Kraig Josiah Rice
Genesis- The Way I See It

Genesis Chapter Three
Salvation and God's spiritual wife

written by
Kraig J. Rice
www.7-star-admiral.com


TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Clicking on these links will move you down this web page)
Genesis chapter three- Salvation and God's spiritual wife
  What does God want from you and I?
  How can you and I obtain salvation? 		  A metaphor of God's spiritual wife

Chapter 3 Continued:

Note: Since we are on the topic of salvation, I want to continue that teaching. There are many interesting facts, principles, and doctrines in the bible book of Genesis and one of them is salvation. God has placed this gold nugget of truth in His word for us to dig out as we take time to seek Him and to study His word. His salvation leads one to have a wonderful relationship with Him. God uses the relationship of a husband and wife to help illustrate this teaching for us. The redeemed are a type of wife to Him. In such a relationship there is love, joy, faithfulness, trust, ownership, communication, and so much more. Let us take a brief look at what God has for us in this chapter.

What does God want from you and I?
God wants to possess you in love. Christ wants love, obedience, worship, and holy living from each redeemed person, and He wants everyone to know Who He is and what He did for them. Many folks respect Christ for what He did and many love Him for Who He is. These are the ones He wants to take to Heaven to be with Him for eternity.

Will you teach a little more about salvation? Yes.

How can you and I obtain salvation?
God's Plan of Salvation- it is a free gift! Jesus indicated:
"You and I must be born again." Chapter three of the Gospel of John records an interesting conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus (a Jewish leader), giving us this answer. The story goes something like this: Nicodemus asked Jesus: "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Nicodemus was thinking in terms of the flesh. Jesus had to explain to him: "that which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you: you must be born again." Jesus also explained that unless a person is born again, he cannot see or enter the kingdom of God. Obviously, this born-again experience, a spiritual change within a person, is absolutely necessary and of the utmost importance. We cannot take it lightly, for Jesus commanded: "you must."

Nicodemus could hardly believe such a thing. All his life he had been taught that good works were the key to heaven- that if a person observed all the laws and requirements of God, he would have entrance into heaven. But Jesus was talking about things of the spirit. The problem was that Nicodemus, like all human beings, was of the flesh. He was from the earth. Flesh is mortal. It is subject to death, decay, and corruption. Nothing in our sinful flesh can please God. An awesome fact exists about the flesh: everything we see, everything visible, even our own bodies, are perishing. Many people try everything imaginable to ignore or forget this, but the fact always remains that we dwell in a mortal body which will soon return to dust. The Bible says that things which are visible are temporary but things which are invisible are eternal
(2 Corinthians 4:18).

Our old state, our old nature, our depraved nature, and even all our good deeds are insufficient without Christ. In this depraved condition we are lost and without hope of eternal life. We cannot be righteous in this unconverted condition because God says through the prophet, Isaiah:
"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away"
(Isaiah 64:6).

God is totally and absolutely holy and righteous. He is perfect. But each person is tainted with sin:
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
(Romans 3:23). By our very self-seeking nature we are sinful and imperfect. And sin results in death, and eternal separation from God. This is the result of our earthly nature. It is obvious that we need a new nature, a nature that God can look upon with acceptance. A nature that stands justified before Him. We need a new birth. You must be born again. There are four important things about this new nature, the new birth, that you must know:

First, the new birth is free, a gift from God! We cannot earn it. We cannot work for it or else we could boast, and no one shall boast before God. An imperfect creature cannot earn or deserve such merit from a holy God. "For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord"
(Romans 6:23). This free gift comes to us by grace, or unmerited favor
(Ephesians 2:8-9). Only God's supreme love makes such a free and wonderful gift possible. God did not automatically excuse our sinful condition. He paid the greatest price. You see, God in His holy and righteous nature must reject and judge sin. Not to do so would deny His very nature. He Himself has decreed that "the wages of sin is death."

The most magnificent and incomparable act of love in all of history is that God took our sins and death upon Himself. Jesus, the Son of God, took the punishment in our place. By His death on a cross, He became our substitute. "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him"
(2 Corinthians 5:21). "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16). That is why Christ chose to die- to make the supreme love gift of taking all our punishment upon Himself, to reconcile the world unto God. He totally identified with us when He hung on the cross, and became sin for us, though sinless Himself, so that we might have the free gift of forgiveness and life.

The second important fact about this new nature is that it is actually the nature of the only perfect Person who ever lived, Jesus Christ. Only Jesus is good enough. Only He is perfect. Only His life is acceptable to God. It is only as we partake of His life that we become acceptable to God. Being "born again" is nothing less than receiving the actual life of the living Christ- His Spirit actually entering us and bringing our spirit to life. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me"
(Galatians 2:20). The mystery is now revealed, "that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations which is Christ in you, the hope of glory"
(Colossians 1:26,27).

Jesus' identification with us is complete. In His death, He bore our sins and suffered our death. In His resurrection, He became our life, so much so that in His Spirit we are even joined with Him. Now when the Father looks upon us He sees only the righteousness of Jesus. We are accepted. We have been born again! "If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come"
(2 Corinthians 5:17).

The third important fact is that when we are born again, we become a new creation, now. The heavenly promise is for the future and will be wonderful beyond understanding. However, at the new birth we immediately begin to experience the life of God as He guides us, walks with us, and indwells us. We experience the fruit of His Spirit such as love, joy, and peace. As we are filled with His Spirit, we experience His supernatural power manifested in life situations. Life takes on new meaning. Everything is in a new perspective. Jesus said that He came, not just to get us to heaven, but that we "might have life, and might have it abundantly"
(John 10:10).

How To Receive Him:
The fourth important fact to know is how to receive this gift. Does not every act of giving require a giver and a receiver? God, the Giver, holds out the gift to everyone. It is not His will that any should perish
(2 Peter 3:9). But to receive a gift requires that we agree to a need. We must agree as the spirit of God shows us that we are, indeed, sinful creatures in need of God's forgiveness and grace. "Unless you repent, you will likewise perish"
(Luke 13:3). Repentance means to change our mind, to turn. We must change our mind about our condition and our direction away from sin. And turn to Him.

"As many as received Him (Christ), to them He gave the right to become children of God"
(John 1:12). We receive Christ by a spiritual method that only God could create. It is not by works, because our abilities would vary and everyone would not have an equal chance. It is an opportunity that is equal regardless of intelligence, sex, age, race, social status, or wealth. It is by faith. "For by grace you have been saved through faith: and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God: Not as a result of works, that no one should boast"
(Ephesians 2:8-9).

To receive Christ, we must acknowledge our need of Who He is. Then we simply turn to Him by faith and put our trust and reliance in Him. We receive Him by invitation. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me"
(Revelation 3:20).

Do you want to be born again, right now? Do you want a new nature? Do you want to receive the most wonderful gift in the whole universe, Christ Himself? Then simply but sincerely pray: "Dear Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. I believe that You died for my sins and rose from the grave for my salvation. I invite You into my heart and receive You right now as my Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiving me. Thank You for a new life. Help me to be what You want me to be and live Your life through me. Amen."

Now What?
If you sincerely prayed that prayer and He possessed you, God says that you have new life and that you are a member of His eternal family. He desires close fellowship with you during this life and desires for you even now to live victoriously as a child of the King! Also, since He died for you, He wants you to live a holy lifestyle for Him. "And He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf"
(2 Corinthians 5:15).

As we are born again, God immediately implants a new nature within us. Some outward change may be dramatic and instant; some may come gradually. As with any newborn, our new nature needs nurture and growth. Talk to Him frequently- that's what prayer is. Read and meditate upon His Word, the Bible, and listen to His voice within you- that is another way He speaks to you. Finally, He wants you to fellowship with other believers and be a functioning part of His corporate Body. That's what church is. What church should you attend? Ask God to lead you and He will. The true test of His church is whether Jesus Christ is honored as God, and the Bible is honored solely as His Word.

This born again experience is what makes you and I a child of God. After this experience inside each of us, God adopts you and I as his child and makes us an heir to all He owns. Eternal life belongs to you and I. God takes ownership of you and I.

If you are not saved or born again then you belong to Satan by default. Satan owns you and you will receive what he is to receive- a life in hell fire. God hates sin and will not have sin with Him in Heaven. So you want to be born again in Christ Jesus and saved (from sin and hell fire).

Once Christ comes to spiritually live inside of you, you are born again, converted to Christ, or saved. These are all terms to describe this wonderful experience. So, in my writings, when I use any of these expressions, you will know what I am referring to.

This is what Genesis 3:15 is all about.

A metaphor of God's spiritual wife-

I see a metaphor in the bible in regards to God's spiritual wife. How so? God has relationships with folks- individually and collectively. We see that as we study our way through the bible, God's Word. Today, as an Overcomer, He has a relationship with you and I. How can God express His love relationship to you and I in terms that we can comprehend seeing that He is so great and is spirit? I believe He relates that to us in tangible ways that we can grasp. One of the fundamental relationships of love is marriage between a man and a woman so God can use that concept in His Word to help our understanding of what He is teaching us and what He wants us to know. Keeping that in mind, let us study about God's spiritual wife.

First of all, God is spirit and He does not have a literal wife. But He can use marriage as a metaphor to help us understand the great love that He has for you and I- and how His love is manifested in His relationships with others. Today in the church, many of us do not have a problem with more than one saved individual being spiritually referred to as the bride of Christ. In other words, many can be considered to be one- collectively. God does that because He can either work with an individual or with a collective group but His principle of love for them remains the same even though His methods and His time dealings with them may differ. Let me share this scripture with you- "...come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God, Having the glory of God- and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal..."
(Revelation 21:9-11). What do we see in this verse? We see that the bride of Christ is the redeemed of the Lord who He is taking care of in eternity (the New Jerusalem in symbolism). She wears jewels fit for a queen. That is how the Lord looks at you and I. We are valuable and precious in His sight and He seeks an eternal relationship of love with us. That should really be encouraging to us as the devil in this world will try to get us to believe the lie that we are worthless and God does not want us.

Let us look at Christ's New Testament bride. She is the same wife as the Old Testament one because the redeemed folks in the Old Testament were just as saved by the blood of the Lamb as we are today. Revelation chapter Twelve mentions this wife very frequently. Also I want to share with you a scripture from Hosea that appears to pertain to God's wife, during the Tribulation- "...afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and His goodness in the latter days"
(Hosea 3:5). So, I believe we have a sound scriptural footing in regards to God's spiritual wife as is seen in the Holy Scriptures.

The Genesis wife of God- the redeemed:
It appears that the bible begins in the book of Genesis with Adam and Eve being spiritually married to God. Even though there were two of them, at the first, they were one flesh and the spiritual wife of God. They were owned by God, had fellowship with Him, and were holy. Satan, possessing the beautifully colored serpent, in the Garden of Eden was always slinking around behind God's back trying to get this wife to betray God and run off with him. Well, you probably know the tragic drama. This wife betrayed God, ran off with the devil, and changed her ownership and name (so to speak) from God to Satan. Theologians call that the fall of mankind into sin. How is a normal husband to feel about something like that? Yes, it should make one upset and it made God upset, too. You can read that true story in the bible book of Genesis, chapter three.

Even though God's wife spiritually ran off with someone else, she eventually came back to God. How do we know that? Because Adam and Eve taught their son, Abel, that the way of salvation was through the blood of the Lamb (Jesus Christ). And that was the reason why Abel's sacrifice was accepted by God. God is very patient and forgiving and God cultivated a relationship with repentant Adam and Eve, their redeemed children, and their redeemed descendants. God considered them all to be His spiritual wife during that Genesis season. His redeemed children He called "the sons of God"
(Genesis 6:2). That was only possible because the believers were the spiritual sons of God, saved by redeeming blood. The redeemed, today, are also called the sons of God
(John 1:2; Romans 8:4, 19; Philippians 2:15; 1 John 3:1-2). God, through the prophet, Hosea, had this to say- "...and I will betroth thee unto Me for ever, yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness- and thou shalt know the Lord"
(Hosea 2:19-20).

A scriptural study about God's Genesis wife:
In Genesis 3:15. The English word translated, "woman", in that scripture, should be translated to mean, "wife", because it comes from the Hebrew word, 'ishshah, that can also be translated to mean "wife". That is important in understanding this verse-  ...and there will be spiritual war between you (Lucifer) and My wife (My Redeemed) and between your seed (the unsaved) and her spiritual Seed (Jesus Christ)- by Him will your spiritual head be crushed and by you His foot will be wounded 
(Genesis 3:15 my paraphrase). But God addressed Adam's wife when He said-  ...I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee 
(Genesis 3:16). On a side note, notice that God considered Adam and Eve to be married with His use of the words, husband and wife.

In Revelation 12:13 we read about God's wife, who brought forth the spiritual Man Child (Jesus Christ). The spiritual Man Child of the wife was and is Jesus Christ. The prophecy about Him being the Spiritual Seed of the wife of God was given in the Pentateuch. That was given in
Genesis 3:15, so, Jesus Christ is the Spiritual Seed (or descendant) of God and that is one reason He is called the Son of God. To prove that, Jesus came from Heaven to the world as the Man Child of the wife of God in His incarnation. He had a virgin birth. He had a remarkable ministry. Satan instigated the murder of Jesus Christ at the cross (the foot of Jesus was wounded, in symbolism), but because Jesus resurrected from the grave and conquered death, the ultimate power of Satan was broken (Satan's head- a head like a vicious serpent- was crushed, in symbolism). In other words, Jesus spiritually defeated Satan at the cross because Satan did not have the power to keep Jesus from resurrecting. Christ conquered over death, hell, and the grave. When Jesus did that, it helped fulfill that prophecy scripture in
Genesis 3:15. Now, that scripture is also a double fulfillment scripture. Why? Because the application of it can read this way, "...and I will put enmity between...thy spiritual seed (the unsaved) and her spiritual seed (the saved)". That means there is a spiritual battle going on between the saved and the unsaved in this world because there is a spiritual battle going on between Jesus Christ and fallen Lucifer at the same time.

What is the relevance? The relevance is that Jesus Christ is supreme, special, and unique. God has been calling out a people to Himself from the very start and Lucifer has been trying to stop Him. This spiritual battle began back then but continues on to this very day. The redeemed have been considered to be the spiritual wife of God. God's wife is special to God and He loves her very much. If you are a part of the spiritual wife of God today then you are well loved by Him. You are special and considered to be a son of God. You will have a love relationship with Christ that few will ever understand. God's blessings are for you as an overcomer.



Next Page

Genesis Chapter Three
verses 16 - 24

Back a Page

Genesis Chapter Three
verses 10 through 15


Click here to go to the Genesis book- table of contents