"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!"

(Romans 5:10 GNB)

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In part 1 of this series, we discovered that it was God's eternal purpose to have us as His children and the focus of His love. To this end, He created Adam and Eve to rule the earth and subdue it. He told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or he would die. Satan came armed with his own agenda of world domination to contradict God and deceive them into rebellion(If you missed part 1, click here to read it).

1. "What a comedown this, O Babylon! Daystar! Son of Dawn! Flat on your face in the underworld mud, you, famous for flattening nations! You said to yourself, "I'll climb to heaven. I'll set my throne over the stars of God. I'll run the assembly of angels that meets on sacred Mount Zaphon. I'll climb to the top of the clouds. I'll take over as King of the Universe!" But you didn't make it, did you? Instead of climbing up, you came down-- Down with the underground dead, down to the abyss of the Pit. People will stare and muse: "Can this be the one Who terrorized earth and its kingdoms," (Isaiah 14:12-16 MSG)

2. "The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal GOD had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?" The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden. It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, 'Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'" The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die." (Genesis 3:1-4 MSG)

Having called God a liar, He then went on to question His love for them and appeal to their lusts. To cut the long story, short. They succumbed and disobeyed God.

1. "God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil." When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it--she'd know everything!--she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate." (Genesis 3:5-6 MSG)

Let us suspend time and consider the possible outcomes of their disobedience. If God was telling the truth, they were about to die, if the devil was telling the truth, they would not die but live. One had to be a liar and the other true.

1. "..God, who cannot lie..," (Titus 1:2 MKJV)

2. "..the Devil..was a murderer from the beginning, and did not abide in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it." (John 8:44 MKJV)

Did not make me

Cannot sustain me

How then do I come to obtain

My very own agenda

Agenda, what I want to achieve

I must be smart in my own eyes

I presume to possess the resources

To carry out my very own agenda

Agenda, all about what I want

Whether He does or not

I want it and I want it now

My very own agenda

Agenda, that which will satisfy me

Why do I seek for more?

Ignore the emptiness inside

As I tirelessly pursue

My very own agenda

Agenda, that which consumes me

I loose reason or scruples to attain to it

Open game for the enemies bait

As I press in, to my very own agenda

Agenda, that which drains me of life

Lost every sense of balance

Gave up all that was dear

My loved ones in despair

To pour myself into my very own agenda

Agenda, finally gave up the ghost

The more I sought it, the less my Joy

So what is the point, to seek at any cost

My very own agenda

Agenda, no longer mine but His

A return to the purpose for which I was made

To be the vessel through which He lives

To fulfill His very own agenda

Let us continue.

1. "Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"--saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves. When they heard the sound of GOD strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from GOD. GOD called to the Man: "Where are you?" He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid." GOD said, "Who told you, you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:7-11 MSG)

God knew by their actions that they had disobeyed Him. This implies that their reactions to His presence were consistent with the consequences of death(separation from His life). We can therefore conclude that death entailed, loss of innocence, fear, shame, not feeling comfortable in God's presence(They hid from Him) and Loss of intimacy.

It did not take long for Eve to compute who was telling the truth. Further manifestations of death included pain, hard labor and the onset of physical death(mortality - the separation of the soul/spirit from the human earth suit).

1. "And Jehovah God said to the woman, What is this you have done? And the woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate." (Genesis 3:13 MKJV)

2. "He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you." He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt." (Genesis 3:16-19 MSG)

3. "Our bodies will return to the dust of the earth, and the breath of life will go back to God, who gave it to us." (Ecclesiastes 12:7 GNB)

In addition to their death(separated from God's life), they had now taken on the sin nature of their new master, the devil. They were dead and in sin.

1. "Don't you know that you are slaves of anyone you obey? You can be slaves of sin and die, or you can be obedient slaves of God and be acceptable to him. You used to be slaves of sin. But I thank God that with all your heart you obeyed the teaching you received from me." (Romans 6:16-17 CEV)

2. "And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins," (Ephesians 2:1 MKJV)

3. "Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruits, nor can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that does not bring forth good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you shall know them." (Matthew 7:17-20 MKJV)

In part 3 we will look at how God responds to this "clog" in the wheel of His eternal purpose.

Selah

(To be continued..

Click here to read part 3

To view others instalments in the series, click here