What would human life look like with no sin, no shame, no fear, and no knowledge of evil? That's not a fantasy — it was the actual historical condition of the first man and woman in Eden. And the dispensation of Innocence is the only time in human history that experiment was run. Understanding how it ended tells us something deeply important about free will, testing, and what God actually wants from us.

Last time we watched God rebuild a ruined world in six days. Now He places two people in it — and the question becomes: what will they do with the perfect environment He's given them?

As we study each dispensation, there are nine key points you'll want to understand if you're going to really grasp what God was doing in that period. Here they are:

• The definition of the name of the dispensation.
• The length of the dispensation.
• The favorable beginning for man in each age.
• The test for man in each period.
• The purpose of God in each test for man.
• The means of God in accomplishing His purpose.
• The failure of man to meet the test.
• The judgment of God upon man because of his failure.
• God's provision of redemption for man at the end of each age.

Once you learn these nine points for each of the seven dispensations, God's plan for humanity becomes remarkably simple to understand. Think of it like learning the rules of a board game—once you know the structure, every move makes sense.

If you'll study these periods carefully and concentrate on how all the parts connect to God's whole purpose, you'll find that every important question gets answered. The mysteries that once seemed so difficult will clear up, and the rest will become simple to solve as you study with these facts in mind.

You'll be able to see things from God's standpoint—what He had in mind before He even began bringing His plan to pass, as revealed in the Scriptures.

The word "innocence" is pretty straightforward. It simply means being without any consciousness of evil—harmlessness, freedom from crime, guilt, or sin. An innocent person is one who hasn't violated any law, who is guiltless, sinless, pure, upright, and harmless.

When we apply "innocence" to a period of time or dispensation, we're describing an age of sinlessness on the part of the person responsible to rule for God. Adam was perfectly innocent when God placed him in the Garden of Eden.

He wasn't even self-conscious enough to be ashamed of his nakedness. "They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed" Genesis 2:25. It was only after sin entered that they became self-conscious: "The eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked" Genesis 3:7.

When a person exists in this state, we could say they're God-conscious—perfectly innocent of all wrongdoing. In the Fall, man lost this God-consciousness and gained self-consciousness instead. Conscience was awakened, and both man and woman became sinners, knowing by experience both good and evil.

We call this the Dispensation of Innocence because man was tested during this first probationary period while he was still in a state of innocence. He was tested regarding right and wrong—whether he would freely exercise his will while still sinless and free from all evil.