From Eve to the Bride of Christ

[Study Aired July 29, 2025]

Introduction

When we examine the woman in Scripture from Eve to the bride of Christ, we discover one of the most profound typological progressions in God’s Word. The first woman, formed from Adam’s rib, reveals spiritual truths that culminate in the church as Christ’s bride. This progression demonstrates how “the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead” (Romans 1:20).

The foundation of this study rests upon three key passages: 1. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman” (Genesis 2:21-22). 2. “For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). 3. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3).

Through these Scriptures, we will see how Eve’s creation, her relationship with Adam, and her natural condition all point to the church’s relationship with Christ. This is not merely ancient history, but a living revelation of our present spiritual reality.

Eve: Bone of His Bones, Flesh of His Flesh

The creation of woman reveals God’s eternal purpose in bringing forth His bride. “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him” (Genesis 2:18). The Hebrew word for “help” is ezer (H5828), the same word used to describe God as our helper in numerous passages: “Our soul waiteth for the LORD: he is our help and our shield” (Psalm 33:20), “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help” (Deuteronomy 33:26), and “Blessed are you, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help” (Deuteronomy 33:29). This establishes that woman was not created inferior, but as a necessary completion of man’s purpose.

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof” (Genesis 2:21). The Hebrew word for “rib” is tsela (H6763), which means “side” or “part.” This word appears 41 times in Scripture, often referring to the sides of the tabernacle or temple. Eve was not an addition to Adam, but part of his very essence, “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).

The Hebrew word for “bone” is etsem (H6106), meaning “substance” or “essence.” When Adam declared “this is now bone of my bones,” he was recognizing Eve as sharing his very nature and substance. This prefigures how the church is “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30).

Thus, even from the start, the template of a bride for the first Adam points us to the Bride of the last Adam, Christ.

The Heavenly Order of Headship Revealed

Eve’s formation from Adam’s rib establishes more than their unity – it reveals the pattern of headship that governs all relationships. “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3). This verse establishes the heavenly chain of authority that governs all spiritual relationships. The Greek word for “head” is kephale (G2776), meaning “chief” or “principal,” indicating both authority and source.

This order reflects the eternal relationship within the Godhead. Christ Himself declared, “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:30). Christ’s submission to the Father provides the pattern for all subsequent relationships of headship.

“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body” (Ephesians 5:23). The comparison is deliberate and complete. Just as Christ is head of the church, the husband is head of the wife. This is not merely about marriage; it reveals how the natural relationship images the spiritual reality.

The word “saviour” here is soter (G4990), meaning “deliverer” or “preserver.” Christ preserves and delivers His body, the church, just as a husband is called to preserve and protect his wife. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church” (Ephesians 5:29). This headship is not tyrannical dominance but protective covering and loving guidance.

The Curse Reveals the Promise

When Eve listened to the serpent rather than defer to Adam’s headship, she acted according to her nature as flesh subject to vanity. “And unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee” (Genesis 3:16).

The Hebrew word translated “to” in “thy desire shall be to thy husband” is el (H413), which can mean “toward,” “against,” or “concerning.” This same word appears in the very next chapter: “And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him” (Genesis 4:7), where God speaks to Cain about sin. When el is translated “against” in Genesis 4:8 – “Cain rose up against Abel” – we understand that Eve’s curse included a natural tendency to oppose her husband’s headship.

This opposition is not unique to women but represents the natural mind’s rebellion against all heavenly authority. “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:7). The woman’s natural opposition to her husband’s headship reflects humanity’s natural opposition to Christ’s headship.

Yet the curse contains a promise: “he shall rule over thee.” This points to the ultimate victory of spirit over flesh, of Christ over the carnal nature. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). Even within the curse is the assurance that spiritual authority will ultimately prevail.

The Church: Body and Bride of Christ

Scripture presents the church as both Christ’s body and His bride, demonstrating that these are not separate concepts but different aspects of the same spiritual reality. “For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 5:30). “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all” (Ephesians 1:22-23). The church as Christ’s body is “the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”

Just as Eve was taken from Adam’s side to complete him, the church is formed from Christ’s pierced side to be His completion. “But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). From Christ’s wounded side flows the spiritual substance from which His bride is formed. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Ephesians 5:26). “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The blood provides judicial cleansing from sin’s guilt, while the water represents the moral cleansing through God’s word that sanctifies and forms the church.

This church, both body and bride, was not formed through human effort but through Christ’s purchase. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The price paid for this bride demonstrates her immense value to Christ and establishes the foundation upon which the body-bride relationship rests.

“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church” (Ephesians 5:31-32). Paul explicitly states that the marriage relationship is a “great mystery” pointing to “Christ and the church.”

The formation of Eve from Adam’s rib illustrates the process by which Christ forms His bride. “And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam” (Genesis 2:21). This deep sleep represents death. Christ Himself used sleep to symbolize death: “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep… Howbeit Jesus spake of his death” (John 11:11, 13). Paul likewise wrote, “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep… For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14). Adam must enter a death-like state before his bride can be formed.

Similarly, Christ entered the sleep of death before His bride could be formed. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (John 12:24). Christ’s death was necessary for the formation of His church.

This principle of death producing multiplication fulfills the ancient promise made to Abraham. “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ” (Galatians 3:16). Christ, the singular seed, died alone but through His death brought forth the “much fruit” – His bride, the church. What was promised as one seed becomes many through the death and resurrection process, just as one grain of wheat produces an abundant harvest.

“And took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof” (Genesis 2:21). Adam’s wound was healed, indicating that nothing was lost in the formation of Eve. Rather, what was within Adam was now expressed externally through the woman.

This reveals how the church expresses what is inherent in Christ. “To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27). The church manifests the glory that exists eternally in Christ.

The Present Challenges to Headship

Having seen how God’s typological patterns establish the spiritual foundation, we must now understand how these eternal truths apply to our present walk with Christ. The woman’s role in Scripture directly relates to our current spiritual condition and growth in grace.

Understanding submission becomes essential for spiritual maturity. “Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). “Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Ephesians 5:24). The Greek word for “submit” and “subject” is hupotasso (G5293), meaning “to arrange under” or “to place in proper order.”

This submission is not reluctant duty but the spontaneous expression of our new identity in Christ. “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God’s will involves proper spiritual arrangement and order. The comparison is complete: wives’ submission to husbands directly parallels the church’s submission to Christ, indicating the same quality of willing, ordered submission.

Yet how does the church actually respond to Christ’s headship? “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). The professing church, like Eve with the serpent, desires Christ’s name for respectability while rejecting His actual authority. “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach” (Isaiah 4:1). The “seven women” represent the complete apostasy of the church, wanting Christ’s name while maintaining their own doctrines (“our own bread“) and righteousnesses (“our own apparel“). This fulfills Eve’s pattern of desiring independence from proper headship.

The Spiritual Order in the Church

Those who walk after the Spirit begin to understand their proper relationship to Christ’s headship. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:1). Walking after the Spirit includes acknowledging God’s order and headship.

“But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God” (1 Corinthians 11:16). Those who argue against the heavenly order reveal their spiritual immaturity. The Greek word for “contentious” is philoneikos (G5380), meaning “fond of strife” or “quarrelsome.”

The principle extends beyond marriage to all relationships within the body of Christ. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Romans 13:1). God establishes all legitimate authority, and our response to earthly authority reflects our attitude toward His ultimate authority.

“Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” (Ephesians 5:21). The Greek word for “submitting” is again hupotasso, indicating that all believers should willingly arrange themselves in proper order with one another. This is not mutual subjection that eliminates headship, but recognition that everyone has both governing and submissive roles within the order God has appointed. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another” (Romans 12:4-5). This heavenly arrangement ensures that each member fulfills their unique calling while maintaining the unity and interdependence that characterizes Christ’s body. “And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28).

All of these aspects of the Church’s walk – submission, order, unity – are leading to one glorious goal.

The Ultimate Fulfillment in the Bride

The woman’s progression from Eve to the bride reaches its culmination in Revelation. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). The bride has “made herself ready” by finally accepting her proper relationship to her husband.

“And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints” (Revelation 19:8). Unlike the apostate church that wears “our own apparel,” the true bride is clothed in righteousness that comes from Christ alone.

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Revelation 21:2). The new Jerusalem is both the bride and the city – the dwelling place of God with His people. This fulfills the promise that “they two shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24) on a spiritual and eternal level.

“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife” (Revelation 21:9). The bride and the Lamb’s wife are the same entity, confirming that the church in its final state perfectly fulfills the pattern established in Eve’s creation.

Conclusion

From Eve’s formation from Adam’s rib to the church as Christ’s bride, we see the consistent revelation of God’s eternal purpose. Eve was not created perfect and then corrupted, but was “made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). Her natural condition of flesh, with its inherent rebellion against headship, was the very means by which God would demonstrate His power to bring forth spiritual life.

The heavenly order of headship – God over Christ, Christ over man, man over woman – is not arbitrary hierarchy but the revelation of how spiritual authority flows from the ultimate Source. Christ’s perfect submission to the Father provides the pattern for all subsequent relationships of headship and submission.

The church, as both Christ’s body and His bride, represents the completion of what was typified in Eve’s creation. Just as Eve was “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” to Adam, the church is “members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” to Christ. The same substance, the same nature, the same life – yet formed through death and resurrection into a glorious bride.

The present reality calls us to embrace our proper relationship to Christ’s headship, not as external legalism but as the natural expression of spiritual life. As we submit to His authority, we fulfill the pattern established from the beginning and prepare for the ultimate wedding feast of the Lamb.

In Christ, the woman’s progression from natural rebellion to spiritual submission reveals God’s method of bringing all creation “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). What began with Eve formed from Adam’s side culminates in the bride coming down from heaven, perfectly prepared for her husband, displaying the completed work of God’s eternal purpose.

Hi Mike,

I was reading something you wrote a few years ago that caught my attention.

It’s from an FAQ reply, and here’s the link:

Why Was Eve Deceived but Not Adam

Here’s the part I wanted to ask you about. It’s the very first sentence:

“I very much agree that Adam knew what he was doing, and he placed his love for Eve above his own spiritual life and his standing with Christ, bringing the plan of God into action to have all who are in Adam subject to death.​”

Adam’s love for Eve is the part I was curious about. Here’s a few scriptures I wanted to share. After Adam and Eve sinned in the garden we read this:

Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten from the tree? whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Gen 3:12 And the man said: The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

This doesn’t sound like an act of love to me. Sounds to me like Adam was throwing his wife under the bus just like any carnal man would. He tried to save his own skin by passing the blame onto Eve, despite the fact Adam knew what he was doing was wrong.

Adam had the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7), but he did not have the Holy Spirit, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6)

Your brother in Christ,

C____

Hi C____,

Thank you for your question about whether Adam loved his wife, Eve.

You point out that Adam passed the buck and blamed Eve for eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then you rightfully say:

“… [Adam] did not have the Holy Spirit​, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6).”

I think you will agree that I never said Adam’s love for his wife, Eve, was “unfeigned [Godly] love”, which is specifically defined as obedience to God.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

This is how Adam and all in Adam, including his wife, Eve, will know if Adam had true Godly love for Eve:

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

This is certainly not the love of Eve that Adam had. His love of his wife led him to disobey the Lord’s commandments. Here is the love of Eve Adam had:

Mat 10:37  He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

In all three synoptic gospels,​ Christ included wives in the Mat​thew​ 10:37 equation:

Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

Luk 18:29  And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of God’s sake,

As you said: “… [Adam] tried to save his own skin by passing the blame onto Eve, despite the fact Adam knew what he was doing was wrong.”

That is exactly right, but that does not keep Adam from loving his wife more than he loved God. If Adam had loved God more than Eve​, he would have obeyed God instead of his wife.

But as you also pointed out:

“Adam had the “breath of life” (Gen 2:7), but he did not have the Holy Spirit, and we are told that “unfeigned love” (sincere, genuine love) is a fruit that comes only by the Holy Spirit (2Co 6:6).”

Here is that verse you reference:

2Co 6:6  By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,

You and I both know the holy spirit was not available to Adam or to anyone else until fifty days after the crucifixion of Christ. So the only ‘love’ Adam was capable of having​ was a physical ‘love’ which did not put place obedience to Christ ahead of his wife:

Mat 19:29  And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Even in placing the blame on Eve, Adam was, as you said, attempting to “save his own skin” instead of “losing his life for Christ’s sake”​:

Mat 10:39  He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

The ‘love’ Adam had for Eve was “the love of the world” which will always place one’s wife above the “love of God” regardless of how clearly we are told to do otherwise:

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

I hope you can see what I meant when I said, “I very much agree that Adam knew what he was doing, and he placed his love for Eve above his own spiritual life and his standing with Christ…” What I am obviously referring to is his ‘spiritual life’ and his favor with Christ. Adam was not capable of such Godly love because the holy spirit was not yet given to perform such a selfless act as to leave his wife for “[Christ’s] sake, [or] for the kingdom of God’s sake”. But the fact that he knowingly disobeyed the Lord and did what his wife asked of him demonstrates that he loved her more than the Lord.

1Ti 2:14  And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Your brother in Christ, Mike

Outstanding explanation, Mike. Thank you so much for clearing this up for me, I was always confused on this issue, but now I understand what you meant by that particular statement. It makes perfect sense now. Please keep doing what you’re doing. Your ministry is a great blessing for me.

Your thankful brother in Christ,
C____

Dear Mike,

I am reading over your article, The Head of Christ is God, and going on the assumption that you appreciate comments from readers like me, I would like to share my view about Adam and Eve with you. It could be that I am too sheltered, but I have not come across this view of mine about God’s mercy in the “fall” anywhere (and I have heard a lot of sermons in my time). A song I have been listening to for years by John Michael Talbot (a Catholic monk) called “The Shepherd Boy” helped me to see the spiritual meaning of Eve’s deception and Adam accepting her sin, symbolized by the fruit of the tree. After hearing the song many times, I somehow made the connection between the shepherd boy in the song and Adam who loved his wife so much that he took her sin. Eve was just the first to be deceived/beguiled.

Rom 7:11  For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived <1818> me, and by it slew me.

2Co 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled <1818> Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

I noticed that Adam was found guilty of two things:  1) taking the fruit and 2) hearkening unto his wife. I found that “hearkening” by Adam, and others such as Abraham (another type of Christ) when he hearkened unto Sarah’s plea for a child by Hagar, is the doctrine of Mercy. As a type of Christ, I believe Adam was showing mercy to Eve. The whole matter of Eve’s deception – and Adam not being deceived – suddenly made wonderful sense to me, from seeing the spiritual side of the first sin.

Thank you for reading.

In Christ,

A____

Hi A____,

Thank you for sharing this with me. I very much agree that Adam knew what he was doing, and he placed his love for Eve above his own spiritual life and his standing with Christ, bringing the plan of God into action to have all who are in Adam subject to death.

Since we had no choice in that decision, and since Adam’s days were all written in God’s book, before there were any of them, God already had Christ “in [His] book… slain from the foundation of the world” as a propitiation for the sins of the whole world and not just for the sins of His elect in this age:

Psa 139:16  Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them. 

1Jn 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Those two verses make the meaning of “as in Adam all die” to mean just what they say. “In Christ” is not exclusive of anyone. “Not for ours only [who are] in Christ, but for the sins of the whole world”.

This is reiterated by the apostle Paul:

1Ti 4:10  For to this end we labor and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [not ‘exclusively] of them that believe.
1Ti 4:11  These things command and teach.

“These things command and teach”. Have you ever heard a sermon commanding and teaching that “Christ is the Savior of all men, specially of them that believe”? Has any minister ever shown you the scripture that teaches that “[Christ] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world”?

Those are just a few of the many dozens of verses of scripture which teach that God is in Christ bringing His entire creation, whose days He has already written in His book, to Himself through Christ, just as He gave all men over to death through “the first man Adam”.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
1Co 15:47  The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. 
1Co 15:48  As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
1Co 15:49  And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. 

These words are “not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world”.

What is missing in the doctrine of so many who come to see the Biblical teaching of the salvation of all is the means of producing that salvation. That means is through symbolic “fiery trials” in this age, and through a symbolic “lake of fire” in the coming age. It is fire that will save all men by destroying the old man and birthing the new man. This principle applies to “every man” who has ever lived:

1Co 3:13  Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. 
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

So what is it that God’s judgments accomplish?

Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

God’s judgments are ultimately for one purpose only:

1Co 11:32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world [to the “great white throne… judgment”].

God’s chastening judgments do not exclude the “great white throne… judgment”:

Rev 20:11  And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

It is the fact so many universalists leave out the entire subject of judgment which causes them to corrupt the doctrine of universal salvation.

I hope this helps you to see that just as Adam knew that he was laying his life down for his love of his wife, Eve, so to Christ has laid down His life to redeem all who are in Adam, through His death and resurrection to live His life of dying to this world in the lives of His elect of this age.

Here is another verse you may never have seen:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: 

Your brother who is praying to be granted to suffer with and to be glorified with our Lord:

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Mike

(Key verses: Gen 3:16-18)

The visible things which God created in the natural world, including “our days on the earth”, are temporary “shadows” as we walk as strangers (flesh) before God (spirit) in “the valley of the shadow of death” being “bound in affliction and iron” – all ordained by God (Rom 1:20, Psa 107:10, Isa 9:2, Amo 5:8).

Psa 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

1Ch 29:15 For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding.

As the “Sun of righteousness” arises through the light of His Word at the appointed time, we are being healed from this death condition as these shadows also become smaller and less significant:

Mal 4:2 But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

This healing is done through His process of judgment when our sinful condition is progressively revealed and eventually totally destroyed. If we can see that all God’s ways in this creation are connected to His righteous judgment, then we will also see that our loving and merciful God has a perfect and just plan for all in the first Adam. He has a very good reason why He made us physical and in “corruption” first (Jer 18:4, 1Co 15:50).

Ecc 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Deu 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.

1Co 15:46 Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

This whole earthy life sets us up for God’s final spiritual judgment through Jesus, the Word of God which is His comforting rod and staff. God brought judgment on Adam and Eve when they transgressed His commandment, which typifies God’s spiritual judgment in all of us at the appointed time:

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [Hebrew: êl or el] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

To the natural mind it appears that the actions of Adam and Eve actually changed or altered God’s plan to now bring new things, like judgment, to the fore. To believe that the thoughts and actions of creatures can alter God’s plan and purpose is an idol of the natural mind which God has placed there “so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end” (Ecc 3:11). God knows “the end from the beginning”, and He made Adam and Eve naked, which they only discovered afterwards. When we “discover” things we naturally tend to think nobody knew about it beforehand! In our natural childlike ignorance we go out to proclaim something which is already known, as in the case with Adam and Eve when they informed God what had happened. God also approaches the natural or carnal mind on the level He deceives it (Eze 14:1-10, Jer 4:10, 1Ki 22:22, 2Th 2:11).

Psa 18:26b ….with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

That is why the froward spirit which God sends within the best human argument is such a powerful delusion and it causes natural man to be puffed up in thinking of themselves as “wise” for having “vain knowledge” or “science falsely so called” (Job 15:2, 1Sa 18:10).

1Ti 6:20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.

God is not reacting to the thoughts and actions of His creature, because He is the only cause of everything in His creation. He is also not “allowing” anything to happen because the Scriptures clearly say He is “working all things after the counsel of His [one] will” and no one can resist that will, whether for good or for evil (Eph 1:11, Rom 9:16-19). His preordained judgments on all natural thoughts and actions are only revealed to us at the appointed time (Pro 16:1, Psa 139:1-3, Eze 11:5, Eph 1:11). God caused the serpent and Adam and Eve to do what was recorded in the Scriptures, and the importance of judgment is now also revealed and what that entails. First of all, it is clear that the serpent and Adam and Eve were not judged “eternally”, but the judgment was of a limited nature – until they returned to the dust (Gen 3:19). Judgment related to their thoughts and actions within the body of dust which God created in naked, weak flesh and for which He ordained a basic diet of plant life, as no meat was eaten before the flood of Noah:

Gen 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

Eating “every herb bearing seed” and green plants is spiritually seen as the “diet” of a weak and immature spiritual person in the Scriptures:

Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.

As with the natural shadow, an immature spiritual person is called a babe or a child in the Scriptures, and this is also linked to the drinking of milk in a spiritual sense. In this spiritual state we are not skilled as yet in God’s “word of righteousness”:

Heb 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

Like Adam and Eve, we all start off as babies in spiritual blindness. When we are introduced to Jesus Christ, judgment is one of the principles of the doctrine of Christ which are taught to us, especially as it specifically relates to the laying of the foundation on which the deeper spiritual revelations of Jesus are built:

Heb 6:1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection [maturity]; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Heb 6:2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.
Heb 6:3 And this will we do, if God permit.

The word “eternal” next to judgment in verse 2 is wrongly translated as such. It is translated from the Greek word “aionios” which relates rather to an age or limited period. Every person “in Adam” is first given an age or period in this carnal blinded condition “under the law…in [our natural] members”, which is a state of spiritual death. Nothing relating to this period is “eternal” – neither “the body of this death” nor the mind of death. Death is in essence a temporary creation of God (Gen 2:7, Isa 25:8).

Rom 7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
Rom 7:24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

All in the first Adam are appointed by God to first experience this state of spiritual death, before the final judgment is brought on us when this eon of death is completely destroyed. ALL death (all carnal minds) will be destroyed and consumed by the life and mind of Christ:

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave [Greek: ‘hades‘], where is thy victory?

This limitation God placed on death also reveals God’s mercy, especially in judgment, and not as the false teaching of “eternal” judgment wants to portray our loving God. God’s mercy does not replace His judgment as some twist the scriptures to say. It is through this process of judgment that His mercy is revealed to all as He will utterly destroy the old sinful first man Adam (who has no mercy himself) to bring forth His new creation in the last Adam, Christ (1Co 15:45, 2Co 5:17).

Jas 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

God’s judgment is purposeful and is befitting His holy discretion (Luk 12:47-48, Heb 10:30). He is indeed “wonderful in counsel and excellent in working”:

Isa 28:24 Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? doth he open and break the clods of his ground?
Isa 28:25 When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?
Isa 28:26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
Isa 28:27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
Isa 28:28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever [continually] be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
Isa 28:29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working.

This is not merely an instruction in agriculture, but it is showing us that God’s mercy in judgment is far above human ways of judgment and their understanding of it (Rom 11:30-32).

2Sa 24:14 And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.

God is a loving and merciful God, and He wants us to know Him and receive His righteousness (in spirit and truth) eventually. That is why God ordained the “strange work” of judgment as the spiritual “tool” to teach and give us His righteousness (Isa 26:9, Isa 28:21-22). This is, of course, foolishness to the natural mind (1Co 2:14).

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to [Hebrew: êl or el] thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

When God told Eve that He will “greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception” it was all “settled in heaven” long before Eve was created (Psa 119:89). We know that Eve did not give birth before her “eyes were opened”. Only after this opening of her eyes, God then revealed to her a little more of what conception was all about. God already ordained this sorrowful conception before the world began and long before Adam and Eve transgressed. This physical “sorrow and …conception” is therefore a type (a shadow) of the real spiritual conception process in and through Christ, the last Adam, the spiritual “mother of all living” in spirit. That is why Eve was named as such after this judgment was pronounced:

2Ti 1:8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

Patience and pain are naturally true for every child being born, but more so in the spiritual application and antitype which is the focus for those whose spiritual wombs are being prepared to be that spiritual mother (Rom 8:20-23, Rev 20:4-6, 11-15). New birth does not come instantly through a “Lord, Lord” prayer, but by doing what he said (Mat 7:21). That is to “bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things” written (Mat 4:4). This includes the enduring of the wrath of God on our old man as symbolized by the outpouring of the seven vials in the revelation of Jesus (Act 22:14, Rev 15:8, Col 1:24). God’s “face” (His spiritual image) is revealed “from glory to glory” in the progressive destruction of our old man by His spirit (1Co 15:31, Joh 6:63).

Exo 33:18 And he [Moses] said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
Exo 33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
Exo 33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

2Co 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The Hebrew word ‘êl‘ or ‘el‘ in Genesis 3 verse 16 is also translated 151 times as “against” in the King James translation, which helps us to see Eve as a type of the church of God who is being “married” to the Head, Jesus Christ. Marriage is a process of becoming one – making two one (Mar 10:8-9). We naturally have desires which are against the spiritual rulership of Jesus in our lives. We also complain and murmur against our Maker for doing His works (which are His words) in our lives (Exo 16:8, Psa 106:24-25, Joh 14:10, Mat 4:4). But He will eventually rule over all in the first Adam:

1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Eph 5:23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
Eph 5:24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Next week, God willing, we will continue discussing this theme of judgment as revealed in Genesis for the first time in the Scriptures.

[The writer may be reached at glgroenewald@gmail .com for questions or comments.]
[Detailed studies and emails written relating to these foundational themes in Scripture are available on the www.iswasandwillbe.com website, including:]

How do we Apply the Sum of God’s Word to Scripture?
What is Aionios Life?
After the Counsel of His Own Will
Aionian Life is not Eternal

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Adam and Eve experienced this darkness of evil through their inherent lusts before they even touched the forbidden fruit. God created and “works all things” with a holy and loving purpose according to His one will (Eph 1:11). After the serpent tempted and “beguiled Eve through his subtlety”, the evil lusts in her were ‘enticed’, and that also happened inside Adam “with her” (Gen 3:1-5, 2Co 11:3):

Gen 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [the lust of the flesh], and that it was pleasant to the eyes [the lust of the eyes], and a tree to be desired to make one wise [the pride of life], she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

We know that Jesus was created by God, the Father, to be the Creator and God of this creation (Rev 3:14, Joh 16:27, Joh 17:8, Col 1:15-17, Heb 1:1-4, Joh 1:1-4). With Jesus’ incarnation He was made of the same weak and corruptible flesh as all in the generation of the first Adam (1Co 15:42-44). As we see in the story of Adam and Eve, all in Adamic flesh are preordained by God to go through temptations and trials for His purposes (Isa 46:10-11). Jesus, “in the days of His flesh”, was not exempted from anything which all in the first Adam are subjected to by God’s design:

Heb 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

Heb 5:7 Who [Jesus] in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death [“the body of this death” (Rom 7:24)], and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.
Heb 5:9 And being made perfect [Greek aorist tense], he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.

Jesus, as a “son of man” (or son of Adam), had to grow through a process of maturing like all of us and had no problem to associate Himself, even in that respect, with the generation of the first Adam. The first man Adam’s flesh was ‘not good’ – it is called “corruption” (1Co 15:42-44, Psa 8:1-9, Heb 2:6-9, Mat 8:20, Mat 11:19, Mat 12:40, Mat 19:17). As the spiritual “son of God”, Jesud was subjected to ‘all points’ of temptation in His flesh, yet “without sin”. Jesus was indeed separated from sinners – He did not give in to those temptations to conceive and to bring forth sin (Mat 4:1-11, Joh 1:14, 1Jn 1:1):

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities [our fleshly nature with all its lusts]; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Heb 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who [Jesus] is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;

Although Jesus was conceived in His earthly mother by the holy spirit of God, He shared this same ‘body of sin’ through Mary, who also was of “the loins” of David (Mat 1:18-20). Mary had the same egg as any other natural woman who becomes pregnant, and any false teaching of an “immaculate” conception of Mary is foreign to the Scriptures. Jesus was “made of a woman”, and any natural woman can only bring forth a natural offspring which links him directly to the generation of the first man Adam (Mat 19:17, Luk 3:23-38, Act 2:30, Rom 1:3). The spirit of the antichrist cannot accept this truth (1Jn 4:3). All things in Adam applied to Jesus “in the days of his flesh” also these verses:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Jesus’ resistance to the temptation in the wilderness and surrendering His will to that of the Father shows us why He was “yet without sin” and “knew no sin”, even while He was “after the flesh”:

Luk 22:42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

2Co 5:16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

Jesus Christ is indeed our sin offering. His “body of sin” was subject to corruption and had to die or ‘go away’ to open ‘the way’ for the new ‘body’ to come, even “the body of [the] Christ” for all in the generation of the first Adam (Heb 10:20, Joh 14:6, 1Co 12:27):

Rom 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

Joh 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I [in flesh] go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Lev 4:3 If the priest that is anointed [Lev 21:10-23, Psa 133:2. The Greek Septuagint also has ‘chief priest’ which is the high priest as a type of Christ] do sin according to the sin of the people [have a ‘body of sin’]; then let him bring for his sin, which he hath sinned, a young bullock without blemish unto the LORD for a sin offering.

“Christ after the flesh” had to grow up as a normal human being ‘under the law’ (Mat 3:15, Mat 5:17-20, Mat 9:16-17). When He started His spiritual ministry, He openly defied the carnal laws of Moses (Heb 7:9-28, Mat 5:21-48, Joh 5:1-18, Joh 8:3-11, Mat 12:1-8). Natural laws in their various forms apply to the natural man. This relates to all in the first Adam who is “under the law” or “under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the Father”. When grace and truth come, the elected ones are given “the spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance” while they are yet in natural bodies of flesh. They are ‘reaching forth’ and ‘follow after’ the final “redemption of the purchased possession” at the resurrection of the dead (Joh 1:17, Gal 4:2, Eph 1:13-14, 1Co 15:17-20):

Php 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
Php 3:11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
Php 3:12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

As Jesus associated with the flesh of our old Adam, so His church now associates with the “purchased possession” of a spiritual “body” of incorruption – the “church of God” (Act 20:28, 1Ti 3:15, Heb 12:23). Through Jesus, this is ‘now made manifest’ to those who can receive it. The first Adam was preordained by God to come in a body of corruption and to suffer patiently under temptations and trials:

Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Jesus is making it known to them whom He has chosen to overcome sin by His spirit – which is His Word (Joh 6:63):

Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Joh 16:15 (1912 WNT) Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit of Truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you.

Temptations influence and affect young and old the same, and not one person without the spirit of God can stand against the serpent’s wiles and devices. It is only by the “blood of the Lamb” and the “word of their testimony” anyone will know and discern the ‘devices’ of the serpent:

Rev 12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

2Co 2:11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

His “devices” are always following the same pattern, as the events in the garden of Eden and in the wilderness with Jesus demonstrates. He misrepresents the commandment or law of God. The serpent approached Jesus with the same challenge to God’s words:

Mat 3:16-17 to Mat 4:1-3 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased

Hi,

Hope you’re well and your family, too. I couldn’t find an answer to my question on your website. Who was Cain’s wife? I know it says he found her in the land of Nod, east of Eden “out of the presence of the Lord”, which would mean that Adam and Eve lived in the presence of the Lord in Eden (out of the Garden though).
Would this also mean that Adam was the first man created by God in the Garden, then after that God created others outside the Garden, after creating Adam? (Gen 5). The reason I am saying this is because in Gen 6:2 it talks about the sons of God. Literally speaking, if a man like Adam had no father, he would be in that sense, a son of God as stated in Luk 3:38. Therefore, were these “sons of God” people God possibly created outside Eden? Cain was afraid that if the Lord drove him away from His presence (in Eden) people would find him and kill him. Could these be others God created outside the Garden, after creating Adam and Eve?
I assume God’s presence, even though we know him to be present everywhere, was thought by Adam and his family to be in Eden, because of the fact that no one could enter the Garden of Eden, because it was supernaturally protected by God’s Cherubim and a flaming sword, therefore God “must be in that area”.
Finally, if my thinking is way off, I ask like a fool, may it just be that Cain married one of his sisters and all of Adam’s children married a brother or sister or niece, just to get the population going, as God says “be fruitful and multiply”. I know that the Law of Moses came later on, therefore “where there is no law, there is no record of sin”, therefore marrying a sister was okay before the law. I’m going to cut it short here because I could go on and on. My purpose is just to gain some understanding in this matter and grow in the Lord. I’m willing to accept anything as long as it is the truth, and give up anything that is a lie. God bless you, and I hope you have time to answer this.

Thank you,
J____

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask “Where did Cain get his wife?”

You have shared with me your speculation that Cain’s wife was part of a separate creation “outside of the garden of Eden”.
I am very pleased that you have considered that Cain could have married a sister, because that is what the scriptures reveal in these two verses:

Gen 2:21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
Gen 2:22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Gen 2:23 And Adam 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.

Eve came out of Adam, and all who have ever been born since that time have come “by” or through Eve, just as all of the creation came by and through Christ.

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

So all who have ever lived came “by” or through mother Eve who came from our father Adam. She is “the mother of all living”.

Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.

That is how we are instructed to understand the God- head. Everything is of God, but “by” Christ.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
1Co 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
1Co 11:3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.
1Co 11:12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

You made this statement in this e- mail:

My purpose isjust togain some understanding in this matter and grow in the Lord. I’m willing to accept anything as long as it is the truth, and give up anything that is a lie.

We are not told how old the two sons were when Cain killed Abel, nor are we told how many children Adam and Eve had, but we are specifically told:

Gen 5:4 And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters:

If we “let God be true and every man a liar”, then we must conclude that all men are “in Adam” and not in someone created “outside of the garden of Eden”.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Rom 3:4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.

So if our faith is in the Word of God, we can safely conclude that Eve came “out… of Adam”, and “Eve is the mother of all living”, including Cain’s wife.
Therefore Cain had to have married one of his sisters, which, as you point out, was not prohibited until Moses.
I am very much encouraged with the depth of the understanding of the total sovereignty of God you express in this e- mail. You have been granted to know the mind of Christ much better than any big name minister who is still teaching the false doctrine of “free will”.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

I hope this is all of some help to you.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike

I enjoy your bible teaching. I would like to know who is Satan’s seed as in Gen 3:15. I believe it to be Cain. I think the sin in the garden was sexual, and Eve conceived fraternal twins by two fathers, Satan and Adam . It seems that Satan has tried to destroy God’s plan from the beginning. Who do you think Satan’s seed is?
B____

Hi B____,

Thank you for your question. I am glad that you enjoy the teachings on the site. You are right about Satan’s seed being Cain. But Cain is not ‘Satan’s seed’ because Eve had sex with Satan. The Bible states clearly that Adam and Eve are the physical parents of Cain.

Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

“Adam knew Eve” is the old English way of saying that Adam had sex with Eve. Cain’s physical father was Adam. His spiritual father was Satan because Cain’s mind and heart were given over to Satan’s carnal, rebellious way of thinking. All men are “Satan’s seed” before they come to Christ. So long as we reject the word’s of Christ we are Satan’s seed. Christ told the Jews that rejected them that they were of their Father the Devil.

Joh 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

What constitutes the ‘seed of the serpent’ is rejection of Truth. It is a spiritual relationship with the spirit known as Satan that make one “Satan’s seed.” It has nothing at all to do with physical sex. Having physical sex outside of marriage when one knows better is certainly a sign of being selfish and rebellious, but the sex itself is not the problem. The problem is the fact that the ‘seed of Satan’ is doing what he knows God does not want him to do. That is what makes anyone “of your father the devil.”

But notice, Eve said that “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” So the Truth is that God is indeed “working all things after the counsel of His own will.”

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

So while we all make what appear to us to be ‘free’ choices every day the Truth is that it is all within “the counsel of His own will.”

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

So God made Adam to do what they did. And the same is true for Cain and Abel and Seth and all their descendants to this day.

Pro 20:24 Man’s goings [ good or evil] are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Be sure to read ‘After The Counsel of His Own Will.’

I hope this helps you to see the mind of our sovereign God a little clearer.

Mike