Man: his creation, calling and communion - Chambers, Oswald

Chapter III
Man: his creation, calling  and communion
Man’s Unmaking

1. The primal anarchy (genesis 3; Romans 5:12)

(a) The serpent (genesis 3:1)

(b) The serpent and eve (2 Corinthians 11:3)

(c) The serpent, eve and Adam (1 timothy 2:14)

Original sin -doing without god

2. The preadamic anarchy (Ezekiel 28:1215)

(a) Satanic pretensions. Implied (Matthew 4:8; 2 Corinthians 4:4)

(b) Satanic perversions (genesis 3:5; implied, job 1:9)

(c) Satanic perils ( Jude 6; Matthew 16:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:9)

Origin of sin- dethroning of god

3. The punished anarchists (genesis 3:2324)

(a) Destitution and death (genesis 2:17)

(b) Division from deity (genesis 3:8, 13)

(c) Divine declaration (genesis 3:15)

Origin of salvation -daring way back to god

Now we come to the revelation statement of how sin was introduced into this world.

1. The primal anarchy

(a) The serpent

Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the l ord god had made. (genesis 3:1)

This creature was evidently a beautiful creation of gods and we must beware of imagining that it was in the beginning as it was after being cursed. After the fall, god cursed this beautiful creature into the serpent, to feed on dust and to crawl. The serpent in the physical domain is a picture of Satan in the spiritual domain. In our universe of physical things we shall find many which picture spiritual things. (this line of thought belongs to biblical philosophy, so it is only alluded to in passing. )

(b) The serpent

And eve but i fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. (2 cor- inthians 11:3).

Why did Satan come via the serpent, and to eve? Why did he not go direct to Adam? In thinking of man and woman as they were first created, it is extremely difficult, especially nowadays, to present the subject without introducing small, petty and disreputable ideas relative to the distinctions between man and woman. In Adam and eve we are dealing with the primal creations of god. Adam was created immediately by the hand of god; eve was created emediately. Eve stands for the soul side, the psychic side, of the human creation; all her sympathies, and affinities were with the other creations of god around. Adam stands for the spirit side, the kingly, god ward side. Adam and eve together are the likeness of god, and god said, let us make man in our image. . . . Male and female created he them. The revelation made here is not that woman stands as inferior to man. But that she stands in quite a different relation to all things, and that both man and woman are required for the complete creation of god referred to by the big general term man.

(c) The serpent,

Eve and Adam and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 timothy 2:14)

Eve, having this affinity and sympathy with the other creations around, would naturally listen with more unsuspecting interest to the suggestions which came through the subtle creature which spoke to her. The bible says that eve was deceived, it does not say that Adam was deceived; consequently Adam is far more responsible than eve because he sinned deliberately. There was no conscious intention to disobey in eves heart, she was deceived by the subtle wisdom of Satan via the serpent. Adam, however, was not deceived, he sinned with a deliberate understanding of what he was doing; so the bible associates sin with Adam (wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world . . . Romans 5:12) and transgression with eve (and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression).

In this connection it is of importance to note that the bible reveals that our redeemer entered into the world through the woman. Man, as man, had no part whatever in the redemption of the world; it was the seed of the woman. In protestant theology and in the protestant outlook we have suffered much from our opposition to the roman catholic church on this one point, viz. , intense antipathy to mariolatry, and we have lost the meaning of the woman side of the revelation of god. All that we understand by woman- hood and by manhood, all that we understand by fatherhood and motherhood, is embraced in the term el shaddai (genesis 17:1 RV mg). (this is a mere hint at a line of thought that cannot be taken up here. )

A distinction may legitimately be made between transgression and sin (cf. Matthew 6:1215). Transgression is nearly always an unconscious act, there is no conscious determination to do wrong. Sin is never an unconscious act, as far as culpability is concerned, it is always a conscious determination. Adam was the introduce of sin into this order of things (see Romans 5:12). Original sin is doing without god. A noticeable feature in the conduct of Adam and eve is that when god turned them out of the garden, they did not rebel. The characteristic of sin in man is fear and shame. Sin in man is doing without god, but it is not rebellion against god in its first stages.

2. The pre-adamic anarchy

(a) Satanic pretensions

The pretensions of Satan are clear. He is the god of this world and he will not allow relationship to the true god. Satan attitude is that of a pretender to the throne, he claims it as his right. Wherever and whenever the rule of god is recognised by man, Satan proceeds to in stil the tendency of mutiny and rebellion and lawlessness.

(b) Satanic perversions

Satan ever perverts what god says. Genesis 3:5 is one of the revelation facts concerning Satan (for god doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, know- ing good and evil). Remember, the characteristics of mans union with god are faith in god and love for him. This union was the first thing satan aimed at in Adam and eve, and he did it by perverting what god had said. In the case of job, Satan goes the length of trying to pervert gods idea of man. That is an amazing revelation of the power of satan! He is rep- resented as presenting himself with the sons of god in the very presence of god and trying to pervert gods mind about job. We might apply personally (not exegetically) this statement from Isaiah: a bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench. Satan is called the accuser of our brethren; he not only slanders god to us, but accuses us to god. It is as if he looked down and pointed out a handful of people and insinuated to god, now, that woman is a perfect disgrace to you, she has only one spark of grace amongst all the fibres of her life; i advise you to stamp out that spark. What is the revelation? He will raise it to a flame. Or, he points out a man and says, that man is a disgrace to you, he is a bruised reed, i wonder you build any hope on him whatever, he is a hindrance and an upset to you, break him! But no, the lord will bind him up and make him into a wonderful instrument. The old reeds were used to make wonderful musical instruments, and instead of crushing out the life that is bruised and wrong, god heals it and discourses sweet music through it.

In the revelation in genesis 3 Satan implies that god is jealous god knows that if you disobey him you will become as god. Satan perverted gods statement. He did not say that god had said it, he was too wise for that, he said, hath god said . . . ? Insinuating you do not know what god meant, but i do; he means that if you disobey him and eat of the tree, you will become as he is. I do not think that eve accepted this suggestion about god, because, if you watch, sat ans words worked in her as a deception unconsciously, all she saw was that the fruit was a delight to the eyes. Our discernment of what eve did is given to us by the spirit of god. We are not ignorant of satans devices (2 Corinthians 2:11). Satans pretension is that he is equal with god. His perversion is twofold: he tries to pervert what god says to us, and also to pervert gods mind about us.

(c) Satanic perils

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgement of the great day. ( Jude 6)

What are satanic perils? The satanic perils spring straight out of the way we are made, and in Matthew

16:2223 we come to where we live. Have you ever noticed the remarkable identification Jesus Christ makes in this passage? When peter said, be it far from thee, lord, what did our lord reply? Get thee behind me, satan. Our lord then told peter that what he had said belonged to the wrong dis- position in man, which he identifies with Satan. Beware of satanic perils when they are taken to be merely natural tendencies. Remember, satan is an awful being, he is able to deceive us on the right hand and on the left, and the first beginnings of his deceptions are along the lines of self-pity. Self-pity, self-conceit, and self-sympathy will make us accept slanders against god. Satanic perils arise out of the wrong disposition which was introduced into the human race, and that wrong disposition shows itself in self-pity and self-sympathy. Beware of slandering the old man, as is often done; i mean, beware of making the old man appear ugly. The old man does not appear ugly to anyone but the holy ghost. The old man, i. E. , the disposition that connects me with the mystical body of sin, is a highly desirable thing until i am quickened by the spirit of god and born from above; it makes me consider my rights, it makes me look after myself and consider what is good for me. Ye are they that justify yourselves in the sight of men; but god knoweth your hearts: for that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of god (luke 16:15 RV ). Then shall that wicked be revealed . . . Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:89). This verse reveals another peril, viz. , that there are tremendous and appalling external manifestations of Satan.

The curious thing nowadays is that people are watching eagerly for these manifestations of satanic power while they allow other satanic perils, e. G. , spiritualism, to have their way. Once the disposition is altered, we shall never be deluded by any of the satanic powers which manifest themselves in the external world. The great peril is the peril within, which men never think of as a peril. My right to myself, self-pity, self-conceit, consider- ation for my progress, my ways of looking at things, those things are the satanic perils which will keep us in perfect sympathy with satan. Satanic anarchy is conscious and determined opposition to god. Wherever gods rule is made known, Satan will put himself alongside and oppose it. Satans sin is at the summit of all sins; mans sin is at the foundation of all sins, and there is all the difference in the world between them. Satans sin is conscious, emphatic, and immortal rebellion against god; he has no fear, no veneration, and no respect for gods rule. Whenever gods law is stated, that is sufficient, satan will break it, and his whole purpose is to get man to do the same. Satanic anarchy is a conscious, tremendous thing. Satan is never represented in the bible as being guilty of doing wrong things: he is a wrong being. Men are responsible for doing wrong things, and they do wrong things because of the wrong disposition in them. The moral cunning of our nature makes us blame Satan when we know perfectly well we should blame ourselves; the true blame for sins lies in the wrong disposition in us. In all probability Satan is as much upset as the holy ghost is when men fall in external sin, but for a different reason. When men go into external sin and upset their lives, Satan knows perfectly well that they will want another ruler, a saviour and deliverer; as long as Satan can keep men in peace and unity and harmony apart from god, he will do so (see Luke 11:2122). Remember, then, satans sin is dethroning god.

3. The punished anarchists

We have seen in chapter ii how god punished Satan; he has reserved for him what is revealed as the eternal hell. Now we come to the punishment of Adam and eve. Therefore the lord god sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man. . . . (genesis 3:2324). It is a familiar revelation fact to us that there was no rebellion in Adam and eve. They did not fight against god, they simply went out of the garden covered with fear and shame. Satan was the originator of sin; Adam was not. Adam accepted the way eve had been deceived and sinned with his eyes open, and instantly an extraordinary thing happened:. They knew that they were naked. There is quite sufficient to indicate that when Adams spirit, soul and body were united in perfect faith and love to god, his soul was the medium through which the marvellous life of the spirit of god was brought down. The very image of god was brought down into his material body and it was clothed in an inconceiv-able splendor of light until the whole man was in the likeness of god. The moment he disobeyed, the connection with god was shut off, and spirit, soul and body tumbled into death that instant. The fact of dissolving into dust in a few years time is nothing more than death visible. Do not bring the idea of time in at all. Death happened instantly in spirit, soul and body, spiritually and psychically.

The connecting link with deity was gone, and mans spirit, soul and body tumbled into disintegrating death; and when they heard the voice of the l ord god walking in the garden, they were terrified and hid themselves. By the term death is meant that the body crumbles back into dust, the soul disappears, and the spirit goes back to god who gave it (see Ecclesiastes 12:7). Spirit is the immortal part of man. The spirit of man Is not absorbed into god, it goes back to god, who breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, with the characteristics upon it which he has developed for either the judgement or the praise of god. God turned man out of the garden of Eden into destitution, but in turning him out he put him on the way to become an infinitely grander and nobler being than even Adam was at the first. The whole bible, from genesis to revelation, instead of being a picture of despair is the very opposite. The worst is always bettered by god. God as it were, took his hand off man and let satan do the very worst that diabolical spiritual genius could do. Satan knew what would hap- pen, he knew that god would have to punish man, and god did punish him, but with the perfect certainty that the being that was to come out of the ordeal of the fall would be greater than the first Adam. Adam and eve went out from the garden covered with fear and shame. In the new testament the characteristics of the wrong disposition are fearfulness and unbelief; what does the atonement do? It takes away fearfulness and unbelief, and brings us back again into the relationship of faith and love to god. . . . Faith and love which is in Christ Jesus (1 timothy 1:14). Regeneration means that the holy spirit lifts man out of the slough he is in through sin and death into a totally new realm, and by sudden intuitions and impulses the new he is able to lift up soul and body. The soul must obey the union with god which the new life has given, or it may ultimately fall away. The new birth will bring us to the place where spirit, soul and body are identified with Christ, sanctified here and now and preserved in that condition, not by intuitions now, not by sudden impulses and marvellous workings of the new life within, but by a conscious, superior, moral integrity, transfigured through and through by our union with god through the atonement. When Adam sinned his union with god was cut off, and god turned him out of the garden and guarded the way to the tree of life, that is to say, god prevented Adam from getting back as a fallen being. If adam had got back to the tree of life as a fallen being, he would have become an incarnate devil, and god would have been finally thwarted with man; but when Adam was driven out, god placed cherubim and a gleaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life. If Adam had become an incarnate devil, there would have been the same havoc on this earth as when the angels fell; but Adam did not sin as satan sinned. Adam was covered with fear and shame, and the light that had glistened all through his physical body faded out because of sin. Jesus Christ is going to change the body of our humilia- tion and conform it to the body of his glory, and the result will be not an intuitive innocency only, but a conscious manly and womanly holiness. Holiness is the expression of the new disposition god has given us maintained against all odds. Holiness is militant, Satan is continually pressing and ardent, but holiness maintains itself. It is morality on fire and transfigured into the likeness of god. Holiness is not only what god gives me, but what i manifest that god has given me. I manifest this coruscating holiness by my reaction against sin, the world, and the devil. Wherever gods saints are in the world they are protected by a wall of fire which they do not see, but Satan does. That wicked one toucheth him not. Satan has to ask and plead for permission; as to whether god grants him permission is to do with the sovereignty of god and is not in our domain to understand. All we know is that Jesus Christ taught us to pray, lead us not into temptation. Man was turned out into destitution, and was thus divided from deity; god disappeared from him, and he disappeared from god. As mentioned before, there are three false unities possible in a mans expe- rience, viz. , sensuality, drunkenness, and the devil, whereby mans spirit, soul and body are brought into harmony and he is quite peaceful, quite happy, with no sense of death about him. A drunken man has no self-consciousness, he is perfectly delivered from all the things which disintegrate and upset. Sensuality and Satan will do the same; but each of these unities is only possible for a time. When Satan rules, mens souls are in peace, they are not troubled or upset like other men, but quite happy and peaceful. There is only one right atonement, and that is in jesus Christ; only one right unity, and that is when body, soul and spirit are united to god by the holy ghost through the marvellous atonement of the lord Jesus Christ.

The origin of salvation is a daring way back to god. How did Jesus Christ make a way back to god? Through every worst onslaught of Satan. By the sheer force of the tremendous integrity of his incarnation, Jesus Christ hewed a way straight through sin and death and hell right back to god, more than conqueror over all.

As in chapters i and ii, we are dealing here more properly with theology than with psychology, but it is these fundamental theological facts which must safeguard our psychological studies