Genesis chapters 1-2 outline God’s creation of the universe. As the scope of the chapters narrow, the creation of the earth takes focus, including the separation of the land from the water, the creation of plants, followed by the animal creation. Although these few verses cover untold billions of years, they lead to the goal of the creative process. Genesis 1:26-30 describe the creation of the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. God gave His earthly creation to Adam and Eve with the intention that they would live in it. However, continued life came with the condition of obedience. In particular, God commanded them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. Disobeying this commandment would bring death (Genesis 2:15-17). Adam and Eve eventually chose to disobey God’s commandment, and as a result, incurred the penalty of death (Genesis 3:17-19). This death penalty was passed down to Adam and Eve’s descendants. It is the reason why all people of every generation have eventually died and is the reason why people die today.
Even though the death penalty was justly earned, it was never God’s intention to leave His creation in this state. Even as he prepared to announce the death sentence to Adam, He first indicated that He would “bruise the head” Adam and Eve’s tempter (Genesis 3:15). As God’s plan unfolded over the subsequent generations, these words began to gain clarity. At the proper time, God’s only begotten son, Jesus, took on human form and sacrificed his perfect human life. This sacrifice balanced the scales of God’s justice that were thrown out of balance by Adam’s disobedience, as summarized in 1 Corinthians 15:22. In Acts 3:6-26, the Apostle Peter talks about Jesus’ sacrifice and how it was foretold by all of God’s prophets, clearly indicating that the redemption for mankind that it brought was always God’s plan. Peter also talks about “the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:21). Restitution means a restoration of something that was lost; in this case, the restoration of the everlasting life lost through Adam’s disobedience.
Although Moses played an important role in God’s plan, he was still human and still fell under the penalty of death incurred by his ancestor Adam. God referred to Moses’ death when giving instructions to Joshua (Joshua 1:1-2). Likewise, other faithful servants of God such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob also died under mankind’s penalty of death. However, due to Jesus’ sacrifice, they, like all mankind, will be returned to life in the fulness of God’s plan. After mankind has been fully restored and delivered from the degradation of sin, death itself will be “destroyed” (1 Corinthians 15:26) as mankind enjoys the everlasting life always intended for His creation. From this perspective, Jesus referred to God as “not the God of the dead, but the God of the living” (Mark 12:16-27, Luke 20:34-38).
