The Three Ordered Stages of the Growing Period

The universe unfolds and manifests God’s original internal nature and original external form based on mathematical principles. Hence, we can infer that one aspect of God’s nature is mathematical.

God is the one absolute reality in whom the dual characteristics interact in harmony; therefore, He is a Being of the number three. All created beings, having been conceived in the likeness of God, manifest their existence, movement and growth through a course of three stages.

The four-position foundation, which is God’s purpose of creation, was to be completed through a three-stage process: the origin in God, the marriage of Adam and Eve, and the multiplication of children. In order to establish the four-position foundation and carry on circular movement, a being must first perform the three-stage origin-division-union action and fulfill the three object purposes, with each position engaged in interaction with the other three. It is like what is needed for something to stand firm: it must be supported by at least three points. Accordingly, everything reaches perfection by passing through three ordered stages of growth: the formation stage, the growth stage and the completion stage.

In the natural world, many things appear in threes. It contains three kingdoms: mineral, plant and animal. Matter exists in three states: gas, liquid and solid. Most plants are composed of three parts: roots, branches or stems, and leaves. Animals consist of head, body and limbs.

There are also many examples of the number three in the Bible. Human beings could not fulfill the purpose of their existence because they fell without completing the three stages of the growing period. Hence, in their renewed efforts to realize their purpose, human beings must pass through these three stages. In the providence of restoration, God has worked to reclaim the number three, which explains why there are many records in the Bible of the number three and dispensations based on the number three: the Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit); the three levels of Paradise; the three archangels; the three levels of Noah’s ark; the three flights of the dove from the ark after the flood; the three offerings of Abraham; and the three-day journey before the sacrifice of Isaac.

At the time of Moses, there were: the three-day plague of darkness, the three days of purification at the start of the Exodus, the three forty-year periods for the journey to Canaan, and the three days of purification under Joshua’s leadership just prior to crossing the Jordan River.

In the life of Jesus we see: three decades of private life followed by three years of public ministry, the three wise men from the East who brought three gifts, the three disciples, the three temptations, the three prayers in the garden of Gethsemane, Peter’s three denials, the three hours of darkness at the crucifixion, and Jesus’ resurrection after three days in the tomb.

When did the first human ancestors fall?

They fell during their growing period, when they were still immature. If human beings fell after they had attained perfection, then there would be no basis for belief in the omnipotence of God.

If human beings fell after they had become perfect embodiments of goodness, then goodness itself would be imperfect. Accordingly, we would be forced to conclude that God, as the source of goodness, is also imperfect.

It is written in the Book of Genesis that God warned Adam and Eve, “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die” (Gen. 2:17). They had a choice to either ignore God’s warning and lose their lives or to heed the warning and live.

The fact that they had the potential either to fall or to become perfect demonstrates that they were still in a state of immaturity. The universe was designed to reach perfection after a certain growing period, described in the Bible as six days. As one of God’s creations, human beings are also bound to this principle.

At what stage of the growing period did the first humans fall?

They fell at the top of the growth stage. This can be demonstrated by examining the circumstances surrounding the fall of the first human ancestors and the history of the providence of restoration. These will be further clarified through a thorough study of this volume.