In the last post we were giving an introduction to this series of posts about Jesus being born into this world to die for the sins of mankind. During the Christmas season, we set aside this time to remember Christ being born into this world in a manger scene. We read about the Wise Men searching for Jesus to bring gifts to him. I'm very thankful for the blessed day when Jesus came into this world for the very first time. Even though there is some dispute among some in the religious world concerning the celebration of Christmas on December 25, Christ was still born into this world and that's worth commemorating regardless when we celebrate it. If Jesus was never born, then Jesus would've never went to Calvary's cross to die for the sins of mankind. As I've stated repeatedly over the years, there had to be a birth in order for there to be a death, burial, and resurrection. It's proper and fitting to celebrate the birth of Christ. Christ's birth fulfills the various prophecies in the Old Testament which states there would be a Messiah to come into this world to deliver mankind from the threshold of sin.
I want to now focus our attention in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 concerning the fall of mankind. In Genesis 2:7 we read where God formed Adam from the dust of the ground. He took Adam to put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and keep it. The reason why Jesus had to come into this world to die for the sins of mankind is because of Adam's sin when he and Eve had partaken of the forbidden fruit, which God told Adam in Genesis 2 he wasn't to touch. God told Adam that before God took a rib from Adam's side to form Eve. God had told Adam in Genesis 2:17 about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and he told Adam not to partake of it. The day he did so, he would surely die. In Genesis 2:21-25 we read the account where God caused Adam to be put into a deep sleep and he took a rib out of Adam to form Eve. Adam had called her a woman because she was taken out of man. Adam said this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh (Genesis 2:23). Anybody in liberal religious circles that want to dispute the subject of "gay marriage" need to read the last few verses in Genesis. God instituted the family unit in these verses and his intention was for man and woman to be joined together. It's Adam and Eve--not Adam and Steve.
In Genesis 3:1-3:7, we read, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? 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, let ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day that ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 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." It's amazing how tricky the Devil is. He twisted the statement God told Adam and that was the day ye eat of the tree ye shall surely die. The Devil told them that it wasn't so and that the day they ate of the fruit their eyes would be opened and they shall be as gods. The Devil is sly in the sense he uses half-truths to twist statements around. It was true when he said their eyes would be opened if they partook of the fruit. What wasn't true was when the Devil told them they should be as gods. They weren't as gods. Their eyes were opened in the sense they no longer were in the state of innocence. They learned what sin was when they partook of the forbidden fruit.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and partook of the forbidden fruit, they plunged the whole human race into sin. They were to learn what the curse of sin was. When they first partook of the fruit, they were embarrassed of their nakedness and as a result they sewed themselves fig leaves together to make aprons. Also, they were afraid of God when he called on them. Adam also tried to hide himself from the presence of the Lord. Why would he do that? He did that because sin had separated him from God. Adam no longer was able to have sweet communion with God because of disobedience. The fellowship he had with God was no longer the same. Another thing that took place as a result of their sin was God told them that he would curse the ground and thorns and thistles would grow (Genesis 3:17-19). The beasts of the field also would be cursed. Adam would also return to the dust of the ground as a result of his sin before God. The sting of sin is death, not only spiritually but physically. If Adam hadn't partaken of the fruit, he would've lived forever. God didn't create man to die. It was the curse of sin that brought death to man. Another result from the curse of sin was that there would be great pain in childbearing whenever Eve would conceive (Genesis 3:16). God also said that Eve's desire would be to her husband and he would rule over her. Finally, God drove both Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. God placed Cherubims there, with a flaming sword turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
In the midst of their sin, God made a promise to Eve in Genesis 3:15 where God would put enmity between the serpent and the woman. There would come a day when a Saviour would come into this world to die upon Calvary's cross to reclaim man and save him from sin. One of these days Satan would be defeated as a result of Christ's dying upon Calvary's cross. God would redeem man so that one day man could have fellowship with God once again and that man would go to Heaven for eternity when he dies. What a promise!
No comments:
Post a Comment