We will start from Adam. We will begin from Genesis. Genesis 2:7-9, 16-17. “Then the Lord God took some soil from the ground and formed a man out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad… He told him (Adam), ‘You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day’” (GNT).

These are the verses that describe the creation of man. In the earlier verses God created the whole universe. He spoke over and over again and as He did everything came into existence. However, for man, God molded him directly because He wanted to make man in His own image (Genesis 1:26-27). He formed man out of the dust. Man was made male and female. He breathed His own breath into his nostrils and he became a living soul. God also made a garden for him so he could live there. But He warned him not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God warned him saying, “You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day” (vs. 17 GNT). God did not create Adam to die. He was covered with the glory of God – so much so that he did not even know he was naked.

God saw Adam was alone so He wanted to give him a helpmate. Genesis 2:21-22 says, “Then the Lord God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the flesh. He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him” (GNT).

God put Adam to sleep. This is the first indication of anesthesia. This was also the first surgery, when God took a rib out Adam and formed a woman out of it and brought her to him. Adam said, “At last, here is one of my own kind—bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh. ‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man” (vs. 23 GNT).

Genesis 2:24 says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This is the first indication of a marriage, the marriage of a man with a woman. Society has a big issue with gay marriage. But that was never God’s plan. It is God’s plan for a man to marry a woman and then leave his parents and become one flesh with his wife. When Eve was formed, both Adam and Eve were naked, they were not aware of this because they were surrounded with the glory of God. They were “God conscious.” God was walking with them, talking with them and fellowshipping with them.

Next, let’s examine Genesis 3:1-7. This passage says: “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden”?’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.”

This was God’s way of testing man’s obedience. The devil had been thrown out of heaven onto the earth. Now, in the form of a serpent, he attacked the weaker person in the marriage and started talking to her. The serpent said, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” God had not told Adam not to touch it, only not to eat of it. The woman modified what God had said. Notice what the devil did. He said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Unfortunately, they did not know they were already like God and had been created like Him to start with. And so the woman was deceived. She looked at the fruit and it was pleasant to the eyes. That was the lust of the eyes. It was desirable to eat. That was the lust of the flesh. It was desirable to make one wise. That was the pride of life (1 John 2:16). She took the fruit and ate it and also gave it to her husband. This is when sin entered God’s creation. If she had said, “No,” the Lord Jesus would not have had to come. Eating the fruit was an act of disobedience. Eating the fruit was not wrong but it was an act of disobedience, which was wrong. God was testing their obedience and they failed.

Let us go further and see how the curse came.

God said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return” (Genesis 3:17-19 NIVUK).

God was angry with Adam because he listened to his wife and ate of the tree God had told him not to eat. So the ground was cursed and he would eat of it only by toiling all his life. When he would physically die his body would return to the dust from where he was taken. Adam had died spiritually when he disobeyed and now his body would also die one day. From that point on all generations (from Adam until the Lord Jesus came to the earth) were sinners. During the Old Testament they had to offer the sacrifices of animals for their sins. They had to go to the priests and offer those sacrifices. But they were still spiritually dead. Therefore, sin was a problem for all mankind. It is very important for us to see sin from God’s perspective.

Scriptures about sin:

Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered” (NIVUK).

Numbers 32:23 “But if you fail to do this, you will be sinning against the Lord; and you may be sure your sin will find you out” (NIVUK). The Lord says your sins will find you out.

Romans 3:9-10 “Well then, are we Jews in any better condition than the Gentiles? Not at all! I have already shown that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say: ‘There is no one who is righteous’” (GNT).

Romans 6:12-13 “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness” (NIVUK).

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (NIVUK). So God has made a way out of sin and death. He gave His Son to die for us so that if we accept Him we will have eternal life. This is the free gift of God. God has made a way out! He gave His Son to die for our sins. If you accept Him as your Lord and Savior you will be saved.

First John 1:9-10 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us” (NIVUK).

These Scriptures are addressed to believers. Although our spirit is recreated and we are born again, we still have the old flesh and mind to deal with. You have to crucify your flesh daily and renew your mind with the Word of God.

Crucifying your flesh daily and renewing your mind is not an instant process like the new birth. When you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior your spirit was instantly reborn. We could say that “one third” of you experienced the new birth. After that, crucifying the flesh and renewing the mind is a continual every day process. Thank God for these verses because we still sin and the Lord says, “If you confess your sins, I will forgive you and make you righteous.”

He is a great God! He has given us an outlet when we sin. Some people call these verse “Christian soap,” meaning we can clean ourselves from sin.

First John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (NIVUK).

There is a difference between us and the world. These Scriptures are addressed to the believers. This passage says that we should not love the world. If we do, the love of the Father is not in us.

These are characteristics of the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. They are not from the Father, but of the world. God wants you control your flesh. You have to control all the members of your body. You have to be careful about what you see, what you put in front of your eyes. Everybody watches TV these days. I have a TV, but I watch Christian channels mostly. I pass over other channels. We have only three or four Christian channels where I live. I can get 100 or more channels in the English language on my TV, but I have made an effort not to switch to these worldly channels. They are tempting to watch, so I set my TV on Christian channels all the time. I programmed my TV remote control to only go to Christian channels so I do not have to click on any other channels.

You should also be careful about what you read. When you read, read only godly literature, then you are serving the Lord. But if you read trash or look at it, it will hinder you in your Christian journey. Pornography is available everywhere, especially on the internet. Companies have come out with software that has filters in it so you can screen out the ungodly material. It is important for Christians to be aware of these things. We cannot shut our eye and ignore them.

 

Continue To Chapter 3. Repentance

Chapter 1. The Gospel – Good News • Chapter 2. Adam – Sin • Chapter 3. Repentance – The New Birth • Chapter 4. Spiritual Growth – A Journey and The Goal • Chapter 5. The Rapture • Chapter 6. Renewing of The Mind • Chapter 7. Discipleship • Chapter 8. Fruit of the Spirit – Fruit of The Flesh •Chapter 9. Other Important Scriptures • Chapter 10. How to Be Like The Lord Jesus Christ • Final Words • About The Author • What Others Are Saying About This Book • Bibliography