Life Everlasting: On Death, Dying, and the Future Hope
Death in a Sinful World
Lesson #2 for October 8, 2022
Scriptures:Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-7; Psalm 115:17; John 5:28-29; Romans 5:12; 2 Corinthians 5:21.
[From the writings of Ellen G. White=EGW:] Satan was envious and jealous of Jesus Christ. Yet when all the angels bowed to Jesus to acknowledge his supremacy and high authority and rightful rule, Satan bowed with them; but his heart was filled with envy and hatred. Christ had been taken into the special counsel of God in regard to his plans, while Satan was unacquainted with them. He did not understand, neither was he permitted to know, the purposes of God. But Christ was acknowledged sovereign of Heaven, his power and authority to be the same as that of God himself. Satan thought that he was himself a favorite in Heaven among the angels. He had been highly exalted; but this did not call forth from him gratitude and praise to his Creator. He aspired to the height of God himself. He gloried in his loftiness. He knew that he was honored by the angels. He had a special mission to execute. He had been near the great Creator, and the ceaseless beams of glorious light enshrouding the eternal God, had shone especially upon him. Satan thought how angels had obeyed his command with pleasurable alacrity. Were not his garments light and beautiful? Why should Christ thus be honored before himself??Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy,* vol. 1, 18.1 [1870].†‡ [How did Ellen White learn these things? We are talking about Satan’s thoughts! Only God could know.]‡
[EGW:] If he could, in any way, beguile them [Adam and Eve] to disobedience, God would make some provision whereby they might be pardoned, and then himself and all the fallen angels would be in a fair way to share with them of God’s mercy.?Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy,* vol. 1, 30.4 [1870].†‡ The Story of Redemption*¶ 27.3.†‡
Genesis 2:16-17: 16He [God] said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, 17except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”CAmerican Bible Society. (1992). The Holy Bible: The Good News Translation* (2nd ed.,Genesis 2:16-17). New York: American Bible Society [abbreviated as Good News Bible].†‡
[EGW:] The tree of knowledge had been made a test of their obedience and their love to God. The Lord had seen fit to lay upon them but one prohibition as to the use of all that was in the garden; but if they should disregard His will in this particular, they would incur the guilt of transgression. Satan was not to follow them with continual temptations; he could have access to them only at the forbidden tree. Should they attempt to investigate its nature, they would be exposed to his wiles. They were admonished to give careful heed to the warning which God had sent them and to be content with the instruction which He had seen fit to impart.?Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets* 53.3.†‡ [So, was the tree a test? Or, protection?]‡
[EGW:] By partaking of this tree, he declared, they would attain to a more exalted sphere of existence and enter a broader field of knowledge. He himself had eaten of the forbidden fruit, and as a result had acquired the power of speech. And he insinuated that the Lord jealously desired to withhold it from them, lest they should be exalted to equality with Himself. It was because of its wonderful properties, imparting wisdom and power, that He had prohibited them from tasting or even touching it. The tempter intimated that the divine warning was not to be actually fulfilled; it was designed merely to intimidate them. How could it be possible for them to die? Had they not eaten of the tree of life? God had been seeking to prevent them from reaching a nobler development and finding greater happiness.?Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets* 54.2†‡
Genesis 3:1-4: 1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made. The snake asked the woman, “Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?”
2 “We may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden,” the woman answered, 3“except the tree in the middle of it. God told us not to eat the fruit of that tree or even touch it; if we do, we will die.”
4The snake replied, “That’s not true; you will not die.”?Good News Bible.*†
[From the Bible study guide=BSG:] The reader is alerted to the fact that our first parents dealt with Satan and not a mere reptile, because the serpent spoke and opposed God directly. God used “surely” or “certainly,” and Satan emphasized it too. The devil then supported his claim with two deceptive lies: “ ‘Your eyes will be opened’ ” (i.e., you will gain special new insights, become wise), and “ ‘you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen. 3:5, ESV) (i.e., able to decide what is good and what is evil). Satan, a master of intrigues, presented disobedience as a matter of freedom and gain.?Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 27.†‡§
[BSG:] Unfortunately, in deciding between the two conflicting statements, Eve ignored three basic principles: (1) human reason is not always the safest way to evaluate spiritual matters; (2) the Word of God can appear to be illogical and senseless to us, but it is always right and trustworthy; and (3) there are things that are not evil or wrong in themselves, but God has chosen them as tests of obedience.?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Sunday, October 2.‡ [Was the tree really a “test of obedience”? Or, as we discussed earlier, a protection?]‡
Genesis 3:6-7: 6 The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it. 7As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.?Good News Bible.*
[BSG:] First, she saw that from a dietary perspective, “the tree was good for food.” Second, from an aesthetic viewpoint, she saw that “it was a delight to the eyes.” Third, from a logical analysis, “the tree was desirable to make one wise.” Hence, in her own mind, she certainly had good reasons to heed the words of the serpent and to eat from the forbidden tree. Unfortunately, this is what she did.?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Monday, October 3.‡§
[BSG:] First, he generalized God’s specific prohibition. He asked her, “ ‘Has God really said, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?” ’ ” (Gen. 3:1, NASB). Eve counterargued that the prohibition was in regard only to that specific tree, for if they were ever to eat from it or touch it, they would die.
Then, Satan contradicted God’s statement. He asserted categorically, “ ‘You certainly will not die!’ ” (Gen. 3:4, NASB).
And finally, Satan accused God of deliberately suppressing essential knowledge from her and her husband. The deceiver argued, “ ‘For God knows that on the day you eat from it [the forbidden fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing good and evil’ ” (Gen. 3:5, NASB).?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Monday, October 3.†‡§ [Note that the brackets and the content in the brackets in the paragraph are in the Bible study guide, but brackets in the introduction are added.]‡
[EGW:] His [Satan’s] followers were seeking him; and he aroused himself and, assuming a look of defiance, informed them of his plans to wrest from God the noble Adam and his companion Eve. If he could, in any way, beguile them to disobedience, God would make some provision whereby they might be pardoned, and then [Satan] himself and all the fallen angels would be in a fair way to share with them of God’s mercy. If this should fail, they could unite with Adam and Eve; for when once they should transgress the law of God, they [humans] would be subjects of God’s wrath, like themselves [Satan and his evil angels]. Their transgression would place them also, in a state of rebellion; and they could unite with Adam and Eve, take possession of Eden, and hold it as their home. And if they could gain access to the tree of life in the midst of the garden, their strength would, they thought, be equal to that of the holy angels, and even God himself could not expel them….
He sought to impress upon them that this was their last and only hope. If they failed here, all prospect of regaining and controlling Heaven, or any part of God=s creation, was hopeless.?Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy,* vol. 1, 30.4-5.†‡
[EGW:] [After the fall] Angels were commissioned to immediately guard the way of the tree of life. It was Satan’s studied plan that Adam and Eve should disobey God, receive his frown, and then partake of the tree of life, that they might perpetuate a life of sin. But holy angels were sent to debar their way to the tree of life. Around these angels flashed beams of light on every side, which had the appearance of glittering swords.?Ellen G. White, Spirit of Prophecy,* vol. 1, 44.2.†‡
[BSG:] Then, Satan contradicted God’s statement. He asserted categorically, “ ‘You certainly will not die!’ ” (Gen. 3:4, NASB).?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Monday, October 3.‡§ [Satan called God a liar.]‡
[BSG:] One powerful manifestation of this lie is seen in the common belief in the immortality of the soul. This notion was the basis of many ancient religions and philosophies. In ancient Egypt, it motivated the mummification practices and the funerary architecture, such as that seen in the pyramids.
This theory also became one of the main pillars of Greek philosophy. For example, in The Republic of Plato, Socrates asks Glaucon: “Are you not aware that our soul is immortal and never perishes?” In Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates argued in a similar tone, saying that the “soul is immortal and imperishable, and our souls really will exist in Hades.” These philosophical concepts would shape much of the Western culture and even post-Apostolic Christianity. But they originated much earlier, in the Garden of Eden, with Satan himself.
At the core of the Edenic temptation, Satan assured Eve, “ ‘You certainly will not die!’ ” (Gen. 3:4, NASB). With this emphatic assertion, Satan put his own word above the word of God [and in direct conflict with the word of God!].?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Tuesday, October 4.‡§
Psalm 115:17: The LORD is not praised by the dead,
by any who go down to the land of silence.?Good News Bible.*
John 5:28-29: 28 [Jesus said:] “Do not be surprised at this; the time is coming when all the dead will hear his voice 29and come out of their graves: those who have done good will rise and live, and those who have done evil will rise and be condemned.”?Good News Bible.*‡
Psalm 146:4: When they die, they return to the dust;
on that day all their plans come to an end.?Good News Bible.*
1 Corinthians 15:51-54: 51–52 Listen to this secret truth: we shall not all die, but when the last trumpet sounds, we shall all be changed in an instant, as quickly as the blinking of an eye. For when the trumpet sounds, the dead will be raised, never to die again, and we shall all be changed. 53For what is mortal must be changed into what is immortal; what will die must be changed into what cannot die. 54So when this takes place, and the mortal has been changed into the immortal, then the scripture will come true: “Death is destroyed; victory is complete!”—Good News Bible.*†
[BSG:] In recent years, studies have been done on what are called near-death experiences (NDEs). What happens is that people “die,” in that their hearts stop beating, and they stop breathing. However, they then come back to life—but with fantastic stories of floating into another realm of existence and meeting a being of light. Some even talk about meeting long-dead relatives. Many people, even Christians who don’t understand the truth about death, believe that these stories are more proof of the immortality of the soul. However (and this should be the clearest warning that something is amiss), most who have these experiences claim that the spiritual beings whom they had met during the NDEs gave them comforting words, nice statements about love, peace, and goodness. But they hear nothing about salvation in Christ, nothing about sin, and nothing about judgment. While getting a taste of the Christian afterlife, shouldn’t they have gotten at least a smidgen of the most basic Christian teachings along with it? Yet, what they’re taught sounds mostly like New Age dogma, which could explain why, in many cases, they come away less inclined toward Christianity than they were before having “died.” Also, why did none of the Christians, convinced that their NDEs were a preview of the Christian heaven, ever get any Christian theology while there, as opposed to a big dose of New Age sentimentalism? The answer is that they were being deceived by the same person who deceived Eve in Eden, and with the same lie too.?Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Friday, October 7.‡
[BSG] Satan’s second promise also was a lie. Adam and Eve did not become like God by knowing good and evil because God does not know evil by experience (He has never sinned!). But Adam and Eve lost what they had: the capacity to discern distinctly between good and evil. A literal translation ofGenesis 3:22 reveals this fact: “Behold, humans were [not “have become”] like one of us, knowing [discerning between] good and evil, but now . . .” (for details, see Ji?í Moskala, “ ‘You Will Be Like God Knowing Good and Evil’: Discernment of Truth and Lies,” Journal of Adventist Mission Studies 12, no. 2 (2016): pp. 10–18). Thus, Adam and Eve not only lost their integrity but also the ability to know what was right and wrong. From now on they would need God’s revelation to know what was good and what was evil. They would need to depend on God’s spiritual power from outside of themselves to be able to do what was right.?Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 27-28.†‡§ [Content in brackets in the paragraph is in the Bible study guide.]‡
[EGW:] As they witnessed in drooping flower and falling leaf the first signs of decay, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than men now mourn over their dead. The death of the frail, delicate flowers was indeed a cause of sorrow; but when the goodly trees cast off their leaves, the scene brought vividly to mind the stern fact that death is the portion of every living thing.
The Garden of Eden remained upon the earth long after man had become an outcast from its pleasant paths. The fallen race were long permitted to gaze upon the home of innocence, their entrance barred only by the watching angels. At the cherubim-guarded gate of Paradise the divine glory was revealed. Hither came Adam and his sons to worship God. Here they renewed their vows of obedience to that law the transgression of which had banished them from Eden. When the tide of iniquity overspread the world, and the wickedness of men determined their destruction by a flood of waters, the hand that had planted Eden withdrew it from the earth. But in the final restitution, when there shall be “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1), it is to be restored more gloriously adorned than at the beginning.
Then they that have kept God’s commandments shall breathe in immortal vigor beneath the tree of life; and through unending ages the inhabitants of sinless worlds shall behold, in that garden of delight, a sample of the perfect work of God’s creation, untouched by the curse of sin—a sample of what the whole earth would have become, had man but fulfilled the Creator’s glorious plan.?Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets* 62.1-3.†‡
Genesis 3:15: “I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite her offspring’s heel.”?Good News Bible.*
Ephesians 2:1,5: 1 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your disobedience and sins….
5That while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved.?Good News Bible.*
Romans 6:20: When you were the slaves of sin, you were free from righteousness.?Good News Bible.*
[EGW:] When Adam, according to God’s special directions, made an offering for sin, it was to him a most painful ceremony. His hand must be raised to take life, which God alone could give, and make an offering for sin. It was the first time he had witnessed death. As he looked upon the bleeding victim, writhing in the agonies of death, he was to look forward by faith to the Son of God, whom the victim prefigured, who was to die man’s sacrifice.—Ellen G. White, The Story of Redemption* 50.1.†‡
[BSG:] Satan is trying to lead God’s people to believe that “the requirements of Christ are less strict than they once believed, and that by conformity to the world they would exert a greater influence with worldlings.”—Ellen G. White, Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, p. 474. What should we do in order not to fall into this subtle trap??Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* for Friday, October 7.‡
Ecclesiastes 9:5-6: 5Yes, the living know they are going to die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward; they are completely forgotten. 6Their loves, their hates, their passions, all died with them. They will never again take part in anything that happens in this world.?Good News Bible.*†
1 Corinthians 15:26: The last enemy to be defeated will be death.?Good News Bible.*
[BSG:] First, God searches for Adam and Eve: “ ‘Where are you?’ ” (Gen. 3:9, NKJV). This question has multiple purposes. It serves (1) as an invitation to dialogue; (2) as an offer of grace (God cries for His lost and missing children in order to provide a very costly solution to their situation); (3) to help them to realize and understand their attitude toward God following their sin (that is, instead of enjoying His presence, they hide from Him); and (4) as a trial/investigative judgment, which is held because they are accountable for their past actions toward God as their Creator and Judge.
Second, God provides a real garment (Gen. 3:21). As the nakedness of the first couple was more than a physical phenomenon, so it follows analogically that God’s garment represents more than physical dress. God gives them a garment of skin of His own making, and thus He covers sinners with the robe of His righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30, 2Cor. 5:21). The solution for the sin problem is the Messiah (Eph. 1:4, 1Pet. 1:20). Forgiveness and redemption are to be secured through God’s gracious sacrifice, represented by the death of the animal whose skin Adam and Eve wore.
Third, God creates enmity between the powers of good and evil so that we can hate evil (Gen. 3:15).
Fourth, God promises to send the Seed (Gen. 3:15) to defeat our enemy, Satan. God’s statement to the serpent lies at the center of this chapter. The Messiah will become humanity’s Redeemer and Savior, and His victorious, deliberate death will ultimately destroy Satan and consequently everyone and everything associated with him. The Messiah is the Victor and gives victory to all who connect with Him (Rom. 8:1–4). The final victory is assured by Him (Rev. 12:7–12;Rev. 19:6, 7, 15–21; Jude 24, 25).?Adult Teachers Sabbath School Bible Study Guide* 29.†‡§
©2022, Kenneth Hart, MD, MA, MPH. Permission is hereby granted for any noncommercial use of these materials. Free distribution of all or of a portion of this material such as to a Bible study class is encouraged. *Electronic version. †Bold type is added. ‡Brackets and content in brackets are added. §Italic type is in the source. ¶Compared with the first source, this source has punctuation and/or capitalization differences only. Info@theox.org Last Modified: September 6, 2022
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