World Population is exploding exponentially right now! Let's walk back in time. Secular science sources know little about our population history BC (Before Christ). It's generally agree that the population of earth was about 300 million persons during the times of the Roman Empire--when Christ the Son of God came into the world as a man.
The Apostle Luke has given us the lineage of Jesus all the way back to Adam. This is the blood line of Jesus; Matthew gives the royal line of Jesus back to David.
Arthur Custance published some years back two monumental books, The Virgin Birth and the Incarnation, and The Seed of the Woman--on the genetic heritage of Jesus transmitted by the "seed of Eve" rather than by the sperm of Adam.
Original sin, Custance posited, was transmitted by the male sperm rather than by the female ovum. Thus the human race could only be saved in a sinless man, untainted by the fall, who was born into the line of Adam.
For this reason, Jesus is called the "Second" or "Last Adam."
So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being’; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the physical, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; and as is the man of heaven, so are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we will also bear the image of the man of heaven." (1 Corinthians 15:42-49)
The early church did not conceive of this original sin of Adam as being biologically transmitted, or that later generations were to be punished for the deeds of a remote ancestor. It was Augustine who took this step, locating sin itself in male semen: when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit they were ashamed and covered their genitals, identifying the place from which the first sin was passed on to all succeeding generations. (The human genome is transmitted by both male and female parents, but our gender identity is determined by our father.) The term "seed of the woman" is somewhat paradoxical, but Custance is thorough in his reasoning.
Only Jesus Christ, who was not conceived by human semen, was free of the stain passed down to us all from Adam. Augustine's idea was based on the ancient world's ideas on biology, according to which male sperm contained the entire unborn baby, the mother's womb being no more than a nurturing chamber in which it grew.
As to world population before Christ: Population growth rates for the past two thousand years are well known. Disasters, such as a plague, don't change the overall picture much. For the earth Before Christ it's easy to see that the human race probable started about 6000 BC. There is no need to listen to the mythology of secular sources! Much detail about our origins is to be found in Genesis. Adam's Diary of Creation and the Fall shows that our original parents had their first sons, Cain and Abel, when they were about 100 years old.
The chart above shows that Adam lived a full and complex life. As noted, he and Eve had no offspring for about 100 years. (As far as we know, Adam and Eve did not discover sexual intercourse until long after they left the Garden.) All their offspring were born after the Fall and after their parents' exclusion from the Garden.
What a shock it must have been when Adam and Eve discovered their #2 son Abel had been murdered by his older brother, Cain, the #1 son, the first born. Our first parents were in for a steep learning curve as the many consequences of their disobedience unfolded.
But both Adam and Eve knew God personally, because God tracked them down after the Fall--see Genesis Chapter 3 below. God has pursued all their offspring (us), ever since.
2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance."
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. “Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.“ (Genesis 1:26-31)
“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 being. Life in God’s Garden The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...“ (Genesis 2:7-9)
"...Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; “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.” And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Out of the ground the LORD God (had) formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. And Adam said: “This is now 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 mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:15-23)
Adam was a full grown man, in appearance perhaps about 30 thirty years old, when God brought him into being as the first human, as "Adam/Eve."
The trees in the Garden had no growth rings. Adam lacked a navel. There was an appearance of age everywhere in the newly completed creation. The quality of time, however, was very different back then. "...with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day." (2 Peter 3:8) [See It's About Time].
Adam and Eve did know God before and after the Fall! Chapter 3 makes that evident. See also, The Anguish of Adam.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.” ’ But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ He said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.’ He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent tricked me, and I ate.’ The Lord God said to the serpent,
‘Because you have done this,
cursed are you among all animals
and among all wild creatures;
upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.’
To the woman he said,
‘I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.’
And to the man he said,
‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,
and have eaten of the tree
about which I commanded you,
“You shall not eat of it”,
cursed is the ground because of you;
in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
until you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.’The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all who live.
And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said, ‘See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever’— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3)
God commissioned our first parents to "fill the earth" (with people). That's been done!
Adam and Eve and their descendants (us) have done a lousy job running the affairs of the planet, obviously. Our Lost Dominion is about to be undone! Jesus, the "Second Adam" is even now intervening to heal, to overturn, to judge, to cleanse!
Efforts by man to lower population growth have failed dismally. India and China, for example, both tried and failed miserable. Population grow in America is currently low, but we only have about 5% of the world population. Our vote among 200+ nations carries little weight! Huge population decreases are to be seen in the Book of the Revelation. This will begin soon after the Rapture along with other great calamities.
God created sex not only for procreation but also for pleasure. (Both the male penis and the female clitoris are crammed with extra sensory nerves, as you probably know.) The procreation part of sex is surely now ending. Most sexual expression today is for pleasure. Unwanted embryos are quickly disposed of by abortion--at the rate of about 37 million fetuses per year (Worldometers.info).
But sexual expression--as intended by God--has always been limited to heterosexual marriage! This is a real shocker for many today, not helped by the low estate of traditional marriage now. The faulty teaching of "the church" has often made things worse! As a corollary, every child conceived by committed parents should be admitted into a loving family unit...
Just about everyone these days is sexually active! This reflects a huge departure from the standards given to us in Genesis and echoed everywhere in the New Testament!
The links below should be helpful if you are ready for more exciting news of our Creator's diagnosis of our condition, and His plans for a complete renewing of all things.
Life on earth has not been getting better and better since the exit of Adam and Eve from Eden, or since the New Testament was written. Mere survival by the remaining followers of Jesus is increasingly difficult. The Bible has anticipated this.
“Let each one remain in the same calling in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not be concerned about it; but if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called while free is Christ’s slave. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in that state in which he was called...
But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away...” (1 Corinthians 7:20-31)
Because there are few godly families around now and many unwanted boys and girls leave “home” and fend for themselves, the social order is defaulting rapidly. A huge disparity exists between Gens x, y, and z and their parents! The world is full of orphans and unwanted kids now.
Signs of Collapse are everywhere. But most of us--we are all Adam’s kids--live in denial regarding God the absent owner — and denial is not a River in Egypt.
As a reference point for reality (as God sees it), our Creator has recorded the history of one nation—Israel—as a model nation. The fall of our once great nation is given to us, in a mirror as it were, by the prophet Jeremiah. Reading what Jeremiah the Prophet wrote 2600 years ago is chilling. (See Ray Stedman’s commentary, Death of a Nation. It was their compromise with the pagan religion of the Canaanites that tuned Israel away from the rich, full life to be found in serving the one true God. Long story...)
Because of such abuse of sex for generations, it has been suggested by serious observers that the gift of sex is about to be taken away from us! It does seem that genital sex will be unnecessary and even inappropriate in heaven.
Jesus was single, celibate and godly during his first visit to the planet. Therefore is makes sense that His Bride, the true church, should be a virgin, or at least revirginized. For the record, an ominous admonition about all this was given to us in the First Century AD by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
But fornication (porneia) and impurity (akatharsia) of any kind, or covetousness (pleonexia), must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Entirely out of place is obscene, silly, and vulgar talk; but instead, let there be thanksgiving. Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure person, or one who is greedy (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath (orge) of God comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore do not be associated with them. For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly;but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,
‘Sleeper, awake!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Saviour. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendour, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body.
‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.
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November 17, 2021