"...the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being"
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
When John the baptizer identified Jesus as the Lamb of God, what did John say Jesus’ mission was?
"The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." - John 1:29 KJV
What is 'the sin of the world'?
It is well known by us from very early childhood that it is just harder to be good than to be bad. We must be trained both externally and internally to achieve a level of behavior that sees value in others that is at least equal to the value we place in our self.
Our natural inclination is to diminish others in in attempt to make ourselves appear to be more valuable and more important than others. There are demonic forces that are eager to exploit this weakness in us by appealing to our pride, even as he did with our first parents in Eden.
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1 KJV
If you had no knowledge of the Bible and began by reading in Genesis, you would wonder about this talking serpent. Who is he? (Scripture refers to him in the masculine); Where did he come from?; and Why does he want to speak with Eve?
Before Eve was created, Adam was given charge to name all of the animals according to their abilities and characteristics. This not only showed Adam's great intelligence and powers of observation, but the act of naming also asserts authority over that creature. The name, Adam gave this creature is 'serpent' meaning an enchanting whisper or hiss.
We know that there are many reptiles that the Lord created. Many of them, like chameleons, have the ability to enchant through their power to transform. Some change color dramatically. It is very hard to take your eyes off of them because they are so intriguing. It is possible that the serpent also had qualities of luminescence whose shimmering beauty Eve would have naturally been attracted to.
Imagine a creature with a voice and countenance so beautiful that when Eve encountered him, her nature may have been drawn to him in a trance-like state of wonder. This creature could have been large and dragon like, ideally suited for the deceiver to capture Eve's innate fascination with beauty.
Now in their role as co-regents on the earth, Adam and Eve were given charge over creation. Some have called their office; 'Theocratic Administrators'. With Eve as a helper, every creature was responsive to their direction and guidance.
So, when a talking serpent-dragon appears with its powers of enchantment, Eve would have at least been curious. We see that rather than exercising authority over the animals, Eve allows the creature to subtly exercise authority over her.
Lucifer, the Ultimate Angel
We learn from Ezekiel 28 that Lucifer was an angelic being created to be 'the covering cherub'. In Isaiah 14:12 he is called the light bearer, the son of the morning. Yet he was cast out of heaven.
From these descriptions we get the impression that Lucifer was created to be an assistant at God's throne. However, we learn from the prophet Isaiah that Lucifer was lifted up with pride and asserted:
"I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
Isaiah 14:14 KJV.
After this act of treason, Lucifer is called Satan who appears before the throne of God as an adversary rather than an assistant: (Job 1:6.7)
Lucifer appears to have been motivated by jealousy. He appears to have believed that, as one created as the 'light bearer' in the likeness of God, he should have authority over God's Kingdom. However, that power was now given to these creatures who were created after God's image and likeness.
Satan reasoned that if he could make Adam and Eve submissive to a creature, then he would gain an advantage over them. Satan may also have reasoned that since God is love, He would never destroy His creation. So if Lucifer was successful, he would rule in Adam's place forever.
However, the angelic realm must learn the justice of God, the wisdom of God and the self sacrificing love of God. This love would be demonstrated by the Lord God subjecting Himself to the righteous judgment that His creatures of flesh deserved.
The Sin of the World
Lucifer used the enchanting serpent to bring doubt to Eve's mind as to the truth of God’s word. "Hath God said...?" Then Lucifer uses this creatures power of enchantment to suggest that God was holding out on Adam and Eve. "The woman saw that the tree was good...to be desired to make one wise..." This would cause doubt as to God’s character and goodness.
Tragically, Adam is standing right there but he does not oppose this suggestion. There is a time and place for a man to say to his wife, “Yes, dear”. If Eve would have asked Adam, “Could you build a tree house for little old me over there?”, It would have been wise for Adam to say “yes dear”. If Eve would have asked, “does this light make me look fat?”…not a good time to say ‘yes, dear’. Neither is it a good time to say, ‘yes dear’ when it means agreeing with a talking serpent.
This was In fact, a shift of affection away from God by listening to the creation instead of ruling over it…a de facto abdication of authority to the serpent. Satan’s success in inciting this rebellion effectively removed the office of Theocratic Administrator from Adam and Eve. Lucifer, at that point became the ruler of the world (Luke 4:5–8; John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph.2:2; 1 John 5:19).
By their treasonous act, Adam and Eve allowed the order of God's Theocratic Kingdom to be flipped on its head. God's original Theocratic administration was God...man....woman....creature. Lucifer very deliberately approached Eve as a devious plan to flip God's order to creature...woman...man. This flip effectively wrested authority from mankind to Lucifer.
Sin is often defined as anything that violates God’s law. Since the law was not given until much, much later in human history, it means that the original definition of sin is anything that violates God’s Word. Bringing doubt about God’s Word means bringing doubt about God’s goodness. Acting in response to that doubt is an act of treason.
This shows us that agreeing with the devil's suggestion that God is not good is the sin of the world.
The Punishment for Treason is....?
The present chaos that fills our world is the result of Lucifer's desire to be like the Most High God. By reversing God's created order, Lucifer makes the woman acquiesce to the creature; the man defer to the woman and the office for which mankind was created is vacated.
Satan now becomes the prince and power of the air, supplanting the first Adam's role and making man subservient to and fearful of what he was created to rule over. Mankind was now subject to the tooth and claw of a fallen creation.
Their covering of God-like light was reduced and they discovered their nakedness and peril. It was as if God had a dimmer switch that He turned way down on Adam and Eve. The luminescent glory that they shared with God was now nothing more than an infrared glow. For the first time, they were ashamed by their nakedness.
They also experienced fear for the first time as they realized that they were now given a death sentence as traitors to God's character and goodness. They learned the inadequacy of their attempt to cover their nakedness with fig leaves. With their light-likeness to God now diminished, their exposed bodies were vulnerable to the consuming fire of God.
Only a covering of animal skin would now suffice for them to appear in God's presence. This gruesome covering graphically displays the price of their sin. The violent death of an animal showed them that the death of an innocent victim is now required to restore their communion with God.
This laid the foundation for the necessity of The Lamb. When John the Baptizer pointed out Christ at the the Jordan river, he didn’t say: "Behold the Lamb of God that covers the sins of the world", John was very clear that the mission of Christ as God's Lamb is to "take away the sin of the world"
May I ask you dear reader, is your sin taken away or is it merely covered by religious practices or superstitions? The only one that you can’t hide your sin from is the only one who can take it away. He is God’s Lamb.
Jesus’ miracles and teachings show us what God’s goodness is.
Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection show us who God’s goodness is.
We must each stop rejecting God’s goodness. God has declared that everyone that believes in Him, God’s goodness, has everlasting life.
The Restoring Seed
God's announcement regarding the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 revealed Gods plan for returning creation to its intended order. This Seed of the woman is now known to us as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. He is also revealed to us as the last Adam who is a life giving Spirit in contrast to the first Adam.
God placed a curse on the serpent to slither and suck up the dust that mankind, his nemesis, was fashioned. This becomes the very personification of the devil himself in all of his deadly stealth. Although the Patriarchs apparently recognized this as we read in the oldest book of the Bible:
"Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." - Job 1:6-7
It isn’t until we come to the book of revelation of Jesus Christ that we are clearly told who that serpent is.
”And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
Revelation 12:9 KJV
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,"
Revelation 20:1-2
Results of Adam and Eve’s sin:
- Job 1:6-7 Satan boasts of his dominion over the earth and its inhabitants
- Religion and broken fellowship; Genesis 3:7-10
- “Blame game”; Genesis 3:11-13
- Reversal of creation hierarchy; Creation is now resistant to mankind's direction (Gen 3:17-19).
What then is the storyline of the Bible? It is how this office that the first Adam vacated is restored by the Last Adam through His Messianic Kingdom. God the Father originally intended to indirectly govern the physical world through the first Adam. God has promised that He will one day govern the world through His Son, the Last Adam.
God's promise is that you and I can become heirs to His future restored Kingdom when we place our trust in this Last Adam. He alone is able to pay the price of our treason. He is enough to give us assurance that: "Nothing more is needed and nothing less will do".
Receive Him now and you will be an heir of salvation rather than an heir of damnation.
smc
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