Naida M. Parson Ph.D. - Back to Eden: Living Under the Original Blessing

BACK TO
EDEN

LIVING UNDER THE
ORIGINAL BLESSING

NAIDA M. PARSON, PH.D.

Copyright 2017 Naida M. Parson, Ph.D..

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Unless otherwise specified, scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

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I Dont Know How To Stop by Naida M. Parson, Ph.D. 2015

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ISBN: 978-1-5127-8624-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5127-8625-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017906928

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/20/2017

CONTENTS

This book is dedicated to everyone who has ever stepped foot in New Antioch Christian Fellowship where we are People Focused and Purpose Driven. You have been a church who displays that everybody matters to God.Everybody. You are a Christian community who speaks to the greatness in all of us and I have been blessed to be your Senior Pastor. So I speak to all of us when I say what God spoke to humankind at the very beginning and what His Word still speaks today. Be fruitful, my beloveds. Multiply. Fill your lives to capacity. Subdue your world and have dominion over it. I love you with my life.

And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, ( parah ) and multiply ( rabah ) and replenish the earth ( male ) and subdue it ( kabash ) and have dominion ( radah ) over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.(Genesis 1:26 KJV)

On the sixth day of creation, as God hovered over the man and the woman He had made in His image and after His likeness, He blessed them. God uttered five powerful words. Five blessings. Five abilities. Five areas of authority. This blessing gave to the newly created humankind the capacity for a full and prosperous life. He didnt just make the man and the woman and then leave them on their own. The Bible says He blessed them. The Hebrew word for blessing often means to speak well of, or over, the one being blessed. So God spoke well of them and gave them the ability to fulfill the purpose for which He created them.

Humankind still has that capacity today. We still have the blessing God spoke to all humankind. This five-fold blessing gives us the ability to do what we were created to do. In spite of our fall, and in spite of our sin, there are things that God spoke during creation that are still in effect today. For example, He spoke to the light, and there has been light ever since. He spoke to the sky, and there has been sky ever since. He spoke to plants and trees and animals, and there has been life on planet earth ever since. And He spoke blessing to the man and the woman, and our ability to perform that word has been released ever since.

God has led me to share this teaching on the original blessing that we were given back in the Garden of Eden. Sin complicated the blessing. Sin brought curses into our lives. But, sin did not cancel out the blessing. Especially, now that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of sin, we can claim and live out our original blessing. We are to continue to be fruitful and multiply, replenish, subdue, and have dominion.

The original Hebrew words are parah , rabah , male (pronounced maw-lay), kabash , and radah . In this book, we will look at them one by one and hopefully increase your faith and confidence to experience them in your life. Its a blessed lifestyle and it belongs to you.

CHAPTER 1
Parah! Be Fruitful

And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful ( p arah )

I f you are tired of living life with nothing to show for it, this is the blessing for you! God declared that you have the ability to be fruitful. You have the capacity to be fruitful. The Hebrew word parah has multiple meanings, and though correct hermeneutical exegesis (applying the strict principles of biblical interpretation) would suggest that the author may only have intended one meaning, the Bible is alive. Many biblical words unfold multiple meanings that can be used for inspirations sake. Each of the blessings God pronounced on humankind has layers of powerful abilities all enclosed in one word. The first word applied to humankind is parah ! Be fruitful!

BE PRODUCTIVE

The first meaning of the word parah that we will explore is to be productive. As God blessed humankind, He spoke out of the heavens to be productive! We are not to live a lazy lifestyle that does not produce anything. God has an attitude with things that take up space and resources, but do not produce. This was quite evident in the life of Jesus Christ, who is the image of God, the Father. Jesus cursed a fig tree that was taking up space and resources, but was not being productive.

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, May you never bear fruit again! Immediately the tree withered. (Matthew 21:1819 NIV)

Jesus also told a parable about another fig tree.

Then he told this parable: A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now Ive been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and havent found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil? (Luke 13:67 NIV)

Jesus again taught a parable about a servant who did not produce.

His master replied, You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:2630 NIV)