是靠神口裏所出的一切話。』」』(路加福音 4:1-4)

    在這裏，有人可能會問，這不是聖靈在和魔鬼合作嗎？不是的。聖靈是全知的三位一體的神，祂早就知道魔鬼不會放過耶穌，試探的開始是遲早的事，不如現在就開始。魔鬼很會選時間，在祂肚子餓的時候做這個試探，但祂不受魔鬼說的這試探，因祂真是神的兒子。且人活著雖然要靠食物，不是單靠食物，基督徒必須住在基督裏而靠神的話，就猶如約翰福音 15:5 所說，『我是葡萄樹，你們是枝子。常在我裏面的，我也常在他裏面，這人就多結果子。因為離了我，你們就不能做甚麼。』

5. 把天下的萬國都指給祂看

       『魔鬼又領他上了高山，霎時間把天下的萬國都指給他看，對他說：「這一切權柄、榮華，我都要給你，因為這原是交付我的，我願意給誰就給誰。你若在我面前下拜，這都要歸你。」耶穌說：「經上記着說：『當拜主你的神，單要事奉他。』」』(路加福音 4:5-8)

       這次魔鬼沒有撒謊，耶穌也回答的很清楚。的確，『…全世界都臥在那惡者手下。』(約翰一書 5:19) 而『我們也知道神的兒子已經來到，且將智慧賜給我們，使我們認識那位真實的，我們也在那位真實的裏面，就是在他兒子耶穌基督裏面。這是真神，也是永生。』(約翰一書 5:20)

6. 從殿頂跳下去

       『魔鬼又領他到耶路撒冷去，叫他站在殿頂上，對他說：「你若是神的兒子，可以從這裏跳下去；因為經上記着說：『主要為你吩咐他的使者保護你。他們要用手托着你，免得你的腳碰在石頭上。』」耶穌對他說：「經上說：『不可試探主你的神。』」(路加福音 4:9-12)

       魔鬼正確的引用了這經文，『耶和華是我的避難所，你已將至高者當你的居所，禍患必不臨到你，災害也不挨近你的帳棚。因他要為你吩咐他的使者，在你行的一切道路上保護你。他們要用手托着你，免得你的腳碰在石頭上。』(詩篇 91:9-12) 『大龍就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，…』(啓示錄 12:9)  從這裏，我們也看到了撒但對經文是很熟習的。只是牠說，『你若是神的兒子。』我們說過耶穌知道祂的確是神的兒子，而且祂知道的很清楚，任何這樣的試探註定會失敗。

    在舊約的一些經文中，如『這些人雖看見我的榮耀和我在埃及與曠野所行的神蹟，仍然試探我這十次，不聽從我的話，』(民數記 14:22) 我們看到了 『他們再三試探神，惹動以色列的聖者。』(詩篇 78:41) 耶穌一開始就知道不可試探主你的神，祂是真知道，我們也要如此。

       當神要人做一些事時，就不再是試探，這點在舊約的這些經文很清楚，『耶和華又曉諭亞哈斯說：「你向耶和華你的神求一個兆頭，或求顯在深處，或求顯在高處。」亞哈斯說：「我不求！我不試探耶和華。」以賽亞說：「大衞家啊，你們當聽！你們使人厭煩豈算小事，還要使我的神厭煩嗎？因此，主自己要給你們一個兆頭，必有童女懷孕生子，給他起名叫以馬內利。』(以賽亞書 7:10-14) 亞哈斯是真的在心底不試探神嗎？從以賽亞說的看，他大概是不相信吧！但祂已說了，不管人怎麼說，祂要成就就會一定成就！在新約，這一件事情就証實了，『這一切的事成就，是要應驗主藉先知所說的話，說：「必有童女懷孕生子，人要稱他的名為以馬內利。」（「以馬內利」翻出來就是「神與我們同在」。）』(馬太福音 1:22-23)

       和這經文相關而通常有爭議的經文是，『到他曉得棄惡擇善的時候，他必吃奶油與蜂蜜。因為在這孩子還不曉得棄惡擇善之先，你所憎惡的那二王之地必致見棄。』(以賽亞書 7:15-16) 亞哈斯王在位的期間有兩種不同的說法，從前736年到前716年及從前735年到前715年。不論是那種說法，亞哈斯王在位到耶穌出生時都不到  750 年，750 年前絕對是在耶穌不曉得棄惡擇善之先，所以邏輯上沒問題。爭議是有人以為這經文一定是指耶穌非要出生於亞哈斯王在位時不可，但聖經沒有明白的這樣講！如果我們真相信聖經是神所默示的，就知道預言的時間通常是不會說定、而且不見得會如我們所想的。

    舉一個舊約的例子，『耶和華對亞伯蘭說：「你要的確知道，你的後裔必寄居別人的地，又服事那地的人，那地的人要苦待他們四百年。』(創世記 15:13) 雅各最開始去埃及時約瑟是宰相，他們沒有被苦待，直到『有不認識約瑟的新王起來，治理埃及，…』(出埃及記 1:8-10) 所以約瑟活著時他們應該沒被苦待，且知『約瑟見埃及王法老的時候年三十歲。…』(創世記 41:46) 雅各去的時候『…饑荒已經二年了，…』(創世記 45:6) 加上前面的七年豐年，所以雅各到埃及的時候是約瑟 30+7+2=39 歲時，而我們知道『…約瑟活了一百一十歲。』(創世記 50:22) 因此他們至少 110-39=71 年沒有被苦待。結論是他們至少在埃及 400+71=471 年。而真實的時間是，『以色列人住在埃及共有四百三十年。』(出埃及記 12:40) 在新約也有這樣的例子，耶穌再來的預言，更沒有說時間呢！

 (你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

    首先我们在前言中提到，标杆是要模成耶稣的形像，所以我们要知道这形像是什么？第二，圣经有两本福音书都说到耶稣的家谱，我们指出主要的不同处及争议。第三，我们讨论耶稣受试探的时间及次序意谓着什么及争议，也讨论我们会受试探的意义。第四，魔鬼虽选祂饿的时候做了「吩咐石头变成食物」的试探，耶稣却不受试探而很清楚的回答，「人活着不是单靠食物」。第五，说到了「把天下的万国都指给祂看」的试探，有别的经文的确看到了魔鬼这次没有撒慌，但荣华富贵不能引诱耶稣。第六，我们讨论了这试探，「从殿顶跳下去」，魔鬼虽正确的引用了经文，耶稣却很清楚的告诉牠不要试探主你的神。我们也讨论了一个旧约关于当神要人做事时就不再是试探的例子，并讨论一个相关于童女生子时间上有争议性的预言。

1. 前言: 耶稣的形像       

    我们是要模成耶稣的形像，如罗马书 8:29 所说：『因为他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(模成)他儿子的模样(形像)，使他儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。』整本圣经都和耶稣有关，我们大概不可能把耶稣的形像完全讲清楚，因神是无限我们是有限，且神有绝对的主权，我们只能了解圣灵启示我们的部份。这会是一系列的分享，谈到我们所知道有限的耶稣的形像。       

    关于耶稣的形像，四福音书讲得相当清楚。我们选择了以路加福音为主而其他三本福音书为辅的分享，因为路加福音明说是按着次序的。『提阿非罗大人哪，…这些事我既从起头都详细考察了，就定意要按着次序写给你，使你知道所学之道都是确实的。』(路加福音 1:1-4)

2. 耶稣的家谱

    我们已分享过一些事情，现在从这一个事实开始：『耶稣开头传道，年纪约有三十岁。依人看来，他是约瑟的儿子，约瑟是希里的儿子。』(路加福音 3:23) 我们知道，耶稣因圣灵感孕而生，所以祂只是依人看来是约瑟的儿子。在路加福音 3:23-38 的家谱和马太福音 1:1-17 的家谱很不相同。在路加福音 3:32 讲到『大衞是耶西的儿子，…』之前，两者基本上是完全相同的，只是马太福音是从亚伯拉罕说起而已，而路加福音往上直追述到，『…亚当是神的儿子。』(路加福音 3:38) 从大衞到耶稣以后名字的不同，因马太福音是父系的家谱，而路加福音是讲母系的家谱，当然会不同，并不是矛盾的。    

    所谓在马太福音中父系的家谱是指耶稣的父亲是约瑟，约瑟的父亲是雅各，等等直到亚伯拉罕。所谓在路加福音母系的家谱，是从耶稣的母亲是从马利亚算起，这就产生了一个问题，在路加福音的家谱中没有提到马利亚啊？而且在路加福音 3:23-24 好像说得很清楚，『…依人看来，他是约瑟的儿子，约瑟是希里的儿子，希里是玛塔的儿子，玛塔是利未的儿子，…』(路加福音 3:23-24) 那么约瑟的父亲应该是希里啊？要和马太福音一致，是不是雅各又叫希里啊？如果我们向上追述就会发觉这种说法是不对的，不可能让马太福音所述的家谱和路加福音的一致，究意要如何解释这好像明显的矛盾啊！这时我们就要看当时的历史背景，那时的犹太人是以父系为主，父亲是代表整个家的，看旧约的家谱描述基本上都是只讲男人，所以路加福音 3:23 提到的约瑟是马利亚一家的代表，也就是说马利亚的父亲是希里，希里的父亲是玛塔，等等。所以在家谱中如马太福音的家谱提到女性的名字，要特别注意她们的事迹。

    关于家谱还常有的一些疑问，譬如说，我们追述到大衞才说两者完全相同，为什么不说到所罗巴伯呢？所罗巴伯不是两个福音书都提到吗？如果你追述好几代就会知道他们是同名但不是一个人，犹太人的习俗是会取同样名字的，譬如刚才提到玛塔是利未的儿子，这利未不会是雅各的儿子十二先祖之一的利未。另外常讨论的问题是有几位王为什么在马太福音中的家谱没提到，就是没有提到亚哈谢，约阿施，亚玛谢，和约雅敬，圣经没明说为什么，我们不会得到唯一的结论的。

3. 耶稣受试探的时间及次序       

    耶稣受试探的事除了在约翰福音外，在前三本福音书都提到，因前三本福音书有一些同样的事情，可互相对照，所以称为对观福音或符类福音。耶稣受试探是在祂受洗之后，其中在马可福音只短短的提到。路加福音第 4 章提到三件事的秩序为: (1) 吩咐这块石头变成食物；(2) 把天下的万国都指给他看；(3) 从殿顶跳下去。但马太福音第四章的秩序为 (1)、(3)、(2)。我们可能会问，是不是圣经错了？不是，圣经是神所默示的，那么我们该问是、祂把这明显的矛盾放在这里要告诉我们什么？首先，以受试探这事件发生的秩序来说，路加福音的确按秩序写的，是在耶稣受洗之后，而且受试探的不只是这三件事，在这次『魔鬼用完了各样的试探，就暂时离开耶稣。』(路加福音 4:13)       

    撒但不会放过耶稣的，这从下面的经文就很清楚，『因我们的大祭司并非不能体恤我们的软弱，他也曾凡事受过试探，与我们一样，只是他没有犯罪。』(希伯来书 4:15) 我们也会常受试探，因『…凡立志在基督耶稣里敬虔度日的，也都要受逼迫。』(提摩太后书 3:12)  所以基督徒本有苦难，到目前为止，我们至少不像在大陆一样的受逼迫，神会看我们的反应而做出回应的。常常是慢功出细活，譬如摩西有四十年和保罗约有三年是在旷野。要知道下面这些经文不是空话，『我将这些事告诉你们，是要叫你们在我里面有平安。在世上你们有苦难，但你们可以放心，我已经胜了世界。』(约翰福音 16:33) 『你们所遇见的试探，无非是人所能受的。神是信实的，必不叫你们受试探过于所能受的。在受试探的时候，总要给你们开一条出路，叫你们能忍受得住。』(哥林多前书 10:13) 人人都有一死，但死的时间还没到的时候，都是如此。而且好处是在新约时代留给了我们一条悔改的路，就如经文所说，『我们若认自己的罪，神是信实的，是公义的，必要赦免我们的罪，洗净我们一切的不义。』(约翰一书 1:9) 如果有人说没被受试探过，实在是应该反省，或是受试探自己不知道，或是撒但的差役都觉得你不值得受试探！

4. 吩咐石头变成食物       

    『耶稣被圣灵充满，从约旦河回来，圣灵将他引到旷野，四十天受魔鬼的试探。那些日子没有吃甚么，日子满了，他就饿了。魔鬼对他说：「你若是神的儿子，可以吩咐这块石头变成食物。」耶稣回答说：「经上记着说：『人活着不是单靠食物，乃是靠神口里所出的一切话。』」』(路加福音 4:1-4)    

    在这里，有人可能会问，这不是圣灵在和魔鬼合作吗？不是的。圣灵是全知的三位一体的神，祂早就知道魔鬼不会放过耶稣，试探的开始是迟早的事，不如现在就开始。魔鬼很会选时间，在祂肚子饿的时候做这个试探，但祂不受魔鬼说的这试探，因祂真是神的儿子。且人活着虽然要靠食物，不是单靠食物，基督徒必须住在基督里而靠神的话，就犹如约翰福音 15:5 所说，『我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。常在我里面的，我也常在他里面，这人就多结果子。因为离了我，你们就不能做甚么。』

5. 把天下的万国都指给祂看       

    『魔鬼又领他上了高山，霎时间把天下的万国都指给他看，对他说：「这一切权柄、荣华，我都要给你，因为这原是交付我的，我愿意给谁就给谁。你若在我面前下拜，这都要归你。」耶稣说：「经上记着说：『当拜主你的神，单要事奉他。』」』(路加福音 4:5-8)       

    这次魔鬼没有撒谎，耶稣也回答的很清楚。的确，『…全世界都卧在那恶者手下。』(约翰一书 5:19) 而『我们也知道神的儿子已经来到，且将智慧赐给我们，使我们认识那位真实的，我们也在那位真实的里面，就是在他儿子耶稣基督里面。这是真神，也是永生。』(约翰一书 5:20)

6. 从殿顶跳下去       

    『魔鬼又领他到耶路撒冷去，叫他站在殿顶上，对他说：「你若是神的儿子，可以从这里跳下去；因为经上记着说：『主要为你吩咐他的使者保护你。他们要用手托着你，免得你的脚碰在石头上。』」耶稣对他说：「经上说：『不可试探主你的神。』」(路加福音 4:9-12)       

    魔鬼正确的引用了这经文，『耶和华是我的避难所，你已将至高者当你的居所，祸患必不临到你，灾害也不挨近你的帐棚。因他要为你吩咐他的使者，在你行的一切道路上保护你。他们要用手托着你，免得你的脚碰在石头上。』(诗篇 91:9-12) 『大龙就是那古蛇，名叫魔鬼，又叫撒但，…』(启示录 12:9)  从这里，我们也看到了撒但对经文是很熟习的。只是牠说，『你若是神的儿子。』我们说过耶稣知道祂的确是神的儿子，而且祂知道的很清楚，任何这样的试探注定会失败。    

    在旧约的一些经文中，如『这些人虽看见我的荣耀和我在埃及与旷野所行的神迹，仍然试探我这十次，不听从我的话，』(民数记 14:22) 我们看到了 『他们再三试探神，惹动以色列的圣者。』(诗篇 78:41) 耶稣一开始就知道不可试探主你的神，祂是真知道，我们也要如此。       

    当神要人做一些事时，就不再是试探，这点在旧约的这些经文很清楚，『耶和华又晓谕亚哈斯说：「你向耶和华你的神求一个兆头，或求显在深处，或求显在高处。」亚哈斯说：「我不求！我不试探耶和华。」以赛亚说：「大衞家啊，你们当听！你们使人厌烦岂算小事，还要使我的神厌烦吗？因此，主自己要给你们一个兆头，必有童女怀孕生子，给他起名叫以马内利。』(以赛亚书 7:10-14) 亚哈斯是真的在心底不试探神吗？从以赛亚说的看，他大概是不相信吧！但祂已说了，不管人怎么说，祂要成就就会一定成就！在新约，这一件事情就证实了，『这一切的事成就，是要应验主藉先知所说的话，说：「必有童女怀孕生子，人要称他的名为以马内利。」（「以马内利」翻出来就是「神与我们同在」。）』(马太福音 1:22-23)       

    和这经文相关而通常有争议的经文是，『到他晓得弃恶择善的时候，他必吃奶油与蜂蜜。因为在这孩子还不晓得弃恶择善之先，你所憎恶的那二王之地必致见弃。』(以赛亚书 7:15-16) 亚哈斯王在位的期间有两种不同的说法，从前736年到前716年及从前735年到前715年。不论是那种说法，亚哈斯王在位到耶稣出生时都不到  750 年，750 年前绝对是在耶稣不晓得弃恶择善之先，所以逻辑上没问题。争议是有人以为这经文一定是指耶稣非要出生于亚哈斯王在位时不可，但圣经没有明白的这样讲！如果我们真相信圣经是神所默示的，就知道预言的时间通常是不会说定、而且不见得会如我们所想的。    

    举一个旧约的例子，『耶和华对亚伯兰说：「你要的确知道，你的后裔必寄居别人的地，又服事那地的人，那地的人要苦待他们四百年。』(创世记 15:13) 雅各最开始去埃及时约瑟是宰相，他们没有被苦待，直到『有不认识约瑟的新王起来，治理埃及，…』(出埃及记 1:8-10) 所以约瑟活着时他们应该没被苦待，且知『约瑟见埃及王法老的时候年三十岁。…』(创世记 41:46) 雅各去的时候『…饥荒已经二年了，…』(创世记 45:6) 加上前面的七年丰年，所以雅各到埃及的时候是约瑟 30+7+2=39 岁时，而我们知道『…约瑟活了一百一十岁。』(创世记 50:22) 因此他们至少 110-39=71 年没有被苦待。结论是他们至少在埃及 400+71=471 年。而真实的时间是，『以色列人住在埃及共有四百三十年。』(出埃及记 12:40) 在新约也有这样的例子，耶稣再来的预言，更没有说时间呢！

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

First, we take a look at the God’s command of forbidding to eat the fruits of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We also see one Adam’s strength before he was contaminated by sin. Secondly, we see the process of God’s making Eve, and the original arrangements for them. Thirdly, from the conversation of the snake and Eve, we can see that Satan often uses similar strategies to seduce people. Fourthly, we see the cause why Eve was seduced, which is the same nowadays in principle. Fifthly, we really see what is meant by “for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die?” We can see that in Hebrews, the spirit died not immediately, but on the same day. This section is so updated. According to the Chinese translation, it doesn’t say that day means today. We are not aware of the fact that the word H3117 in Hebrews is used. Under no violations of the Bible words and logic, we came with a wrong conclusion. This is our basic principle. When we realize that we were wrong, we’ll change it. We try our best not to make mistakes. However, we do know that God is infinite, and people are finite. Human is bound to make some mistakes. All we can do are to correct mistakes when happened. Sixthly, we can see the reaction after contaminated by sin is to blame others and not to mention the real reason. We can also see the righteousness and mercy and grace of God, who started the plan of salvation by the way of prophecy.

1. The God’s command and the Adam’s strength 

The command God given to Adam is clearly stated in Genesis 2:16-17, “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.””

We know that Adam was created according to the image of God. Thus, he had a lot of strength before he was contaminated by sin. There is only one thing recorded in the Bible. “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.”(Genesis 2:19-20) Since Adam was driven out from the Garden of Eden, there has not been another human being that had the same ability.

2. The process of making Eve

In Genesis 2:18, it states the reason to make Eve, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”” The process of making her is described clearly in Genesis 2:21-22, “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.” We also see the Adam’s reaction in Genesis 2:23, “The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”” So, the original will of God is stated in Genesis 2:24, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” This is the same as what Jesus said in Matthew 19:4-6, “And He (Jesus) answered and said, “…So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” At that time, they hadn’t contaminated by sin and their eyes was only fixed on God and not opened. “And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”(Genesis 2:25)

3. The seduction strategy of Satan

Let us take a look at what was said in Genesis 3:1-5, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.'” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” 

We saw before that the command was told to Adam directly. Satan knew that. So, the serpent was crafty enough to seduce woman by herself. From their conversation, we know that Eve indeed got the command from Adam, and she was not crystal clear about what’s in the command. At the beginning, the serpent used the words “Indeed, has God said” to confuse Eve. From her answer, we can see that she was not clear about the command since the God didn’t say, “or touch it.” We also observe that the serpent further deepened her confusion by saying, “You surely will not die!” And it also used the correct benefits to seduce her. Here, we see one strategy Satan often uses is to mix some truth with fake news. People who see the true things often believe the fake as true also. Today is the same. If we are not careful, it is easy to take the whole thing without knowing we accept the fake as well. We must discern using the Bible.

4. The fall of Adam and Eve

We see that Eve was seduced before Adam as said in Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband (H376) with her, and he ate (H398).” But Adam was knowingly disobeying. No wonder it is said in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, …”

Isn’t today the same? The seduction is three-fold as said in 1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.” Isn’t it corresponding to what succeeded to seduce Eve in the three aspects? After their fall, we can indeed prove the messages from Satan was mixed. Because in Genesis 3:7, it says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, …”

Someone says the Adam was with Eve at that time according to the English translation. However, it is not so according to the original languages in Strong’s Concordance, which are indicated in parentheses. Unless Adam and Eve were always together on everything, there is no point to have Satan to seduce Eve when Adam was in presence, particularly the serpent is craftier than any beast. According to verses, most likely Adam was not in presence since the Bible clearly says in 1 Timothy 2:14, “And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” If Adam was in presence, it would say that both of them were deceived. But this is not the key point, there is no reason to argue one way or the other. The key point is “Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world, and death through sin, …” (Romans 5:12)

5. What it means about “for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die?  (This section is updated.)

Adam was indeed dead after he ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he wasn’t immediately dead since it is said clearly in Genesis 5:5, “So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.” It is also said in Genesis 3:22, “…and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” They had originally the good body which could live forever. No wonder people live very long before the flood (ref. Genesis 5).

Man consists of spirit, soul, and body as said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “…and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, …” The spirit is used to communicate with God. We all know what the body is, which is made from dust and finally “…to dust you shall return.”(Genesis 3:19) The soul is then the rest, which includes will, emotion, etc. Before, I thought that the spirit died immediately after they ate the forbidden fruits. But it is not so according to the Bible. The Strong’s Concordance uses the Hebrew word H3117, which is the same word used in verses such as in Genesis 1:5, “…And there was evening and there was morning, one day (H3117).” In other words, it is in Genesis 2:17, “…for in the day (H3117) that you eat from it you will surely die.” Therefore, the spirit was not dead immediately but at the same day, which the Bible says so in other places consistently.

Here at this point, we’ll give the reason why we recommend you to use the Strong’s Concordance to help reading the Bible, particularly you can see the same point in English translation in this case. But the same word in the original language may have different translations. Using the Concordance, it is easy to find all verses using the same word. We can them compare them to find more adequate meaning for that word. There are also words we need to look at the original languages. For example, there are different loves in the Greek and the difference doesn’t show up in both English and Chinese translations. We have no choice but using the original languages in this case.

Let now take a look at what the Bible says. In Genesis 3:8, it says, “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” So, they can still see God even after they ate the fruit. Then, they were chased out from the Garden of Eden on the same day, and could not communicate with God anymore. The Bible is indeed consistent in this event. God has absolute authority, and He can certainly choose to communicate with humans even after people are out of the Garden. It is clear in His communication with Cain described in Genesis 4:6, “Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?” In the era of the Old Testament, God initiated His communication with prophets. Today, it is the same since life can only come from God as said clearly in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”

We know that man has a dead spirit before being saved, because there is a new spirit like what was prophesied in Ezekiel 36:26, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; …” Someone may say, the dead spirit means that the spirit is no longer working. Although still having the spirit, it cannot communicate with God anymore. We are born with a dead spirit, and eventually as said in Ecclesiastes 12:7, “…the spirit will return to God who gave it.”(Ecclesiastes 12:7) Thus, that someone may say that the old spirit is revived after being saved. This is not correct since the Bible says clearly that we have a new spirit.   

In Genesis 5:3, it says, “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth.” When Seth was born, he already had a dead spirit, since he was already in Adam’s likeness. It is similar to be genetic, we are born with the dead spirit which is already contaminated by sin. This is also the reason why I cannot accept the dichotomy, where the spirit and soul are in one, not separable. This is not only against what the Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, …” but we have to accept the existence of something which is half-alive since the spirit is dead but the soul alive. I have to say that I don’t know the existence of such a thing. Furthermore, the Bible says clearly that humans consist of three components – spirit, soul, and body. 

Lastly in this section, we want to mention again that it is updated. According to the Chinese translation, it doesn’t say that day means today. We are not aware of the fact that the word in Hebrews H3117 is used. Under no violations of the Bible words and logic, we came with a wrong conclusion. This is our basic principle. When we realize that we were wrong, we’ll change it. We try our best not to make any mistakes. However, we do know that God is infinite, and people are finite. Human is bound to make some mistakes. All we can do are to correct mistakes when happened.

6. The reactions after contaminated by sin and the punishment from God 

First, we notice in Genesis 3:7, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.” Can such clothes be indeed used as loin coverings or resisting coldness? No. Eventually, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”(Genesis 3:21)

We can also see that the contamination by sin results in blaming the others as described in Genesis 3:8-13, “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.””

God is omniscient. He knew what happened and still asked on purpose, “Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” He asked them the question to make them face the real selves after contaminated by sin! We can see that they blamed the others. What they said are facts, but only partial facts. What they didn’t say is the real reason that they disobeyed God’s command. Nowadays it is the same. We often argue superficially and often forget or avoid the hidden real reason. It could be due to that we really don’t know or like what said in Jeremiah 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?”

The punishment of God is clearly stated in Genesis 3:14-19, “The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.””

So, before that time, there was no thorns and thistles on earth. We also know from Genesis 3:15 that God used the way of prophecy to start the salvation plan, which we’ll not repeat what was discussed in detail in [1]. Because Adam committed sin, death entered the world; otherwise, “…he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.”(Genesis 3:22) Before the flood, “…the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”(Genesis 6:5) When human contaminated by sin lives forever, it is a terrible thing!

Reference

[1] You can get “1044 God’s rest, salvation plan, and the creation of man – The original will of God (3)” in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”

 (Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

    我們首先看到神的命令是不要吃分別善惡樹上的果子，也看到了聖經所述的、亞當在沒有被罪沾汚前的一個能力。我們接著看到了神造夏娃的過程和起初的安排。第三，我們從蛇和夏娃的對話中看到了撒但經常用的一個引誘策略。第四，我們看到了夏娃被引誘的原因，這和今日人所遭遇的在原則上是相同的。第五，我們看到了真是「你吃的日子必定死」，在原文中看到，靈死不是立即的，而是當天死的。這部份更正過，因為照中文的翻譯『你吃的日子必定死。』這句話中並沒說那日子是當日，我們沒有注意到日子用的是當日( H3117)，因此在不抵觸聖經的話和邏輯下，我們會得到不同的結論。這是我們的原則，一發現有錯誤需要更正，我們會更正。雖然我們儘可能不要犯錯，但神是無限，人是有限，犯錯難免，所以我們能做到就只是知錯能改而已。第六，我們看到了被罪沾汚後的反應是怪罪別人而不提真正的原因，也看到了神的公義、憐憫及恩典，以預言的方式開始了救恩的計劃。

1. 神的命令和亞當的能力

    神給亞當的命令很清楚的記載在創世記 2:16-17，『耶和華神吩咐他說：「園中各樣樹上的果子，你可以隨意吃，只是分別善惡樹上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。」』

    我們知道亞當起初是照著神的形像被創造的，因此是大有能力的。聖經裏只說了在創世記 2:19-20 的這一件事，就是『耶和華神用土所造成的野地各樣走獸，和空中各樣飛鳥都帶到那人面前，看他叫甚麼。那人怎樣叫各樣的活物，那就是牠的名字。那人便給一切牲畜和空中飛鳥、野地走獸都起了名。只是那人沒有遇見配偶幫助他。』自從人被罪沾汚而被趕出伊甸園後，人有著被罪沾汚後神的形像，沒有人能再具有同樣的能力。

2. 神造夏娃的過程

    在創世記 2:18 說了為什麼造了夏娃，因『耶和華神說：「那人獨居不好，我要為他造一個配偶幫助他。」』她被造的過程在創世記 2:21-22 講得很清楚，『耶和華神使他(亞當)沉睡，他就睡了；於是取下他的一條肋骨，又把肉合起來。耶和華神就用那人身上所取的肋骨造成一個女人，領她到那人跟前。』我們也看到了亞當的反應，『那人說：「這是我骨中的骨，肉中的肉，可以稱她為『女人』，因為她是從男人身上取出來的。」』(創世記 2:23) 所以神原先的心意就是：『…人要離開父母與妻子連合，二人成為一體。』(創世記 2:24)  那時，他們尚未被罪沾汚，且定睛在神身上，而眼睛也未打開。所以『當時夫妻二人赤身露體，並不羞恥。』(創世記 2:25)

3. 撒但的引誘策略

    我們首先看看經文：『耶和華神所造的，惟有蛇(撒但)比田野一切的活物更狡猾。蛇對女人說：「神豈是真說不許你們吃園中所有樹上的果子嗎？」女人對蛇說：「園中樹上的果子，我們可以吃；惟有園當中那棵樹上的果子，神曾說：『你們不可吃，也不可摸，免得你們死。』」蛇對女人說：「你們不一定死，因為神知道，你們吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你們便如神能知道善惡。」』(創世記 3:1-5)

    撒但知道神沒有告訴夏娃祂的命令，是直接告訴亞當的，所以牠很狡猾只對女人說去引誘她。從他們的對話中，也知道夏娃的確是從亞當的口中，不很清楚的知道了這命令。開始蛇就用「神豈是真說」來加深夏娃的困惑，我們看到她的回答就知道她沒搞清楚神的命令，因為神並沒有說，「也不可摸」。我們也看到了蛇加深她的困惑而用了「不一定」這些字，並用正確的好處去誘惑她。在這裏我們看到了撒但的一個策略是，用真的事去使人相信，把假的事夾在其中，人看見真的事，就容易把假的事當作是真的。今日也是如此，一不小心，我們就會全盤接收，真的要分辨。

    有人說，照英文的翻譯，亞當就在旁邊，但彙編的原文並沒這樣說。除非亞當和夏娃總是在一起，蛇實在是沒有必要選擇亞當在的時候去引誘夏娃，因為蛇比田野一切的活物更狡猾。照經文猜測，亞當不在的可能性比較大，因為聖經明說：『且不是亞當被引誘，乃是女人被引誘，陷在罪裏。』(提摩太前書 2:14) 如果亞當在旁邊，他會一同被引誘的。不過這不是重點，沒有什麼好爭論的，重點是『…罪是從一人(亞當)入了世界，死又是從罪來的，…』(羅馬書 5:12)

4. 亞當和夏娃的墮落

    我們看到了夏娃被誘惑在先，『於是，女人見那棵樹的果子好作食物，也悅人的眼目，且是可喜愛的，能使人有智慧，就摘下果子來吃了；又給她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』(創世記 3:6) 但是亞當是明知故犯，因為他很清楚的知道神的命令，難怪羅馬書 5:12 會說，『…罪是從一人(亞當)入了世界，…』

    今日的誘惑也是如此，三方面的。『因為凡世界上的事，就像肉體的情慾，眼目的情慾，並今生的驕傲，都不是從父來的，乃是從世界來的。』(約翰一書 2:16) 這不是對應夏娃被成功的引誘時的三個方面嗎？在他們墮落後，我們的確可証實撒但的話是真假混雜的，因為『他們二人的眼睛就明亮了，…』(創世記 3:7)

5. 「你吃的日子必定死」是指什麼？

    亞當吃分別善惡樹上的果子後的確是死了，但是有一段時間，因為『亞當共活了九百三十歲就死了。』(創世記 5:5) 如果『…他伸手又摘生命樹的果子吃，就永遠活着。』(創世記 3:22) 可見得他們原是有長壽的體質的，難怪洪水前人都活這麼長 (參創世記第五章)。

        就如帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:23 所說，『…願你們的靈與魂與身子得蒙保守，…』所以人是由靈、魂、和體所構成。靈是和神交通的工具；身子是什麼大家都很清楚，是指塵土造成的身體，最後是『…仍要歸於塵土。」(創世記 3:19) ；魂就是其餘的，如意志、情感等等。我以前以為亞當和夏娃吃了分別善惡樹上的果子後，靈就立刻死了。但依照聖經，並不是如此，彙編中的原文用的是 H3117，和經文如『…有晚上，有早晨，這是頭一日(H3117)。』(創世記 1:5)  用的字相同，也就是『…你吃的日子(H3117)必定死。』(創世記 2:17)  因此是指當天，所以靈不是立刻就死，而是當天死了。

    在這裏要提的一點是我們為什麼會用彙編，因只用英文的翻譯也能看到這點，但原文的同一個字翻成英文會不同，用彙編非常容易找出同一個字的所有經文，比較經文通常較容易知道這個字的意義。也有的字如「愛」這個字，在希臘文中有不同的愛，中文和英文的翻譯都看不出區別來，一定要看原文。

    我們再看聖經怎麼說，在亞當和夏娃吃了果子後他們仍可見神的面如經文所說，『…那人和他妻子聽見神的聲音，就藏在園裏的樹木中，躲避耶和華神的面。』(創世記 3:8) 接著是亞當和夏娃被當天趕出了伊甸園，不能主動的與神有交通，這裏看到聖經在這件事上的確是一致的。神有絕對主權，在人被趕出伊甸園後，祂仍可選擇和該隱的交通如經文所說，『耶和華對該隱說：「你為甚麼發怒呢？你為甚麼變了臉色呢？」』(創世記 4:6)    在舊約中神主動和先知們交通。其實今日也是如此，神是主動的，因為生命只能從神來。『我栽種了，亞波羅澆灌了，惟有神叫他生長。可見栽種的算不得甚麼，澆灌的也算不得甚麼，只在那叫他生長的神。』(哥林多前書 3:6-7)

    我們知道人得救前是有死的舊靈，因得救後有新靈如以西結的預言所說，『我也要賜給你們一個新心，將新靈放在你們裏面。…』(以西結書 36:26)  有人說的，死的舊靈是指靈不再能工作，雖有靈，卻不能和神交通，這舊靈是我們出生時就有的，最終是『…靈仍歸於賜靈的神。』(傳道書 12:7) 所以有人會說得救後是舊靈的復穌。但這是不對的，因聖經明說我們是有個新靈。

       創世記 5:3 說，『亞當活到一百三十歲，生了一個兒子，形像樣式和自己相似，就給他起名叫塞特。』 因塞特出生時已有和當時的亞當相似的死的舊靈，這猶如和遺傳類似，我們出生時已被罪沾污且有死的舊靈。這也是我不能瞭解為什麼人會提到二分法的原因，因為如果靈魂只是一個，我們必須要能接受有東西(靈魂)是半死不活的，因魂的部份活著而靈的部份死了，我只能說我不知道有這樣東西的存在。這樣不僅僅是抵觸後面這經文，『神的道是活潑的，是有功效的，比一切兩刃的劍更快，甚至魂與靈、骨節與骨髓，都能刺入、剖開，連心中的思念和主意都能辨明，』(希伯來書 4:12) 且聖經明講，人由靈、魂、體三者構成。

    最後要提的是這部份更正過，因為照中文的翻譯『你吃的日子必定死。』這句話中並沒說那日子是當日，我們沒有注意到日子用的是當日( H3117)，因此在不抵觸聖經的話和邏輯下，我們會得到不同的結論。這是我們的原則，一發現有錯誤需要更正，我們會更正。雖然我們儘可能不要犯錯，但神是無限，人是有限，犯錯難免，所以我們能做到就只是知錯能改而已。

6. 始祖墮落後的反應及神的懲罰

    首先我們看到了，『他們二人的眼睛就明亮了，才知道自己是赤身露體，便拿無花果樹的葉子，為自己編做裙子。』(創世記 3:7) 這樣的裙子真能遮羞或禦寒嗎？最後還是要『耶和華神為亞當和他妻子用皮子做衣服，給他們穿。』(創世記 3:21) 

    我們也看到了罪進入的結果是彼此怪罪。『天起了涼風，耶和華神在園中行走。那人和他妻子聽見神的聲音，就藏在園裏的樹木中，躲避耶和華神的面。耶和華神呼喚那人，對他說：「你在哪裏？」他說：「我在園中聽見你的聲音，我就害怕，因為我赤身露體，我便藏了。」耶和華說：「誰告訴你赤身露體呢？莫非你吃了我吩咐你不可吃的那樹上的果子嗎？」那人說：「你所賜給我、與我同居的女人，她把那樹上的果子給我，我就吃了。」耶和華神對女人說：「你做的是甚麼事呢？」 女人說：「那蛇引誘我，我就吃了。」』(創世記 3:8-13) 

     神是全知的，祂怎麼會不知道他們因吃了不可吃的果子而眼睛明亮，知道自己是赤身露體呢？但祂仍然問了他們，讓他們面對被罪沾汚後真實的自己！我們看到了他們怪罪別人，雖然說的也都是事實，但只是部份的事實，他們沒說出真正的原因，是因為他們的不順服，違背了神的命令。現在也是如此，我們常爭一些表面的部份事實，卻忘了背後真正的原因！不知道是我們真不知道，或是因為『人心比萬物都詭詐，壞到極處，誰能識透呢？』(耶利米書 17:9)

    神的懲罰是很清楚的，但也同時展開了救恩的計劃 [1]，『耶和華神對蛇說：「你既做了這事，就必受咒詛，比一切的牲畜野獸更甚！你必用肚子行走，終身吃土。我又要叫你和女人彼此為仇；你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此為仇。女人的後裔要傷你的頭；你要傷他的腳跟。」又對女人說：「我必多多加增你懷胎的苦楚，你生產兒女必多受苦楚。你必戀慕你丈夫，你丈夫必管轄你。」又對亞當說：「你既聽從妻子的話，吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那樹上的果子，地必為你的緣故受咒詛。你必終身勞苦，才能從地裏得吃的。地必給你長出荊棘和蒺藜來，你也要吃田間的菜蔬。你必汗流滿面才得餬口，直到你歸了土，因為你是從土而出的。你本是塵土，仍要歸於塵土。」』(創世記 3:14-19) 

    所以在這之前，地沒有荊棘和蒺藜的。我們也從創世記 3:15 中看到了神以預言的方式開始了救恩的計劃，這在 [1] 中講得相當清楚，我們就不再重復。也因為亞當犯罪，死就進入了世界，要不，他們『…伸手又摘生命樹的果子吃，就永遠活着。』(創世記 3:22) 在洪水前，『耶和華見人在地上罪惡很大，終日所思想的盡都是惡。』(創世記 6:5) 犯了罪的人永遠活著，是件很可怕的事。

一些相關的知識

[1] 在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』，按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』，按『2044 第七日神的安息，救恩計劃，和人的創造 – 神原先的心意 (3) 』。

 (你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

我们首先看到神的命令是不要吃分别善恶树上的果子，也看到了圣经所述的、亚当在没有被罪沾污前的一个能力。我们接著看到了神造夏娃的过程和起初的安排。第三，我们从蛇和夏娃的对话中看到了撒但经常用的一个引诱策略。第四，我们看到了夏娃被引诱的原因，这和今日人所遭遇的在原则上是相同的。第五，我们看到了真是「你吃的日子必定死」，在原文中看到，灵死不是立即的，而是当天死的。这部份更正过，因为照中文的翻译『你吃的日子必定死。』这句话中并没说那日子是当日，我们没有注意到日子用的是当日( H3117)，因此在不抵触圣经的话和逻辑下，我们会得到不同的结论。这是我们的原则，一发现有错误需要更正，我们会更正。虽然我们尽可能不要犯错，但神是无限，人是有限，犯错难免，所以我们能做到就只是知错能改而已。第六，我们看到了被罪沾污后的反应是怪罪别人而不提真正的原因，也看到了神的公义、怜悯及恩典，以预言的方式开始了救恩的计划。

1. 神的命令和亚当的能力    

     神给亚当的命令很清楚的记载在创世记 2:16-17，『耶和华神吩咐他说：「园中各样树上的果子，你可以随意吃，只是分别善恶树上的果子，你不可吃，因为你吃的日子必定死。」』    

     我们知道亚当起初是照著神的形像被创造的，因此是大有能力的。圣经里只说了在创世记 2:19-20 的这一件事，就是『耶和华神用土所造成的野地各样走兽，和空中各样飞鸟都带到那人面前，看他叫甚么。那人怎样叫各样的活物，那就是牠的名字。那人便给一切牲畜和空中飞鸟、野地走兽都起了名。只是那人没有遇见配偶帮助他。』自从人被罪沾污而被赶出伊甸园后，人有著被罪沾污后神的形像，没有人能再具有同样的能力。

2. 神造夏娃的过程    

     在创世记 2:18 说了为什么造了夏娃，因『耶和华神说：「那人独居不好，我要为他造一个配偶帮助他。」』她被造的过程在创世记 2:21-22 讲得很清楚，『耶和华神使他(亚当)沉睡，他就睡了；于是取下他的一条肋骨，又把肉合起来。耶和华神就用那人身上所取的肋骨造成一个女人，领她到那人跟前。』我们也看到了亚当的反应，『那人说：「这是我骨中的骨，肉中的肉，可以称她为『女人』，因为她是从男人身上取出来的。」』(创世记 2:23) 所以神原先的心意就是：『…人要离开父母与妻子连合，二人成为一体。』(创世记 2:24)  那时，他们尚未被罪沾污，且定睛在神身上，而眼睛也未打开。所以『当时夫妻二人赤身露体，并不羞耻。』(创世记 2:25)

3. 撒但的引诱策略    

     我们首先看看经文：『耶和华神所造的，惟有蛇(撒但)比田野一切的活物更狡猾。蛇对女人说：「神岂是真说不许你们吃园中所有树上的果子吗？」女人对蛇说：「园中树上的果子，我们可以吃；惟有园当中那棵树上的果子，神曾说：『你们不可吃，也不可摸，免得你们死。』」蛇对女人说：「你们不一定死，因为神知道，你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如神能知道善恶。」』(创世记 3:1-5)     撒但知道神没有告诉夏娃祂的命令，是直接告诉亚当的，所以牠很狡猾只对女人说去引诱她。从他们的对话中，也知道夏娃的确是从亚当的口中，不很清楚的知道了这命令。开始蛇就用「神岂是真说」来加深夏娃的困惑，我们看到她的回答就知道她没搞清楚神的命令，因为神并没有说，「也不可摸」。我们也看到了蛇加深她的困惑而用了「不一定」这些字，并用正确的好处去诱惑她。在这里我们看到了撒但的一个策略是，用真的事去使人相信，把假的事夹在其中，人看见真的事，就容易把假的事当作是真的。今日也是如此，一不小心，我们就会全盘接收，真的要分辩。    

     有人说，照英文的翻译，亚当就在旁边，但汇编的原文并没这样说。除非亚当和夏娃总是在一起，蛇实在是没有必要选择亚当在的时候去引诱夏娃，因为蛇比田野一切的活物更狡猾。照经文猜测，亚当不在的可能性比较大，因为圣经明说：『且不是亚当被引诱，乃是女人被引诱，陷在罪里。』(提摩太前书 2:14) 如果亚当在旁边，他会一同被引诱的。不过这不是重点，没有什么好争论的，重点是『…罪是从一人(亚当)入了世界，死又是从罪来的，…』(罗马书 5:12)

4. 亚当和夏娃的堕落    

     我们看到了夏娃被诱惑在先，『于是，女人见那棵树的果子好作食物，也悦人的眼目，且是可喜爱的，能使人有智慧，就摘下果子来吃了；又给她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』(创世记 3:6) 但是亚当是明知故犯，因为他很清楚的知道神的命令，难怪罗马书 5:12 会说，『…罪是从一人(亚当)入了世界，…』    

     今日的诱惑也是如此，三方面的。『因为凡世界上的事，就像肉体的情欲，眼目的情欲，并今生的骄傲，都不是从父来的，乃是从世界来的。』(约翰一书 2:16) 这不是对应夏娃被成功的引诱时的三个方面吗？在他们堕落后，我们的确可证实撒但的话是真假混杂的，因为『他们二人的眼睛就明亮了，…』(创世记 3:7)

5. 「你吃的日子必定死」是指什么？    

     亚当吃分别善恶树上的果子后的确是死了，但是有一段时间，因为『亚当共活了九百三十岁就死了。』(创世记 5:5) 如果『…他伸手又摘生命树的果子吃，就永远活著。』(创世记 3:22) 可见得他们原是有长寿的体质的，难怪洪水前人都活这么长 (参创世记第五章)。        

     就如帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23 所说，『…愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，…』所以人是由灵、魂、和体所构成。灵是和神交通的工具；身子是什么大家都很清楚，是指尘土造成的身体，最后是『…仍要归于尘土。」(创世记 3:19) ；魂就是其余的，如意志、情感等等。我以前以为亚当和夏娃吃了分别善恶树上的果子后，灵就立刻死了。但依照圣经，并不是如此，汇编中的原文用的是 H3117，和经文如『…有晚上，有早晨，这是头一日(H3117)。』(创世记 1:5)  用的字相同，也就是『…你吃的日子(H3117)必定死。』(创世记 2:17)  因此是指当天，所以灵不是立刻就死，而是当天死了。    

     在这里要提的一点是我们为什么会用汇编，因只用英文的翻译也能看到这点，但原文的同一个字翻成英文会不同，用汇编非常容易找出同一个字的所有经文，比较经文通常较容易知道这个字的意义。也有的字如「爱」这个字，在希腊文中有不同的爱，中文和英文的翻译都看不出区别来，一定要看原文。    

     我们再看圣经怎么说，在亚当和夏娃吃了果子后他们仍可见神的面如经文所说，『…那人和他妻子听见神的声音，就藏在园里的树木中，躲避耶和华神的面。』(创世记 3:8) 接著是亚当和夏娃被当天赶出了伊甸园，不能主动的与神有交通，这里看到圣经在这件事上的确是一致的。神有绝对主权，在人被赶出伊甸园后，祂仍可选择和该隐的交通如经文所说，『耶和华对该隐说：「你为甚么发怒呢？你为甚么变了脸色呢？」』(创世记 4:6)    在旧约中神主动和先知们交通。其实今日也是如此，神是主动的，因为生命只能从神来。『我栽种了，亚波罗浇灌了，惟有神叫他生长。可见栽种的算不得甚么，浇灌的也算不得甚么，只在那叫他生长的神。』(哥林多前书 3:6-7)    

     我们知道人得救前是有死的旧灵，因得救后有新灵如以西结的预言所说，『我也要赐给你们一个新心，将新灵放在你们里面。…』(以西结书 36:26)  有人说的，死的旧灵是指灵不再能工作，虽有灵，却不能和神交通，这旧灵是我们出生时就有的，最终是『…灵仍归于赐灵的神。』(传道书 12:7) 所以有人会说得救后是旧灵的复稣。但这是不对的，因圣经明说我们是有个新灵。       

     创世记 5:3 说，『亚当活到一百三十岁，生了一个儿子，形像样式和自己相似，就给他起名叫塞特。』 因塞特出生时已有和当时的亚当相似的死的旧灵，这犹如和遗传类似，我们出生时已被罪沾污且有死的旧灵。这也是我不能了解为什么人会提到二分法的原因，因为如果灵魂只是一个，我们必须要能接受有东西(灵魂)是半死不活的，因魂的部份活著而灵的部份死了，我只能说我不知道有这样东西的存在。这样不仅仅是抵触后面这经文，『神的道是活泼的，是有功效的，比一切两刃的剑更快，甚至魂与灵、骨节与骨髓，都能刺入、剖开，连心中的思念和主意都能辩明，』(希伯来书 4:12) 且圣经明讲，人由灵、魂、体三者构成。    

     最后要提的是这部份更正过，因为照中文的翻译『你吃的日子必定死。』这句话中并没说那日子是当日，我们没有注意到日子用的是当日( H3117)，因此在不抵触圣经的话和逻辑下，我们会得到不同的结论。这是我们的原则，一发现有错误需要更正，我们会更正。虽然我们尽可能不要犯错，但神是无限，人是有限，犯错难免，所以我们能做到就只是知错能改而已。

6. 始祖堕落后的反应及神的惩罚    

     首先我们看到了，『他们二人的眼睛就明亮了，才知道自己是赤身露体，便拿无花果树的叶子，为自己编做裙子。』(创世记 3:7) 这样的裙子真能遮羞或御寒吗？最后还是要『耶和华神为亚当和他妻子用皮子做衣服，给他们穿。』(创世记 3:21)    

     我们也看到了罪进入的结果是彼此怪罪。『天起了凉风，耶和华神在园中行走。那人和他妻子听见神的声音，就藏在园里的树木中，躲避耶和华神的面。耶和华神呼唤那人，对他说：「你在哪里？」他说：「我在园中听见你的声音，我就害怕，因为我赤身露体，我便藏了。」耶和华说：「谁告诉你赤身露体呢？莫非你吃了我吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子吗？」那人说：「你所赐给我、与我同居的女人，她把那树上的果子给我，我就吃了。」耶和华神对女人说：「你做的是甚么事呢？」 女人说：「那蛇引诱我，我就吃了。」』(创世记 3:8-13)     

     神是全知的，祂怎么会不知道他们因吃了不可吃的果子而眼睛明亮，知道自己是赤身露体呢？但祂仍然问了他们，让他们面对被罪沾污后真实的自己！我们看到了他们怪罪别人，虽然说的也都是事实，但只是部份的事实，他们没说出真正的原因，是因为他们的不顺服，违背了神的命令。现在也是如此，我们常争一些表面的部份事实，却忘了背后真正的原因！不知道是我们真不知道，或是因为『人心比万物都诡诈，坏到极处，谁能识透呢？』(耶利米书 17:9)    

     神的惩罚是很清楚的，但也同时展开了救恩的计划 [1]，『耶和华神对蛇说：「你既做了这事，就必受咒诅，比一切的牲畜野兽更甚！你必用肚子行走，终身吃土。我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。」又对女人说：「我必多多加增你怀胎的苦楚，你生产儿女必多受苦楚。你必恋慕你丈夫，你丈夫必管辖你。」又对亚当说：「你既听从妻子的话，吃了我所吩咐你不可吃的那树上的果子，地必为你的缘故受咒诅。你必终身劳苦，才能从地里得吃的。地必给你长出荆棘和蒺藜来，你也要吃田间的菜蔬。你必汗流满面才得糊口，直到你归了土，因为你是从土而出的。你本是尘土，仍要归于尘土。」』(创世记 3:14-19)    

     所以在这之前，地没有荆棘和蒺藜的。我们也从创世记 3:15 中看到了神以预言的方式开始了救恩的计划，这在 [1] 中讲得相当清楚，我们就不再重复。也因为亚当犯罪，死就进入了世界，要不，他们『…伸手又摘生命树的果子吃，就永远活著。』(创世记 3:22) 在洪水前，『耶和华见人在地上罪恶很大，终日所思想的尽都是恶。』(创世记 6:5) 犯了罪的人永远活著，是件很可怕的事。

一些相关的知识

[1] 在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』，按『对属灵生命的了解』，按『2044 第七日神的安息，救恩计划，和人的创造 – 神原先的心意 (3) 』。

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

This short article has been updated because an error was found. This mistake was corrected in the subsequent “1066 The consistency in the Bible, God is still working, and the four-dimensional space.” The relevant parts will be copied and incorporated into the corrected short article.  Our basic principle is to correct errors without changing the original text as much as possible.

Let’s first look at what the Bible says that God rested all His work of creation on the seventh day, first expressing this with Figure 1, and then discuss why it is said that Adam and Eve sinned on the sixth day, and see the consistency in Bible again.  It is also seen from the scriptures that human beings have originally the image of God but are now contaminated by sin. We then shared the beginning, continuation, and end of the plan of salvation.  God loves us. In order to fulfill His righteousness and save us, He made Jesus incarnate and offered a propitiation sacrifice to substitute for us, so that everyone has a chance.  At the end of the salvation plan described in the Book of Revelation, God finally enters into His rest. Previously, that the plan of salvation is expressed with a circle at Figure 2 is wrong, and we also pointed out why it was wrong. Finally, we briefly talked about the part of the scriptures that stated the origin of the creation of heaven and earth, and saw the differences between the creation of animals and plants. Apparently, there were chickens before eggs according to the Bible. We also see the creation of man is rather different. There was the breath of life into his nostrils, and he became a living soul. We discuss what consists of the breath of life. We at last mentioned briefly about the physical location of the garden of Eden.

1. What the Bible says God rested from all His creation on the seventh day

What happened in the seventh day is said in Genesis 2:1-3: “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” But in John 5:17, it says, “But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”” God is still working, thus He obviously is without rest, and it seems that He has not entered the seventh day of rest.  It looks like to be contradictory, what does it mean? Indeed, all the “creation work” was completed on the seventh day, not only was it clearly stated in the verses, but we saw, “Then the Lord God took the man (Adam) and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”(Genesis 2:15) God has given Adam a mission and handed over all the completed work to Adam!  It’s just that Adam didn’t keep a good watch, let Eve be successfully tempted by the snake, and as a result he didn’t obey God either. He was kicked out of the Garden of Eden that day and had no chance to cultivate it!

What God is still working now is the salvation plan prophesied in Genesis that there will be the salvation plan as the verses says, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”(Genesis 3:15) The seed of the woman refers to Jesus Christ, because the scriptures say, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ.”(Galatians 3:16) We have seen the scriptures say, “For we do not have a high priest (Jesus Christ) who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”(Hebrews 4:15) So the snake (Satan) can only hurt his heel to tempt him.  Whereas a head wound is fatal, the plan of salvation that Jesus accomplished was the fatal blow to the serpent.  The Bible does not say when the plan of salvation began, but we know that “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways.”(Hebrews 1:1) And the earliest prophet is Enoch, because the scriptures make it clear, “It was also about these men that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones.””(Jude 1:14)

The situation before the creation of the world can be known from this scripture, “God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’””(Exodus 3:14) God existed before the creation of time, and we do not know how long.  Now the Trinity God is still working because of salvation, so it will not be until the end of Revelation that God really stops all His work.  The Bible does not say how long it was from the creation of time to the creation of our present world, only that before the creation of the present world, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.”(Genesis 1:2) So we can use Figure 1 to show what happens in sequence.

Figure 1: Schematic diagram of what happened from the beginning to the end

As we mentioned before, in the first six days (H3117), it was said that there was evening and there was morning, so each day (H3117) is the current day. In “1066 The consistency in the Bible, God is still working, and the four-dimensional space,” we see from the consistency in the Bible that explains why the word is said to be the same day.  Therefore, the Bible clearly states that Adam and Eve sinned on the sixth day. In fact, we can also see this from Satan’s way of doing things as well: “So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”(Job 2:6-7) As long as the Lord nods, Satan will immediately do the greatest harm whenever possible.  Of course, this includes that it may wait for the best time, but obviously this is the best time, because Eve has just been created, and the result we see is “…she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”(Genesis 3:6) We know that Satan will not wait, so the sin of the patriarchs in the third chapter of Genesis happened on the sixth day. As a result, at the end of the third chapter, Adam and Eve were driven out of the Garden of Eden by God and lost his fellowship with God.  Once again, we see the consistency in the Bible.  Of course, we have also seen from the first chapter of the Book of Job that what Satan does cannot go beyond the boundaries set by God.

Adam and Eve sinned on the sixth day. They did not call on the name of Jehovah for at least 235 years. This can be seen from the following scriptures, and because 130+105=235. “When Adam had lived one hundred and thirty years, he became the father of a son in his own likeness, according to his image, and named him Seth …Seth lived one hundred and five years, and became the father of Enosh.”(Genesis 5:3-6) “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.”(Genesis 4:26) Here we also see that man no longer has the image of God. Seth’s image is similar to that of Adam, and is the image after the image of God being polluted by sin.  As long as a man is conformed to the image of Jesus, which includes removing sin, restoring the image of God at the original creation, and is even more perfect since he already chose the fruit of the tree of life.

2. The beginning, continuation, and end of the plan of salvation

“Then the Lord passed by in front of him (Moses) and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”(Exodus 34:6) Yes, He is indeed a merciful and gracious God. As it is said in the verse, “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.”(Psalm 89:14) God loves us. Since the sin of Adam and Eve, He started the plan of salvation in a prophetic way, as Genesis 3:15 said, “And I will put enmity Between you (serpent, Satan) and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”(Genesis 3:15)

Because God loves us, in order to conform to His righteousness, Jesus finally became flesh, “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”(Philippians 2:7-8) He followed the leading of the Holy Spirit all his life as the verse said, “…I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. …”(John 14:31) He knew in advance that he would be crucified, “…the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”(Luke 24:7) In the Garden of Gethsemane, He still prayed like this, “saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”(Luke 22:42) He is a perfect man. It is very difficult for a man to do so, thus “Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him.”(Luke 22:43) “And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.”(Luke 22:44) Although Jesus was in great pain, He did give us a chance as said in the verse, “and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”(1 John 2:2) Therefore “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”(2 Corinthians 5:21) He substituted us to die for our sin and sins. The beginning of the substitution concept is in this verse, “The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”(Genesis 3:21) Animals substituted them to die for their sins. Abraham offered Isaac and ended in the same way: “Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.”(Genesis 22:13) The ram substituted Isaac to be a burnt offering. The Bible is consistent. At the end of Revelation, He finally rested from all His work and rested as the verse says, “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.”(Revelation 22:17)

I didn’t notice before that Genesis 2:3 refers to the completion of the creation of the world. I thought that Jesus said in John 5:17, “…My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”(John 5:17) means that the creation of the world is still being done, so I think that we are still on the sixth day.  In this case, the plan of salvation can only be represented by a circle. The second figure indicates the error made before, where the size of the circle is unknown, because in the plan of salvation, it is not known when Jesus will return, and the size represents the length of the plan of salvation.  .

Figure 2: Schematic diagram of the error

Therefore, according to the Bible, Figure 1 is the correct schematic diagram, where there is  no circle as shown in Figure 2.  The plan of salvation in Figure 1 is represented by dotted lines because we do not know when Jesus will return.

3. Account of the heavens and the earth when they were created

This is clearly stated in Genesis 2:4-25. We now discuss only the beginning few verses, because Genesis 2:16-25 talks about the commands that God gave Adam and how Eve was made (H1129), which will be discussed next time. 

In Genesis 2:4-6, it says, “This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.”

Apparently, plants and animals are different. When animals are mentioned, it is clearly said that they are created as stated in Genesis 1:21, “God created (H1254) the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; …” So, it is clear that chicken is first then egg second. In terms of plants, we have to use logic. Here, it is said, “no plant of the field had yet sprouted.” But in Genesis 1:11-12, it is said, “Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; …” Therefore, we can see that there were at that time already vegetations, just not sprouted yet. So, seeds second. In this issue, plants and animals are the same.

Then comes Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed (H3335) man of dust from the ground, and breathed (H5301) into his nostrils the breath (H5379) of life (H2416); and man (H120) became a living (H2416) being (soul, H5315).” Here, the word used is different from ‘created, H1254’, which creates something out of nothing. We also see that the creation of Adam is different from animals. There is the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living soul. The word ‘spirit, H7307’ is not used here, and we’ll know that man has spirit from other verses later. The words ‘the breath of life’ and not ‘spirit’ is used here. Because we talk about the living soul, it raises an argument. From Genesis 6:3, it says, “Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”” Therefore, we know that our spirit is inside the breath of life from God. The question is then if soul is included there? Remember that it is said in Genesis 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts.” If soul is not included in the breath, someone says that soul was created when spirit entered the dust (body). The Bible doesn’t say clearly which one is true. Just like what we discussed before, there is no reason to get into arguments, which cannot edify people. We want to be like what 1 Corinthians 14:26 says, “…Let all things be done for edification,” which is mentioned in many places.

Finally, in Genesis 2:8-15, the physical location of the garden of Eden is specified, “The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. The name of the second river is Gihon; it flows around the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.”

Here, it has already the most detailed description about the physical location of the garden of Eden. If we looked at maps, we cannot find any location that fulfills the description completely. Someone says that the earth was changed because of the flood, which is definitely possible. Nowadays, the most consistent place is near rivers of Tigris and Euphrates. Even though someone could find its location, he cannot do anything about it since “…at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”(Genesis 3:24)

 (Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)

 

    這短文更新過，因為發現了錯誤，這錯誤在之後的「2066 聖經的一致性，神還在作工，和四維空間」中加以更正，下面將相關的部份拷貝並溶入更正過的短文中，基本上，我們的原則是以儘量不更動原文的更正錯誤。

    我們首先看看聖經怎麼說神在第七日歇了祂一切創造的工，先用示意圖一表示了這點，然後討論為什麼說亞當和夏娃是在第六日犯罪，又一次看到了聖經的一致性。也從經文中看到了人類有著被罪沾汚後神的形像。接著我們分享了救恩計劃的開始、延續、和結束。神愛我們，祂為完成祂的公義及拯救我們，使耶穌道成了肉身，獻上挽回祭去代替我們，讓每個人都有一個機會。在啓示錄的末了，救恩的計劃完成了，神也最終進入了安息，以前我們用示意圖二以圓來表示救恩的計劃是錯誤的，也指出了為什麼是錯誤的。最後我們略談了經文中陳述創造天地來歷的一部份，看到了動植物的不同，依照聖經，很顯然的是先有雞後有蛋。我們也看到了人的創造是很不同的，有「生氣」吹在鼻孔裏他就成了活魂，也討論了「生氣」是什麼。也略略提到了經文中所說的伊甸園的地理位置。

1.  聖經怎麼說神在第七日歇了祂一切創造的工

        第七日在創世記 2:1-3 是這樣說的：『天地萬物都造齊了。到第七日，神造物的工已經完畢，就在第七日歇了他一切的工，安息了。神賜福給第七日，定為聖日，因為在這日神歇了他一切創造的工，就安息了。』所以到了第七日，神就就歇了他一切的工，安息了。可是在約翰福音 5:17 中，『耶穌就對他們說：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」』神還在做事，顯然沒有安息，沒有進入安息的第七日，這到底是在說什麼呢？

    的確，一切「創造(創世)的工作」第七日都已完成了，不只是講得很清楚，而且我們看到，『耶和華神將那人(亞當)安置在伊甸園，使他修理看守。』(創世記 2:15) 神已經付於亞當使命，將一切已完成的工作交給亞當了！只是亞當沒有看守好，讓夏娃被蛇成功的引誘，自己也不順服神了，當天被趕出了伊甸園，沒有機會修理！

         現在祂仍然在工作的是創世記中預言的救恩計劃，『我又要叫你和女人彼此為仇；你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此為仇。女人的後裔要傷你的頭；你要傷他的腳跟。』(創世記 3:15)   女人的後裔是指耶穌基督，因為經文說，『所應許的原是向亞伯拉罕和他子孫說的；神並不是說「眾子孫」，指着許多人，乃是說「你那一個子孫」，指着一個人，就是基督。』(加拉太書 3:16)  我們看到了經文說，『因我們的大祭司(基督耶穌)並非不能體恤我們的軟弱，他也曾凡事受過試探，與我們一樣，只是他沒有犯罪。』(希伯來書 4:15)  所以蛇(撒但)只能傷祂的腳跟，去試探祂。而頭傷是致命的，耶穌成就的救恩計劃對蛇是致命的一擊。聖經沒有明說救恩計劃何時開始，但我們知道，『神既在古時藉着眾先知多次多方地曉諭列祖。』(希伯來書 1:1)  而最早的先知是以諾，因經文說得很清楚，『亞當的七世孫以諾曾預言這些人說：「看哪，主帶着他的千萬聖者降臨，…」』(猶大書 1:14) 

         在創世以前的情景可由這經文得知，『神對摩西說：「我是自有永有的(I AM THAT I AM)。」又說：「你要對以色列人這樣說：『那自有的打發我到你們這裏來。』」』(出埃及記 3:14)   在神創造時間前，祂就已經存在了，而存在了多久我們不知道。 現在三位一體的神還在因救恩而繼續的在工作，這樣一直要到啓示錄的末了，神才真正歇了祂一切的工。聖經沒有說從創造時間開始到創造我們現今的世界有久，只說在創造現今的世界之前，『地是空虛混沌，淵面黑暗；神的靈運行在水面上。』(創世記 1:2)   因此我們可以用示意圖一來表示按著次序發生的事情。

圖一:  從最初到最後發生事件的示意圖

    我們以前提到，在前六日(H3117)中都說，有晚上，有早晨，因此每一日(H3117)就是現在的一日，在「2066 聖經的一致性，神還在作工，和四維空間」，我們看到了聖經的一致性，說明了這字為什麼說是當天。所以聖經是明講亞當和夏娃是在第六日犯的罪，其實我們從撒但作事的方法中也可以看出來這一點：『耶和華對撒但說：「他在你手中，只要存留他的性命。」於是撒但從耶和華面前退去，擊打約伯，使他從腳掌到頭頂長毒瘡。』(約伯記 2:6-7) 只要耶和華點頭，牠會立刻去做最大的傷害。當然這包括了牠可能會等待最好的時機，但很顯然這是最好的時機，因夏娃剛被造了，我們看到的結局是『於是，女人…就摘下果子來吃了；又給她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』(創世記 3:6) 我們知道撒但不會等待的，因此在創世記第三章所述的始祖犯罪是發生在第六日，結果就是在第三章結束時，亞當和夏娃當天被趕出了伊甸園，失去了和神的交通。我們又一次看到了聖經是一致的。當然，我們也從約伯記的第一章和這裏看到了撒但所做的、不能越過神所劃定的範圍。

       亞當和夏娃是在第六日犯罪，他們至少有 235 年之久沒有求告耶和華的名，這可由下列的經文看出，及因 130+105=235。『亞當活到一百三十歲，生了一個兒子，形像樣式和自己相似，就給他起名叫塞特。…塞特活到一百零五歲，生了以挪士。』(創世記 5:3-6) 『塞特也生了一個兒子，起名叫以挪士。 那時候，人才求告耶和華的名。』(創世記 4:26) 這裏我們也看到了人不再有神的形像，因塞特的形像樣式和亞當相似，是被罪沾汚後的神的形像。簡言之，人的形像是神的形像被罪浸染了，被罪沾汚了，只要模成耶穌的形像，其中包括挪去罪，恢復了原先創造時神的形像，更加上了選擇生命樹的果子。

2.  救恩計劃的開始、延續、和結束

        『耶和華在他(摩西)面前宣告說：「耶和華，耶和華，是有憐憫、有恩典的神，不輕易發怒，並有豐盛的慈愛和誠實。』(出埃及記 34:6) 是的，祂是有憐憫、有恩典的神。就如詩篇 89:14 所說，『公義和公平，是你寶座的根基；慈愛和誠實，行在你前面。』祂愛我們，從亞當和夏娃犯罪後就以預言的方式好像開始了救恩的計劃，就如創世記  3:15  所說，『我又要叫你(蛇)和女人彼此為仇；你的後裔和女人的後裔也彼此為仇。女人的後裔要傷你的頭；你要傷他的腳跟。』

         因神愛我們，為了符合祂的公義，耶穌最終道成肉身，『…虛己，取了奴僕的形像，成為人的樣式。既有人的樣子，就自己卑微，存心順服，以至於死，且死在十字架上。』(腓立比書 2:7-8)  祂的一生都隨著聖靈的帶領，『…父怎樣吩咐我，我就怎樣行。…』(約翰福音 14:31)  祂預先就知道要被釘在十字架上，『…人子必須被交在罪人手裏，釘在十字架上，第三日復活。』(路加福音 24:7)  在客西馬尼園，祂仍這樣的禱告，『說：「父啊！你若願意，就把這杯撤去；然而，不要成就我的意思，只要成就你的意思。」』(路加福音 22:42 ) 祂是完全的人，這樣做是多麼的不容易，因此『有一位天使從天上顯現，加添他的力量。』(路加福音 22:43)  雖然耶穌極其傷痛，但禱告更加懇切，以致於汗珠如大血點滴在地上。(參路加福音 22:44)  但為要給我們一個機會，『他為我們的罪作了挽回祭，不是單為我們的罪，也是為普天下人的罪。』(約翰一書 2:2)  因此『神使那無罪的，替我們成為罪，好叫我們在他裏面成為神的義。』(哥林多後書 5:21)  替代概念的開始是在:『耶和華神為亞當和他妻子用皮子做衣服，給他們穿。』(創世記 3:21) 亞伯拉罕獻以撒是也是這樣:『亞伯拉罕舉目觀看，不料，有一隻公羊，兩角扣在稠密的小樹中，亞伯拉罕就取了那隻公羊來，獻為燔祭，代替他的兒子。』(創世記 22:13)  聖經是一致的。

    在啓示錄的最後，祂終於歇了他一切的工，得了安息。『聖靈和新婦都說：「來！」聽見的人也該說：「來！」口渴的人也當來；願意的，都可以白白取生命的水喝。』(啓示錄 22:17)

    我以前沒有注意到創世記  2:3  是指創世的工作已完成了，以為耶穌在約翰福音  5:17  所說的「我父做事直到如今」是指仍在做創世的工作，因此認為我們仍在第六天中。這時救恩的計劃只好用圓來表示，如所示的錯誤示意圖二中所說，圓的大小是未知，因為在救恩的計劃中不知耶穌何時會再來，大小就代表救恩計劃的長短。

圖二: 錯誤的示意圖

    所以依照聖經，圖一才是正確的的示意圖，跟本就沒有圖二的圓。在圖一的救恩的計劃，因我們不知道何時耶穌再來，就用虛線表示。

3.  創造天地的來歷

        這在剩下的創世記  2:4-25  講得很清楚，我們現在只談前面的幾節，因為創世記  2:16-25  講到了神給亞當的命令和造(H1129, made)夏娃的過程，所以我們下一次再分享。

        創世記  2:4-6  說，『創造天地的來歷，在耶和華神造天地的日子，乃是這樣：野地還沒有草木，田間的菜蔬還沒有長起來，因為耶和華神還沒有降雨在地上，也沒有人耕地，但有霧氣從地上騰，滋潤遍地。』很顯然的動物和植物不同，說到動物就很清楚，如創世記  1:21  所說，『神就造(H1254, created)出大魚和水中所滋生各樣有生命的動物，各從其類；又造出各樣飛鳥，各從其類。…』(創世記 1:21)    所以是先有雞後有蛋。至於植物呢？這裏說到田間的菜蔬還沒有長起來，但是『神說：「地要發生青草和結種子的菜蔬，並結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子都包着核。」事就這樣成了。於是地發生了青草和結種子的菜蔬，各從其類；並結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子都包着核。…』(創世記  1:11-12)  可見那時已有了菜蔬，只是還沒有長起來，是後有種子。也可看到動物和植物在這方面是一致的。

        接著的為創世記  2:7，『耶和華神用地上的塵土造(formed, H3335)人，將生氣吹在他鼻孔裏(and breathed H5301 into his nostrils the breath H5397 of life H2416)，他就成了有靈的活人(soul H5315)，名叫亞當(and man H120 became a living H2416 soul H5315)。』這裏用的造字是不同於使無變為有的創造(created, H1254)。亞當的確是新造的，我們也看了亞當的創造是不同的，有生氣吹在他鼻孔裏，就成了活魂。原文沒有靈(H7307)這個字，但人是有靈的，可從這經文中看出：『…願你們的靈與魂與身子得蒙保守，在我主耶穌基督降臨的時候，完全無可指摘。』(帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:23) 可見生氣中是含有靈的。因為是活魂，這裏就引起了一個爭論！用的是「生氣」不是靈，從下列經文我們也知道的靈是那「生氣」產生的，『耶和華說：「人既屬乎血氣，我的靈(H7307)就不永遠住在他裏面，然而他的日子還可到一百二十年。」』(創世記 6:3)  問題是魂包不包括在那「生氣」裏面，「包括」就是吹那一口氣時就同時創造了魂。我們知道，經文說，『天地萬物都造齊了。』(創世記 2:1)  所以不包括的話，有人就會說魂是靈到塵土(體)中才創造的。我們來看看聖經怎麼說，首先有人說吹氣的這動作別的地方也有，耶穌復活後，『…對他們說：「願你們平安！父怎樣差遣了我，我也照樣差遣你們。」說了這話，就向他們吹一口氣，說：「你們受聖靈。」』(約翰福音 20:21-22) 也的確是吹了一口氣，但明說那是受聖靈，那一口氣中的確是不含魂，不能說「生氣」就因此等於只有聖靈，不能隨便劃等號。其實可以存到永遠的東西都是從神來的，但不是所有從神來的東西都是可以存到永遠的。例如，有新天新地，現今的世界就不可能存到永遠。另外，『揭開第五印的時候，我看見在祭壇底下，有為神的道並為作見證被殺之人的(靈)魂。』(啓示錄 6:9) 所以魂也是可以留到永遠的，因此魂也是從神來的，所以那口「生氣」中也包括了魂。

       最後在創世記 2:8-15 中提到了伊甸園的地理位置，『耶和華神用地耶和華神在東方的伊甸立了一個園子，把所造的人安置在那裏。耶和華神使各樣的樹從地裏長出來，可以悅人的眼目，其上的果子好作食物。園子當中又有生命樹和分別善惡的樹。有河從伊甸流出來滋潤那園子，從那裏分為四道：第一道名叫比遜，就是環繞哈腓拉全地的。在那裏有金子，並且那地的金子是好的；在那裏又有珍珠和紅瑪瑙。第二道河名叫基訓，就是環繞古實全地的。第三道河名叫底格里斯，流在亞述的東邊，第四道河就是幼發拉底河。耶和華神將那人安置在伊甸園，使他修理看守。』(創世記 2:8-15)

        這裏已經是最詳細的敘述，我們看地圖大概也找不到完全符合的，因此有人說洪水過後地貌改變了，這絕對是有可能的。目前最符合的地方大概是現在的底格里斯河和幼發拉底河附近。其實就算找到了也不能怎樣，我們要知道，『…在伊甸園的東邊安設基路伯，和四面轉動發火焰的劍，要把守生命樹的道路。』(創世記 3:24)

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

 

     这短文更新过，因为发现了错误，这错误在之后的「2066 圣经的一致性，神还在作工，和四维空间」中加以更正，下面将相关的部份拷贝并溶入更正过的短文中，基本上，我们的原则是以尽量不更动原文的更正错误。    

     我们首先看看圣经怎么说神在第七日歇了祂一切创造的工，先用示意图一表示了这点，然后讨论为什么说亚当和夏娃是在第六日犯罪，又一次看到了圣经的一致性。也从经文中看到了人类有著被罪沾污后神的形像。接著我们分享了救恩计划的开始、延续、和结束。神爱我们，祂为完成祂的公义及拯救我们，使耶稣道成了肉身，献上挽回祭去代替我们，让每个人都有一个机会。在启示录的末了，救恩的计划完成了，神也最终进入了安息，以前我们用示意图二以圆来表示救恩的计划是错误的，也指出了为什么是错误的。最后我们略谈了经文中陈述创造天地来历的一部份，看到了动植物的不同，依照圣经，很显然的是先有鸡后有蛋。我们也看到了人的创造是很不同的，有「生气」吹在鼻孔里他就成了活魂，也讨论了「生气」是什么。也略略提到了经文中所说的伊甸园的地理位置。

1.  圣经怎么说神在第七日歇了祂一切创造的工        

     第七日在创世记 2:1-3 是这样说的：『天地万物都造齐了。到第七日，神造物的工已经完毕，就在第七日歇了他一切的工，安息了。神赐福给第七日，定为圣日，因为在这日神歇了他一切创造的工，就安息了。』所以到了第七日，神就就歇了他一切的工，安息了。可是在约翰福音 5:17 中，『耶稣就对他们说：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」』神还在做事，显然没有安息，没有进入安息的第七日，这到底是在说什么呢？    

     的确，一切「创造(创世)的工作」第七日都已完成了，不只是讲得很清楚，而且我们看到，『耶和华神将那人(亚当)安置在伊甸园，使他修理看守。』(创世记 2:15) 神已经付于亚当使命，将一切已完成的工作交给亚当了！只是亚当没有看守好，让夏娃被蛇成功的引诱，自己也不顺服神了，当天被赶出了伊甸园，没有机会修理！         

     现在祂仍然在工作的是创世记中预言的救恩计划，『我又要叫你和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。』(创世记 3:15)   女人的后裔是指耶稣基督，因为经文说，『所应许的原是向亚伯拉罕和他子孙说的；神并不是说「众子孙」，指著许多人，乃是说「你那一个子孙」，指著一个人，就是基督。』(加拉太书 3:16)  我们看到了经文说，『因我们的大祭司(基督耶稣)并非不能体恤我们的软弱，他也曾凡事受过试探，与我们一样，只是他没有犯罪。』(希伯来书 4:15)  所以蛇(撒但)只能伤祂的脚跟，去试探祂。而头伤是致命的，耶稣成就的救恩计划对蛇是致命的一击。圣经没有明说救恩计划何时开始，但我们知道，『神既在古时借著众先知多次多方地晓谕列祖。』(希伯来书 1:1)  而最早的先知是以诺，因经文说得很清楚，『亚当的七世孙以诺曾预言这些人说：「看哪，主带著他的千万圣者降临，…」』(犹大书 1:14)         

     在创世以前的情景可由这经文得知，『神对摩西说：「我是自有永有的(I AM THAT I AM)。」又说：「你要对以色列人这样说：『那自有的打发我到你们这里来。』」』(出埃及记 3:14)   在神创造时间前，祂就已经存在了，而存在了多久我们不知道。 现在三位一体的神还在因救恩而继续的在工作，这样一直要到启示录的末了，神才真正歇了祂一切的工。圣经没有说从创造时间开始到创造我们现今的世界有久，只说在创造现今的世界之前，『地是空虚混沌，渊面黑暗；神的灵运行在水面上。』(创世记 1:2)   因此我们可以用示意图一来表示按著次序发生的事情。

图一:  从最初到最后发生事件的示意图

     我们以前提到，在前六日(H3117)中都说，有晚上，有早晨，因此每一日(H3117)就是现在的一日，在「2066 圣经的一致性，神还在作工，和四维空间」，我们看到了圣经的一致性，说明了这字为什么说是当天。所以圣经是明讲亚当和夏娃是在第六日犯的罪，其实我们从撒但作事的方法中也可以看出来这一点：『耶和华对撒但说：「他在你手中，只要存留他的性命。」于是撒但从耶和华面前退去，击打约伯，使他从脚掌到头顶长毒疮。』(约伯记 2:6-7) 只要耶和华点头，牠会立刻去做最大的伤害。当然这包括了牠可能会等待最好的时机，但很显然这是最好的时机，因夏娃刚被造了，我们看到的结局是『于是，女人…就摘下果子来吃了；又给她丈夫，她丈夫也吃了。』(创世记 3:6) 我们知道撒但不会等待的，因此在创世记第三章所述的始祖犯罪是发生在第六日，结果就是在第三章结束时，亚当和夏娃当天被赶出了伊甸园，失去了和神的交通。我们又一次看到了圣经是一致的。当然，我们也从约伯记的第一章和这里看到了撒但所做的、不能越过神所划定的范围。       

     亚当和夏娃是在第六日犯罪，他们至少有 235 年之久没有求告耶和华的名，这可由下列的经文看出，及因 130+105=235。『亚当活到一百三十岁，生了一个儿子，形像样式和自己相似，就给他起名叫塞特。…塞特活到一百零五岁，生了以挪士。』(创世记 5:3-6) 『塞特也生了一个儿子，起名叫以挪士。 那时候，人才求告耶和华的名。』(创世记 4:26) 这里我们也看到了人不再有神的形像，因塞特的形像样式和亚当相似，是被罪沾污后的神的形像。简言之，人的形像是神的形像被罪浸染了，被罪沾污了，只要模成耶稣的形像，其中包括挪去罪，恢复了原先创造时神的形像，更加上了选择生命树的果子。    

2.  救恩计划的开始、延续、和结束        

     『耶和华在他(摩西)面前宣告说：「耶和华，耶和华，是有怜悯、有恩典的神，不轻易发怒，并有丰盛的慈爱和诚实。』(出埃及记 34:6) 是的，祂是有怜悯、有恩典的神。就如诗篇 89:14 所说，『公义和公平，是你宝座的根基；慈爱和诚实，行在你前面。』祂爱我们，从亚当和夏娃犯罪后就以预言的方式好像开始了救恩的计划，就如创世记  3:15  所说，『我又要叫你(蛇)和女人彼此为仇；你的后裔和女人的后裔也彼此为仇。女人的后裔要伤你的头；你要伤他的脚跟。』         

     因神爱我们，为了符合祂的公义，耶稣最终道成肉身，『…虚己，取了奴仆的形像，成为人的样式。既有人的样子，就自己卑微，存心顺服，以至于死，且死在十字架上。』(腓立比书 2:7-8)  祂的一生都随著圣灵的带领，『…父怎样吩咐我，我就怎样行。…』(约翰福音 14:31)  祂预先就知道要被钉在十字架上，『…人子必须被交在罪人手里，钉在十字架上，第三日复活。』(路加福音 24:7)  在客西马尼园，祂仍这样的祷告，『说：「父啊！你若愿意，就把这杯撤去；然而，不要成就我的意思，只要成就你的意思。」』(路加福音 22:42 ) 祂是完全的人，这样做是多么的不容易，因此『有一位天使从天上显现，加添他的力量。』(路加福音 22:43)  虽然耶稣极其伤痛，但祷告更加恳切，以致于汗珠如大血点滴在地上。(参路加福音 22:44)  但为要给我们一个机会，『他为我们的罪作了挽回祭，不是单为我们的罪，也是为普天下人的罪。』(约翰一书 2:2)  因此『神使那无罪的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为神的义。』(哥林多后书 5:21)  替代概念的开始是在:『耶和华神为亚当和他妻子用皮子做衣服，给他们穿。』(创世记 3:21) 亚伯拉罕献以撒是也是这样:『亚伯拉罕举目观看，不料，有一只公羊，两角扣在稠密的小树中，亚伯拉罕就取了那只公羊来，献为燔祭，代替他的儿子。』(创世记 22:13)  圣经是一致的。    

     在启示录的最后，祂终于歇了他一切的工，得了安息。『圣灵和新妇都说：「来！」听见的人也该说：「来！」口渴的人也当来；愿意的，都可以白白取生命的水喝。』(启示录 22:17)    

     我以前没有注意到创世记  2:3  是指创世的工作已完成了，以为耶稣在约翰福音  5:17  所说的「我父做事直到如今」是指仍在做创世的工作，因此认为我们仍在第六天中。这时救恩的计划只好用圆来表示，如所示的错误示意图二中所说，圆的大小是未知，因为在救恩的计划中不知耶稣何时会再来，大小就代表救恩计划的长短。

图二: 错误的示意图

     所以依照圣经，图一才是正确的的示意图，跟本就没有图二的圆。在图一的救恩的计划，因我们不知道何时耶稣再来，就用虚线表示。

3.  创造天地的来历        

     这在剩下的创世记  2:4-25  讲得很清楚，我们现在只谈前面的几节，因为创世记  2:16-25  讲到了神给亚当的命令和造(H1129, made)夏娃的过程，所以我们下一次再分享

     创世记  2:4-6  说，『创造天地的来历，在耶和华神造天地的日子，乃是这样：野地还没有草木，田间的菜蔬还没有长起来，因为耶和华神还没有降雨在地上，也没有人耕地，但有雾气从地上腾，滋润遍地。』很显然的动物和植物不同，说到动物就很清楚，如创世记  1:21  所说，『神就造(H1254, created)出大鱼和水中所滋生各样有生命的动物，各从其类；又造出各样飞鸟，各从其类。…』(创世记 1:21)    所以是先有鸡后有蛋。至于植物呢？这里说到田间的菜蔬还没有长起来，但是『神说：「地要发生青草和结种子的菜蔬，并结果子的树木，各从其类，果子都包著核。」事就这样成了。于是地发生了青草和结种子的菜蔬，各从其类；并结果子的树木，各从其类，果子都包著核。…』(创世记  1:11-12)  可见那时已有了菜蔬，只是还没有长起来，是后有种子。也可看到动物和植物在这方面是一致的。        

     接著的为创世记  2:7，『耶和华神用地上的尘土造(formed, H3335)人，将生气吹在他鼻孔里(and breathed H5301 into his nostrils the breath H5397 of life H2416)，他就成了有灵的活人(soul H5315)，名叫亚当(and man H120 became a living H2416 soul H5315)。』这里用的造字是不同于使无变为有的创造(created, H1254)。亚当的确是新造的，我们也看了亚当的创造是不同的，有生气吹在他鼻孔里，就成了活魂。原文没有灵(H7307)这个字，但人是有灵的，可从这经文中看出：『…愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，在我主耶稣基督降临的时候，完全无可指摘。』(帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23) 可见生气中是含有灵的。因为是活魂，这里就引起了一个争论！用的是「生气」不是灵，从下列经文我们也知道的灵是那「生气」产生的，『耶和华说：「人既属乎血气，我的灵(H7307)就不永远住在他里面，然而他的日子还可到一百二十年。」』(创世记 6:3)  问题是魂包不包括在那「生气」里面，「包括」就是吹那一口气时就同时创造了魂。我们知道，经文说，『天地万物都造齐了。』(创世记 2:1)  所以不包括的话，有人就会说魂是灵到尘土(体)中才创造的。我们来看看圣经怎么说，首先有人说吹气的这动作别的地方也有，耶稣复活后，『…对他们说：「愿你们平安！父怎样差遣了我，我也照样差遣你们。」说了这话，就向他们吹一口气，说：「你们受圣灵。」』(约翰福音 20:21-22) 也的确是吹了一口气，但明说那是受圣灵，那一口气中的确是不含魂，不能说「生气」就因此等于只有圣灵，不能随便划等号。其实可以存到永远的东西都是从神来的，但不是所有从神来的东西都是可以存到永远的。例如，有新天新地，现今的世界就不可能存到永远。另外，『揭开第五印的时候，我看见在祭坛底下，有为神的道并为作见证被杀之人的(灵)魂。』(启示录 6:9) 所以魂也是可以留到永远的，因此魂也是从神来的，所以那口「生气」中也包括了魂。       

     最后在创世记 2:8-15 中提到了伊甸园的地理位置，『耶和华神用地耶和华神在东方的伊甸立了一个园子，把所造的人安置在那里。耶和华神使各样的树从地里长出来，可以悦人的眼目，其上的果子好作食物。园子当中又有生命树和分别善恶的树。有河从伊甸流出来滋润那园子，从那里分为四道：第一道名叫比逊，就是环绕哈腓拉全地的。在那里有金子，并且那地的金子是好的；在那里又有珍珠和红玛瑙。第二道河名叫基训，就是环绕古实全地的。第三道河名叫底格里斯，流在亚述的东边，第四道河就是幼发拉底河。耶和华神将那人安置在伊甸园，使他修理看守。』(创世记 2:8-15)        

     这里已经是最详细的叙述，我们看地图大概也找不到完全符合的，因此有人说洪水过后地貌改变了，这绝对是有可能的。目前最符合的地方大概是现在的底格里斯河和幼发拉底河附近。其实就算找到了也不能怎样，我们要知道，『…在伊甸园的东边安设基路伯，和四面转动发火焰的剑，要把守生命树的道路。』(创世记 3:24)

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     我们首先在前言中简短的叙述圣经的大致安排：神原先的心意在亚当和夏娃被赶出伊甸园的创世记前三章已讲得很清楚；而我们是要模成耶稣的形像，四福音书叙述了耶稣的形像；简短的说，就如雅各书所说的，行道胜于听道，旧约其余的是谈以色列人在那些日子是如何试著行道，新约其余的在说门徒们是如何和该如何行道。我们在第二日强调了神说的大能。第三日开始了各从其类的心意。我们在第四日讨论造这字不是指创造、及天这个字。第五日神开始了一个好的生活环境。第六日的创造活物继续了这环境，并照神的形像和样式造男造女，讲到了形像和样式的不同，及其为什么？我们最后讨论了神的形像、和被罪沾污后人的自由意志是什么。

1. 前言: 圣经安排的我见   

     神原先的心意都写在创世记的前三章。如果那时亚当和夏娃选择了生命树，他们『…就永远活著。』(创世记 3:22) 现在，『…把他赶出去了。又在伊甸园的东边安设基路伯，和四面转动发火焰的剑，要把守生命树的道路。』(创世记 3:22-24) 神有怜悯、有恩典，救恩的计划开始了！于是『耶稣…说：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」』(约翰福音 5:17)     #####在旧约的时代，『…作他(亚伯拉罕)未受割礼的时候因信称义的印证…』(罗马书 4:11) 其后又借著摩西颂布了律法，但『律法…是将来美事的影儿，不是本物的真像…』(希伯来书 10:1) 『所以凡有血气的，没有一个因行律法能在神面前称义，因为律法本是叫人知罪。』(罗马书 3:20) 很清楚的，成圣必须要借著信心。基本上，旧约的其余部份就是告诉我们，以色列人在旧约时代是如何做的。    

     在新约的时代，耶稣在十字架上『…将自己无瑕无疵献给神，…』(希伯来书 9:14)  『…为我们的罪作了挽回祭…』(约翰一书 4:10)，给了所有的人一个机会。所以我们在基督里，且走上成圣的道路，模成了耶稣的形像(参罗马书 8:29)，就是选择了耶稣那颗生命树，回到伊甸园中选择了生命树那原先神的心意。    

     耶稣的形像在四福音书说得相当的清楚。其余的新约部份都在说如何行道，要不就会如雅各书 1:23-24 所说，『因为听道而不行道的，就像人对著镜子看自己本来的面目，看见，走后，随即忘了他的相貌如何。』启示录 1:3 说，『念这书上预言的和那些听见又遵守其中所记载的，都是有福的…』，是的，念这书上预言的比不知道的有福，但不要忘记那「和」字，照圣经的一致性来说，那些听见又遵守其中所记载的，更是真正的有福。

2. 第二日的神说     

     我们先将第二日的经文列出，『神说：「诸水之间要有空气，将水分为上下。」神就造出空气，将空气以下的水、空气以上的水分开了。事就这样成了。神称空气为天。有晚上，有早晨，是第二日。』(创世记 1:6-8)    

     我们第二次看到了「神说」这两字，这是和我们的说话截然不同的。不同在那里？『因为他说有，就有；命立，就立。』(诗篇 33:9) 且『…世界是借神话造成的，这样，所看见的，并不是从显然之物造出来的。』(希伯来书 11:3) 所以祂的话是大有能力的。最后要提到的，就是以人看来，祂的第二日工作量，将水分为上下也不是很多，和第一日相仿。就像我们所讨论的，第一日只是让已创造的日月星辰的光显露出来而已。自然，我们是做不到。

3. 第三日的各从其类    

     第三日：『神说：「天下的水要聚在一处，使旱地露出来。」事就这样成了。神称旱地为地，称水的聚处为海。神看著是好的。神说：「地要发生青草和结种子的菜蔬，并结果子的树木，各从其类，果子都包著核。」事就这样成了。于是地发生了青草和结种子的菜蔬，各从其类；并结果子的树木，各从其类，果子都包著核。神看著是好的。有晚上，有早晨，是第三日。』(创世记 1:9-13)    

     我们看到了各从其类是神原先的心意，橘子树不能变成苹果树的，它们有著不同的生命，要不就天下大乱。而我们也看到了所造的植物都能繁殖的，而神看著是好的。

4. 第四日的造和天这两字    

     第四日：『神说：「天上要有光体，可以分昼夜，作记号，定节令、日子、年岁，并要发光在天空，普照在地上。」事就这样成了。于是神造(H6213)了两个大光，大的管昼，小的管夜，又造众星，就把这些光摆列在天(H8064)空(H7549) (the firmament H7549 of the heaven H8064)，普照在地上，管理昼夜，分别明暗。神看著是好的。有晚上，有早晨，是第四日。』(创世记 1:14-19)    

     我们已在第一日讨论过这造(H6213)字不是从无变有的创造(H1254)，这个字创造(H1254)在第一章只出现三次，就是第一节的起初神创造(诸)天(H8064)地，另外在二十一节的创造动物，和第二十七的创造人，其他的都用 H6213 这字，因此应该都是原来就有的。    

     其实要问的应该是天 H8064 这个字，我们在第一节中讲过 H8064 用的是复数，不论是认为诸天是指每个星球有自己的天，或是在合理的假设下有四度空间的存在，应该都是创造了诸天。时间是有开始和结束的，就如启示录 22:13 所说：『我是阿拉法，我是俄梅戛；我是首先的，我是末后的；我是初，我是终。』我们说过在第一和第二节中我们不知过了多少时间，从第三节开始才讲到现今地上的事，地球上只有一个天空，所以空这个字H7549 应是单数，可是又用了天 H8064 这个字，很显然的应该是单数，所以唯一逻辑上的解释就是天 H8064 这字可以是单数或复数，要看上下文和以圣经的一致性去决定。难怪英文的翻译有时用单数，有时用复数，这就犹如英文有单数和复数相同的单字。在中文的破音字中，同样的字甚至有不同的意义。

5. 第五日的好环境    

     第五日：『神说：「水要多多滋生有生命的物，要有雀鸟飞在地面以上，天空之中。」神就造出大鱼和水中所滋生各样有生命的动物，各从其类；又造出各样飞鸟，各从其类。神看著是好的。神就赐福给这一切说：「滋生繁多，充满海中的水；雀鸟也要多生在地上。」有晚上，有早晨，是第五日。』(创世记 1:20-23)    

     祂先创造了一个好的生活环境赐给人，且有滋生繁多的祝福。先是有地上的植物，空中的雀鸟，和海中的鱼，最后在第六日创造了牲畜、昆虫、野兽。

6. 第六日的人的形像和样式    

     『神说：「地要生出活物来，各从其类；牲畜、昆虫、野兽，各从其类。」事就这样成了。于是神造出野兽，各从其类；牲畜，各从其类；地上一切昆虫，各从其类。神看著是好的。』(创世记 1:24-25) 我们现在绝对知道神原先的心意是要各从其类。    

     『神说：「我们要照著我们的形像(H6754, image)，按著我们的样式(H1823, likeness)造人，使他们管理(H7287)海里的鱼、空中的鸟、地上的牲畜和全地，并地上所爬的一切昆虫。」神就照著自己的形像(H6754, image)造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。神就赐福给他们，又对他们说：「要生养众多，遍满地面，治理(制服, H3533)这地；也要管理(统治, H7287)海里的鱼、空中的鸟，和地上各样行动的活物。」神说：「看哪！我将遍地上一切结种子的菜蔬，和一切树上所结有核的果子，全赐给你们作食物。至于地上的走兽和空中的飞鸟，并各样爬在地上有生命的物，我将青草赐给牠们作食物。」事就这样成了。神看著一切所造的都甚好。有晚上，有早晨，是第六日。』(创世记 1:26-31)    

     从这些经文，我们知道一切活物和人在创造时都是吃素的。我们首先注意到，在人被创造前，一切都是好的，只有当人被创造后，才说一切都甚好，我们看到人的创造是很不同的。在人在被罪沾污前是有神的形像和样式的，也很清楚的提到人应该做的工作。    

     请注意，样式(image)和形像(likeness)是两个不同的字。当我们说到神的形像，是说神是圣洁的，有怜悯的，有公义的，等等的形像。圣经没有明说那只有一个的神的样式是什么。我们先看看耶稣的样式。祂是『…成为人的样式。』(腓立比书 2:7) 所以耶稣的样式和人的样式是完全相等的。我们知道人的样式是人被罪沾污后的样式，如果人的样式被罪沾污了，耶稣的样式就被罪沾污了。那么祂就是有罪的，这样祂怎么能够『…将自己无瑕无疵献给神，…』(希伯来书 9:14) 所以人的样式是不能被罪沾污的，而人的样式就是神的样式。    

     我们再看看耶稣的形像。祂成为人的样式，所以有灵、魂、体，就如帖撒罗尼迦前书 5:23 所说，『…又愿你们的灵与魂与身子得蒙保守，…』祂的形像和我们的形像不同的是：我们的形像是被罪沾污的，祂的形像是没有被罪沾污的。为什么？我们知道『马利亚…所怀的孕是从圣灵来的。』(马太福音 1:20)  所以耶稣是圣灵感孕，从无罪开始。但祂是人，祂的魂和人的魂是相同的，是有可能犯罪的。但祂『…曾凡事受过试探，…只是他没有犯罪。』(希伯来书 4:15) 所以祂是和罪无关的。用经文和逻辑，我们可以结论说，祂有著没有被罪沾污前人的形像，就是圣经特别的说，『神就照著自己的形像造人，乃是照著他的形像造男造女。』(创世记 1:27) 。因此我们只要将有罪的形像模成无罪的耶稣形像就可以了，没有说过要模成耶稣的样式，因我们已经有了。这在罗马书  8:29  说的很清楚：『因为他预先所知道的人，就预先定下效法(模成 to be conformed to)他儿子的模样(形像, image)，使他儿子在许多弟兄中作长子。』    

     最后要提的是，创世记早已暗示了三位一体的概念，在创世记的第一句说，『起初神(H430, 复数)创造(H1264, 单数)天地。』(创世记 1:1) 神是复数，而动词用的是单数。且这里讲到形像和样式时，都是用复数的我们。

7. 神的形像和人的自由意志    

     耶稣自己间接的说，祂的形像就是神的形像，因祂说：『人看见我，就是看见那差我来的。』(约翰福音 12:45) 而祂明讲，差祂来的是父，如约翰福音 6:43-44 所说，『耶稣回答说：「…若不是差我来的父吸引人，就没有能到我这里来的；…』而祂更直接的这样说：『腓力对他说：「求主将父显给我们看，我们就知足了。」耶稣对他说：「腓力，我与你们同在这样长久，你还不认识我吗？人看见了我，就是看见了父，你怎么说『将父显给我们看』呢？』(约翰福音 14:8-9) 所以神的形像就是耶稣的形像，我们只要模成耶稣的形像，就可以回到神当初创造人的形像了。我们在这里看到圣经是怎样的一致啊！我们用逻辑在前段得到了同样的结论，圣经是一致的。    

     我们看看神的形像是什么作为结束。神的形像讲得太多了，我们可以在整本圣经里看到。在这里我们只谈两点，先谈「圣洁」这一点，神直接说祂是圣洁的如利未记 11:45 所说，『…你们要圣洁，因为我是圣洁的。』人是照神的形像创造的，所以在罪沾污前是圣洁的，亚当和神的圣洁绝对有份。    

     再看看神有绝对主权，『因他对摩西说：「我要怜悯谁，就怜悯谁；要恩待谁，就恩待谁。」』(罗马书 9:15) 祂绝对有自由的选择。人是照神的形像创造的，怎么人会没有自由意志呢？的确，祂当初并没有干涉亚当和夏娃自由意志的选择。直到今日，虽然人被罪沾污后的自由意志不同于起初，但祂从未强迫人选择信主。被罪沾污后的自由意志是不同的，我们仍然可以选择信主或不信主。但不信主的人及(临时)不在基督里的人就会如罗马书 7:18 所说，『我也知道在我里头，就是我肉体之中，没有良善。因为立志为善由得我，只是行出来由不得我。』

(你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到这网站后要按『对属灵生命的了解』。)

    我們首先在前言中簡短的敘述聖經的大致安排：神原先的心意在亞當和夏娃被趕出伊甸園的創世記前三章已講得很清楚；而我們是要模成耶穌的形像，四福音書敘述了耶穌的形像；簡短的說，行道勝於聽道，舊約其餘的是談以色列人在那些日子是如何試著行道，新約其餘的在說門徒們是如何和該如何行道。我們在第二日強調了神說的大能。第三日開始了各從其類的心意。我們在第四日討論造這字不是指創造、及天這個字。第五日神開始了一個好的生活環境。第六日的創造活物繼續了這環境，並照神的形像和樣式造男造女，講到了形像和樣式的不同，及其為什麼？我們最後討論了神的形像、和被罪沾汚後人的自由意志是什麼。

1. 前言: 聖經安排的我見

    神原先的心意都寫在創世記的前三章。如果那時亞當和夏娃選擇了生命樹，他們『…就永遠活着。』(創世記 3:22) 現在，『…把他趕出去了。又在伊甸園的東邊安設基路伯，和四面轉動發火焰的劍，要把守生命樹的道路。』(創世記 3:22-24) 神有憐憫、有恩典，救恩的計劃開始了！於是『耶穌…說：「我父做事直到如今，我也做事。」』(約翰福音 5:17)

    在舊約的時代，『…作他(亞伯拉罕)未受割禮的時候因信稱義的印證…』(羅馬書 4:11) 其後又藉著摩西頌佈了律法，但『律法…是將來美事的影兒，不是本物的真像…』(希伯來書 10:1) 『所以凡有血氣的，沒有一個因行律法能在神面前稱義，因為律法本是叫人知罪。』(羅馬書 3:20) 基本上，舊約的其餘部份就是告訴我們，以色列人在舊約時代是如何做的。

    在新約的時代，耶穌在十字架上『…將自己無瑕無疵獻給神，…』(希伯來書 9:14)  『…為我們的罪作了挽回祭…』(約翰一書 4:10)，給了所有的人一個機會。所以我們在基督裏，且走上成聖的道路，模成了耶穌的形像(參羅馬書 8:29)，就是選擇了耶穌那顆生命樹，回到伊甸園中選擇了生命樹那原先神的心意。

    耶穌的形像在四福音書說得相當的清楚。其餘的新約部份都在說如何行道，要不就會如雅各書 1:23-24 所說，『因為聽道而不行道的，就像人對着鏡子看自己本來的面目，看見，走後，隨即忘了他的相貌如何。』啓示錄 1:3 說，『念這書上預言的和那些聽見又遵守其中所記載的，都是有福的…』，是的，念這書上預言的比不知道的有福，但不要忘記那「和」字，照聖經的一致性來說，那些聽見又遵守其中所記載的，更是真正的有福。

2. 第二日的神說

     我們先將第二日的經文列出，『神說：「諸水之間要有空氣，將水分為上下。」神就造出空氣，將空氣以下的水、空氣以上的水分開了。事就這樣成了。神稱空氣為天。有晚上，有早晨，是第二日。』(創世記 1:6-8)

    我們第二次看到了「神說」這兩字，這是和我們的說話截然不同的。不同在那裏？『因為他說有，就有；命立，就立。』(詩篇 33:9) 且『…世界是藉神話造成的，這樣，所看見的，並不是從顯然之物造出來的。』(希伯來書 11:3) 所以祂的話是大有能力的。最後要提到的，就是以人看來，祂的第二日工作量，將水分為上下也不是很多，和第一日相仿。就像我們所討論的，第一日只是讓已創造的日月星辰的光顯露出來而已。

3. 第三日的各從其類

    第三日：『神說：「天下的水要聚在一處，使旱地露出來。」事就這樣成了。神稱旱地為地，稱水的聚處為海。神看着是好的。神說：「地要發生青草和結種子的菜蔬，並結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子都包着核。」事就這樣成了。於是地發生了青草和結種子的菜蔬，各從其類；並結果子的樹木，各從其類，果子都包着核。神看着是好的。有晚上，有早晨，是第三日。』(創世記 1:9-13)

    我們看到了各從其類是神原先的心意，橘子樹不能變成蘋果樹的，要不就天下大亂。而我們也看到了所造的植物都能繁殖的，而神看著是好的。

4. 第四日的造和天這兩字

    第四日：『神說：「天上要有光體，可以分晝夜，作記號，定節令、日子、年歲，並要發光在天空，普照在地上。」事就這樣成了。於是神造(H6213)了兩個大光，大的管晝，小的管夜，又造眾星，就把這些光擺列在天(H8064)空(H7549) (the firmament H7549 of the heaven H8064)，普照在地上，管理晝夜，分別明暗。神看着是好的。有晚上，有早晨，是第四日。』(創世記 1:14-19)

    我們已在第一日討論過這造(H6213)字不是從無變有的創造(H1254)，這個字創造(H1254)在第一章只出現三次，就是第一節的起初神創造(諸)天(H8064)地，另外在二十一節的創造動物，和第二十七的創造人，其他的都用 H6213 這字，因此應該都是原來就有的。

    其實要問的應該是天 H8064 這個字，我們在第一節中講過 H8064 用的是複數，不論是認為諸天是指每個星球有自己的天，或是在合理的假設下有四度空間的存在，應該都是創造了諸天。地球上只有一個天空，所以空這個字H7549是單數，可是又用了天 H8064 這個字，很顯然的應該是單數，所以唯一邏輯上的解釋就是天 H8064 這字可以是單數或複數，要看上下文和以聖經的一致性去決定。難怪英文的翻譯有時用單數，有時用複數，這就猶如英文有單數和複數相同的單字。在中文的破音字中，同樣的字甚至有不同的意義。

5. 第五日的好環境

    第五日：『神說：「水要多多滋生有生命的物，要有雀鳥飛在地面以上，天空之中。」神就造出大魚和水中所滋生各樣有生命的動物，各從其類；又造出各樣飛鳥，各從其類。神看着是好的。神就賜福給這一切說：「滋生繁多，充滿海中的水；雀鳥也要多生在地上。」有晚上，有早晨，是第五日。』(創世記 1:20-23)

    祂先創造了一個好的生活環境賜給人，且有滋生繁多的祝福。先是有地上的植物，空中的雀鳥，和海中的魚，最後在第六日創造了牲畜、昆蟲、野獸。

6. 第六日的人的形像和樣式

    『神說：「地要生出活物來，各從其類；牲畜、昆蟲、野獸，各從其類。」事就這樣成了。於是神造出野獸，各從其類；牲畜，各從其類；地上一切昆蟲，各從其類。神看着是好的。』(創世記 1:24-25) 我們現在絕對知道神原先的心意是要各從其類。

    『神說：「我們要照着我們的形像(H6754, image)，按着我們的樣式(H1823, likeness)造人，使他們管理(H7287)海裏的魚、空中的鳥、地上的牲畜和全地，並地上所爬的一切昆蟲。」神就照着自己的形像(H6754, image)造人，乃是照着他的形像造男造女。神就賜福給他們，又對他們說：「要生養眾多，遍滿地面，治理(制服, H3533)這地；也要管理(統治, H7287)海裏的魚、空中的鳥，和地上各樣行動的活物。」神說：「看哪！我將遍地上一切結種子的菜蔬，和一切樹上所結有核的果子，全賜給你們作食物。至於地上的走獸和空中的飛鳥，並各樣爬在地上有生命的物，我將青草賜給牠們作食物。」事就這樣成了。神看着一切所造的都甚好。有晚上，有早晨，是第六日。』(創世記 1:26-31)

    從這些經文，我們知道一切活物和人在創造時都是吃素的。我們首先注意到，在人被創造前，一切都是好的，只有當人被創造後，才說一切都甚好，我們看到人的創造是很不同的。在人在被罪沾汚前是有神的形像和樣式的，也很清楚的提到人應該做的工作。

    請注意，樣式(likeness)和形像(image)是兩個不同的字。當我們說到神的形像，是說神是聖潔的，有憐憫的，有公義的，等等的形像。聖經沒有明說那只有一個的神的樣式是什麼。我們先看看耶穌的樣式。祂是『…成為人的樣式。』(腓立比書 2:7) 所以耶穌的樣式和人的樣式是完全相等的。我們知道人的樣式是人被罪沾汚後的樣式，如果人的樣式被罪沾汚了，耶穌的樣式就被罪沾汚了。那麼祂就是有罪的，這樣祂怎麼能夠『…將自己無瑕無疵獻給神，…』(希伯來書 9:14) 所以人的樣式是不能被罪沾汚的，而人的樣式就是神的樣式。

    我們再看看耶穌的形像。祂成為人的樣式，所以有靈、魂、體，就如帖撒羅尼迦前書 5:23 所說，『…又願你們的靈與魂與身子得蒙保守，…』祂的形像和我們的形像不同的是：我們的形像是被罪沾汚的，祂的形像是沒有被罪沾汚的。為什麼？我們知道『馬利亞…所懷的孕是從聖靈來的。』(馬太福音 1:20)  所以耶穌是聖靈感孕，從無罪開始。但祂是人，祂的魂和人的魂是相同的，是有可能犯罪的。但祂『…曾凡事受過試探，…只是他沒有犯罪。』(希伯來書 4:15) 所以祂是和罪無關的。用經文和邏輯，我們可以結論說，祂有著沒有被罪沾汚前人的形像，就是聖經特別的說，『神就照着自己的形像造人，乃是照着他的形像造男造女。』(創世記 1:27) 。因此我們只要將有罪的形像模成無罪的耶穌形像就可以了，沒有說過要模成耶穌的樣式，因我們已經有了。這在羅馬書  8:29  說的很清楚：『因為他預先所知道的人，就預先定下效法(模成 to be conformed to)他兒子的模樣(形像, image)，使他兒子在許多弟兄中作長子。』

    最後要提的是，創世記早已暗示了三位一體的概念，在創世記的第一句說，『起初神(H430, 複數)創造(H1264, 單數)天地。』(創世記 1:1) 神是複數，而動詞用的是單數。且這裏講到形像和樣式時，都是用複數的我們。

7. 神的形像和人的自由意志

    耶穌自己間接的說，祂的形像就是神的形像，因祂說：『人看見我，就是看見那差我來的。』(約翰福音 12:45) 而祂明講，差祂來的是父，如約翰福音 6:43-44 所說，『耶穌回答說：「…若不是差我來的父吸引人，就沒有能到我這裏來的；…』而祂更直接的這樣說：『腓力對他說：「求主將父顯給我們看，我們就知足了。」耶穌對他說：「腓力，我與你們同在這樣長久，你還不認識我嗎？人看見了我，就是看見了父，你怎麼說『將父顯給我們看』呢？』(約翰福音 14:8-9) 所以神的形像就是耶穌的形像，我們只要模成耶穌的形像，就可以回到神當初創造人的形像了。我們在這裏看到聖經是怎樣的一致啊！我們用邏輯在前段得到了同樣的結論，聖經是一致的。

    我們看看神的形像是什麼作為結束。神的形像講得太多了，我們可以在整本聖經裏看到。在這裏我們只談兩點，先談「聖潔」這一點，神直接說祂是聖潔的如利未記 11:45 所說，『…你們要聖潔，因為我是聖潔的。』人是照神的形像創造的，所以在罪沾汚前是聖潔的，亞當和神的聖潔絕對有份。

    再看看神有絕對主權，『因他對摩西說：「我要憐憫誰，就憐憫誰；要恩待誰，就恩待誰。」』(羅馬書 9:15) 祂絕對有自由的選擇。人是照神的形像創造的，怎麼人會沒有自由意志呢？的確，祂當初並沒有干涉亞當和夏娃自由意志的選擇。直到今日，雖然人被罪沾汚後的自由意志不同於起初，但祂從未強迫人選擇信主。被罪沾汚後的自由意志是不同的，我們仍然可以選擇信主或不信主。但不信主的人及(臨時)不在基督裏的人就會如羅馬書 7:18 所說，『我也知道在我裏頭，就是我肉體之中，沒有良善。因為立志為善由得我，只是行出來由不得我。』

 (你可以在『 https://a-christian-voice.com/ 』看到所有的文章，到這網站後要按『對屬靈生命的瞭解』。)

We first briefly describe how the Bible is arranged. The original will of God is stated clearly in the first three chapters in the Book of Genesis; we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus, which is described in the four Gospels; and then in short, doers are superior to hearers as said in the Book of James. In the rest of the books of the Old Testament, they describe how the Israelites tried how to be doers at that time. In the rest of the New Testament, it states what the disciples did and what disciples should do. Secondly, we emphasize the power of ‘God says’ in the second day. Thirdly, the concept of ‘after their kinds’ was started in the third day. Fourthly, we discuss the difference between the word ‘made’ and ‘creation’ and the word ‘heaven’ in Greeks. Fifthly, a good living environment was started in the fifth day. Sixthly, the good environment was continued by creating big whales, etc. And God made ‘man in Our image, according to Our likeness’, and created ‘man in His own image.’ We talk about the difference between the two distinct words, ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ with explanations. Finally, we discuss the image of God, and the free will of human after being contaminated by sin. 

1. Preface: What we saw regarding the arrangement of the Bible

The original will of God is written in the first three chapters of the Book of Genesis. If Adam and Eve chose the fruit of tree of life, then they will “… live forever.”(Genesis 3:22) Now, “…the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, …So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.”(Genesis 3:23-24) But God is full of mercy and grace, and the plan of salvation started! Therefore, Jesus said in John 5:17, “…My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 

In the Old Testament, “…he (Abraham) received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them.”(Romans 4:11) Afterwards, the Law was announced through Moses, but it says in Hebrews 10:1, “…it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, …” This is “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”(Romans 3:20) It is clear that justification is by faith. The rest of the Old Testament basically talks about what the Israelites did in the era of the Old Testament.

In the era of the New Testament, Jesus on the cross “… offered Himself without blemish to God, …”(Hebrews 9:14) He became “…the propitiation for our sins.”(1 John 4:10) It gives everyone an opportunity to walk on the way of sanctification in Jesus, and to be conformed to the image of Jesus (see Romans 8:29). This means that we are fulfilling the original will of God by choosing Jesus, the fruit of the tree of life, and walking on the way to sanctification. So, we are back to an even better situation than Adam in the Garden of Eden.  

The image of Jesus is described pretty clearly in the four Gospels. The rest of the New Testament basically talks about being a doer and what to do. Otherwise, it will be just like those described in James 1:23-24, “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.” It is said in Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; …” Yes, compared with those who have no chance to read the Book of Revelation, those who read are blessed. But don’t forget the word ‘and.’ According to the consistency of the Bible, those who do what are written in it are definitely much more blessed.

2. Regarding ‘God said’ in the second day

Let us first list all verses in the second day in Genesis 1:6-8. “Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.” 

Now we see the second time they used the words, ‘God said’, which is definitely different from our words said. What is the difference then? “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”(Psalms 33:9) “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3) So, His words are mighty. We want to mention lastly that even in the aspect of human, His amount of work is not tremendous in the second day to make the expanse to separate the waters. The amount of work is like what happened in the first day, which was discussed before.  In the first day, God only made the sun, moon, and stars appear. Of course, we cannot do such things.

3. ‘After their kind’ started in the third day

What happened in the third day is described in Genesis 1:9-13, “Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.”

We can see that ‘after their kind’ is among the original will of God. The orange tree cannot become the apple tree. They are different species and their life is different. Otherwise, the world will be messed up if they could switch their lives. And we see that all vegetation and trees can be reproduced. And “God saw that it was good.” 

4. Discussion of the two words, ‘made’ and ‘heaven’ in the fourth day

What occurred in the fourth day is given in Genesis 1:14-19, “Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made (H6213) the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens (the firmament H7549 of the heaven H8064, KJV), to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.”

We have discussed in the first day that the word ‘made (H6213)’ is not the same as the word ‘created (H1254)’, which means creating something from nothing. This word ‘created (H1254)’ is used in chapter one only three times. That is in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens (H8064) and the earth.” The other two times are in verse 11 when animals created and verse 27 when man created. All the other occasions use the word ‘made (H6213)’, which means the other things were already created before that time.  

In fact, what we need to ask is the word H8064. As discussed, the word H8064 is translated as heavens in plural form in the first verse. No matter what people think that heavens mean each planet or stars have their own heaven, or there are at least four dimensions under reasonable assumption, it is correct that H8064 is always in plural form. But if we look at heaven from earth, there is only one heaven. The firmament (H7549) is singular. Since the word ‘heaven (H8064)’ is also used, there is only a logical explanation that the word H8064 is singular. Therefore, the word H8064 can be singular or plural depending upon surrounding words or the consistency of the Bible. No wonder H8064 is translated as ‘heaven’ or ‘heavens’ in English. It is like some words in English, where the same word can be used in singular or plural. In Chinese, some words have exactly the same form but with totally different meaning depending upon how they are pronounced.

5. A good environment started in the fifth day

In Genesis 1:20-23, it says, “Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.” 

God created a good living environment for man before man was created.  There were first plants on earth, then birds in air and fish in water. Finally, on the sixth day, God brought forth living creatures as described in the next section. 

6. Human image and likeness in the sixth day

The first half of the sixth day is described in Genesis 1:24-25, “Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.” We are now absolutely sure that ‘after their kind’ is among the original will of God.

The rest of the same day is given in Genesis 1:26-31, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image (H6754), according to Our likeness (H1823); and let them rule over (H7287) the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image (H6754), in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue (H3533) it; and rule over (H7287) the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to everything that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.”

From these verses, we know that all living creatures and man are created to be vegetarian. We notice that everything was good before the creation of man. Only after man was created, God then said that it was very good. We can see that the creation of man is rather different. Before man was contaminated by sin, he has the image and likeness of God. The verses also mentioned what man had to do, the responsibility of man.

Please be aware that the likeness (H1823) and the image (H6754) are two different words. When we talk about the image of God, we would say somethings like, ‘God is holy,’ ‘He is merciful and righteous,’ etc. The Bible doesn’t say clearly what the likeness of God is, although the God should have a unique likeness. Let us first take a look at the likeness of Jesus. He is “made in the likeness of men.”(Philippians 2:7) Therefore, the likeness of Jesus is equal to the likeness of men. We know that the likeness of men is now the likeness after men are contaminated by sin. If the likeness of men can be contaminated by sin, then the likeness of Jesus is contaminated by sin also since they are equal. By this way, how can it be that “…Christ …offered Himself without blemish to God … (Hebrews 9:14)”? In conclusion, the likeness of men cannot be contaminated by sin, which was created being the likeness of God.

Let us now take a look at the image of Jesus. He is made the same as a human, which consists of three parts – spirit, soul and body, as said in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, “…and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete…” His image is different from ours. Our image is contaminated by sin and He is not. Why? We know the fact that “…the Child who has been conceived in her (Mary) is of the Holy Spirit.”(Matthew 1:20) So, He started from no sin. But He was a human. His soul could commit sins just like our souls. But He is the one “…who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”(Hebrews 4:15) Therefore, He has nothing to do with sin. From verses, we can conclude logically that He has the image before man was contaminated by sin, which is the image of God as particularly said in Genesis 1:27, “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Therefore, we need only to be conformed to the image of Jesus since there is no need to be conformed to His sinless likeness due to the fact that we already have it. This is said clearly in Romans 8:29, “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Lastly, we want you to be aware of that the concept of the Holy Trinity has already mentioned in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God (H430, plural) created (H1264, singular) the heavens and the earth.” The word God uses plural, and its verb is singular. And when talking about the image and the likeness, the plural such as in Genesis 1:26 is used. 

7. The image of God and the free will of human

Jesus indirectly said that His image is the image of God in John 12:45, “He who sees Me sees the One who sent Me.” Who sent Him then? He said clearly in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; …” And He directly said so as described in John 14:8-9, “Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” Thus, the image of God is the same as the image of Jesus. We need only to be conformed to the image of Jesus, we can then go back to the image of human originally created by God. Here, we can see how consistent the Bible is. We also use the logic in a previous paragraph to get the same conclusion. Indeed, the Bible is consistent.  

To conclude, let us take a look at what the image of God is. The Bible talks a lot about the image of God, and we can find them in the whole Bible. Here, we only talk about two points. First, let us talk about holiness. Regarding this point, God directly says that He is holy as said in Leviticus 11:45 “…you shall be holy, for I am holy.” Man was created according to the image of God. Before man was contaminated by sin, Adam absolutely had the quality of holiness. 

Now let us see that God has the absolute authority, “For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”” (Romans 9:15) He absolutely has free will. Man was created according to His image. How can man have no free will? Indeed, He didn’t interfere the choice of Adam and Eve, which was out of free will. Nowadays, our free will after contaminated by sin is different from that originally in Adam and Eve. We can still freely to choose if we want to believe in God. But for those unbelievers and for those temporarily falling outside from in Jesus, we are bound to behave what said in Romans 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”

 (Verses refer to those in NASB unless otherwise specified.)

(You can get all articles in “https://a-christian-voice.com/” under “On spiritual understanding about life.”)