The Tree of Life

Adam and Eve “freely ate” of “The Tree of Life” before their fall.

“And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” (Gen.2:9)
Here we see that all the trees in the garden were “pleasant to the sight and good for food.” This included the “tree of life.”

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;” (vs.16) This included the “tree of life.”

The “Right” to the tree of life.
Adam and Eve had the right to the tree of life because they walked with God without sin. When sin is present, there is no right.
Before sin entered the heart of man, he had the right to eat and live forever. But when he sinned, he gave up his God given right to eternal life. All because of sin, the “right” has been given up.

Only through Christ can man gain back his God given right to eternal life. Only through Christ can he partake of the tree of life and live forever.

Before the fall, man was not “like God” in regards to knowing good and evil. There was no sin, thus no need to have knowledge of sin. But after his disobedience, he received the knowledge (or conscience) of sin.

Man’s consequence for sin.
Because man had become like God in knowledge of good and evil, God “drove” him out of the perfect place (the garden). Why? Because He did not want man to “put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever-” (3:22)

Now, it is very important to note here that God “drove out” man from the garden and that He “placed Cherubims” (beings of a sublime and celestial nature. Noted for power and wisdom) and a “flaming sword”. What for? “To guard the way to the tree of life” (3:24)

This is why man cannot freely take of the tree of life on his own. It is heavily guarded and no man can go on his own. He would never make it. The sword would cut him into pieces if he so even came close. I can hear the angels say, “don’t even think of it!”.

And just think, all because of sin. We must not under estimate sin and the consequences thereof.

This “right” to the tree of life is only given to “over comers”. Those who have overcome sin through Christ. And those who “do his commandments” (Rev.22:14) These are they who “do” the commands of Christ. Just like Christ, who came to “do” the Father’s will, we also must “do” the will of Christ by following his commands.

Here are some :
Mt.28:20, Jn.13:34,14:15,21; 15:10,14; Acts.10:42; 1Jn.3:23
God bless you as you go forward and do His commands and thus partake of The Tree of Life.

A measure of death (part 4)

The very nature of sin is death. Any sin in ones life is producing a measure of death. Let it go long enough and it will grow into more death, more separation from God. Even in a believers life this does not change.

God told Cain regarding the first mention of sin in the Bible, “but you should rule over it.” (Gen.4:7)
Here we see the rule, not the exception. If any people since the creation of mankind have the means to “rule over” sin, it should be us. Why? Because of Christ. We have the grace given to us to be over comers through Him.

Let’s take a look at some of the similarities of sin between Adam and Cain. In them we will gain some understanding regarding sin and it’s nature. Time has not changed these. Society has not changed the nature of sin. Education hasn’t changed it. Social status hasn’t changed it either. You might have a higher standard of living than most, but that doesn’t change sin and it’s nature.

After sinning, The Lord said to Adam, “Where are you?” (3:9) To Cain He said, “Where is Abel your brother?” (4:9)
Here comes accountability! God holds us accountable for our actions. When one sins, God through the conscience, speaks to us and holds us accountable. He let’s us know.

To Adam He said, “Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” (3:11)
To Cain God said, “What have you done?” (4:10)

God by questioning them brought them into accountability. He could have easily said, “OK, since you have done this and that, here is your consequences.” But no. He wanted them to face it square in the face.
Today, it is no difference. God speaks through our conscience when we sin. It’s His masterpiece! (see my post, “The Tree of conscience”)

And as if we haven’t had enough of “death” and “separation” we continue on with the similarities between Adam and Cain. (And also, don’t forget that they were “blood” related. That’s another subject).

God says to Cain, “So now you are “cursed” from the earth,” (4:11)
Where have we read that before? Right, in the previous chapter.
Sin brought forth curses. You can read them in chapter three. They are still here today because of sin. One is the “curse” between man and the earth. Cain followed in the same curse. (4:12)

And here comes the separation again because of sin. Cain says to God, “Surely You have “driven” me out this day from the face of the ground;” (4:14)
With Adam it was the same, “So He drove out the man” (3:24)
Separation all the way! Because of sin.

Some more? Cain continues on and says, “I shall be “hidden” from your face.” (4:14) Remember what Adam and Eve did when after they sinned? Right. They “covered themselves” and “hid” in the trees from God. Sin produces “guilt and shame”, then one wants to go off and hide. He also wants to try and mask over he guilt and shame. This is also a form of trying to escape and hide. This is what sin produces.

“Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord…” (4:16)
He separated himself.

In closing, death from sin is separation from God. There is a final separation from God for all those who reject Christ and do not repent from their sins in this lifetime. However, we must understand that sin not only produces final death, but also produces a measure of death in us if we have unconfessed and unforsaken sin in our lives as believers.

As the Apostle Paul said about sin, it “was producing death in me…” (Rom.7:13). If we have known sin in us that has yet to be dealt with, then death is being “produced” in us. Why? Because we have not surrendered it over to Christ. We don’t want to deal with it. The good news is that there is grace to overcome if we want to overcome sin and progress in growth.

And it is God’s will that we by the Spirit, “put to death (kill it!) the deeds of the body,” and then “we will live” (Rom.8:13)

God bless you as you move forward!

A measure of death (part 2)

Even in the believers life, any unconfessed and unforsaken known sin will be a measure of death that is taken place in ones life.

If you are a student of the subject of sin you will be found in the book of Genesis on a regular basis. Why? Because this is where it all begins. Here we learn and study from a foundational point. We start with the foundation and then move on and learn from this point onward.

In the beginning when Adam and Eve sinned they did not immediately fall over dead after they committed the first sin. God made a statement that would run throughout the course of mankind, and that was, “for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”(Gen.2:17) It literally means, “dying you shall die”, and it’s the “dying” process that we are addressing.

Yes, this did mean physical death, because there was no physical death before sin entered the world, only life. However, we must look at what really was God referring to when he said, “you will surely die.” What took place in Adam and Eves life immediately after they had sinned?

Now, I won’t take up the rest of this post talking about the “conscience”, but you can visit a post that I wrote sometime back regarding this subject.
What I want us to see here is how “death” ran through their lives after they had sinned. It is important that we get this because it lays the foundation for sin. We can go no further in our study on sin until we clearly understand “sin and death”.

How did sin first manifest itself after they had eaten of the “forbidden fruit”? Their eyes were opened and they knew. They had knowledge of their sin. Why? Because remember what tree it was that God told them that they could not eat of? Ah yes, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The key word here is “knowledge”. Knowledge of their sin.

Once they knew, what did they immediately do? They “covered up themselves.” Sin brings “cover up”. When one sins, they immediately want to cover up or hide. Shame and guilt from sin brings about this. It is a measure of death. There is truly no life to be found in this.

What took place next? They “hid themselves from God.” When one sins, they want to hide. Can you imagine, these two who walked with God in the garden, in the perfect place with God. They walked and talked with the God of all creation. Now, because of sin they are found hiding from Him. Oh what sins does! It reeks of death at every turn!

Running throughout these two incidences is “separation from God”. Can you see it? If you get nothing else from this post, you must get the fact that sin separates us from God. It is in it’s very form “a measure of death”. Separation from God is death!

I will stop here because I try not to write long posts.
I part 3, we will come to more of an understanding of sin and death.
Thanks for reading. I hope you are gaining some knowledge about sin.

The two different realms

The realm of God’s Spirit and the realm of this world. We know who is the ruler of the kingdom of this world, and that is indeed Satan.

In recent month’s, because of someone who is very close to me, I have thought and seen the vast difference between these two realms. When you have had the opportunity as I have had to see someone go from operating in God’s spiritual kingdom, to the kingdom of this world, it’s contrast becomes very evident.

Some years back, I also operated in the kingdom of this world. Even though, it was a few years ago, I still remember what it was like. I remember the influence of the world and how it can take you for a ride very quickly. After a while you become so engrossed in it, you don’t even know that it has you by the tale and it’s swinging you around and around.

Now I am talking about having a walk with God in The Spirit. Knowing and operating in His Spirit. Hearing from Him. Obeying Him. Living for Him. Not just a profession of being a church going Christian, but a life that is controlled by The Spirit. The majority of your day is consumed by His Spirit.

Having a life like this, and then falling back into the realm of the world. It’s possible, believe me! I have been there. I have known others also that have gone the same way.

This is Satan’s trap for the believer. What did Satan temp Jesus with? “I will give you the kingdoms of this world”

It’s so deceiving. Why? Because you will not even know that you have been took. You have been lulled asleep. Only (hopefully) to wake up and be shocked one day as to how far you have drifted into the realm of this world.

Now here is the real shocking part. Are you ready for this? YOU ARE EITHER IN ONE KINGDOM OR THE OTHER AT THIS PRESENT MOMENT IN TIME. I said “moment” in time.
That’s it. It is a moment by moment decision to chose to operate in God’s Kingdom or this world’s kingdom (which is Satan’s kingdom).

Each morning you are blessed with another day, is a day to chose to be led by His Spirit. Then as you go through out the day, you are going to have to chose. And guess where it all starts? IN THE MIND. THE BATTLE FIELD. This is where Satan starts his bid to get us to go back to the world and it’s way of thinking.

If Satan gets you thinking worldly, acting worldly, then guess what, you been seduced. No longer being led by God’s Spirit. No longer having every thought tried by The Spirit. You can get to a place after awhile, that your conscience won’t even be pricked. If that’s the case, then hardening has taking place.

The only hope then, is for God to pour out His love in a way that will bring you back to your spiritual senses. It may take some tough stuff to bring you back, but in the end it will be well worth it. We have eternity to gain!

Well, it a good time to take spiritual inventory of your own spiritual condition. We can no longer blame someone or something else for our state.

And as the magnifying glass of God’s Spirit falls upon us, where do we stand? Which kingdom do we presently (this moment) abide in? Forget 20 years ago when you went up to the altar and gave God your all. In the balance of this moment, it doesn’t matter. Where are you now? Where has the majority of you thoughts been today? What about you actions? Your speech today at work? These all tell us where your heart is. Which kingdom it is in? One or the other.

It’s not too late to repent of following this world and it’s ways. Today is The Day of Salvation. Salvation from the realm of this world, from Satan’s kingdom.
Amen.

Obedience is huge

It was required first in the garden as Adam and Eve were told to not eat of the tree of knowledge. All through the Bible we see how God required obedience. We also see the consequences of disobedience.
It is the same with us today. It is just as important now as it was then. God requires obedience.

Through His Spirit he speaks to us and lets us know what is required. What He is requiring is for our good, whatever it may be. Though we may or may not at the time completely understand what He is requiring, if we will just trust Him and obey, then it will be made clear in time.

Disobedience will stop the flow of anointing on your life. It will stop the blessings of God. The bottom line is, if we choose not to obey what God is continually telling or showing us, it is sin.

What he might be telling you may be personal. If so, it is between you and God. What He is requiring of you is not for the person next to you, your neighbor or your spouse. It is for you only.

Some examples may be as follows:( these are just examples to get my point across)
He may be requiring that you start waking up every morning at 5:30am and spend a hour with Him.
He may want you to visit every Wednesday evening at the rest home.
It may be something that seems so little such as, stop eating a certain food. Maybe stop drinking a certain drink.
Whatever it may be, He is faithful to speak to our conscience and tell us what is required. It is for our good.

If the anointing in your life is missing, take inventory. Are you obedient to His still small voice?

Sin, Repentance, God’s Love and The Gospel (Part 2)

During the process of understanding “sin”, (see part 1) God’s grace of “repentance” will be working upon the mind and the heart. It’s important to note here as a reminder, that it is the choice of the hearer to reject or receive this grace.

First off, in trying to simply understand “Repentance” (which is the action or process of repenting) we need to look at the word “repent” and it’s definition. In the New Testament (Greek), basically it has a two-fold meaning. The first is, “to think differently, or afterwards-reconsider”. As we see here, this definition has to do with “thinking”, IE the mind. Thinking differently and reconsidering, both have to do with “change”, making a decision to “turn”.

This first meaning of the word “Repent”, is the key to understanding “Repentance”. Without this, the second meaning has no effect.
After a person understands their “sin”, there must be a thought process going on to want to “do differently”, “turn” or “change”. This is one form of God’s grace being bestowed upon them. Jeremiah explained this well, “turn thou me, and I shall be turned;…
Surely after that I turned, I repented;”… (Jer.31:18-19)

This is also a major intersection for the hearer. They must want to change. They don’t necessarily realize it, but this grace is bringing them to a major decision, a major choice in life.

The second part to this meaning of the word, “Repent” has to do with the heart. It’s not a mental or thinking issue, but a moral one. It has to do with the conscience, right and wrong. The definition here is, “to feel compunction”. This understanding is key. This is the part of “Repent” that some don’t like to hear about or bring up.

Compunction means, “to prick hard, sting”. There is an example in the book of Acts. “Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart,”… (Acts 2:37). It also means, “Anxiety arising from awareness of guilt (of conscience), distress of mind over an anticipated action or result”. If you have time, you can also look up the meaning to the words, “Pungent” and “Penitence” they also add to this meaning.

This is the conviction part of “Repentance”. Without this process, there can be no true salvation. This starts after their desire “to change” or “think differently”. It continues all the way through The Gospel as you explain it to them.

As you begin to share Christ and what he did on the cross to forgive them their sins, “Godly sorrow” begins to work repentance that leads them to their salvation (see 2Cor.7:10). This “sorrow”, this “contrition”, comes straight from God’s own heart. (What was the heart of God going through when his Son went to the cross and died there?)

True repentance can only take place after they see their sinfulness and how it put Christ, God’s only Son on the cross to bear all their sins, and not only theirs, but the sins of all mankind.

To be continued later in “Part 3″

Sin, Repentance, God’s love and The Gospel (Part 1)

The true Gospel message must address the subject of “Sin”, “Repentance” and “God’s love”. Without these three, it’s not the true Gospel.
Originally, I was going to combine all three subjects into one post. However, it didn’t take me very long to figure out that it would be one long post. Most would probably not get past reading half of it.
So in this first series, I will try with God’s help to address the subject of “Sin”. I cannot express enough the importance of this subject. I will not get too technical and I will try and keep it brief and to the point.

THE KEY
I have always loved the simple, basic Gospel. God knew what he was doing when he put it together. It was created since the foundation of the world. The Gospel is so simple that anyone can understand it, if it is presented simply. That’s THE KEY.

THE MIND
If we are not careful we can let our mind run wild with all kinds of ideas, teachings, doctrines etc. and thus complicate The Gospel. When it comes to knowing The Gospel and sharing it, we need to understand the basics and the essence of The Gospel. Upon knowing this, we must not let our mind complicate the message.

SIN
First off, I would like to put forth the question, “How can you share The Gospel without ever mentioning SIN?”. The answer to this question is, “You can’t”. If you are, it’s not The true Gospel.
It’s just that simple.
Some might start to squirm in their seats, twist and turn at the mention of sin, but it is still true.
As I have said many times, “What did Christ come for?” “What did He die for?” He came to pay the penalty for our sin.

FIRST COMMANDMENT
God’s first commandment to man was, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die”. (Gen.2:16-17)

And we all know what happened. They both ate of the fruit, and thus disobeyed God’s command. This brought forth “SIN” into the world, and the consequence was death, both physical and spiritual. As the Apostle Paul said in Romans, “For the wages of sin is death;” (Rom.6:23)

Thus “Sin” and death was passed on to all mankind from this point on. (see Romans 5:12,19)

Physical death was one thing, but what is most important here is the spiritual death, the separation from God. This understanding is foundational. We must get this if we are to share The true Gospel.
When sharing The Gospel, it is important that the listeners understand that “Sin” is the barrier between them and God. It’s what separates them from God. Just as it was true in the garden with Adam, the same is true for us today, disobeying God’s commandments brings forth “Sin”. It’s just that simple.

Isaiah described it well when he said, “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear”. (Isa.59:2)

I find that most people understand that they have sinned against God. However, most don’t realize the severity of sinning and the consequences that follow, both in this life and of spending eternity in hell.
And of course, if you run into the person that feels that he or she has not sinned, then The Ten Commandments serve as a mirror to show them their sinfulness.
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” (Rom.3:23)

Another important understanding is that when Adam and Eve sinned it brought forth a conscience to mankind. Since that time, man has understood right and wrong, good and evil. (Gen.3:5,7) In most cases, their conscience needs to be awakened by The Holy Spirit and The Word, which it will certainly do.

WHAT NEXT?
So once man sees that he is fallen and in “Sin”, and that he is spiritually dead and thus separated from God, the next question is, “How can I be restored?”.
“How can I get into relationship with my creator?”. “How can this “Sin”, this barrier be taken away?” “What about this separation between God and me?

To be continued later in “Part 2″.

The Tree of Conscience

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Gen.2:16-17)

I have been intrigued by “the conscience” for quite some time. (This is my second post regarding it).
Just the other day as I was reading the above scripture, and the thought came to me regarding the verse where it says, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” I thought to myself, “the tree of conscience” that’s what it was. I must admit I was a bit amused by my thought of this.

I went over to our bookshelf and grabbed a copy of the “Living Bible” after checking another translation. This Bible was the first one I owned when I came to Christ. Since that time I have used it very little. For me, it’s a little too watered down. However, this time I was very blessed.
As I turned to Genesis 2:16-17 it read, “But the Lord God gave the man this warning (I like the other versions that say “command”) You may eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the Tree of Conscience” Wow! I thought, I was not the first one to see this!
Once again God is faithful to show me that I am not the first one with some special insight, thought, or idea. Hallelujah!

I find it very intriguing that man’s original sin brought forth the worse possible consequence, death (both physical and spiritual), a separation from God. Yet, this disobedience, this sin, also brought forth what I see as a blessing. The knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, the conscience.

It is as if God knew from the beginning that sin would come, and along with this there would need to be a conscience given to man. The byproduct of sin as it were, was the knowledge of good and evil. Was that not a blessing? Once sin entered the world, conscience came as a result of it. Wow! Now try and figure that one out.

So ever since that time, man now knows right and wrong, good and evil. (Now we know that this can be seared, or asleep and thus needs to be awaken, but never the less man has been given a conscience by God). I see it as a tremendous blessing.

Just as Adam and Eves “eyes were opened, and they knew that they where naked”, it’s the same with us, our conscience works for our benefit. God’s word, through His Spirit awakens our conscience to our need or sin. What a blessing! And it came at the same time sin entered the world. Now that’s amazing. I think so, anyways.

May your conscience be “void of offence (not leading into sin) toward God, and toward men”. (Acts 24:16)
By His Grace.
Amen

The Conscience, God’s Masterpiece

Ever since sin entered this world and the world cursed because of it, man has been given a conscience. I believe that the conscience was needed and given when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Whether we are a believer or not, the conscience works to our benefit if we listen and make the choice to obey it. If we are in relationship with God the conscience is a great blessing. It’s the guide that speaks to us. It checks us. It lets us know when we do wrong. It’s the plumb line to the heart. It’s the inner voice within us. If we listen and obey our conscience it can keep us from sinning. How beautiful are the many benefits. The conscience is the door to the heart. We can choose to listen or not. If we choose to listen, we can continue to walk with God as His spirit teaches us and shows us how we are to live in this world. Decisions to make, things to change, things to make right etc. It speaks and we must obey if we desire to go forward and be clean before God.
The Apostle Paul set forward a good example by saying, “And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. (Acts 24;16). The word “offence” here means, “not leading into sin”. This is living where God would have us all to live.
The conscience is a spiritual muscle that God has placed within each one of us. It needs to be awaken and exercised each day for us to grow to be more like Him. If our conscience is weak it can easily lead to sin.
To the unbeliever the conscience can be a great benefit, leading them to salvation. Together with the Holy Spirit it speaks to them and thus can convict them of sin. How wonderful this is ! He loves them so much that he gave them a conscience which is used as a door to open for good, or to shut which could lead to sin.
Those without God’s spirit dwelling in them can find it most helpful when they listen and obey, as it does it’s work on their heart. It’s the door of choice.
Whether we like it or not, one of the many benefits of the conscience is that it can convict us. As in John 8:9 when Jesus said, “And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one”…. Another benefit is, our conscience bears witness that we have the law written upon our hearts. Thus our thoughts accuse us or excuse us. (Rom.2:15)
Can you see some of the great many benefits of the conscience? It’s God’s masterpiece. By Christ’s blood, through God’s spirit it purges or cleanses our conscience. (Heb.9:14)
We are of men most miserable if we chose not to obey our conscience. There can come a time if we continue to reject it’s voice, where it can become seared and thus defiled. (1Tim.4:2, Tit.1:15)
Those of us that are in the Way, need to be careful around those who have weak consciences. Our liberty in Christ can become a stumbling block to them, and thus become sin to us. (1Cor.8:9-13)
When it’s all said and done, by the grace of God we can have a good testimony of our conscience before God. (2Cor.1:12) May we all listen and obey our conscience as the inner voice that God has so wonderfully given us. It’s because of His love for us that He designed us this way. How fearfully and wonderfully we are made. To God be the glory, great things He has done !

Amen