Hidden Secrets of the Divine Will Revealed in Genesis
God created man in his own image... male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:27-28)
And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman... Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:22-24)
Man was the pinnacle of God's creation, uniquely being made in God's own image. He was given reason, intellect, will, emotion. Man's original purpose was to procreate and subdue the earth, imitating God through the act of creating. Man would be a glorious reflection of God's goodness and beauty. God created male and female, to ensure the work of creation would continue. This was God's design and intent. From the life of one flesh, springs forth new life.
The serpent said to the woman, “Did God actually say..." "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God." When the woman saw that the tree was good... a delight... to be desired... (Genesis 3:1-6)
God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you... and I was afraid... and I hid myself.” (Genesis 3:9-10)
The devil begins by making Man doubt that God's word is trustworthy. He deceives by promising that we will be like God once we disobey Him. "Do what thou wilt" replaces "Thy Will be done." The woman then sees the object of temptation as good, delightful, desirable. Rather than protecting her and casting the serpent away, the man allows sin to occur through his passivity, then joins her in the sin. This creates alienation from God's Will. Man now hears the voice of His Creator, is afraid, and hides from God. Meanwhile, God pursues Man, seeking repentance. "Where are you?" But God only finds excuses from Man. Disorder between God and Man, and Man and Woman, now exists. A path to redeem and restore Man will need to be initiated by God.
The Lord said to the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring." To the woman he said, "Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.” To Adam he said, "You are dust, and to dust you shall return.” He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:14-24)
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, Full of Grace... You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus." Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:26-38)
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20-21)
God immediately initiates the plan of redemption upon the Fall of Man, prophesying that enmity will exist between the serpent and his seed (sin and evil) and the Woman and her Seed (Mary and Jesus). God tells Eve, and her children, that the consequence of her disobedience will result in a disordered desire to rule over her husband, as opposed to God’s creative order wherein Woman came from the rib of Man. God tells Adam, and his children, that his sin has reaped the consequence of death and damnation. The tree of life is now shielded from Man. God’s Will no longer has harmony with Man's Will.
In order to rectify the scales of justice, a son of Adam must perfectly appease God from the offense of sin, in order to allow a pathway back to God’s grace. A daughter of Eve (Mary) will be immaculately conceived for this end, to give birth to a son of Adam who is also God the Son. The tree of life will be accessible yet again, as a cross. Whereas the fallen angel tempted Eve to place her will above God's, and Adam passively allowed this to happen, now an Archangel will come to the New Eve for her Fiat, and the New Adam will actively work to bring about God’s Reign to earth.
The kingdom of God is at hand. (Mark 1:15)
The kingdom of God has come near to you. (Luke 10:9)
The kingdom of God has come upon you. (Matthew 12:28)
The kingdom of God is within you. (Luke 17:21)
He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:2)
Thy kingdom come, Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)
Paul welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. (Acts 28:30-31)
The kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power. (1 Corinthians 4:20)
Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, is our Lord, our Savior, our Messiah, our King, our Redeemer, our Mediator, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He came to undo the sin of Adam, to restore that which was lost in Eden, and to make a pathway accessible back to God the Father. In dying, He destroyed our death; in rising, He restored our life. The Person of Jesus is truly Kingdom Come.
We must be born anew through the waters of Baptism, which is the Sacrament of Faith. We then enter into the family of God, and God the Holy Ghost comes to dwell within us. We become true temples of God. Jesus sent His Spirit to us so that our sins could be forgiven and so we could walk in holiness as God's children. The Cross is where Our Lord secured our redemption, and now He calls us to the life of sanctification in the Holy Spirit. As we grow in grace, so too, the reign of the Kingdom of God grows within us. The Sacraments are our lifeline to the Divine Life of God in our souls.
Through the work of God within us, as the Divine Will takes greater precedence with each passing moment over our human will, God begins to see the reflection of goodness and beauty that He intended with Eden. While the world may continue to visibly deteriorate into more darkness, our eyes are being renewed to see the eternal perspective radiant in all things and their desired end. We become light for the world and salt for the earth. The world is passing away, while God is preparing us for an eternal inheritance.
We see that our lives carry great purpose. To know, love, and serve God. And to bring about His Kingdom on earth.
