Since the world opposes God and has such harmful effect upon man, we must consider its origin and process of development. The world did not exist when man was created, but developed gradually after the fall of man. At the creation of man, there were only the universe, the heaven and earth, and all things; the world did not exist. The world was formed after the fall, when man became independent of God and forfeited His care. Therefore, in studying the formation of the world, we must first consider the daily requirements of man’s existence.
Four general requirements for man’s existence are clothing, food, housing and transportation. The Bible, however, divides man’s needs into three main categories: provision, protection, and pleasure. In order to maintain his existence, he needs not only the various provisions, such as clothing, food, etc., but also a means of defense to protect himself from being hurt and a form of amusement for his happiness. Therefore, the entire need for human living is included in these three all-embracing categories.
Prior to the fall, God was responsible for providing for these three needs of man. First, before man was created, God had made provision for all necessities of human life. When Adam was in the Garden of Eden, various kinds of fruit and vegetables, water, air, sunshine, and a place for shelter were provided.
Second, protection or defense was also God’s responsibility in the beginning. Today, man needs self-protection and self-defense, but in the beginning God Himself was his defense and protection. When man is under God’s care, he can escape any attack or danger.
Third, pleasure was also God’s responsibility. Some people think that amusement is sinful, but this concept is wrong. Happiness is essential to human life and is found in amusement. “And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food” (Gen. 2:9). All the trees in the Garden of Eden not only bore fruit for food, but were also pleasing and enjoyable to the eye, making one happy. God not only prepared this happy environment; at the same time He Himself was the joy of man. If man has God as his enjoyment, then man’s joy is fulfilled.
In the beginning these three great needs-supply, defense and amusement-were planned and prepared for by God, even as the needs of children today are planned and prepared for by their parents. A wife’s substance, protection and joy are entirely dependent upon her husband. In other words, her husband is her life and her all. Likewise, Adam in the Garden of Eden had no need to worry, plan, or prepare anything for himself, for God was responsible for everything. Since God supplied all man’s needs, then in reality God was his life and his all.
Alas, man fell by committing sin and was expelled from the Garden of Eden! His relationship with God became abnormal. But God prepared a covering of skins for man’s redemption, enabling him to remain in His presence. As yet, man had not lost God. However, during Cain’s lifetime man fell deeper into sin. Cain said to God, “Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the ground; and from thy face shall I be hid” (Gen. 4:14). “And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah” (v. 16). Thus man left God’s presence completely and lost God.
When he lost God, man naturally lost God’s provision, protection, and pleasure. When man lost God’s care for his livelihood, he first experienced fear; he feared the lack of supply, defense, and happiness. In other words, he feared poverty, danger, and boredom with life. Therefore, in order to meet the necessities of life and survive, man used his own strength and devised means of supply, defense, and amusement. From this time, man created a godless civilization.
Genesis 4 clearly reveals this to us. After the fall of Cain, out of his descendants were produced the founders of man’s own supply for these three great needs of life. These were the three sons of Lamech. Jabal was the father of tent-dwellers and cattlemen. Tents and cattle are for the supply of man’s living and therefore belong to the category of provision. Another son, Jubal, was the father of all that handle the harp and organ. Playing harp and organ is for pleasure; thus it belongs to the category of amusement. The third son, Tubal-cain, was the instructor of every artificer in brass and iron instruments. These instruments were formed for the purpose of defense, thus referring to the category of protection. Since these three important inventions originated at that time, humanity found no need of God. Man found within himself the answer to the need of supply, defense, and amusement. This was the civilization produced after the human race lost God-a godless life created by men.
When mankind lived a godless life, Satan immediately disguised himself and utilized these avenues as a means to possess man. He caused man to employ his entire effort to seek food and clothing for self-nurture, to invent instruments for self-defense and to design various forms of amusements for self-enjoyment. When man obtains all these, he tends to enjoy them to the utmost and become thoroughly immersed in them. The entire human life is completely usurped by these requirements, and man totally disregards God and His will. This is the first step in the formation of the world.
In the beginning, these various forms of occupations involving man’s livelihood seemed rather trivial, scattered and unsystematized. Later, Satan organized these into a more tangible and systematized world, thus entangling mankind in a tighter web. Take, for example, the matter of eating. A man requires food for his existence, but when he is engrossed in labor in order to earn enough to feed himself, he is already possessed. Moreover, Satan has systematized eating by methods of preparation, order of courses and different relishes for taste. Table and seating arrangements also involve a certain order and etiquette. Whenever man partakes of food, he is bound by these dining regulations. Other matters such as clothing, housing, marriage, funerals, occupations and amusements have been organized by Satan into various manners, orders and systems. Gradually, man has become heavily bound and thoroughly possessed by these systems and can find no way of escape.
Therefore, the formation of the world has five steps. First, man lost God. Second, he developed fear and was desperate concerning his needs. Third, he created a godless life. Fourth, Satan disguised himself and utilized man’s needs. Fifth, Satan organized man’s own supply for his needs into a system. At the completion of these five steps the world was finally formed.
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