Lessons Learned from the Garden of Eden – Part 3

I’ll wrap up this 3-part series with two additional lessons learned from the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

First … a quick recount from Part 1 and Part 2.

The truth is: they died!

They were still breathing, talking, moving around …

… dead nonetheless. Think of it as a case ofThe Walking Dead.

Lessons Learned #9: Our human (natural) mechanisms can NOT accurately comprehend the Ways and Word of God be it written, spoken, or personified.

When God said  the day that you eat from it, you most certainly will die … it is natural to think of this from the perspective of physical death.

Beyond the physical death is a form of death that I (still) can’t accurately describe, but I deduce that it is terrible solely based on the truth that God does NOT want us to experience the full extent of it – John 3:16-17 reveals this truth and God’s heart.

Without the HolySpirit, we can NOT accurately make sense of the Word of God, much less translate it appropriately. Case in point: John 3:1-10 …

Jesus was talking to a renowned expert/teacher (Nicodemus) about being born again. Nicodemus’ mind could not conceive of the premise, hence his response to Jesus: how can a grown man be re-born? It’s impossible for a man to go back into the womb a second time and be re-born!

How limiting are our natural senses! What full lives we would live if we lay our simple thoughts aside …

In relation to the things of God, our natural eyes (including the eyes of our mind/understanding) are limited – they are eyes that don’t see (Mark 8:18) … they caN’T make sense of the things of God – this (in part) is why we need the HolySpirit.

Thankfully, God gives us His Spirit … without limit! –John 3:34. Jehovah Jireh in action – always providing for our needs. 🥰

Interacting with the Word of God without a HolySpirit-enabled understanding is detrimental and ill-advised. Besides, why would we? The HolySpirit – the Spirit of God – is the ONLY One Who knows the heart of God (what He means and intends).

The HolySpirit knows all the juicy secrets that God Himself joyfully wants to reveal to us per time. John 16:13 – He speaks what He hears God say. In other words, we getFirst Hand Informationwith the must-have understanding required.

This is the Way of Peace (Luke 1:79) – living by Faith (the Word of God) through Grace (the Spirit of God), and NOT by sight (our human mechanisms/wherewithal).

Lessons Learned #10: God’s Word is inescapable. If He said it, it will surely come to be.

WHEN Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, true to the Word of God, they died … we all did!

It’s important to note that, in addition to the death being one that transcends physical death, the extent of its scope applied to all of mankind. In essence, we were born dead.

Thankfully, out of the abundance of His love and mercy … and true to His nature, God came for us and redeemed us – Isaiah 53

God paid the wages of our sin (unbelief) – the unbelief which led us to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the same unbelief that has since led us to rely on our own understanding and mechanisms (cisterns that do NOT hold water – Jeremiah 2:13), as opposed to relying solely on God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 – Jesus (God personified) knew no sin yet, He took on the consequences of our sins and paid the price for us – a price we could NEVER pay.

No amount of “good” works on our part could ever result in salvation (Isaiah 64:6)

We are saved by GRACE (the Spirit of God) through FAITH (the Word of God).

In other words, we are saved by the HolySpirit through Jesus.

The same Word-and-Spirit combo that created all of creation.

The Word of God became flesh – Jesus.

He came to earth to do and (in conjunction with the HolySpirit) did the needful, that we may have renewed life –Eternal (unshakable) Life #TheForeverDeal.

A life born not of flesh and blood but by The Word-and-Spirit Combosame as in the Valley of Dry Bones –Ezekiel 37:1-14.

A life obtained and sustained not by works (“good” deeds) or human effort but simply by believing God – His Word, His Love … Who He IS.

How can we believe God without first knowing Him?

Well, that (I believe) is the essence of all God wants for us … I dare say that the cumulation of ALL that God has done from at least the foundation of the world till now and for all eternity sums up to thisONE THING– that we know Him.

Think about it … why have acompletedplan to save us from the foundation of the world? … BEFORE the creation of the tree that we ate and the death that ensued.

In many words …

Why create a tree that results in death … have the tree be put within our reach … allow us be tricked into eating it … allow us eat it.

PS: I use the word allow NOT to mean that God made us do it or that He tempted us into eating of the tree – James 1:13 God does NOT tempt us to sin. I specifically and explicitly mean that (in His sovereignty) He could have prevented all of it but didn’t. He let it be …

… we died. We were given enough time to prove (by ourselves) the futility of our ways, all the while being the proof of the need for salvation AND our inability to save ourselves.

THEN at the right time, God subjected Himself to a mediocre life on earth and went through a visible, somewhat relatable ordeal by choosing to die a gruesome death.

He could very well have raised an eyebrow or tapped His finger. My point is, of the multitude of options He could have chosen from to save us from sin and death, He chose the most personal and humbling path!Hechosethe most sacrificial expression of Love known to mankind(John 15:13).

Why go through this VERY elaborate plan?

That we may know Him … That we may know …

To know God is eternal LIFE (John 17:3). To know Him is the essence and fullness of life … To know Him is our greatest satisfaction … To know Him is MERCY … JOY … and PEACE … To know Him is the TRUTH that sets us free (John 8:32).

In truth, knowing God is the ONLY knowledge worth having …

To know Him is the beginning and the choice part of Wisdom– Proverbs 9:10

To know Him is the Fear of God 🥰💖 – Proverbs 2:1-6

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