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CHAPTER 2
IN THE GARDEN!
Yes, we are all part of that beautiful bouquet that we read about in chapter one, but there is
one event that took place that interferes with our desire to become all that God wants us to
become. This event was in the Garden of Eden when Eve was tempted by the serpent.
Satan came to her in the form of a serpent and beguiled (charmed/conned) her. He told her
that she could become like God, and that this was the reason why God had not allowed her
and her husband to eat from the forbidden fruit in the Garden. He told her that God did not
want her and Adam to become like Himself, and she bought the serpents lie. She then gave
the fruit to Adam to eat as well.
It was at that point, when sin entered into the heart of mankind, and the Holy Spirit, which
had resided in them both, left. Now they would be under the control of the god of this
world, Satan; suffering under the terrible curse that God had pronounced upon each of them
for their disobedience. Now they would be led by their old natures (carnal natures); not
having the Holy Spirit in them anymore, to guide them and give them His divine nature to live
by. Mankind was now lost, hopeless, depraved and apart from God. He was DEAD,
because mankind no longer had eternal life living inside of him.
This was a terrible penalty to pay for disobedience, and worst of all, Adam and Eve were
not the only ones who had to suffer under this curse for their disobedience. All of mankind
from that point on would suffer under this same curse. This curse would continually be
passed down from generation to generation to all of Adam’s children. All of them, would
now have to live by their carnal natures (called the old man or the flesh), not having the Holy
Spirit of God living in them any longer; hopeless, depraved and a part from God. Mankind
would now have to battle his sin nature from then on, that carnal nature which fights against
God in every respect. He would no only be influenced by his sin nature; but also, by the
enemy of man, Satan, who would come and tempt him along the way. Man had to do battle
against Satan without the help of God, because he was now dead (no longer alive unto
God) in trespasses and sin.
Sin always has terrible consequences. Eve tried to pass the blame onto the serpent, Adam
tried to pass the blame onto Eve and we try to pass our sins onto someone else or make up
an excuse as to why we did a particular sin. We try to get out of the consequences for our
sins, but it doesn’t work. There is always a penalty for sin, though we are forgiven, blood
bought sons and daughters of the living God. There is still a consequence to pay, most of
the time. Sometimes God supernaturally will not cause us to have to suffer the
consequence as severely as we deserve, but usually we have to reap what we have sown.
For example, if we murder someone and feel very sorry about it, ask for forgiveness;
believe that the blood of Jesus will give us eternal life, God will still allow us to go to prison
for our crime. Disobedience has a price to pay.
We must be very careful, because if God punished Adam and Eve, Moses (who didn’t get to
enter into the Promised Land), David (who lost his baby and eventually three other sons
who died violently), and Ananias & Sapphira (who were killed for lying to the Holy Spirit),
then we must believe that sin is a very serious thing to be avoided at all costs!
In order to redeem mankind (which means bought back by the original owner) from this
terrible dilemma, God had to devise a plan. He had to devise a plan that would save His
precious creation, mankind. He said in Heb 9:22, “…without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sin (forgiveness for sin)”, so He had to make a substitute for man’s sin. At
first in Genesis, He killed a lamb and covered their nakedness with the skin of the lamb,
shedding its blood as an acceptable sacrifice for the sin which Adam and Eve had
committed. This was a foreshadow of Jesus (the Lamb) of God shedding His blood for
mankind as the ultimate and final sacrifice that would satisfy God for all time. This is the
sacrifice required by God for the forgiveness of man’s sins. In order to appropriate this
eternal sacrifice on our behalf, man was required to BELIEVE on this Sacrifice (Jesus) as
having paid the penalty for sins, on our behalf. Then we would receive forgiveness for our
sins and receive eternal life. Wow! What a wonderful Father and Savior we have; to do
this for us!
Not only did God send His Son to die for us, but He also sent back into mankind the Holy
Spirit who would once again reside inside of man if he believed in Jesus as his Lord and
Savior. Mankind would then be born-again. That is where the Holy Spirit of God enters into
the heart of a person and they are born-again into newness of life, eternal life. Never more
to die or having to be under the control of the old man (carnal nature) any longer, but
instead he now has the power to draw from the NEW MAN (the divine nature), because the
Holy Spirit is now living in him.
Mankind can now make RIGHT choices, because he has the Holy Spirit. He can choose to
go God’s way and not his own way. He can choose to deny himself and his carnal desires,
and obey the Word of God. He now, through the Holy Spirit, can live for others and not for
himself, he can see things in a spiritual light and prospective, instead of from a carnal fleshly
prospective. He now has the ability to weight things from the eternal value and not
according to what the world dictates, because he is a NEW MAN, a NEW CREATURE, born
into the family of God. He has become a son or daughter of the living God and eternity
(eternal life) is now living inside of Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12). I love this Scripture so much! We have
the power to live for God and for Him alone. We have been adopted by God to be His
children and we have received great power over the enemy. But, there will always be a
battle. A battle against Satan, who has come like a thief, “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.” (John 10:10), but remember, “Greater is He that is in us, than He
that is in the World” (I John 4:4)! We must not be frightened by Satan, because nothing
can come into our life, when we are blood bought sons and daughters of the living God,
unless God our Father, allows it to happen to us for our best interest and to accomplish His
purposes through us. Take Joni Erickson for example. She woke up and had to face the
fact that she would be paralyzed for the rest of her life. How would we feel if that is what
we woke up to one day? We would probably be devastated! By the grace of God, Joni, at
some point had a heart change, and the Holy Spirit was able to minister peace to her heart
and to give her the confidence that she was still in God’s plan for her life, and that
everything would turn out for God’s glory. God had allowed this to happen to her for a
reason, and He was not finished with her yet. Instead, this would only be the beginning of a
wonderful opportunity to glorify her heavenly Father.
We must BELIEVE and TRUST in our Father, that He means to do us well, at all times, in all
circumstances. He will be with us continually, and we are in the plan that He has ordained
for us since the foundation of the universe. I would rather be in His plan no matter what,
than in my own plan, wouldn’t you?
We have to constantly REMIND ourselves that we are in this battle against the flesh and the
devil, and always realize our need for the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must call out to Him
continually when we are being tempted, in order to overcome the temptation of sin, or we
will fall. We can’t white knuckle it, or try and try in our own strength to overcome and win
the battle against sin. Only by the POWER of the Holy Spirit can we obtain victory, and
then He and He alone can get the glory!
IN THE GARDEN!
Yes, we are all part of that beautiful bouquet that we read about in chapter one, but there is
one event that took place that interferes with our desire to become all that God wants us to
become. This event was in the Garden of Eden when Eve was tempted by the serpent.
Satan came to her in the form of a serpent and beguiled (charmed/conned) her. He told her
that she could become like God, and that this was the reason why God had not allowed her
and her husband to eat from the forbidden fruit in the Garden. He told her that God did not
want her and Adam to become like Himself, and she bought the serpents lie. She then gave
the fruit to Adam to eat as well.
It was at that point, when sin entered into the heart of mankind, and the Holy Spirit, which
had resided in them both, left. Now they would be under the control of the god of this
world, Satan; suffering under the terrible curse that God had pronounced upon each of them
for their disobedience. Now they would be led by their old natures (carnal natures); not
having the Holy Spirit in them anymore, to guide them and give them His divine nature to live
by. Mankind was now lost, hopeless, depraved and apart from God. He was DEAD,
because mankind no longer had eternal life living inside of him.
This was a terrible penalty to pay for disobedience, and worst of all, Adam and Eve were
not the only ones who had to suffer under this curse for their disobedience. All of mankind
from that point on would suffer under this same curse. This curse would continually be
passed down from generation to generation to all of Adam’s children. All of them, would
now have to live by their carnal natures (called the old man or the flesh), not having the Holy
Spirit of God living in them any longer; hopeless, depraved and a part from God. Mankind
would now have to battle his sin nature from then on, that carnal nature which fights against
God in every respect. He would no only be influenced by his sin nature; but also, by the
enemy of man, Satan, who would come and tempt him along the way. Man had to do battle
against Satan without the help of God, because he was now dead (no longer alive unto
God) in trespasses and sin.
Sin always has terrible consequences. Eve tried to pass the blame onto the serpent, Adam
tried to pass the blame onto Eve and we try to pass our sins onto someone else or make up
an excuse as to why we did a particular sin. We try to get out of the consequences for our
sins, but it doesn’t work. There is always a penalty for sin, though we are forgiven, blood
bought sons and daughters of the living God. There is still a consequence to pay, most of
the time. Sometimes God supernaturally will not cause us to have to suffer the
consequence as severely as we deserve, but usually we have to reap what we have sown.
For example, if we murder someone and feel very sorry about it, ask for forgiveness;
believe that the blood of Jesus will give us eternal life, God will still allow us to go to prison
for our crime. Disobedience has a price to pay.
We must be very careful, because if God punished Adam and Eve, Moses (who didn’t get to
enter into the Promised Land), David (who lost his baby and eventually three other sons
who died violently), and Ananias & Sapphira (who were killed for lying to the Holy Spirit),
then we must believe that sin is a very serious thing to be avoided at all costs!
In order to redeem mankind (which means bought back by the original owner) from this
terrible dilemma, God had to devise a plan. He had to devise a plan that would save His
precious creation, mankind. He said in Heb 9:22, “…without the shedding of blood there is
no remission of sin (forgiveness for sin)”, so He had to make a substitute for man’s sin. At
first in Genesis, He killed a lamb and covered their nakedness with the skin of the lamb,
shedding its blood as an acceptable sacrifice for the sin which Adam and Eve had
committed. This was a foreshadow of Jesus (the Lamb) of God shedding His blood for
mankind as the ultimate and final sacrifice that would satisfy God for all time. This is the
sacrifice required by God for the forgiveness of man’s sins. In order to appropriate this
eternal sacrifice on our behalf, man was required to BELIEVE on this Sacrifice (Jesus) as
having paid the penalty for sins, on our behalf. Then we would receive forgiveness for our
sins and receive eternal life. Wow! What a wonderful Father and Savior we have; to do
this for us!
Not only did God send His Son to die for us, but He also sent back into mankind the Holy
Spirit who would once again reside inside of man if he believed in Jesus as his Lord and
Savior. Mankind would then be born-again. That is where the Holy Spirit of God enters into
the heart of a person and they are born-again into newness of life, eternal life. Never more
to die or having to be under the control of the old man (carnal nature) any longer, but
instead he now has the power to draw from the NEW MAN (the divine nature), because the
Holy Spirit is now living in him.
Mankind can now make RIGHT choices, because he has the Holy Spirit. He can choose to
go God’s way and not his own way. He can choose to deny himself and his carnal desires,
and obey the Word of God. He now, through the Holy Spirit, can live for others and not for
himself, he can see things in a spiritual light and prospective, instead of from a carnal fleshly
prospective. He now has the ability to weight things from the eternal value and not
according to what the world dictates, because he is a NEW MAN, a NEW CREATURE, born
into the family of God. He has become a son or daughter of the living God and eternity
(eternal life) is now living inside of Him. “But as many as received him, to them gave he
power to become the sons of God…” (John 1:12). I love this Scripture so much! We have
the power to live for God and for Him alone. We have been adopted by God to be His
children and we have received great power over the enemy. But, there will always be a
battle. A battle against Satan, who has come like a thief, “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.” (John 10:10), but remember, “Greater is He that is in us, than He
that is in the World” (I John 4:4)! We must not be frightened by Satan, because nothing
can come into our life, when we are blood bought sons and daughters of the living God,
unless God our Father, allows it to happen to us for our best interest and to accomplish His
purposes through us. Take Joni Erickson for example. She woke up and had to face the
fact that she would be paralyzed for the rest of her life. How would we feel if that is what
we woke up to one day? We would probably be devastated! By the grace of God, Joni, at
some point had a heart change, and the Holy Spirit was able to minister peace to her heart
and to give her the confidence that she was still in God’s plan for her life, and that
everything would turn out for God’s glory. God had allowed this to happen to her for a
reason, and He was not finished with her yet. Instead, this would only be the beginning of a
wonderful opportunity to glorify her heavenly Father.
We must BELIEVE and TRUST in our Father, that He means to do us well, at all times, in all
circumstances. He will be with us continually, and we are in the plan that He has ordained
for us since the foundation of the universe. I would rather be in His plan no matter what,
than in my own plan, wouldn’t you?
We have to constantly REMIND ourselves that we are in this battle against the flesh and the
devil, and always realize our need for the Holy Spirit in our lives. We must call out to Him
continually when we are being tempted, in order to overcome the temptation of sin, or we
will fall. We can’t white knuckle it, or try and try in our own strength to overcome and win
the battle against sin. Only by the POWER of the Holy Spirit can we obtain victory, and
then He and He alone can get the glory!
| Women for the Lord www.WomenfortheLord.com "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Proverbs 31:10 |
