Part 2: A Fallen Kingdom

The Kingdom of God has profound implications for Christians, as we are exhorted to walk “worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom” (1 Thessalonians 2:12)

What is a Kingdom (Biblically)?

Ruler - an individual or individuals that are sovereign over the kingdom’s affairs

Right - (to rule); an authority possessed by, or that validates, the ruler (king)

Realm - a domain that belongs to the kingdom

Reality - the actual reigning activity of the rightful king over the realm

The Mediatorial Kingdom of God in Genesis

Ruler: Mankind (male & female) made in the Image of God

Right: “Let them have dominion… rule… subdue…"

Realm: The works of God’s hands (Psalm 8:6)

Reality: Mankind’s superiority over the animals(Genesis 2:20); creativity (Genesis 2:19); productivity (Genesis 2:15); perception of God through creation (Romans 1:20); faithful obedience required for ongoing blessing/habitation (Gen 2:16-17)

Summary of the Kingdom as seen in Genesis

All of creation is ultimately subject to the Creator God

God’s created order is binding upon his creatures (e.g, gender, marriage)

God created mankind (male & female) as his chosen Rulers and bearers of his image, giving them dominion over the Created Kingdom

Creation had both physical and spiritual aspects, working in perfect harmony - “very good”

Creation was a place where God & man were to enjoy fellowship as mankind ruled & subdued it according to God’s design and under his rule

The Fall of Creation’s First King

Genesis 3:1–13 NKJV

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 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 coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Genesis 3:1-5: The Temptation of the Serpent

Purpose of the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil was to test man’s recognition of, and subjection to, the universal rule of God

Faith (shown by obedience) is a condition of participation in God’s Kingdom

The Serpent’s Lie in 2 Parts:

Negative: “You surely will not die.”

Positive: “You will be like God.”

Satan appealed to Eve’s self-interest to subvert God’s authority

Genesis 3:6-8: The King and Queen Rebel

By taking of the forbidden fruit, Adam & Eve usurped God’s authority

As rightful rulers in God’s created kingdom, they had incredible ability, opportunity, and freedom to rule and enjoy everything God had given them - by disobeying, they abused that privilege

Adam & Eve’s failure to abide by God’s command introduced, for the first time, sin and rebellion into creation - corrupting what God had called “very good”

Realizing their own nakedness and shame, they clothed and hid themselves

“Cursed is the ground”

Genesis 3:14–24 NKJV

So the Lord God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust 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 your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Genesis 3:14-19: The Curse

Adam is held primarily responsible, as the federal “head” in his marriage and as representative of mankind (1 Cor 15:22, 1 Ti 2:14; etc)

Nonetheless, Eve receives her own part in the Curse, demonstrating her agency & responsibility for her actions

For its part in seducing God’s vice-regents into Satan’s anti-kingdom program, the serpent is humiliated and Satan’s defeat is foretold

Judgement is immediate - yet Adam & Eve’s inevitable, physical death is graciously deferred (and their continued existence, and that of creation, is confirmed)

Adam & Eve were shown that their sin had resulted in consequences that affected not only themselves, but their offspring and creation itself

The Curse to the Serpent

Cursed “more than” all other animals

Sentenced to crawl in the dust of the ground

Condemned to conflict with - and ultimate destruction by - the “seed” of the woman

The Curse to the Woman

Pain in childbirth will increase

Fulfillment of the Dominion Mandate (“be fruitful & multiply”) will continue, but with difficulty

Conflict within marriage foretold (as mankind had resisted God’s rule, so will the wife be tempted to resent and resist her husband’s headship)*

The Curse to the Man

The ground is cursed “because of you”

Creation will now resist Adam’s rule, as he resisted God’s (“thorns and thistles it will grow”)

Creation will be less good and less productive, but Adam’s dominion over it will continue (“by the sweat of your brow”)

Adam (and mankind) will suffer under the inexorable effects of decay, which will ultimately lead to death (“to dust you shall return”)

All that is in the world

1 John 2:15–17 NKJV

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

1 John 2:15-17: The Counterfeit Kingdom Program

Satan’s temptation of Eve followed the pattern of 1 John 2:16:

Lust of the flesh (“good for food”)

Lust of the eyes (“pleasant to the sight”)

Pride of life (“desirable to make one wise”)

Satan cannot create - he can only corrupt what God has created

He does this by undermining and usurping God’s rightful authority as sovereign creator King (Isaiah 14:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:4)

1 John 2:15-17: The Counterfeit Kingdom Program (Cont.)

The Greek word translated “world”: kosmos (Strongs # G2889)

Literal meaning is “order” (specific meaning must be determined by context)

In the context of 1 John 2, kosmos refers not to humans or planet Earth, but to Satan’s antichrist “order” that promises the benefits of God’s Created Kingdom without submission to God’s authority

Genesis 3 shows us the beginning of the “world” (or world system), which will parallel and oppose God’s Kingdom program until the end of this age

This Counterfeit Kingdom will culminate in the reign of Antichrist (Revelation 17)

Creation was subjected to futility

Romans 8:18–25 NKJV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Romans 8:18-25: The whole creation groans

Paul explains that all of creation is enslaved to “corruption”, and “eagerly waits” the revealing of God’s glorified children

Creation has been “subjected to futility” - ie, unable to fulfill the purpose for which it was created

Creation’s hope for restoration is tied together with the redemption of mankind

This frustration and anxious longing (compared with birth pangs!) is the status quo for all of God’s creatures (including the redeemed - ie, Christians) in a fallen kingdom - “eagerly awaiting… the redemption of our body.”

The Fallen Kingdom

Ruler: Mankind - now with the knowledge of good and evil

Right: The Dominion Mandate (Ps 8:6), but curtailed (“to dust you shall return”)

Realm: Creation, but with resistance (“thorns and thistles it shall grow for you”)

Reality: God’s created kingdom continues (Gen 3:23), but the introduction of sin, and the consequential death & disorder brought by sin (Romans 5:12), has placed the kingdom in a state of “futility” (Romans 8:20)

The Seed of the Woman

Genesis 3:15 NKJV

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Genesis 3:15: The Protoevangelium (“first good news”)

In his judgment proclamation to the serpent, God declares that Satan’s efforts to disrupt the Kingdom program be opposed - and ultimately thwarted - by the woman’s seed

This is the first hint in Scripture of the coming Messiah - a human (born of a woman - Galatians 4:4) - as well the concept of virgin conception

God states that the serpent (Satan) will be fatally wounded by the woman’s seed, though not without inflicting great damage himself

To Adam & Eve, this promise of a coming “bruiser” of the serpent, would have been a glimmer of “good news” in the midst of crushing regret and sorrow

“He shall bruise [your] head”

Hebrews 2:14 NKJV

Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,

Romans 16:20

Romans 16:20 NKJV

And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

“You shall bruise [his] heel”

Psalm 22:16b NKJV

For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet;

Luke 24:39 NKJV

Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”

Genesis 3:20

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”

“Eve”: חַוָּה Chavvah (Strong # H2332); “life”

Adam’s naming of his wife as the mother of “all living” demonstrates his faith that God’s promised seed would indeed come; a life-giver who would one day deliver creation from corruption & death

The Promised Seed

Ruler: A man - the seed of the woman

Right: The Dominion Mandate (Psalm 8, Hebrews 2)

Realm: Creation

Reality: Future (unfulfilled). The promised seed will oppose and ultimately defeat (at great personal cost) the anti-kingdom agenda of the serpent, delivering God’s “very good” created order from Satan’s corrupting influence

Conclusion

In spite of God’s incredible gifts to mankind, in making them vice-regents and Image bearers in his “very good” creation, Adam and Eve were seduced by the promise of self-betterment apart from submission to God’s design

Satan’s strategy has not changed: enticing God’s image-bearers to seek fulfillment apart from - and in opposition to - God’s rule (1 John 2:16, James 1:13-14, Luke 4:5-6)

The fall of creation’s federal “head” brought death & disorder upon all of creation (Romans 5:12, 8:20-22)

The dominion and rulership of man will continue in the Fallen Kingdom, but will never will reach the full potential of God’s design (Hebrews 2:8)

God’s kingdom program will not be thwarted: a promised “seed” will come to put an end to Satan’s anti-kingdom agenda (Genesis 3:15)

The promised “seed of the woman” will be a man, a descendent of and fellow image-bearer like Adam and Eve (1 Cor 15:45)- but he would succeed where his parents failed (Matthew 4:10)

In the midst of sin, death, and despair, God’s promises give reason for hope: death will be defeated, paradise will be restored, and all things will again be “very good” in God’s Kingdom (Revelation 22)

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