1.) God is the One who seeks to restore a fallen creation. The creation doesn't redeem itself.
2.) God judges sin. Sin brings about death and destruction.
3.) Satan is the ruler of this world under God's authority.
4.) Man was created by God to replace Satan as ruler of this world.
5.) An incumbent ruler can't be replaced until the new ruler is on the scene and ready to take control.
6.) Man was created as a trinity: spirit, soul, and body.
7.) When God speaks, His words are powerful and truthful, and they should be heeded.
Genesis 2 and 3 give the account of man's fall. In Genesis 2, we are told that God made man (Adam) and placed him in the Garden of Eden. He was given the responsibility of taking care of the garden. In this garden were all manner of trees, which included both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave to man one prohibition:
Genesis 2:15-17:
"And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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."
A couple of questions come to mind when I read this. Why was man placed in the garden in the first place? Why put man in a place where he could fall by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? The answer to those questions are in the concept of being ready to rule and reign. God could have very easily made man some kind of robot, whereby every command would be followed without fail, and without hesitation. God didn't desire that type of servant. God desired a servant who would, of their own free will, choose to serve and love Him. The Garden of Eden was meant to be our testing ground, and we failed the test miserably. The Garden of Eden was our stepping stone to ruling the earth, and in my opinion, the earth was then to be our stepping stone to the universe. Instead, we messed it up right off the bat.
How long it took before Satan pounced on our first parents is unknown, but it must not have been too long of a time. Because there was another tree in the garden of vital importance to man, Satan would have to move quickly. The tree of life is the only other tree mentioned by name. This certainly brings to light its importance. Besides being mention in Genesis 2 and 3, the tree of life is mentioned seven other times in scripture (Proverbs 3:18, 11:30, 13:12, 15:4, Revelations 2:7, and 22:2, 7). From these scriptures, we can glean the truth about the nature of this tree. The tree of life is associated with wisdom and with rulership. Wisdom is different than knowledge. Wisdom is the correct application of knowledge. All that the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil could do was give knowledge. It couldn't provide a person with the ability to properly apply that knowledge. Besides that, the tree had been prohibited by God. In regards to the tree of Life, God had encouraged mankind to partake of this tree.
Proverbs 3:13-18, and 35 states:
"Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise (what you gain from) of it is better than the merchandise (what you gain from) of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies: and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her: and happy is every one that retaineth her.
The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools."
What is glory? Let's let the Bible define the term. In Genesis 45:13, Joseph is speaking to his brothers about the glory he had in Egypt. His glory had to do with his position of rulership as second in command in the country.
"And ye shall tell my father of all my glory in Egypt, and of all that ye have seen; and ye shall haste and bring down my father hither."
If you remember the story, Joseph gained all his glory by wisdom. In the New Testament this theme is continued. In Matthew 19:27-30 we read:
"Then answered Peter and said unto Him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed (not just believed, but followed) Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first."
In short, the tree of life would give to man true, godly wisdom. This type of wisdom enables a person to inherit glory. Glory is an aspect of ruling and reigning. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil promised knowledge. When it was partook from without the permission of God it gave "wisdom not of God." The knowledge it gave them couldn't be properly applied, because that knowledge was gained through their own power and self will.
The tactics that Satan used to bring about the fall of Adam and Eve are a recurrent theme. In Genesis 3:1 we see the Devil's first tactic: Bring the word of God into question.
"Now the serpent was more subtle 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?"
In this simple statement, Satan does two things: 1.) he questions the word of God's validity and 2.) more subtlety, he implies that God is denying to man something he should enjoy. Satan is very good at his job. He knows just how to get to us. How many times has that same tactic been used on every one of us? Countless times I am sure.
Even in this, Eve has a chance to resist Satan's innuendo, but she fails. She correctly tries to use the word of God to combat Satan, but she misquotes the word, adds to it, makes it too strict, and makes God's judgment seem uncertain. Genesis 3:2-3 states:
"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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."
God had said in Genesis 1:16-17:
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 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."
Eve messed up by not knowing which of the two trees in the midst of the garden was prohibited. This is important because not knowing what God had actually prohibited robbed her of the blessing afforded by the tree of life. Eve then adds to the word of God by saying that they couldn't even touch the tree that was prohibited. God had never said this. Eve had started to follow Satan's thought that God was being too restrictive. Finally, Eve says that disobedience might bring about death. Again, God had not said this either. God said that they would surely die, without a doubt, and in the day they partook. Because Eve didn't know the word of God for herself, she fell into Satan's trap. That is the same with all of us. When we don't study the word of God, understand the word of God, and apply the word of God, we fall into Satan's trap as well.
Satan then pounces on Eve. He openly calls God a liar and plays upon his suggestion that God was denying man something that was his for the taking. He says in Genesis 3:4-5:
"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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."
He left out the bad part. He left out the part that they would die because of their disobedience. He left out the part that they would immediately be disqualified for rulership. It is also interesting to note that the temptation that caused man to fall was the same that caused Satan to fall. Recall Isaiah 14:14:
"I (Satan) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
Satan's temptation of Eve was that she could be more than what she was, and that she could only attain it through her self will and her efforts apart from God. Satan had bought into the same lie before his own downfall. All sin is of that nature.
Genesis 3:6-7 states:
"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. 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"
Upon partaking of the fruit, what happened? Their eyes were opened and they knew they were naked. They had gained knowledge, but not wisdom. All men know in the core of their beings that they are naked. They know that there is something that is lacking. They are uncovered, so they go about trying to cover their nakedness. Some do it by dulling their senses to their own sin. Others do it by religious activity. In the end, it is the same thing - men sewing together "fig leaves" to cover themselves. Their own efforts to cover themselves will never be enough. It is unacceptable to God. All false religions (all religions except Christianity) are works based. They are an attempt to work for salvation. Good works are important, but they are no substitute for the shed blood of Jesus that doesn't just cover sin, it takes it completely away as if it never existed (1 John 3:5). Our good works (or the lack of them) don't save us and they don't prove that we are saved.
TO BE CONTINUED
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