Then to Adam He said,
“Because you have
Heeded the voice of
your wife, and have eaten
From the tree of
which I commanded you,
Saying ‘You shall not
eat of it’:
“Cursed is the ground
for your sake;
In toil you shall eat
of it all the days of your life.
Both thorns and
thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the
herb of the field.
In the sweat of your
face you shall eat bread
Till you return to
the ground, for out of it
You were taken; for
dust you are,
And to dust you shall
return.”
Genesis 3:17–19
Prior
to this pronouncement by God, this curse upon the ground, and upon Adam and Eve
that they would no longer be permitted to live in the Garden of Eden where they
lived a wonderful and full life, even so to walk with God and talk with God. Before
Adam and Eve was an immortal life, one prepared for man when they were created
and all God asked of them was not to eat of a certain tree, a tree in the
middle of many trees, of trees that bore fruit, shade, and comfort, a life we
all surely dream of having, but now as for Adam and Eve, it is only a dream,
for some a hope, and for others it is a sure hope due to their believing and
having faith in the Son of God which was promised when God cursed the ground
and man, a curse upon Satan, the Serpent, the deceiver: “So the LORD God
said to the serpent: ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all
cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on our belly yo9u shall go, and
you shall eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you
and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise His heel’” (Genesis 3:14–16; cf. Romans 16:20: Revelations
12:9). This action taken by God, this severe punishment must have been more
due to something greater than some trivial crime, even some heinous crime to
provoke God to set down such a curse: man was to die and return from which he
was taken, and the ground itself was cursed due to Adam’s sin. We must take
time to attend to this curse, this act of God as there are those who will not
take this account as actually happening, as this is only a story devised to
account for thorns, thistles, for earthquakes, for death. Think of this, all
Adam did was to eat a fruit from a particular tree. There were other trees with
fruit, delicacies to enjoy but God demanded that from a certain tree, the tree
of good and bad was to be avoided. Why? This prohibition to refrain from the
tree of good and bad, this tree of knowledge held a knowledge that prior to their
eating of its fruit they did not have, they knew only good and had an idea of
bad due to God’s command to refrain from eating of the tree of knowledge. Man
was free, had free will, absolutely free will, many will say we too have free
will, and in a sense we do, but we actually have a the will of free choice. I
can choose the manner in which I might travel; let’ say to Los Angeles; I can
walk, ride a bike, take a car, train, or fly, and I can even choose the day and
hour of my departure. That is free choice. To choose salvation takes another
will but our souls are contaminated with sin, and completely immersed in sin
and has no desire to do Godly things even though we may desire to do good
things. But motives of doing good are more often than not only a way to receive
personal feeling of good, or of some piety. For the soul to do good and choose
God it takes a will that has been immersed in faith. This is what this trial of
prohibition to Adam and Eve was, a trial of obedience, and by Adam and Even
observing this would by his faith in God show his willingness to be obedient to
the command of God. By faith we come to be submitted to God, it takes faith to
please God, for we are made in His image, free to choose Him, free to live in
the least a virtuous life, (many don’t): “But without faith it is impossible
to please Him, for he who comes to god must believe that He is, and that He is
a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6). Adam had this
promise of eternal life but God in making Adam in His image also gave Him this
free will and to have free will there must be a demand that would validate
Adam’s faith; that would be done by simply following a simple command of God:
don’t eat of the tree of knowledge. We too have a simple command: believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Saved for what? Eternal life. How can
I believe when my soul is far removed from desiring things of God. Saving faith
must come into the life a man by God, for only God can give this type of faith:
“Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by
faith. do not be haughty, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural
branches, He may not spare you either” (Romans ll:20). The precept that we
can glean from this account of Adam and Eve is that Adam and Eve should be
content with their lot. Is this not true of Authentic Biblical Christians? We
should be content with our lot for we are legally now in heaven for Jesus
Christ took to heaven His sacrifice that paid the debt of sin that man could not
pay and it is there eternally in heaven making intercession for all those that
God had given to His Son. We have the same hope as did Adam and Eve: eternal
life. Until Jesus Christ returns to destroy Satan, that is to bruise Satan in
the head, once and for all time, we faithfully wait with a sure hope of His
promise and His promises are never not fulfilled. Praise God for it is He who
gives the faith needed to be saved, the faith that makes cause for our souls to
cry out in belief that Jesus Christ is our savior: “And you He made alive,
who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the
course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
sprit who now works in the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1–2). But God
who is rich in mercy and power and by His grace: For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9).
Is this not
good news? God, Himself took upon Himself to save some and this by giving them
the faith to believe. Do you believe? Are you who have stated that you believe
faithfully following His commands?
Therefore He says:
Awake, you
Who sleep, arise from
The dead,
and
Christ will give you light.
Ephesians 5:14
Pray to God in worship today
Richard L. Crumb
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