Lesson 1: First Dispensation
Two sinless people created in the image and likeness of God. What happened to their image is told here
The Age of Innocence
This period extends from the creation of Adam and Eve to the Fall. God did not make many demands on the couple. He told them to take care of Eden, and not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Please open your Bible to Genesis Chapter 1. This dispensation is covered by Genesis 1:26-3:24.
Between the first two chapters of Genesis and Chapters 4-11 is a chapter of darkness, and darkness in Scripture points to sin. Let's first consider the first two chapters. Here we see Adam and Eve in innocence after their creation. They enjoy total fellowship with God, as they walk and talk with Him daily in Eden. They probably even talked with the animals, for there is some indication that the animals had the gift of speech prior to the Fall. Now skip Chapter 3 for a moment and go to Chapter 4. Here the reader sees murder, lust, jealousy, lying, corruption, rebellion, and wickedness of all types. Something terrible happened to cause good to go bad, and what happened can be found in Chapter 3.
What happened in Chapter 3 is called sin. It originated not in Chapter 3, but in Heaven with the fall of the angel Lucifer who wanted not only to be like God, but to actually replace Him. As far as mankind is concerned, however, every conceivable evil begins in Chapter 3 with Satan. Here we can find out almost anything about Satan that we wish to know, and his effect on all men. What happened?
Well, Satan tempted Eve. Why did he want to tempt her? Well, man was created innocent, but he was not created righteous. What is righteousness? It is innocence that is not lost even in the face of temptation. So knowing this, Satan felt pretty sure of his ground. After all, Satan is familiar with Scripture. He can quote it very well; he also twists it around. God's Word tells us "There is none righteous, no, not one." This was no doubt going through Satan's thoughts. I remember Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. saying once, "You see, temptation will do one of two things. It will either destroy a person or develop a person." Now we are talking about character here. A person is not born with character. Character has to be developed, and guess what? It can only be grown in the presence of what? Right. Temptation. Whoo! It sounds like Eve had no character. Well, some believe that is exactly right. Others say not so fast, because Eve was not born. She had no time to mature naturally and develop her character before she was approached by the Serpent. This seems to be a place where you can form your own opinion and consider yourself right either way.
We all know the story of Eve being given the apple from Satan and how she enjoyed that first delicious bite. Eve should never have taken Satan lightly, and we today should never take Satan lightly. He is a creature of tremendous ability and power, although both are limited.
Man, then, was created in innocence. He was then placed in an ideal environment. There was no decay. No death. No weeds. No thorns or thistles. There was nothing in Eden that lived off of decay, because there was no death. There was not even rain or thunderstorms, because the ground was watered from a mist from below. So it was here, in the midst of beauty that Adam and Eve were "planted." Theirs was a simple test with a dire warning. Eve fell through pride. Adam fell through choice. Although they were restored by God, the first dispensation came to an end with their expulsion from the Garden of Eden - Gan Eden, in the Hebrew.
The first dispensation is that of innocence. It is the span of time from the Creation to the Fall. The creation of what? The creation of Adam and Eve on the sixth day. Here we are specifically talking about the creation of man, but let's review for a moment all of the days of creation:
- Day (1) - Light
- Day (2) - Firmament or Air Spaces
- Day (3) - Dry Land and Plant Life
- Day (4) - Sun, Moon, and Start
- Day (5) - Birds and Fish
- Day (6) - Animal Life and Man
- Day (7) - God rested
In connection with the creation of man, the question is always asked: "Did Adam and Eve have a "belly button?"
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" Who is the our in this verse? Our refers to the Trinity. You see, man is also a trinity. Man was created with a body, soul, and spirit, in the likeness of the Trinity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7).
In order for one to have an umbilicus, the organism must have been attached to its mother parent. Adam had no mother. Eve had no mother. Neither had a "belly button" because each was created by God.
At the end of the first dispensation, God promised a Redeemer who would be born of woman into the world at a much later time.
