The Fall is now the next step on our trip

In last week's blog post I said that this week we would see how successful Adam was in meeting his obligations and responsibilities that God had given him when God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Genesis 2: 8, 15, 16 & 17;   ''And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put man whom he had formed.  And the LORD God took the man [Adam], and put him into the garden of Eden to dress [tend or cultivate] it and to keep it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die.''

We all can see that Adam's obligations and responsibilities that God gave him, appear very simple to understand; that is

• to labour for his sustenance
• to obey God by abstaining from eating the forbidden fruit.

God's specific instructions to Adam as to what he was permitted and not permitted to eat in this Edenic garden paradise were seemingly very clear ''thou mayest freely eat'', and this included ''every tree'' except the tree of the 'knowledge of good and evil''.  The Hebrew conveys very emphatically ''you may freely eat to your heart's content'', emphasising the freedom and permission of a loving, gracious God.

''Thou shalt not eat'' is in the strongest Hebrew form of prohibition.  ''Surely die'' is the strongest way to stress the certainty of death upon eating.

However, it will be now next week when we see how well Adam complied with God's requirements- but I think we all get the gist when the title for next week's blog post is ''The Fall''!

So for this week I thought I would look briefly at some references to the Holy Spirit in The Bible to help us further develop our learning and be better placed to answer the 5 questions posed in the blog post 'The Holy Spirit? - Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start' when we first embarked upon our current exciting learning journey.

As a reminder the 5 questions are:-

What is the Holy Spirit?

Why is the Holy Spirit so important?

What does the Holy Spirit do for you and for me?

How do I become filled with the Holy Spirit?

What tangible, indisputable evidence does God provide me that assures me I am filled with the Holy Spirit?

In the Old Testament the Spirit is a term used for God's outgoing energy - creative and sustaining:

Genesis 1: 2b;  ''And the Spirit of God moved [was hovering over] the face of the waters.'' 

Here at the start of first chapter of Genesis, at the very beginning of The Bible, the Spirit is credited as  being  part of God's transformational force, under His guidance and control, which takes a world  'without form and void' to one with form and fullness; summed up as follows:-

• Form: Day 1, Light and Dark; Day 2, Sea and Sky;  Day 3, Fertile Earth and;
• Fullness: Day 4, Lights of the Day and Night; Day 5, Creatures of Water and Air; Day 6, Creatures of the Land.

In the second chapter of Genesis we learn that Adam's body was shaped from the dust but he became a living soul only after God breathed the breath of life (the life giving force of the Spirit) into his nostrils:

Genesis 2: 7;  ''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.''

In the Old Testament the word soul refers to the whole person.  It identifies something that cannot be defined materially - sometimes referred to as metaphysical - and is therefore distinct from the body.  The soul is that part of us that has life - it is without material form, body or substance.

King David, the Psalmist credits the Holy Spirit as having a role in sustaining life:

Psalm 104: 29 & 30;  ''Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to dust.  Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth.''

In the Book of Job, Job's young friend Elihu makes mention to the life giving force of the Spirit:

Job 33: 4;  ''The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the almighty has given me life.''

But it is Jesus Christ at the bridge between Old and New Covenants who makes reference to the Spirit as a life giving, renewing force (through a re-birth) as being a pre-requisite for a Christian's salvation and inheritance in the Kingdom of God:

John 3: 5, 6 & 7;  John 4: 23 & 24;  ''Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  God is a Spirit: they that worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.''

That's why, by the end of our journey together we must be in a position to answer the 5 questions above confidently and with Biblical authority.

So, next week, ''The Fall''.