Identity Theft
My people are destroyedfor lack of
knowledge ...The Prophet
Hosea
It is extremely important to understand
man's identity before the fall, in order
for us to realize God's will for our lives.
Understanding how God views us becomes the
basis for how we view ourselves and will
help to determine our quality of life.
In the Garden of Eden, God provided the
tree of life for spiritual nourishment and
the other trees for physical food (Genesis
2:8,9). Adam and Eve experienced no lack,
totally connected and dependent upon God's
ability. They experienced peace with God's
kingdom and with God, who they relied on
for knowledge and wisdom. They loved God
with all their heart, mind, soul and strength.
The joy of the Lord was their strength.
Life in the garden was a heavenly life,
literally heaven on earth. Heaven and earth
were united in one righteous Spirit, connected
in peace with each other. It was a time
of perfection, soundness, and well being,
in which man was complete as God intended.
The psalmist sang to God, "For with
you is the fountain of life" (Psalm
36:9).
The tree of life provided a continual life
giving flow to residents of the garden.
The Apostle John was shown the tree of life
in heaven: "In the middle of its street,
and on either side of the river, was the
tree of life, which bore twelve fruits,
each tree yielding its fruit every month"
(Revelation 22:2). The tree of life on earth
and the one in heaven were perfectly entwined
as one, and God intended for man to live
forever, receiving life from that tree.
A LIVING SOUL
The creation of man was explained by Moses,
saying, "And the LORD God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living being [soul]" (Genesis
2:7). Man's physical body was made from
dust, and his body was infused with life
by the Spirit, as a gift from God. Man became
a living soul made up of mind, will and
emotions [See Diagram
#2].
Adam was shaped by the Master Potter into
a perfect two-part being: the outward man
[body] and the inward man [heart], that
part we cannot see. As the fruit and seed
bearing trees provided life to the body,
the tree of life was intended to provide
spiritual nourishment to the heart. The
inward man or the heart, consisting of man's
mind, soul and spirit, is where we think,
make decisions and feel emotions.
The breath of life planted a seed in Adam.
They were born of God, the stewards of all
creation. They were instructed to stay focused
on the tree of life, always trusting God's
sufficiency instead of their own. The tree
of life was a type of Christ, where they
received God's anointing. His will for them
was to walk in His grace. As long as they
made themselves at home clinging to the
tree of life, they would experience an abundant
life through His divine strength -- His
grace. They were to eat His fruit and the
seeds would bring forth spiritual life.
As a result, they could cultivate and overflow
with God's creative power, always being
fruitful and multiplying.
There was an adversary just waiting for
Adam and Eve to get out of the will of God.
". . . the serpent was more cunning
than any beast of the field which the Lord
God had made" (Genesis 3:1). The serpent
was planning to bring the first couple down.
He was playing a tune that was hard to resist,
always scheming. His purpose was to put
an end to Adam and Eve's loving relationship
with God. Their Father had given them a
free will to sin, because He had not created
robots. He hoped they would choose to serve
Him freely in righteousness forever. In
His foreknowledge, He knew man's fate and
the lessons he must learn, but He had a
plan with a wonderful future for His children.
Adam and Eve relied totally upon God's
ability [grace]. As long as they focused
on the tree of life, they had strength,
but they became weak by focusing on the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
They knew they would have to trust in God's
word to help resist the deceit of the wicked
one. The Psalmist David testifies, "Oh,
the joys of those who do not follow the
advise of the wicked, or stand around with
sinners, or join in with scoffers. But they
delight in doing everything the LORD wants;
day and night they think about his law.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank,
bearing fruit each season without fail.
Their leaves never wither, and in all they
do, they prosper" (Psalm 1:1-3 NLT).
God's first command was to not eat the forbidden
fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. Adam and Eve kept God's word in mind
day and night. As a result, they saw their
lives prosper in every way and avoided temptation.
The tree of life represents God's life giving
word for their life.
We either draw on God's ability in the
Spirit for our lives, or we choose to walk
in the ability of the flesh. We have the
choice to listen to the voice of God, applying
His word for our lives or to the voice of
the enemy. Temptations arise daily in our
culture that challenge our affections. If
we choose to walk with faith in God's word,
we overflow with His ability [grace] and
can resist temptation. Whose voice will
you agree with in time of temptation?
A DYING SOUL
The breath of God infused man with His
very image and character. He did not put
something in their being that would destroy
them. He knew what it would take for His
destiny to take place in their lives. He
knew they would have a struggle denying
the flesh and walking in the Spirit. He
knew the presence of the serpent in the
garden would bring thoughts contrary to
Him. God knew that only a relationship with
Him could enable us to overcome our adversary.
The Lord gave permission to eat of every
tree, "... but of the tree of knowledge
of good and evil you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat of it you shall
surely die" (Genesis 2:17). This tree
symbolized all moral knowledge, which they
were to depend solely on God for, its fruit
was forbidden. The tree of knowledge of
good and evil represents the Law of God,
which would later be codified by God through
Moses. Prior to eating this fruit, Adam
and Eve were naked, but only afterward were
they conscious of their sin. "...for
by the law is the knowledge of sin"
(Romans 3:20b). Adam and Eve were to stay
on the path of life, that straight path
of God's wisdom and righteousness. The crooked
path would lead to unrighteousness, destruction
and spiritual death for the law leads to
death.
The adversary finally got Eve's attention,
in order to plant his destructive seed.
He questioned God's instructions to not
eat of the forbidden fruit. He lied saying,
"You will not surely die. For God knows
that in the day you eat of it your eyes
will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:4,5).
It was Satan that wanted to be like God
(Isaiah 14:14). By creating a question,
he created a need and a sense of lack. Eve
had full access to the knowledge that God
wanted them to have, but Satan convinced
her to add to her knowledge by turning her
eyes towards her independent sufficiency.
The serpent boldly denied the truth, calling
God a liar. Jesus identified Satan as the
father of lies (John 8:44). Everything Adam
and Eve believed was being challenged. Their
identity was about to change. An identity
theft was about to happen, and they were
about to plunge, along with all mankind,
into a state of sin and corruption taking
on a new identity. Moses writes, "So
when the women saw [senses] that the tree
was good for food [thoughts], that it was
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable
[lust] to make one wise, she took [choice]
of its fruit and ate [actions]. She also
gave to her husband with her, and he ate
[disobedience] " (Genesis 3:6). Eve
took what was not rightfully hers. In like
manner, men and women are taking what is
not rightfully theirs through adultery and
every conceivable lust in today's culture.
Satan stole man's identity through deception.
His corruptible seed entered into the heart
of mankind through his spoken word. Eve
became prideful, believing in herself, by
placing faith in Satan's lying word. As
a result, fear, confusion, emotional disorder
and death begin to reign upon the earth.
Instead of the tree of life, the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil produced
death. The enemy had sown tares among the
wheat. In Matthew, Jesus said, "The
kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed
good seed in his field; but while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat and went his way" (13:24,25).
In explaining the parable, Jesus said, "He
who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.
The field is the world, the good seeds are
the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are
the sons of the wicked ones. The enemy who
sowed them is the devil " (Matthew
13:37-39a).
THE POWER OF SIN
The power of sin started with a thought
contrary to God, which became a license
or excuse to do wrong, which they acted
upon: "Then the eyes of both of them
were opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves coverings" (Genesis
3:7). The rest is history "... through
one man sin entered the world, and death
through sin, and thus death spread to all
men, because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).
They lost their freedom and went into bondage.
Sin and death multiplied as man became more
and more conscience of sin.
The Lord came looking for them in the cool
of the day, but they were afraid [fear]
of being rejected so they hid from His face.
The Lord had set limits because He loved
them. They began to make excuses for their
sin, blaming each other (Genesis 3:8-12).
He still loved them and desired a relationship,
but their sin had to be judged. Before the
fall, their possibilities were limitless,
but now they were to suffer the consequences
of their sin. It wasn't a sin to be tempted,
even Jesus was tempted, but when acted upon
it becomes outright rebellion. James says,
"Temptation comes from the lure of
our own evil desires. These evil desires
lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead
to death" (James 1:14,15 NLT). Everyday,
we are tempted to accept the thoughts of
the evil one. These must be cast down.
Moses explains the consequences of sin,
saying, "Then the LORD God asked the
woman, 'How could you do such a thing?'
'The serpent tricked me,' she replied. 'That's
why I ate.' So the LORD God said to the
serpent, 'Because you have done this, you
will be punished. You are singled out from
all the domestic and wild animals of the
whole earth to be cursed. You will grovel
in the dust as long as you live, crawling
along on your belly. From now on, you and
the woman will be enemies, and your offspring
and her offspring will be enemies. He will
crush your head, and you will strike his
heel'" (Genesis 3:13-15 NLT). Jesus
would be the one to crush the head of the
serpent at the cross of Calvary, where the
Lord's heel would be struck, as He would
take the judgment for all our sins upon
Himself.
Because of the curse, man was taken from
the tree of life (Genesis 3:17-19). Man
became powerless over sin. He became full
of pain and idolatry, dependent on people
and things rather than on God. Satan became
the God of this world, as the entire human
race took on a corrupt nature (2 Corinthians
4:4). Mankind's sense of lack began to grow.
A world that was perfectly balanced now
became out of balance: wars, famines, pestilence's,
earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes began
to multiply. Jesus would have to come to
break the curse: "But Christ rescued
us from the curse ... When he hung on the
cross, he took upon himself the curse for
our wrong doings" (Galatians 3:13 NLT).
Justice demanded that blood be shed as
payment for sin. "As in Adam all die,
even so in Christ all shall be made alive"
(1 Corinthians 15:22). But until then, "...
the LORD God made clothing from animal skins
for Adam and his wife" (Genesis 3:21
NLT). The shedding of the animal's blood
covered their sin. But still, "...He
drove out the man, and He placed cherubim
at the east of the garden of Eden, and a
flaming sword which turned every way, to
guard the way to the tree of life"
(Genesis 3:24). The only way to get to the
tree of life was for Jesus to take the judgment
for our sin,
In the parable of the wheat and tares,
Jesus told of those who decide not to accept
Christ's payment for sin, but rather choose
to take their own judgment for sin: "Just
as the weeds are separated out and burned,
so it will be at the end of the world. 1,
the Son of man, will send my angels, and
they will remove from my Kingdom everything
that causes sin and all who do evil, and
they will throw them into the furnace and
burn them. There will be weeping and gnashing
of teeth. Then the godly will shine like
the sun in their Father's Kingdom. Anyone
who is willing to hear should listen and
understand!" (Matthew 13:40-43 NLT).
Through the fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, the law [the powerful
principle], of sin and death, spread into
the world (Romans 8:2). Cain killed Abel,
because of envy and anger over a sacrifice
(Genesis 4). The Lord destroyed all but
eight souls in the flood, because the imaginations
of man's heart were evil continually (Genesis
6:5). He tore down the tower of Babel, because
the people were in idolatry trying to build
a doorway to god by their own works (Genesis
11). The Babylonian spirit has produced
sin and sickness, confusion, disorder, immorality
and death in the human race ever since.
The Law gives the knowledge of sin, but
it also provides the remedy -- the blood
sacrifice. God demonstrated this by the
killing of an animal to cover Adam and Eve.
They understood the lesson as evidenced
by Abel's blood sacrifice in the fourth
chapter of Genesis. Jesus finally fulfilled
the righteous requirement of the law, through
His own sacrifice. Jesus made it possible
for us to be called God's children again
(Romans 8:14). The whole creation groans
for the manifestation of the sons of God
(Romans 8:19). Won't you trust God's grace
in every area of your life?
WHO WERE WE?
We were sinners, conceived in sin (Psalm
51:5), because of the fall. We were in a
state of fear, guilt, shame and condemnation
before receiving Christ. The Apostle Paul
wrote, "There is none righteous, no,
not one-for all have sinned and fall short
of the glory of God" (Romans 3:10,23).
Again, Paul proclaimed we were dead, "For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord" (Romans 6:23). "Once you
were dead, doomed forever because of your
many sins. You used to live just like the
rest of the world, full of sin, obeying
Satan, the mighty prince of the power of
the air. he is the spirit at work in the
hearts of those who refuse to obey god.
All of us used to live that way, following
the passions and desires of our evil nature.
We were born with an evil nature, and we
were under God's anger like everyone else"
(Ephesians 2:1-3 NLT).
Apart from Christ, we're slaves bound by
the slave market of sin. Jesus said, "Most
assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits
sin is a slave of sin (John 8:34). Christ
sets us free from this kind of slavery (John
8:36), to be obedient to Him and to be righteous
(Romans 6:16-18).
We were ungodly. Paul exhorts, "Live
no longer as the ungodly do for they are
hopelessly confused. Their closed minds
are full of darkness; they are far away
from the life of God because they have shut
their minds and hardened their hearts against
him. They don't care anymore about right
and wrong, and they have given themselves
over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled
with all kinds of impurity and greed"
(Ephesians 4:17-19 NLT).
We were tares under God's judgment: "But
the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers,
sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters,
and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burns with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death" (Revelation
21:7).
As the saying goes, "Sin will take
you further than you want to go, and keep
you longer than you want to stay."
Paul quoting the Prophet Isaiah says, "Awake,
you who sleep, arise from the dead, and
Christ shall give you light" (Ephesians
5:14).
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