Part 1, "In the Beginning: God's Perfect Creation," illustrated creation from the very beginning and concluded with a discussion on Satan's evil plot to destroy the Creator's perfect work. "The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). Therefore, sin was introduced in this world through Satan's lies and deceptive evil schemes. Jesus tells us, "He was a murderer from the beginning, refusing to uphold the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, because he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). Genesis chapter 3 gives us a rich account of mankind's fall from grace through the deceptive lies of the devil and he continues to remain on the attack to this day. This is why the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Ephesus, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12). The following describes mankind's fall from grace:
"Now the serpent was craftier than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman (Eve), "Did God really say, 'You must not eat of any tree in the garden?'" The woman answered the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent told her. "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." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband (Adam), and he ate it. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves" (Genesis 3:1-7).
"Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. So the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?" "I heard Your voice in the garden," he replied, "and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." "Who told you that you were naked?" asked the LORD God. "Have you eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?" And the man answered, "The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate" (Genesis 3:8-13).
Satan knew how naïve and innocent Adam and Eve were and because of his hatred toward God tricked them into believing his lies through the serpent. He told them halve truths saying, "You will not surely die" and "your eyes will be opened and you will be like God." Although they continued to live physical lives here on earth, the very instant they ate from the fruit (disobeying God) they experienced spiritually separation from the Creator. In truth, they spiritually died just as God said they would. Furthermore. Once they gained the knowledge of good and evil they instantly became ashamed of their naked state and sought cover. They were no longer naïve and innocent; no, they were now sinners spiritually separated from their Creator.
This was the beginning of the curse of sin that continues to plague mankind today. Therefore, Satan believes he has gained victory over God because of the evil he has caused mankind to partake in. However, the Creator is a great and merciful God and His love for mankind is far too great to allow us to remain separated from Him due to Satan's treachery. Thus, angered by Satan's sinful plot, the Creator devised His own plan that would offer salvation to all of mankind. This plan will be further explained in future Blog entries, but it is important to understand at this point that God had no intention to let mankind remain separated from Him. Thus, the first thing God did was to deal with serpent, "So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:14-15).
"To the woman He said: "I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." And to Adam He said: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:16-20).
In His final steps to deal with the immediate circumstance caused by Adam and Eve's sin, it is written that, "The LORD God made garments of skin and clothed Adam and his wife. Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil (discussing this with Jesus and the Holy Spirit). And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..." Therefore, the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim (angels) to the east of the Garden of Eden, with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:21-24).
Therefore, all of mankind was exiled from the very place the Creator had made for God and man to dwell together in peace and harmony. There was no pain, no tears, and no sin in the garden before man sinned. Consequently, mankind would now embark on a whole new life here on earth, one where they would be separated from their Creator due to their disobedience. One might think man would have learned from such a great fall; however, regrettably, mankind continued to live disobedient sinful lives even to the point that the Creator was sorry He had ever created them. We now know that all of these events in the beginning would set in motion an elaborate plan by Almighty God because of His deep love for mankind. The next few Blog entries discuss many of the events that had to happen to allow God's plan for mankind's salvation to take shape.
Hence, all of creation, to include the countless angels who remain in heaven, witnessed all of these events as they happened. Knowing all of creation witnessed Satan's continued treachery one cannot help but wonder what they must have been thinking as they watched the devils constant attacks. There is little doubt that they were filled with pain and anguish as they must have wondered how God would react to such evil. Yet, what they witnessed was the Almighty God show patience in the face of this adversity. This assuredly caused these heavenly hosts to deeply praise and worship the Creator even while they witnessed continued treachery and evil from Satan. The devil was just getting started as he set out to increase his sinful influence all over the earth. Regrettably, as Satan's influence grew so did the sinful and outright disobedient acts of mankind toward God causing the Creator to wish He had never created man.
"Now the serpent was craftier than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman (Eve), "Did God really say, 'You must not eat of any tree in the garden?'" The woman answered the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You must not eat of it or touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not surely die," the serpent told her. "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." When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eyes, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom, she took the fruit and ate it. She also gave some to her husband (Adam), and he ate it. And the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed together fig leaves and made coverings for themselves" (Genesis 3:1-7).
"Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. So the LORD God called out to the man, "Where are you?" "I heard Your voice in the garden," he replied, "and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself." "Who told you that you were naked?" asked the LORD God. "Have you eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?" And the man answered, "The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" "The serpent deceived me," she replied, "and I ate" (Genesis 3:8-13).
Satan knew how naïve and innocent Adam and Eve were and because of his hatred toward God tricked them into believing his lies through the serpent. He told them halve truths saying, "You will not surely die" and "your eyes will be opened and you will be like God." Although they continued to live physical lives here on earth, the very instant they ate from the fruit (disobeying God) they experienced spiritually separation from the Creator. In truth, they spiritually died just as God said they would. Furthermore. Once they gained the knowledge of good and evil they instantly became ashamed of their naked state and sought cover. They were no longer naïve and innocent; no, they were now sinners spiritually separated from their Creator.
This was the beginning of the curse of sin that continues to plague mankind today. Therefore, Satan believes he has gained victory over God because of the evil he has caused mankind to partake in. However, the Creator is a great and merciful God and His love for mankind is far too great to allow us to remain separated from Him due to Satan's treachery. Thus, angered by Satan's sinful plot, the Creator devised His own plan that would offer salvation to all of mankind. This plan will be further explained in future Blog entries, but it is important to understand at this point that God had no intention to let mankind remain separated from Him. Thus, the first thing God did was to deal with serpent, "So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field! On your belly will you go, and dust you will eat, all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:14-15).
"To the woman He said: "I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." And to Adam He said: "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will yield you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return." And Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:16-20).
In His final steps to deal with the immediate circumstance caused by Adam and Eve's sin, it is written that, "The LORD God made garments of skin and clothed Adam and his wife. Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil (discussing this with Jesus and the Holy Spirit). And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever..." Therefore, the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. So He drove out the man and stationed cherubim (angels) to the east of the Garden of Eden, with a whirling sword of flame to guard the way to the tree of life" (Genesis 3:21-24).
Therefore, all of mankind was exiled from the very place the Creator had made for God and man to dwell together in peace and harmony. There was no pain, no tears, and no sin in the garden before man sinned. Consequently, mankind would now embark on a whole new life here on earth, one where they would be separated from their Creator due to their disobedience. One might think man would have learned from such a great fall; however, regrettably, mankind continued to live disobedient sinful lives even to the point that the Creator was sorry He had ever created them. We now know that all of these events in the beginning would set in motion an elaborate plan by Almighty God because of His deep love for mankind. The next few Blog entries discuss many of the events that had to happen to allow God's plan for mankind's salvation to take shape.
Hence, all of creation, to include the countless angels who remain in heaven, witnessed all of these events as they happened. Knowing all of creation witnessed Satan's continued treachery one cannot help but wonder what they must have been thinking as they watched the devils constant attacks. There is little doubt that they were filled with pain and anguish as they must have wondered how God would react to such evil. Yet, what they witnessed was the Almighty God show patience in the face of this adversity. This assuredly caused these heavenly hosts to deeply praise and worship the Creator even while they witnessed continued treachery and evil from Satan. The devil was just getting started as he set out to increase his sinful influence all over the earth. Regrettably, as Satan's influence grew so did the sinful and outright disobedient acts of mankind toward God causing the Creator to wish He had never created man.
