17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2:17
God’s command to Adam and Eve was very clear “….you must not…!!! The very moment this command was spoken a door was opened by God to express to His creation that we had the freedom to choose, and that He expected obedience from His Children. But as most of us know, Adam and Eve made the wrong choice and the consequence were, and still are colossal. The aftermath of their disobedience to God’s clear command, changed their world negatively and it also changed our world eternally.
“…..eat from it and you will certainly die.”
As I stared at this verse for a while the word “you” stood out to me, as if God was saying it to me. Think at it this way, when God warned Adam and Eve, He was not speaking only to them as individuals, but He was warning the entire Human race, including you and I. ”Eat from it Adam, and every generation after you will certainly die. Whatever choice Adam would have made that day in the Garden of Eden would affect our relationship with God today. For Adam was our ”representative.” “When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race…” Romans 5: 12 (NLT)
Here is what God was saying to His son (the human race) “my dear son, you must not eat of this tree or my Spirit will surely leave you. My immortality, my communication with you, my counseling, my direction, will all be gone. Your very heart will be forever far from me. Your desires, will not be what I desire, my peace, my joy, all my blessings, my inheritance, my rewards, my very life will leave you. Oh dear, I will no longer dwell within you. As a matter of fact, your choice will end the relationship I long to have with you for eternity, and son, one more thing, you will feel empty, for I have created you to be the dwelling of my Spirit, and nothing, I mean nothing can fill-in that void. So please son, you must not….!” Do you get the picture of this horrendous consequence? A complete absence of God within every human born after Adam.
We don’t have to look very far to see, hear, feel and taste the symptoms of the decease of sin in this world. It’s closer than you think, take a look deep within you. Our most pure efforts to love and to serve others is corrupted by an obscure and often undetected desire to love and serve our own selfish appetite. “The LORD saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Genesis 6:5. Look close, and examine your true desires, your true motives. After much meditation and self-examination, ” self ” will be at last. In our ambitious search for happiness, answers to why we feel so empty or without a purpose and unable to love, we will find ourselves filling ourselves with empty idols (money, friends, children, wives and husbands, things, religion, tradition, music, sports, drugs, profession, comfort, self etc) that only brings us more emptiness, more questions and more pain. A.W Tozer expressed this point well, in his masterpiece the Pursuit of God ”God’s gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by this monstrous substitution.”
In this dark and broken world, God in His love, came to our rescue. A sovereign plan was put together, so to bring the human race back to a right standing with God. The perfect plan.
He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. Isaiah 59:16
This truth is amazing! The prophet Isaiah(about 700 year before the perfect plan would become a reality to us), gave us the “blue print” if I may, to God’s beautifully orchestrated plan. God began by saying, that there was no hope to save humanity through anyone alive, not one righteous man could be found who could intervene for the human race. He was saying , “I have scattered the earth in search of an answer to liberate my people, but I found none who was right with me. I found no one “to encounter or to meet their condition in a way that it would transform their hearts from evil to good, from hate to love, from condemned to sanctified, no one could sustain the pain of carrying on the weight of every sin, from every single person alive, from every generation, and cleanse them fully from their unrighteousness.” But He said: “I know one who can, my Son!” For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Chris.” Romans 5:17
So God the father decided to make a new agreement, a new covenant with His people. Though now, with another “representative”, His very own son, Jesus Christ. Answer me this very simple question: How can a covenant where both sides are God, fail??? A perfect God with a perfect plan. Can you imagine this covenant taking place? God on one side representing God and on the other side God representing God and the human race. It can not fail, its impossible.
Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped,7But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. Philippians 2:6-7
Through the sacrifice of His own Son on the cross, God has given His beloved creation overflowing grace and the opportunity to choose again. Adam made the wrong choice, that brought us only pain, now you and I can make the only right choice, to believe in our hearts and say with our mouths that Jesus has died and have been raised again to save us from eternal condemnation, and by this freely given gift, we are made right before our maker, not only here on earth, but forever more. A perfect plan that rested sole in the arms of God, to give rest to every human soul.
I can only imagine God’s conversation with Jesus after their victory. ”Oh my son….my beloved son, how proud I am of you, sit here by my side….on my right please. It is filthy down there isn’t it? But its over now, we have won! We have conquered death! The pain you endured, the humiliation, the disbelief, the evilness you had to withstand, was all for this. I knew your obedience would bring us much joy. They are still living in a dark and broken world, but look how many children we have adopted into our family! Look at them they are all calling out your name, look they are worshiping us again. Oh my son how proud I am of you, I delight to be in your presence, I have missed you so much, even though every step you took I was with you. Listen, because of your sacrifice and obedience, from now on I will listen to their every cry, I will exalt them above every obstacle, I will carry them through every valley, I will guide them, I will communicate with them, I will eat with them, I will live in them, I will love them, from everlasting to everlasting, I will love them. The relationship I have longed for so long to have with them, is now a reality. Oh, and by the way, that void we talked about in the beginning is now rightly filled with my Holy Spirit. I can’ wait to see them, they are so beautiful, and look son, their white cloaks are spotless, just like yours. Jesus do me a favor? Go ahead and carve all the names of those who believe in the book of life.”
Everyone who wins the victory this way will wear white clothes. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life. I will acknowledge them in the presence of my Father and his angels. Rev 3:5
Through the Good News we have hope, God in his majestic being put together a perfect plan to bring us back to a righteous relationship with Him. As we do life while still on this earth, lets us carry on a heart of praise and honor for the love God has poured out on us through sacrificing His one and only son while we were still sinners. Take this time to meditate on the truths above, then take a close look how it applies it in your own life. See how much God loves you, and how much He wants to have a relationship with you. He desires for you not perish, but that you may have eternal life. Remember being a good person and doing good deeds is not good enough. You still carry a rebellious spirit that cannot enter into His presence or be forgiven by God no matter how much good you do in this world. But in Jesus your spirit is brought back to life and all your sins are forgiven. Invite Him into your heart by saying this prayer, and see how He will immediately send His Holy Spirit to dwell within you with all of His riches. Pray: Father in heaven forgive me for my sins, I accept you as my Lord and Savior. I believe that you have sacrificed you Son on the cross for all my sins, and three days later He rose again defeating death on my behalf. Please Jesus, from now on give me the strength for live for you. Amen.
Thank you