Part
1 and 2
What
Happened In the Garden of Eden When Eve Sinned?
Why
Do We Need To Be Saved?
1Peter1:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and
abideth for ever.
Part
One
This
is a question that many in Christianity have answers for, answers that they
feel are true and very important. But do you really understand the whole story?
Sometimes we get a measure of truth, which affects our life, not knowing that
there is more to the story.
I would like
to share some truth that will hopefully enlighten and help others to realize
more of the blessings that God has for them. Go with me, if you will, on a
journey into the Word of God.
To begin the study of 'Salvation,' let us first consider
what this word 'saved' actually means. Then we can go into the scriptures to
see why it is that we are in need of being 'saved'.
In
the English language, according to http://www.websters1913.com/words/Save
- 'save' means 1. To make safe;
to procure the safety of; to preserve from injury, destruction, or evil of any kind; to rescue from impending
danger; as, to save a house from the flames.
2 (Theol.)
Specifically, to deliver from sin and its penalty; to
rescue from a state of condemnation and spiritual death, and bring into a state
of spiritual life.
3 To keep
from being spent or lost; to secure from waste or expenditure; to lay up;
to reserve
4 To
rescue from something undesirable or hurtful; to prevent from
doing something; to spare.
5 To
hinder from doing, suffering, or happening; to obviate the necessity of; to
prevent; to spare.
To be
'rescued,' then, would be to be saved from something to something.
Example – to
be saved from the water in which you are drowning - to – land or to a ship
To be 'made
safe' would be to be taken out of danger.
To be
preserved would be to be kept from harm.
If every man
needs to be saved, what is it he needs rescued from, and what is the place of
safety he needs rescued 'to'?
While for
some, the answers may seem simple enough, it is valuable for us to take a
closer look at what happened in the Garden of Eden and get a clear
understanding of the process that took place there. Why would God be willing to
send His Son to die for what His creation had done?
So, let us
go back to the day of mankind's creation and see if we can come to a better
understanding of the things that happened there, that still affect our lives
today.
God prepared
the earth in all of its fantastic beauty, before creating the first man and
woman. Every tree, from the softer evergreen to the towering, giant sequoia and
massive cypress, - every blade of grass and the multitude of fragrant flowers
that dotted the earth, every bubbling brook, stream, river and ocean, and all
of the amazing animals of every size, shape, and characteristic – were created
before God made His most wondrous creation of all.
The
atmosphere was perfect for sustaining life and growing herbs and fruits for
food. Every planet was in place. And who can tell what the colors of the sky
might have been in all of God's perfection?
After
setting the earth in order, God made a most telling statement. A statement that
tells us many things that are too often overlooked. He said -
Genesis
1:26 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.
When
God created man, He was creating an image or reflection of Himself. Because
of this, he was God's most wondrous creation. We know there is no imperfection,
no sin or darkness in God. Therefore, we can also know that there was no such
thing in the makeup of mankind.
The first
man and woman who God created, Adam and Eve, were created perfect – blameless.
Genesis
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
created he him; male and female created
he them.
Genesis
1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
And the evening and the morning were
the sixth day.
Interestingly,
the word in these verses that is translated in the English as 'God'
is actually the word elohiym (Strong’s
Exhaustive Concordance) in the Hebrew. It is the plural form of the
word 'elowahh,' which means 'God.'
But God did
not choose to use the word Elowahh, because He is a plural unit. That is, He is
three who are a part of each other, connected to each other in a way that is
hard for humans to comprehend. Because it is hard to comprehend, many refuse to
believe it to be so. But nonetheless, God – Elohiym spoke and
said “let us (a personal, plural pronoun) make man in our
(another personal, plural pronoun) image,
and let them (a plural pronoun)....
God made two
individuals, out of one body - Eve out of Adam's body. Eve was Adam's flesh and
bone, even though she was an individual. She was part of Adam. Since she was
made of his flesh and flesh has blood in it, Adam's blood probably flowed
through her veins.
God was
making a reflection of Himself and showing mankind how that two can be a part
of each other, a plural unit. He said in John - John 10:30 I and my Father are
one. So even though Jesus was sent to earth by His Father, yet they
were only one God. -
John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him
that sent me ....
John
17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be
one, even as we are one
That
two could be, and in fact are, 'one' is seen in the creation of man and woman –
husband and wife. After receiving his wife, Adam made this statement -
Genesis
2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave
unto his wife: and they shall be
one flesh.
This truth
was also spoken in the New Testament -
Matthew
19:5-6 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall
cleave to his wife: and they twain
shall be one flesh?
6
Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore
God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:8
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but
one flesh.
Adam
knew that God was not going to put every man to sleep and remove a rib and some
flesh from his body in order to create his wife, as He had done with Adam. This
had been done to show the representation of the Father and Son being one, and
also to show how much God considered them to be one. But after this, it would
be up to each individual man, to leave his father and mother and join himself
to his wife, seeing her now as literally a part of his body as Christ saw her
to be.
These two
who were now one, would have unhindered fellowship with and influence of the
Holy Spirit, as long as they remained in obedience to God, sin free.
In Genesis
chapter five, we are told that, in the beginning, God even called the man and
woman by one name.
Genesis
5:1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God (Elohiym)
created man, in the likeness of God
made he him; 2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam,
in the day when they were created.
Some
translations wrongfully leave out the word 'name' in their Bibles. But it is an
important word that was in the original manuscripts. It is the word – shem –
(shame), and is an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality.
An
appellation, according to - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/
-appellation an identifying name or title
God made
each individual to be a reflection of Himself, but He also made the marriage to
reflect the oneness of the Father and Son. And He called them both by one name
– Adam. It was the man who later gave his wife a separate name.
Genesis 3:20
And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all
living.
The
meaning of the name 'Eve,' according to the Hebrew is – lifegiver.
Now, here is
a beautiful bit of information that science has discovered.
Male-and-Female-Brains-Wired-Differently/
New research
on the neural connections within the human brain suggests sex-based differences
that many have suspected for centuries: women seem to be wired more for
socialization and memory while men appear geared toward perception and
coordinated action. The female brain appears to have increased connection
between neurons in the right and left hemispheres of the brain, and
males seem to have increased neural communication within hemispheres from frontal
to rear portions of the organ.
If females
have increased connections between neurons in the right and left hemispheres of
the brain and men have increased neural communication within hemispheres from
frontal to rear portions of the organ, then could we not reason that by
bringing the male and female together as one, there would be a greater
wholeness?
These things
can be studied more in another study, but suffice it to say, that the man and
woman were truly made in the image of God, the two to be a part of each other and
to need each other. And when God made them, He did it well and with intricate
detail. When He finished, His creation was indeed - very good!
Everything
God made was 'very' good. The word 'very' in the Hebrew is the word – m`od,
meh-ode' and means - properly, vehemence, that is - (with or without
preposition) vehemently; by implication, wholly, ... especially, exceeding
(-ly) ....
According to
the www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary, 'vehement' means - : marked by forceful
energy : powerful
a : intensely
emotional : impassioned, …. b (1) : deeply felt …. (2) : forcibly expressed ….
So, we see
that God was altogether pleased and satisfied with His creation. We get the
idea that He saw it as powerfully good and may have had very strong, even
passionate feelings about what He had created.
For those
who think that people sin because they have a sinful nature, please notice that
God could not have created Adam and Eve in His own likeness, with natures that
were in any way ungodly or sinful, and still called them - very good.
God did,
however, give mankind a free will. Eve did not need a sinful nature in order to
be able to make the choice to do something against God's instructions.
Even Satan
was perfect when he was created (Ezekiel 28:15), and yet he was able to rebel
against God.
If we take
the definition of 'nature' as given by the
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
which defines 'nature' as -1 a : the inherent character or basic
constitution of a person or thing :... b : disposition, temperament, we can see that, being in God's own image, Adam and
Eves 'nature' was also good. Their inherent character, their basic
constitution, even the instincts which God wired into the man would have been
good.
Adam
and Eve were created without sin. They were blameless, or that is, innocent of
wrongdoing, when they were created.
But,
as we know, something happened that left them in an altered state. It is widely
believed, throughout the church world, that when the first man and woman
sinned, their nature was changed. It is further believed that every man born
after this was born in that same altered condition. Let us see if the
scriptures bear this out.
First,
however, there are a few more things to consider concerning mankind, before
their act of disobedience.
Genesis
2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress
it and to keep it.
God put Adam into
the garden of Eden to do two specific things, dress the garden and keep the
garden. The actual Hebrew word that has been translated as 'dress' is the word
abad – (aw-bad,) which means - work
(in any sense); by implication, to serve, till, ... husbandman, keep,
labour(-ing man, bring to pass, (cause to, make to) serve(-ing, self),....
Adam
was to be the husbandman, or caretaker and gardener of the Garden of Eden.
He
was also put there to 'keep' the garden. The Hebrew word that has been
translated as 'keep' is the word shamar - (shaw-mar,) meaning - properly, to
hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; generally, to protect,
attend to, etc.:--beward, be circumspect, take heed (to self), keep(-er, self),
mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure,
(that lay) wait (for), watch(-man).
So, Adam was given
a responsibility and authority to be the husbandman and the protector of
the place that was to be his and his wife's home.
Genesis
1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth.
Man
was given dominion over every other living thing, everything except
mankind.
Although
he was given authority over the living creatures of the earth, man was still
under the authority of God and always will be.
Psalms
24:1 The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they
that dwell therein.
1 Corinthians 10:26 For the earth is the Lord's,
and the fulness thereof.
All the authority
that man had was delegated authority, given by God, who could take it away if
He chose. Their authority was authority 'under' God, not over or above God.
This is seen in that He told them what they were to do and what they were not
to do on the earth.
He
specifically told them that they could eat of every tree in the Garden except
for one. The one tree which they were never to eat of was the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.
Make
no mistake, no matter what you have heard. It was not the tree of good and
evil, but rather the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This
is an important difference. Eating of that tree would give them a knowledge
that God did not want them to experience.
Genesis
2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden
thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die
Had Adam and Eve
obeyed God's commandment to them, they would not have had a need to be saved.
Authority came with the dominion they were given, so they had no need to fear
anything. And they had God, His power, and authority to back them.
Their
sin of disobedience gave them a knowledge, through experience, that was not
good. At that point they needed saved from their sin and its consequences.
Now,
so far, some fundamental truths have been presented about how things were
before Eve sinned. These are very important things to consider because these
truths impact our lives today, whether or not we have realized it. Some of the
things I have presented may have already been familiar to you, while some
things may have been quite surprising and different from what you have thought,
heard or been taught. But let us see what the value of these things may be when
it comes to our salvation. Let us go on to see what really took place on
the day of the very first sin of mankind, why we need to be saved and how the
sin of the first man and woman still impacts us today.
While
many think that we need to be saved in order to one day go to Heaven, there is
far more to consider. We need to better understand how sin affects us on a
daily basis, in life, here and now. By not knowing this, people suffer many
things.
As
we go on, be patient as we uncover truths one step at a time. Now back to the
Garden of Eden.
Part
Two
It
is doubtful that God would have told Adam to protect the garden without telling
him anything about what the possible danger was. However, no matter what He
might have told them, they had never witnessed evil in action nor seen the
consequences of it. It was a completely unfamiliar thing to them.
To
really 'know' something is more than to hear that it exists. It is to
experience it. You might meet an individual, be introduced to them, and speak
to them, but not really 'know' them.
You
can know that there is such a thing as love. You can hear about it, believe it
exists and even see people who seem to be in love. But you will not really
'know' love until you experience it.
God
wanted his man to 'know' good but not to 'know' evil. Before the serpent
tempted Eve, they had experienced much good. Everything God had made and given
them was very good.
It
is important, as we go on, to understand that Satan is also known as the devil,
Lucifer and the serpent. All these titles or names are given to the same person
and he is the enemy of God.
Revelation
12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called
the Devil, and Satan,
which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels
were cast out with him.
The
serpent, who is Satan, did not like this man and woman being in the image of
God and having authority on the earth. Surely, he would not like the thought of
them bearing children who would grow up, marry and fill the earth with more
images of God. So, he set about to bring about their downfall by getting them
to disobey God. Keep in mind, as we go forward, Eve's lack of experience with
evil.
Genesis
3:1-4 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which
the LORD God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the
woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden:
3 But of
the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye
shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the
serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God
doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and
ye shall be as gods, knowing good and
evil.
The serpent
was 'subtil,' which is the Hebrew word aruwm – (aw-room') and means - cunning
(usually in a bad sense):--crafty, prudent, subtil.
Though on
the day she was created, Eve was an adult, still she
was a new creation - with no experience. When God created her, He must have
filled her mind with all the knowledge she needed to be able to walk, talk and
think as an adult. But all of life was a new experience for Eve. Though she was
inexperienced with evil, before her encounter with the serpent, she was
soon confronted with the master of it. She was confronted by the father of
lies.
In
speaking to people who sought to kill him, Jesus said these words which gives
us information about the devil -
John 8:44
Ye are of your father the devil ... He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there
is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the
father of it
With his
sneaky, cunning ways, the father of lies, Satan (the serpent) was able to
deceive Eve. She did not have an evil nature. But she was naive when it came to
the cunning devices of Satan.
1 Timothy
2:14 ... but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
Genesis
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to
be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her;
and he did eat.
7 And the
eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons
“When the
woman 'saw' …” This word - 'saw' - is very important. One of its
meanings is 'perceive'. The scripture is speaking of how Eve perceived
something. It was the understanding she had or her view of what she was looking
at. The fact that she saw it to be a certain way, or that is, that she
perceived it to be a particular way, does not mean she was seeing or perceiving
correctly. Satan influenced her to see it as he wanted her to. He is a master
of illusion and trickery which he used to influence Eve to see the tree and its
fruit the way he wanted her to see it.
It was when
Eve 'saw' that the tree was good for food, was pleasant to the eyes, and
that it was something to be desired to make her wise, that she disobeyed God
and ate the fruit. She did not eat the fruit before she was deceived into
perceiving it in a way that would tempt her.
How could
she 'see' that it was good for food?
The serpent
may have said more to her than what is recorded; we do not know. It could even
be that he was eating a piece of the fruit as he talked to her; we do not know.
We are told in the New Testament, that Jesus did many more things than what is
recorded. - John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did,
the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world
itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
So,
the serpent may have used many deceiving words and expressions by which to
deceive and entice Eve. If he was eating of the fruit, juice dripping from his
mouth as he spoke his lying words, and a delicious aroma was filling the air,
we can imagine how enticing it could be. The Bible does not say this happened.
But somehow Eve got the picture that it was both pleasant to the eye and good
for food. Perhaps she had avoided the tree up until that time, knowing it was
forbidden, and, as Satan drew her attention to it, she began to find it more
appealing, seeing beauty and perhaps noticing a fragrance.
What we do
know is how she began to 'see' it.
She also
began to see it as something that would make her wise. No one was as wise or
wonderful as her creator. But the serpent seemed to have an understanding of
things she did not know about, and he was telling her that the tree would do
her good and not evil.
Yes, it was
wrong of Eve to disobey God. And yes, Adam should have warned her not to listen
to the serpent. He should have told the serpent to leave the garden. He had the
position of authority to do so. But we know that Eve's first experience with
the father of lies, ended up in her considering his words, being totally
deceived, and disobey her maker.
Now let us
consider what effect this disobedience had on her and the effect it has had on
every human being since that time.
It's
important to understand the connection between sin and death. We know that Eve
was told that in the day she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
or in other words, the day she disobeyed God, she would die. People think of
this as a punishment, but let us take a closer look at the process.
First
consider what death is.
1
The action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or
organism.
1.4
The destruction or permanent end of something. - ‘the death of her
hopes’
1.5
A damaging or destructive state of affairs.
We see according to the dictionary, that one kind of death
is the destruction or permanent end of something. We hear this term used many
times throughout our lives. People will say things like, “My hope has died, my
faith has died, the love has died, etc.
In
the case of Adam and Eve, the death was far more all-encompassing than people
sometimes realize. They died in every way. Let me explain.
1
John 1:5-7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is
light, and in him is no darkness at all.
God is LIGHT. There is no darkness in Him at all.
6
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and
do not the truth:
If we are walking in darkness, we do not have fellowship
with God. To say that we do, is to lie.
7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with
another, and the blood of
Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
John
8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness,
but shall have the light of life
What is said in these scriptures was true in the beginning.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, they could fellowship freely with God.
The
word 'fellowship in verse 6, actually means – (Hebrew) – koinonia, (koy-nohn-ee'-ah)
-
partnership, i.e. (literally) participation, or (social)
intercourse, or (pecuniary) benefaction:-(to) communicate(-ation),
communion, (contri-) distribution
When
first created, they could walk in God's light. But when they sinned, darkness
entered their lives and that fellowship 'died.' God, who is light, does not
fellowship with darkness. Their sin resulted in the death of fellowship, or the
death of a relationship. To be able to walk in fellowship with God once again,
would require them to be cleansed from their sin. This is something they could
not do for themselves in their sinful condition.
Isaiah
59:2 But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and
your sins have hid his face from you,
that he will not hear.
Sin became a
wall of separation between them and God.
Too
often, what is not understood, is that when Eve sinned, she sinned in her body.
That may sound so strange at first, that some might think I am speaking heresy.
But the Bible itself tells us of this fact.
Romans
7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which
were by the law, did work in
our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
Where does it say that the motions of sin worked? It says
they worked in his 'members.'
In
the Greek this word members is the word – melo, (mel'-os) - of uncertain
affinity; a limb or part of the body:--member.
Romans
7:23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members (3196).
Now, here, it says that the law of sin is where? “…
in my members”
This is the same word as in verse 5. So then, the law of
sin, he says, was in his body.
Romans
6:12,13 +19 Let not sin therefore reign (rule) in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof.
13
Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto
sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness
unto God
Romans
6:19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh:
for as ye have yielded your
members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to
righteousness unto holiness.
See how often our body (members) is referred to? Don't
yield, or give your body over to uncleanness and iniquity, as instruments of
unrighteousness, but yield yourselves to God. Notice also, that writer says not
to let sin rule in your 'mortal' bodies. So, he is clearly not
speaking of their spirit which is eternal, but truly is speaking of sin in
their physical bodies. This is important, for as we will see; in order to bring
us salvation, Jesus took our sins in His 'body' on the cross.
1
Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Here
is an important truth. When Eve was tempted by the serpent, she had the ability
to resist him and even to tell him to leave. She could have seen that the fruit
of the tree was appealing and yet not acted on the temptation. It was when she
reached out with her arm (a body part), took the fruit in her hand (a body
part), and put it into her mouth, (a body part) and began to eat (with body
parts) that she actually sinned. While it was a thought in her mind, she could
have brought her thoughts into submission to the instructions of God and her
conscience and refused to sin. But she did not. She acted out sin, 'in her
body.'
And
why does the writer say that he is telling them not to let sin rule in their
bodies? It is because of the 'infirmity' of their flesh.
This
is both interesting and very important. This word 'infirmity; in the Greek is -
astheneia, (as-then'-i-ah) - ; feebleness (of mind or body); by
implication, malady; morally, frailty:--disease, infirmity, sickness, weakness
And
the word 'flesh' here, in the Greek is -
sarx, (sarx) n - flesh (as
stripped of the skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by
extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of
what is external, or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human nature
(with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially), a
human being (as such):--carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh(-ly).
Notice
it is the flesh as stripped of the skin. We are literally speaking of 'flesh.'
If you pull the skin off of a chicken breast, what you will see is the flesh.
The meaning given above also says - “the body as opposed to the soul or spirit.
Although the word could, at times, have the meaning of human nature, it does
not say 'sinful' nature, but rather human nature with its frailties etc.
Sin
brought physical death to our bodies and thus weakened them. It also separated
us from our life source, the Holy Spirit. In this weakened condition it is hard
for us to resist the power of sin. No part of our being was ever supposed to be
without the Holy Spirit. Without Him all that we are, including our natures,
are left in a more frail condition.
It
was because of the sin in their bodies that God had to separate from them
physically. As we saw in the meaning of the word 'fellowship,' one of the
meanings for this word is 'partnership.' God is holy and he cannot partner with
anyone who is unclean. Their sin brought -
DEATH OF
A RELATIONSHIP
Genesis 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they
knew that they were naked; and they
sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Now
this all happened on the day they were created. So, Adam and Eve being husband
and wife had no reason to be ashamed of being naked in each other's presence,
especially since they were 'one' even in God's eyes. At this time, there was no
one else on the earth to see them, either. Before they sinned, we are told -
Genesis
2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
As
soon as they sinned, however, their eyes were opened. What do you suppose their
eyes were opened to? Apparently, for the first time, they saw their bodies as
sinful. Their bodies were good in the beginning, pure, and sin free. Now they
were bodies with sin in them. They felt the guilt and shame and what did they
do? They sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. The act of this sin was
recorded in their brains and would remain in their memories.
Not only were they physically naked, but when God would see
them, they would be naked in His sight, in the sense that He would be able to
see the sin in them. On that day there was the -
DEATH
OF INNOCENCE
Now
consider another aspect of the death they died. Where is our spirit? It is
inside our bodies and cannot leave until death.
Therefore, if God separated from them physically, their
spirit, which was in their body, was also separated from Him. Our spirit is not
free to leave our body and go and do whatever it desires. Their spirit could
not say - “Well, since God had to separate from my body, I will just leave my
body and go spend some time with Him.”
No!
Our spirit is confined within our body until we die. People in some religions
or cults, believe that their spirit can leave their body. But when they think
they are experiencing such a phenomenon; it is actually a demonic illusion.
2
Corinthians 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent
from the body, and to be present
with the Lord.
Once
our spirit leaves our body, it either goes to the place prepared for the
unbelievers or is taken into the presence of the Lord.
Being
separated physically from God, Adam and Eve were also separated spiritually.
They suffered -
SPIRITUAL
DEATH
Another fact to consider is that our minds are also
confined within our bodies. With sin in the body, the mind is also separated
from God.
As
blood is pumped from the heart to every part of our body, every limb and every
organ, giving it physical life, so the Holy Spirit was to give life to every
part of our body, soul and spirit. To have the mind separated from God is a
dangerous and deadly thing.
The
spirit of fear loves to torment our minds. Satan loves to accuse us by speaking
lies to our minds. And he loves to adulterate the Word of God, telling us it
means something other than what God intended. Evil actions proceed from an evil
heart in which evil thoughts have been planted, conceived and taken root.
This
is why, in the world today, there are people who truly want to do good and help
others, but the way they sometimes go about it only brings on more trouble.
They have a conscience, they care, but they do not have the spiritual
knowledge, wisdom, and understanding to actually know what is best. People call
good evil and call evil good.
WE
NEED TO HAVE OUR MINDS SAVED AND GIVEN NEW LIFE!
Once
we are saved from the sin that separates us from God, we can once again have
the Holy Spirit to teach us what we need to know. Our minds need fellowship
with God.
John
14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in
my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
John
16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak
of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
A mind without the Holy Spirit has no spiritual food to
give it health and life.
Romans
8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace
A carnal mind is a natural mind, by itself, separated from
God. The thoughts that will be thought in such a mind, are often filled with
uncertainty and confusion. They contain judgments without spiritual truth and
are plagued with a multitude of influences other than God. The thoughts of a
carnal mind can kill our spirit and our hope.
The Bible has plenty to say about our minds. It instructs
us to have our minds renewed.
Romans
12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye
may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It tells us to cast down all the things that exalt
themselves against the knowledge of God.
2
Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and
bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ
Satan
wants to give us all sorts of knowledge. But it is knowledge that he wants us
to respect more than God or the real knowledge of God. So, God tells us to cast
these things down and bring every though into captivity, or that is, take
control of your thoughts and bring every one of them into obedience to Christ.
We cannot do this as long as our thoughts are separated
from God and we do not have the Holy Spirit to give us the power we need. But
once we are saved from that sin that is the wall of separation between us and
God, we can take authority over our own minds. Then we can yield our thoughts
to the guidance of the Spirit of God.
OUR
MIND NEEDS TO BE SAVED! - IT CAN BE RENEWED!
When
we are saved, we can do what Ephesians 4:23 tells us to do.
Ephesians
4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
1
Peter 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind ….
In the 'loins' is the creative power. Let God inspire your
thoughts and give you revelation. Let holy creativity begin in a godly mind.
The
sin in the Garden of Eden brought all these kinds of death and yet there is one
more death to be considered in this study.
Romans
6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord
The
wage they earned for their sinning was death. It was the consequence of that
sin. In other words, there was no death until that time. Not only death in the
sense we have just addressed, in the sense of separation, but before sin
entered the world Adam and Eve were immortal. However, the sin that
entered their bodies caused the death of their bodies as well.
They
had not been created for sin. The weight of it was never to be carried. It went
against what they were to be, - a reflection of God. It was a poison to their
minds, their spirit, their emotions and their physical bodies.
Many
have taught that the death Eve died when she ate of the forbidden fruit, was
only spiritual death, but the scriptures show us that it was this and far more.
It
is understandable why a person might have trouble understanding how it could be
said that they died physically, when they did not completely cease to live that
day. In fact, Adam lived to be nine hundred and thirty years old before he
died.
Genesis
5:5 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he
died.
So how could he have died physically on the day he ate of
the forbidden fruit? On the day they ate of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve
went from being immortal to becoming mortal.
Look
at what the Webster's Dictionary tells us about death.
(https://www.websters1913.com/words/Death) - Death = Huxley. [1913 Webster] 1. The cessation of all vital
phenomena without capability of resuscitation, either in animals or plants.
–
Local death is going on at all times and in all parts of
the living body, in which individual cells and elements are being cast off and replaced by
new; a process essential to life.
General death is of two kinds; death of
the body as a whole (somatic or systemic
death), and death of the tissues. By the former is implied the absolute
cessation of the functions of the brain, the circulatory and the respiratory
organs; by the latter the entire disappearance of the vital actions of the
ultimate structural constituents of the body. When death takes place, the body
as a whole dies first, the death of the tissues sometimes not occurring until
after a considerable interval.
–
2. Total privation or
loss; extinction; cessation; as, the
death of memory.
Death
took place in Adam and Eve the day they ate of the tree. Local death began
taking place in all parts of their body when sin entered it. Individual cells
began being cast off and replaced. This would continue through the aging
process until they breathed their last breath, which for Adam was when he was
nine hundred and thirty years of age. But in every year that he still breathed,
the dying process was taking place. It began the day he disobeyed God.
Romans
5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by
sin; and so death passed
upon all men, for that all have sinned
Where does it say that sin entered? Does it say that sin
entered into man and changed his physical makeup and nature? No, it does not.
It says that sin ENTERED THE WORLD!
What
does it say passed upon all men? Sin? No! DEATH PASSED UPON ALL MEN!
Adam
and Eve became mortal as did their seed. Every child being born of mortal seed
would also be mortal, in a dying body, separated from God. He was born into a
world where sin was. Being separated from their power source, which was God,
they too would sin. It would be one vicious circle unless something was done to
save them!
WE
NEED TO BE SAVED IN ORDER TO ONCE AGAIN HAVE OUR LIFE SOURCE!
Without
our life source, God the Father, the Son who is the Word of God, and the Holy
Spirit - we will sin! There will always be things that
appear appealing and draw our attention. There will always be the god of this
world, Satan himself, to try and deceive us and lure us to sin. Without the
Holy Spirit to teach us, guide us, and empower us, we will sin.
Our sin will remain a separation between us and God. Without being saved, it is
one endless cycle with no hope.
Think
of why a person needs saved from a disease in his body. If the disease did not
affect his quality of life in any way, he might see no need to worry about it
or try to eradicate it. The reason you want healed of a disease is because of
the havoc it plays on your body until it eventually kills you completely. A
disease may cause you pain and render you so weak you have trouble getting
around and thinking clearly. So, what you really want is to be cured of the
consequences of the disease or the effects of the disease. This is how it is
with sin.
WE
NEED SAVED FROM SIN BECAUSE IT TAKES OUR LIFE AND SEPARATES US FROM GOD!
Sin affects our thinking, our reasoning, our emotions, our
health; it causes us pain and suffering and separates us from the one
who could keep us healthy and whole.
Many
believe we need saved from a sinful nature that has been inherited from Adam
and Eve. If I had a portion of scripture that actually said this, I would have
to agree. There are some versions of the Bible where the word for 'sarx' that is translated accurately in
the King James Bible as 'flesh,' and translate it as sinful nature and the
like. I believe this is based more on assumption than Biblical teaching.
Please
look again at the definition of ‘flesh.’ –
sarx,
(sarx) n - flesh (as stripped of the
skin), i.e. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food), or (by extension) the
body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is external,
or as the means of kindred), or (by implication) human nature (with its
frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially), a human
being (as such):--carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh(-ly).
We
see in the definitions for the word 'sarx,' is - (by implication) human nature
(with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions), or (specially), a
human being (as such). It does not say either sinful or evil nature only ‘human’nature
and ‘a human being.’ However, if you assume human nature is sinful or
evil, this translation may seem to be applicable. However, it is a mistake to
overlook what is actually said in the definition, just after these words. It
says - carnal(-ly, + -ly minded), flesh(-ly).
As
has already been mentioned, something that is carnal, is something by itself,
without the Spirit of God. The nature of a human who is separated from God is
frail. It does not have the strength of the Holy Spirit. In that weakened
condition, a human who is separated from God will do things that defile him,
and it will affect his thinking and his conscience. But this does not mean that
he is born defiled. He is born separated from God, and because of this, he is
born vulnerable to the influences of Satan who is the God of this world.
There
are scriptures in the Old Testament that speaks of people corrupting
themselves. It does not say that they were born corrupted but rather that they
corrupted themselves. This happens because they are separated from God and
living in death.
The writer of Jude speaks of people who speak evil about
things that they really do not know about. Remember that before we are saved,
our minds are separated from God.
Jude
1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what
they know naturally, as brute beasts, in
those things they corrupt themselves.
These people corrupt themselves with the things that
they know physically as opposed to spiritually. They speak of things that are
based on irrational, unreasonable, fleshly instincts, as merely living
creatures, who are animal like, in that they are spiritually dead.
Naturally
(Hebrew) - phusikos, )foo-see-koce') -
"physically", i.e. (by implication) instinctively:--naturally.
Brute
– (Hebrew) - alogos, (al'-og-os) - ; irrational:--brute, unreasonable.
Beasts
– (Hebrew) - zoond, (zo'-on) - a live
thing, i.e. an animal:--beast.
Romans
8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace
When
all you are left with is yourself, body, mind, and spirit, with your life
source missing you are left dead while you live. If you give in to every
impulse of the flesh with no filter of the Holy Spirit, you will corrupt
yourself until you are left functioning in things that corrupt you. It is not
that you are born spiritually corrupted, but you are born without the knowledge
or strength you need to know how to be able to keep from sinning.
Though
you are a creation of God, created in His image, you have need of the
life-giving bread of life. God has wired into you certain instincts and needs.
But without Him you do not understand these things nor do you know how to meet
those needs. You may crave a certain food, not knowing what it is nutritionally
that your body is needing. You may crave the physical relationship with the
opposite sex, not knowing that God has wired this into you for the purpose of
marriage and becoming a reflection of God on the earth.
Desires
and needs are there, but you are ignorant of their purpose and value. In your
ignorance you will try to satisfy the need with things that will only do you
harm.
If
you were to take an infant, who was just old enough to crawl, and set him
outdoors on a grassy lawn, at just about lunch time, what might happen? At
first, he might look around excitedly. He might examine the warm grass he feels
against his chubby legs. If he should see a butterfly, he might try to chase
it. If he is getting very hungry, he might reach down and pick up whatever he
finds and put it in his mouth. If he should put a stone in his mouth, it is not
because he is wanting to hurt himself or do something wrong. He only knows he
is hungry, but without his mother's guidance, he does not know what is good for
him and what is not. Should he see a berry bush, he might crawl to it, reach up
and grab a berry and put it into his mouth. He has no concept of poison, so
does not wonder if the berry might be good for him or do him harm. The berry is
appealing, and he is hungry. He could harm himself in a deadly way, because of
his ignorance, if he did not have his mother to watch over him, protect him,
guide and teach him.
So,
it is with a person who enters this life separated from his guide, protector,
and teacher - God. Without any
particular desire to hurt himself, God, or anyone else, he may in fact do so.
Why? Because he does not have the knowledge and wisdom to be able to always
discern what is right, best, bad or harmful. He does have a conscience that God
has wired into him, that can warn him to some degree. Still, being separated
from the one who created him and knows what it is he truly needs, the one who
can teach him to receive the good and refuse the bad, he is going to make wrong
choices and hurt himself.
Every
time a man sins, that sin is recorded in his memory. It contaminates him and he
corrupts himself. Sin can become such a habit that his conscience becomes
seared and hardened. The thing that he did not know would wound his own spirit
becomes so habitual it seems natural to him.
In
this sense, his nature may change. But this is because of the effects of the
sin he has committed not because of sins committed by Adam and Eve. Their
sin made him mortal and separated from God. But their sin did not put sin
inside of him. He did that to himself. He has corrupted himself. It is not
because he was born corrupted. He has lived separated from the one who loves
him and could keep him from the damage of sin, and he needs to be saved.
Even
if he should read some of God's instructions given in the Bible, he needs the
Holy Spirit to make it come alive to him and to know the truth. Without Him, he
too is going to be deceived in the same way that Eve was. As a baby, left to
himself, without the care of his mother will die, so a man without God will do
the thing that will kill him – he will sin. A child is born without the Spirit
of God dwelling in him. Separated from God before salvation, he lacks the
knowledge of the truth that can free him from the power of sin and the wicked
one. He does not have the strength of the Holy Spirit or the authority of the
name of Jesus the Savior. Left to himself, he is carnal (not connected to the
Spirit of God) and he will sin. His sin, in turn, separates him
from his God. And so, goes the vicious circle.
2
Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds
should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ
How does it say their minds could be corrupted? Does
it say they are born corrupted? No! Born separated, yes. Born weakened by the
lack of their life source, yes. Born vulnerable to sin, yes. Born too weak to
resist the cunning deceitfulness of the enemy, yes. And because of this their
minds, if not surrendered and dependent on God, indeed can be corrupted through
the subtilty of Satan (the serpent) in the same way that Eve was. Eve was able
to be beguiled, though she was sinless in the beginning. We too can be beguiled
if we are not born again and saved from sin. Paul did not want this to happen.
Subtilty
- (Greek) – panourgia, (pan-oorg-ee'-ah) - from [panougoV] - panougos 3835; adroitness,
i.e. (in a bad sense) trickery or sophistry:--(cunning)
craftiness, subtilty.
Sophistry
(https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sophistry) - 1The
use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.
1.1count
noun A fallacious argument.
Satan
is good at producing many a clever, though false argument by which to deceive
those who are separated from God.
Speaking
of what is going to happen to Satan, the Bible says
Romans 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent,
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
3
And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him,
that he should deceive the
nations no more ….
Satan also uses other men to deceive.
Matthew
24:4-5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive
you.
5
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
WE NEED SAVED SO WE
WILL NOT BE DECEIVED – BUT WILL INSTEAD KNOW THE
TRUTH THAT SETS US FREE
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.
Because of Adam and Eve's sin, death has passed on all of
us. Every person born, is born of mortal seed. They are formed of the seed of
their mortal father and the seed of their mortal mother. They are carried in a
mortal womb and thus, enter the world separated from God. We enter a world
where death is ruling mankind. It has it's grips on mankind, like evil
tentacles, ever choking out the life we were meant to have. This death is
physical, mental, and spiritual separation from God. It is physical death, that
we deal with on a daily basis, causing the aging (dying) process.
Romans
5:14 Nevertheless death reigned (rule)
from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's
transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come
We are born in this mortal state without having
sinned ourselves. But because we are separated from God, we will sin. Yet,
because of what Jesus did to save us and redeem us back to a relationship with
God, we are born to opportunity. The opportunity is there for each of us to
believe on the Savior, when we reach an age of maturity and to once again
receive everlasting life.
The
opportunity is there for us, to be united to God and receive the Holy Spirit to
indwell us and give us the power, through Him, to refuse the sin that brings
death.
We
are born separated from God, but we can be born over again as a child of God,
restored to a relationship with Him. We can be born again.
When
we become His child, we receive the right to use His name, which is His
authority, to take control over the works of darkness. We can rule, through
Christ, rather than be ruled by sin and Satan.
WE
NEED TO BE SAVED TO TAKE BACK THE LIFE AND AUTHORITY GOD MEANT FOR US TO HAVE IN THE BEGINNING.
When
we are saved from sin and death, through believing in the work of Jesus Christ,
repentance and submitting ourselves to Him, we can then resist the devil and he
will flee from us.
James
4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee
from you.
Then
we will not have to allow sin to reign (rule) our lives.
In
further study we can learn about what Jesus did to save us from all sin and
death. We can learn about how to take in the spiritual bread of life. May the
study presented here, make more clear the reason we need to be saved.
Without
the salvation through Jesus Christ, we will live every day of our lives,
walking in death and separation from God. But there is hope!
THERE
IS SALVATION! The Wall of Separation Can Come Down!
John
10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I
am come that they might have life,
and that they might have it more abundantly.
