LESSON FOR THE SECOND SABBATH IN MARCH by C. C. L.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · March 3, 1885

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 62, No. 9

LESSON FOR THE SECOND SABBATH IN MARCH.

By C. C. L.

(See Instructor of March 4, 1885.)

THE INHERITANCE OF THE SAINTS CONTINUED.

CRITICAL NOTES.

To review briefly, we have learned from Gen. 1:26-31 that when the earth was created, man was given dominion over it and over all that it contained. At that time no curse rested upon the creation; all was perfect, and had been pronounced by the Creator very good. Man also shared in this universal perfection; for it is inconceivable that any being created after God’s own image should be possessed of mental, moral, or physical imperfections. Thus the wise man concluded as the result of his research and reasoning (Eccl. 7:29) that man is corrupted and revolted, and not thus he was made. He was made upright. The word is defined to mean “even, level; straight, or upright, righteous, just.” He was “without any irregularity, one could find no fault in him; he was upright, determined to God only, in opposition to the many inventions which he afterwards turned aside to.”—Henry. Have sought many inventions.—“Great inventions, so the inventions to become great as Gods, Gen. 3:5; the inventions of the great ones, so some; the angels that fell. Or, many inventions. Instead of resting in what God had found good, man was for seeking to mend himself, like the prodigal that left his father’s house to seek his fortune. Instead of being for one, he was for many; instead of being for God’s institutions, he was for his own inventions. The law of his creation could not hold him, but he would be at his own disposal, and follow his own sentiments and inventions.”—Henry.

Sin had no place in the dominion which God gave to man. When restored, the kingdom shall be given to the saints of the Most High (Dan. 7:18), the wicked being excluded; and the will of God shall be done in the earth as it now is in heaven. Matt. 6:10. It is clear, then, that man could hope to retain his dominion only so long as he should preserve his innocence. He remained innocent until he disobeyed God. Gen. 3:6. With that disobedience he became a sinner, and forfeited his right to the dominion. In the day that thou eatest thou shalt surely die.—Literally, “dying thou shalt die.” “From that moment thou shalt become mortal, and shalt continue in a dying state till thou die.”—Clarke.

GENESIS 3:12, 13: “Satan assumes the form of a serpent, and enters Eden. The serpent was a beautiful creature, with wings; and while flying through the air, his appearance was bright, resembling burnished gold. He did not go upon the ground, but went from place to place through the air, and ate fruit like a man. Satan entered the serpent, and took his position in the tree of knowledge, and commenced leisurely eating of the fruit.”—The Great Controversy, Vol. 1, page 35.

2 PETER 2:19: Promise them liberty.—“The subject of their great swelling speeches turns especially on liberty, that is, on the false liberty of living as they pleased, of indulging the flesh to the full. Grotius refers to certain Gnostics, whom Irenæus reports to have boasted that their soul had been liberated from all moral restraints, as if Christ had acquired for us the liberty to sin.”—Lange. Slaves of corruption.—“By whom a man is permanently overcome, of him he has also become the slave. Compare 1 Sam. 17:9. He cites martial law; by whom a man is overcome in war, by him also is he enslaved.”—Lange. Thus Adam was overcome by Satan, and brought into the slavery of sin and death; and with his fall the dominion originally intrusted with him passed into the hands of Satan. Compare John 8:34; 1 John 3:8; and Rom. 6:16.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:3, 4: The apostle admits that the gospel is a mystery to some, but explains that it is a mystery to those whose minds have been blinded by Satan. And why have they been blinded? Because they believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. They forsook the truth of God, gave themselves over to the service of Satan, became his slaves, and were delivered into his power, to be deceived into believing a lie, and finally to be lost. Compare 2 Thess. 2:10-12. C. C. L.