tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-94854538787698833.post-33864057512770189862008-01-09T04:14:00.000-08:002008-01-09T04:38:49.733-08:00<a href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_9w215Mqxx60/R4S_rKiRcGI/AAAAAAAAAGI/vGXuh6Pkil8/s1600-h/eden.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5153454621902073954" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_9w215Mqxx60/R4S_rKiRcGI/AAAAAAAAAGI/vGXuh6Pkil8/s400/eden.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;color:#660000;">Question 14: How did God give His Law?</span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>As I've pointed out in earlier posts, God has two ways of working with people: His yes and no, His Law and Gospel. The same can be seen in God's giving of the Law to Adam and Eve. He did not physically give them the Ten Commandments as He later did with Moses. Instead, God gave them two trees---one that was for life and the other that would bring death. He told them that they could eat of any tree in the garden but then gave them this law:</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Genesis 3:17. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>This is the first law attested in Scripture and it demonstrates the life-and-death character of the Law. Over the centuries, some interpreters have wondered whether the tree and its fruit were poison. Others have wondered why Adam and Eve did not immediately die when they ate the fruit. But these suggestions miss the point of the Law. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>The tree was not poison but marked a boundary between doing what was right and what was wrong. It was right to eat from all the other trees in the garden. It was wrong to eat from this one tree. Breaking God's Law meant rebellion and separation from God, the author of life and blessing. So, wandering from His ways naturally brought about death. The words "in the day" do not necessarily mean that those who broke the law would die within twenty-four hours. Instead, "in the day" is a common Hebrew expression translated "when" and introduces the legal sentence against those who broke the Law.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>So, God gave the Law from the beginning. Indeed, the apostle Paul states that God even placed the Law, a natural knowledge of right and wrong, in peoples hearts (Romans 2:14--15). That is why all people yet today have a sense of right and wrong.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Readings</span><br />Romans 2:14--15</div><div>14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them</div>EEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17460954301323813380noreply@blogger.com