CH101C: The Fall

application@themakingofachaplain.org 

 "So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

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"Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames. 
Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you? God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple."      
1 Corinthians 3:10-17 NLT 

Man and woman were created to be stewards of creation. Man represents to earth what God is to the Kingdom. He has dominion over creation. He is created in God’s image. Earth is a replica of the Kingdom. Man is king over the earth. What is true about God and the Kingdom should be true about man and the earth. 

Genesis 2:7-9 describes life the way it was meant to be. Man became a living soul. His source was the spirit of life. His foundation was God. Adam and Eve could see in a way we cannot. The fruit on these trees was life and the knowledge of good and evil. They could see life; we cannot. They could see the physical and spiritual realities as one; they were one.

In Genesis 3:6 the Bible says the fruit was “pleasing to the eye.” That is the same phrase as what Moses saw at the burning bush. It is the sight of the material and the spiritual wrapped in one experience.

Genesis 3 reveals the problem Jesus came to solve. When they ate the fruit, they changed their source and their foundation. They exchanged life for knowledge. The life of God was exchanged for knowledge of good and evil. The foundation went from God to self. This changed their perception. They could no longer see the spiritual and material as one. 

Because they disconnected from the source of life, they immediately felt profound emptiness and vulnerability. The question became “How do I feel alive?” Their first insight was the need for clothes.

This is the condition of humans today. The knowledge of evil lets me know something is wrong, but the knowledge of good can’t fix it. Satan attacks through good and evil. The knowledge of evil- you should have not done what you did. The knowledge of good- you need to try harder to do better.

Sin is death in us. Disconnected from our source. We try to return to the source through our own knowledge. All world religions do this. The solution is part of the problem. The knowledge of good (what I ought to do) is often the enemy of life. 

 The solution is Jesus Christ. We must return to our source of life. John 10:10 says, “I have come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.” Jesus is the source of life. Life will not be stopped. It flows through us. It is quantitative- you can have more or less of it. Where that life occurs is the Kingdom. When we are plugged back into the source we are in the Kingdom of God. 

In Matthew 3:2, John says “Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near.”  Repentance is the Greek word “metanoeo.” It means to “think differently afterwards.” This does not mean to change the content of what you are thinking; it means to change the process of the way you think. We change from thinking with knowledge of good and evil to think with our spirit and heart. The fruit of the new way of thinking is turning my life around (how we view repentance today). 

The Kingdom of heaven is near- This is not a reference to time, it is a geographical reference. The Kingdom is within your reach. Jesus repeats the message in Matthew 4:17. 

How do we see, because we want to see the way God sees. Genesis 2:9 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 in the midst of the garden along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Adam and Eve had a way of seeing that we do not. When they looked at reality they could see both the physical and the spiritual as one. Why? Because maybe they were one with God. Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breath of life, and man became a living being. What made Adam see in a special way was his source God.

The Adam and Eve fell they changed their source and their foundation in a moment. Up to that time the source of God flowed to them, in them, and thru them. God was the source of all their thoughts, emotions, perceptions, mind and will that went to them, in them and thru them. The Spirit of God was their perceptual mechanism that allowed them to see the fruit of the tree with both spiritual and physical eyes.

The knowledge of good and evil is not life. It put Adam and Eve’s soul in charge of all in-put and life. The knowledge of good and evil could never replace aliveness. God was taken out of Adams soul and replaced with knowledge, so Adam now had to figure out from his knowledge hoe to feel alive again. His knowledge of good showed him he had to cover up his shameful body and hide from God.

Our knowledge evil lets us know when something is wrong. But our knowledge of good is not sufficient to change it. The way we try to return to our source (God) is thru knowledge. The knowledge of good is often the enemy of Life. 

One example is the woman at the well in John 4. The questions we ask: What knowledge of good should I follow? What knowledge of evil should I avoid? These are the questions she asks Jesus. His response: I can give you living water. In other words, It is not about your ability to follow; it is about Jesus’ power to give life. Her knowledge told her life was found in a relationship with a man. So Jesus tells her to go get her source. Jesus is not condemning her. Jesus wants to show her where her real source comes from. 

Jesus states in John 10:10 “the thief does not come except to steal, Kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it more abundantly”.

Humans look for source of life in all sorts of things. Jesus came to reveal those things as false and give us real life. It is not good enough to have knowledge of the source. We must plug into the source. Satan has a short time on this earth where he rules this earth. He tries to keep everyone in bondage to the knowledge of good and evil. The earth was in decline until the coming of Jesus. He introduced life into a world of knowledge. This is the source of spiritual warfare. 

The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”
Genesis 3:1 

Disguised as a shrewd serpent, Satan came to tempt Eve. At one time, Satan had been a glorious angel. But in pride, he rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven. As a created being, Satan has definite limitations. Although he is trying to tempt everyone away from God, he will not be the final victor. In 3:14, 15, God promises that Satan will be crushed by one of the woman's offspring, the Messiah.

2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’” 
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
Genesis 3:2-5

Adam and Eve got what they wanted: an intimate knowledge of both good and evil. But they got it by doing evil, and the results were disastrous. Sometimes we have the illusion that freedom is doing anything we want. But God says that true freedom comes from obedience and knowing what not to do. The restrictions He gives us are for our good, helping us avoid evil. We have the freedom to walk in front of a speeding car, but we don't need to be hit to realize it would be foolish to do so. 

Don't listen to Satan's temptations. You don't have to do evil to gain more experience and learn more about life.

Satan used a sincere motive to tempt Eve: "You will be like God." It wasn't wrong of Eve to want to be like God. To become more like God is humanity's highest goal. It is what we are supposed to do. But Satan misled Eve concerning the right way to accomplish this goal. He told her that she could become more like God by defying God's authority, by taking God's place and deciding for herself what was best for her life. In effect, he told her to become her own god.

But to become like God is not the same as trying to become God. Rather, it is to reflect His characteristics and to recognize His authority over your life. Like Eve, we often have a worthy goal but try to achieve it in the wrong way. We act like a political candidate who pays off an election judge to be "voted" into office. When he does this, serving the people is no longer his highest goal.

Self-exaltation leads to rebellion against God. As soon as we begin to leave God out of our plans, we are placing ourselves above Him. This is exactly what Satan wants us to do.

6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Genesis 3:6-7

Why does Satan tempt us? Temptation is Satan's invitation to give in to his kind of life and give up on God's kind of life. Satan tempted Eve and succeeded in getting her to sin. Ever since then, he's been busy getting people to sin. He even tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:1-11). But Jesus did not sin!

How could Eve have resisted temptation? By following the same guidelines we can follow. First, we must realize that being tempted is not a sin. We have not sinned until we give in to the temptation. Then, to resist temptation, we must:

1. Pray for strength to resist. 
2. Run, sometimes literally. 
3. Say no when confronted with what we know is wrong. James 1:12 tells of the blessings and rewards for those who don't give in when tempted.

The serpent, Satan, tempted Eve by getting her to doubt God's goodness. He implied that God was strict, stingy, and selfish for not wanting Eve to share his knowledge of good and evil. Satan made Eve forget all that God had given her and, instead, focus on what God had forbidden. We fall into trouble, too, when we dwell on what God forbids rather than on the countless blessings and promises God has given us. The next time you are feeling sorry for yourself and what you don't have, consider all you do have and thank God. Then your doubts won't lead you into sin.

Satan tried to make Eve think that sin is good, pleasant, and desirable. A knowledge of both good and evil seemed harmless to her. People usually choose wrong things because they have become convinced that those things are good, at least for themselves. Our sins do not always appear ugly to us, and the pleasant sins are the hardest to avoid. So prepare yourself for the attractive temptations that may come your way. We cannot always prevent temptation, but there is always a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). Use God's Word and God's people to help you stand against it.

Notice what Eve did: She looked, she took, she ate, and she gave. The battle is often lost at the first look. Temptation often begins by simply seeing something you want. Are you struggling with temptation because you have not learned that looking is the first step toward sin? You would win over temptation more often if you followed Paul's advice to run from those things that produce evil thoughts (2 Timothy 2:22).

One of the realities of sin is that its effects spread. After Eve sinned, she involved Adam in her wrongdoing. When we do something wrong, often we try to relieve our guilt by involving someone else. Like toxic waste spilled in a river, sin swiftly spreads. Recognize and confess your sin to God before you are tempted to pollute those around you.

8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  ≈
Genesis 3:6-7

After sinning, Adam and Eve felt guilt and embarrassment over their nakedness. Their guilty feelings made them try to hide from God. A guilty conscience is a warning signal God placed inside you that goes off when you've done wrong. The worst step you can take is to eliminate the guilty feelings without eliminating the cause. That would be like using a painkiller but not treating the disease. Be glad those guilty feelings are there. They make you aware of your sin so you can ask God's forgiveness and then correct your wrongdoing.

The thought of two humans covered with fig leaves trying to hide from the all-seeing, all-knowing God is humorous. How could they be so silly as to think they could actually hide? Yet we do the same, acting as though God doesn't know what we're doing. Have the courage to share all you do and think with him. And don't try to hide—it can't be done. Honesty will strengthen your relationship with God.

These verses (Gen.3:8-9) show God's desire to have fellowship with us. They also show why we are afraid to have fellowship with Him. Adam and Eve hid from God when they heard Him approaching. God wanted to be with them, but because of their sin, they were afraid to show themselves. Sin had broken their close relationship with God, just as it has broken ours. But Jesus Christ, God's Son, opens the way for us to renew our fellowship with Him. God longs to be with us. He actively offers us His unconditional love. Our natural response is fear because we feel we can't live up to His standards. But understanding that He loves us, regardless of our faults, can help remove that dread.

10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 
11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 
12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 
13 Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” ≈
Genesis 3:6-7

Adam and Eve failed to heed God's warning recorded in 2:16,17. They did not understand the reasons for His command, so they chose to act in another way that looked better to them. All of God's commands are for our own good, but we may not always understand the reasons behind them. People who trust God will obey because God asks them to, whether or not they understand why God commands it.

When God asked Adam about his sin, Adam blamed Eve. Then Eve blamed the serpent. How easy it is to excuse our sins by blaming someone else or circumstances. But God knows the truth, and He holds each of us responsible for what we do (see Gen. 3:14-19). Admit your wrong attitudes and actions and apologize to God. Don't try to get away with sin by blaming someone else.

14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live.
Genesis 3:14

Adam and Eve chose their course of action (disobedience), and then God chose His. As a holy God, He could respond only in a way consistent with His perfect moral nature. He could not allow sin to go unchecked; He had to punish it. If the consequences of Adam and Eve's sin seem extreme, remember that their sin set in motion the world's tendency toward disobeying God. That is why we sin today: Every human being ever born, with the exception of Jesus, has inherited the sinful nature of Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12-21). Adam and Eve's punishment reflects how seriously God views sin of any kind.

15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel.”
Genesis 3:15

 Satan is our enemy. He will do anything he can to get us to follow his evil, deadly path. The phrase "you will strike His heel" refers to Satan's repeated attempts to defeat Christ during His life on earth. "He will strike your head" foreshadows Satan's defeat when Christ rose from the dead. A strike on the heel is not deadly, but a blow to the head is. Already God was revealing his plan to defeat Satan and offer salvation to the world through his Son, Jesus Christ. 

Doubt Makes you question God's Word and his goodness.

Discouragement Makes you look at your problems rather than at God.

Diversion Makes the wrong things seem attractive so that you will want them more than the right things.

Defeat Makes you feel like a failure so that you don't even try.

Delay Makes you put off doing something so that it never gets done.

16 Then he said to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” 
17 And to the man He said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. 19 By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:16-19

Adam and Eve learned by painful experience that because God is holy and hates sin, He must punish sinners. The rest of the book of Genesis recounts painful stories of lives ruined as a result of the Fall. Disobedience is sin, and it breaks our fellowship with God. But, fortunately, when we disobey, God is willing to forgive us and to restore our relationship with Him.

Adam and Eve's disobedience and fall from God's gracious presence affected all creation, including the environment. Years ago people thought nothing of polluting streams with chemical wastes and garbage. This seemed so insignificant, so small. Now we know that just two or three parts per million of certain chemicals can damage human health. Sin in our lives is similar to pollution in streams. Even small amounts are deadly.

20 Then the man Adam named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And the LORD God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 
22 Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like Us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the LORD God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and He sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. 
24 After sending them out, the LORD God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And He placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 3:20-24

Life in the Garden of Eden was like living in heaven. Everything was perfect, and if Adam and Eve had obeyed God, they could have lived there forever. But after disobeying, Adam and Eve no longer deserved paradise, and God told them to leave. If they had continued to live in the garden and eat from the tree of life, they would have lived forever. But eternal life in a state of sin would mean forever trying to hide from God. Like Adam and Eve, all of us have sinned and are separated from fellowship with God. We do not have to stay separated, however. God is preparing a new earth as an eternal paradise for His people (see Revelation 21). 

This is how Adam and Eve broke their relationship with God: 

1. They became convinced their way was better than God's; 
2. They became self-conscious and hid; 
3. They tried to excuse and defend themselves. 

To build a relationship with God we must reverse those steps: 

1. We must drop our excuses and self-defenses; 
2. We must stop trying to hide from God; 
3. We must become convinced that God's way is better than our way.

SOURCE: Life Application Study Bible Notes.

Now Adam had sexual relations with his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant. When she gave birth to Cain, she said, “With the LORD’s help, I have produced a man!”  Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. 
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground. When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the LORD. Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The LORD accepted Abel and his gift, 5  but he did not accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry, and he looked dejected.
“Why are you so angry?” the LORD asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” 
One day Cain suggested to his brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
Genesis 4:1-8  NLT2

The ultimate conflict of man is the one that began with the first two brothers, and this began with the sacrifice. Cain brought the fruit of his own works, and Abel brought the blood from the sacrifice of the lamb. This remains the point of all the conflict that has unfolded, and that will soon culminate in the last battle.

“No man can see Jesus and not be drawn to Him, unless they are the sons of perdition that the enemy has completely taken over. There are many like this who will also be revealed. Those will only hate Jesus more, the more they see Him. Is that not how they reacted to Jesus when He walked the earth?

“The immature believe that if those who oppose could just see a miracle they would come to the Lord. The greater the works that Jesus did the more those who served evil hated Him. Before the nations come to the light they must see the conflict between the light and the darkness once again.” 

“I had to stand against great evil in my time. The great evil in my time was built on religious zeal. The false prophets and teachers would cut themselves, beat themselves, and even sacrifice their own children out of zeal for the gods they served. These are the ones who think that God will only answer them when they have sacrificed enough. You are just beginning to face the same perverted religious zeal in your times. You must face it with the truth that God’s own sacrifice was enough, and He will answer us because of His sacrifice, not ours. “The harvest that is the end of this age is the time when all the seeds that have been sown come to full maturity. All that has been sown in man will now mature. 

“You must do the same in your time that I did in my time—you must confront the false religions, the false worship, and all that is based on the works, sacrifices, and self-righteousness of men. You must confront it by standing on the works of God. The cross is your message. It is the banner that those who serve the Lord, and not just themselves, will gather under.” 

“I have seen how self-sacrifice can lead to self-righteousness. I have watched it turn devoted followers of the Lord into those who cause divisions and oppose the Holy Spirit,”.

“Those who use religion for personal gain or position will be of special use to the enemy. There are those in high positions in religious institutions who love God, but it is a rare soul that can keep from being corrupted by religious systems. There is no greater transgression or corruption of heart than to use the things of God to draw worship or devotion to yourself. This was how Satan’s fall began, and it continues to be what causes the most destructive falls of all—the fall from a high position. The higher you are when you fall the more people that will be hurt by it. When you think that this cannot happen to you, then you are in the most danger. 

“To guard your heart against this you must understand the message of Enoch. Those who are walking with God, who are seeing His glory, cannot bear the thought of doing something so profane as using the things of God to draw attention to themselves. Self-promotion is not possible for those who ‘are not,’ because they have lost themselves in Him. Self-promotion reveals a basic delusion. It would be like the donkey Jesus rode into Jerusalem thinking all the adulation was for it.

The same is true of churches, ministries, or any religious institution that builds on self-promotion for advancement. Those that have been built on self-promotion rather then the Holy Spirit will be some of the most deadly enemies of the truth in these times. Such advancement is opposite of the way of true discipleship and the way of the cross.

From the book THE PATH by Rick Joyner

 The subject of demons is very real according to the Bible.  The word demon is not found in Scripture, but it means evil spirit or devil.  The word devil is used of Satan, the prince of demons (Matt. 9:34; 12:24).  He is the chief evil spirit and the original source of evil in the universe.  The Greek word for devil used in collection with Satan is diabolos, meaning adversary, false accuser, slanderer.  It is translated "false accuser" and "slanderer" and is used of men in 1 Tim. 3:11; 2 Tim. 3:3; Titus 2:3.  It is translated devil once when applied to Judas when he became an adversary of Christ (John 6:70).  In thirty-four other places it is used of Satan as the chief adversary of God and man and is translated devil.

Only One Devil (Satan), but Many Demons

In the other seventy-six places where the words devil and devils are found, they refer to evil spirits or demons and the word is derived from two different Greek words diamonion and diamon, meaning evil spirits, devils, or adversaries of God and man.  There is only one chief devil but there are many demons.  The devil (Satan) has an angelic body and cannot enter bodily into anyone, but demons are disembodied spirits and do not seem to be able to operate in the material world except through possession of men and beasts who have bodies for them to operate through.

The origin of evil and suffering. Evil refers to anyone or anything that disrupts the harmony and unity of God's good creation. Suffering refers to negative experiences that human beings interpret as evil. Understood in light of divine providence, suffering may not always be evil.

God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in the world. God allows Satan to cause some evil and suffering, but Satan is not equal to God in power or authority. God allows human beings to misuse their freedom, causing some evil and suffering. The physical world is good as created by God, but disturbances in nature can produce human suffering.

Types of evil and suffering. The Bible distinguishes several types of evil and suffering. When God punishes sinners, suffering is deserved. Some suffering is innocent, a testing of the believer's faith. God may allow Satan or human beings to be the direct causes of this type of suffering as in Job's experience. Some suffering is innocent and redemptive. Jesus suffered vicariously for the sins of others.

God's relation to evil and suffering. God punishes sinners. The suffering may occur in this life or after death. The suffering may be the direct action of God or the apparently natural consequence of an action. The Bible generally stresses individual responsibility for sins, but some passages highlight the social dimension of sin and punishment. Not all suffering can be explained as punishment for sin (Job; Eccl; Lk 13:1-5; Jn 9:1-5).

Providence is God's guidance of history and nature according to His redemptive purpose. Evil is contrary to His will, but God can bring ultimate good out of temporary evil (Ge 50:20; Ro 8:28).

God is compassionate, identifying with human suffering. Like a parent, He grieves over the sinfulness of His children.

God responds to human suffering with both present and future help. In the present God may eliminate the suffering or provide divine strength and encouragement in the midst of the suffering (2 Co 12:7-10). In the future God will eliminate suffering for the righteous.

The Christian response to evil and suffering. Depending on the type of suffering, Christians should respond in various ways. If the suffering is punishment for sins, the sufferer should repent.

If suffering is a testing of faith or redemptive, Christians should endure it as part of the cost of commitment and rejoice. Christians should not retaliate against injustice or seek revenge.

Christians can express compassion and comfort to suffering people. Compassion is identification with the sufferer. Comfort includes anything that will help strengthen the sufferer, such as prayer and humanitarian actions.

Christians should be humble in relation to evil and suffering because human knowledge is limited in this life.