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About 4.65
billion years ago, God conceived a wonderful new plan. Having already
spent eons in lonely amusement, he decided at last to have children.
Like any parent, he is very excited about this prospect. Thus
saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of
things to come concerning my sons.
To
accomplish this, God first created the universe and filled it with
stars. Among these inhabitants of deep space, God made the earth,
congealing it from dense clouds of matter. In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was
without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Planet earth
is the trophy of creation, and on its surface the spirit of God pulsed
and flowed with expectancy. Step by step he carefully constructed this
singular and wonderful orb, preparing each portion for a specific
purpose. In each phase, his attention to detail painstakingly spanned
millions of years. The Spirit of God moved
upon the face of the waters.
According to
his plan, God made the earth as a womb for his future offspring. He
coddled the earth with delicate affection and carefully equipped it
with every component necessary for the reproduction of himself. And
God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
The earth
was prepared as a precision machine, a carefully planned environment
designed to continuously generate the cyclical conditions required for
spiritual growth. And God saw the light, that
it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. With
its alternation of darkness and light, rain and sun, good and evil,
the earth was made ready to transform its creatures from death unto
life. It is an incubator, designed to produce the offspring of God. And
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the
evening and the morning were the first day.
As he
worked, God established the laws of nature that would govern this most
precious planet. And God said, Let the earth
bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself. Ten times in the
book of Genesis, God reaffirmed that everything on earth would bring
forth after its own kind. Oak trees would bring forth only Oak trees.
Monkeys would give birth only to monkeys. Horses can produce only
horses. This is God’s law for everything born on planet earth.
And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his
kind: and God saw that it was good.
Kind after
kind is God’s law. Thus when God has children born on the earth,
they also will become exactly like him.
During his
sixth phase of creation, God made man. And God
said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. The
Hebrew word for image also
means “shadow” and “heathen image.” As God stood in front of
the light of living wisdom, intercepting all its rays, man became the
dark shadow that was cast upon the ground. Man is the absence of
light, arrayed in the shape of God. As a “heathen image” of God,
man delights to worship his own will, and humanism has become the
idolatry of every age. God then said, “Let
Us make men under Our Shadow, as Our Representatives. Genesis 1:26
(Fenton).
But there is
more to man than just a void of darkness, for man was also made in the
“likeness” of God. The Hebrew word for likeness,
means “pattern.” As a “pattern,” man is a set of instructions
that can reproduce the original item. As the pattern of God, man has
been endowed with the ability to reproduce him. Man is the shadow and
pattern of his creator.
This first
creation of mankind was a group of hunter-gatherers, the prehistoric
men of antiquity. God placed these Neanderthals upon the earth more
than 100,000 years ago, and they were given the authority to gather
the bounty of plants and animals. And let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth.
This
creation of man comprised large groups of both males and females. So
God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male
and female created he them. Having both genders
readily available, God told these people to reproduce themselves. And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it.
These first
people were not agricultural farmers. Rather, they were nomads who
gathered what they could find. And there was
not a man to till the ground. In those early days of
prehistory, agriculture and irrigation were still unknown. But
there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the
ground.
In these
early verses of Genesis, the Hebrew word used for God
is Elohim. Elohim is the creative aspect of God’s spirit,
and it was Elohim that created all these things.
A great
while after he made these first Neanderthals, God did something new
and wonderful. He needed a new creation to fit his peculiar plan. So,
he made Adam, a single, solitary man for a very special purpose.
Unlike the
earlier men, Adam was not made by Elohim. Rather, Adam was made by “Yahweh-Elohim,”
which is rendered “LORD God” in the King James Version. Yahweh is the proper name for God. It
means, “I will become whatsoever I will, may, or can become.” This
name embodies God’s pledge to become something new, and includes the
power of his limitless resource as a guarantee of success.
Even the
method of manufacture was different for Adam. Adam was not spoken into
existence as the Neanderthals had been. Rather, Adam was hand-crafted
by God from the dust of the earth. And into this earthen body, God
then breathed a special spirit. The LORD God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The special
spirit that Yahweh placed into Adam contained the potential to become
a new creature. It had the genetic ability to follow the pattern, and
reproduce its Father. With the creation of Adam, God’s plan to bring
forth Sons was well under way.
God then
placed Adam in a very special place, the garden of Eden. There, in
that primordial splendor, Adam was kept in isolation. And
the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the
man whom he had formed.
Adam was
quite unlike the earlier versions of men. Adam was hand-crafted to be
an agricultural being. Accordingly, the garden of Eden was created as
an agricultural paradise, a fitting habitat for the earth’s first
farmer. And the LORD God took the man, and put
him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
In the
garden of Eden, Adam was subject to certain restrictions, designed to
protect the special spirit that had been placed within him. Adam could
experience a spiritual death that was previously unknown. Thus unlike
the Neanderthals, Adam could not eat all the food that he might find. But
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Also unlike
earlier men, Adam was alone. If he was to reproduce himself like the
other creatures of earth, he would first need a wife. God eventually
set out to resolve this problem. And the LORD
God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him
an help meet for him.
But after a
thorough review of all the creatures of earth, God could not find a
wife for Adam. There was no creature that could compare with the
hand-crafted excellence of Adam, nor the brilliance of his spirit. And
Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to
every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help
meet for him.
God thus
determined to look inside Adam himself. With that in mind, God removed
a small piece of Adam’s skeletal structure and used it to
hand-fashion a wife, who came to be called Eve. And
the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and
he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.
Eve found
her origin in Adam, and hence had the genetic capacity to share Adam’s
destiny. And the rib, which the LORD God had
taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. As
Adam’s helpmate, Eve contained the womb for Adam’s children, and
thus she was called, “womb-man.” And Adam
said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall
be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
With the
finalization of Adam and Eve, the initial phase for the birth of God’s
Sons was complete. God saw every thing that he
had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the
morning were the sixth day.
The Hebrew
word for day is yom.
Yom means, “daytime as
opposed to night; a period of twenty-four hours; a period of
unspecified duration.” The six days of creation were not twenty-four
hours each. The “days” of Genesis were individual phases of God’s
work, periods of time of unspecified duration. This is conclusively
illustrated when immediately after the creation, God referred to all
the seven days as one single yom, or “day.” These
are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were
created, in the day (yom) that the LORD God made the earth and
the heavens.
On the
seventh day of creation God rested from his labors; his work was
completed. And he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had made. These days of creation are
an allegory. The seventh day symbolizes a people, the firstbegotten
Sons of God that are to be born upon the earth. For six thousand years
God will labor with man to beget these new spirit beings. On the
seventh day this firstborn group of Sons will be finished. And
on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. God
will eventually glorify these firstborn Sons, set them over his
creation, and rest in their new administration. And
God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.
These
firstborn Sons of God will receive the double portion blessing
reserved for a firstborn in Israel. The double spiritual wealth of
this group is incalculable, for they will become the body of “Christ.”
When they are complete, God will transfer his ruling authority to this
heavenly body. The arrival of these seventh-day Sons will be heralded
by the seventh angel of Revelation. And the
seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
Adam and Eve
had hand-crafted bodies and special spirits- thus they had the
longevity of angels. As created beings they did not possess
immortality, but rather, they were perpetually renewed by the living
essence of God. Since they could freely eat of all the trees of Eden
but one, their diet included the Tree of Life.
How long
they lived in this blessed state, no one knows. Adam’s life is
reckoned as 930 years, but this is measured from the date of his fall.
He may have lived in Eden for quite some time, prior to eating from
the Tree of Death.
Using the
actual ages of the patriarchs given in the Bible, it is possible to
count backwards and ascertain the date for the fall of Adam and Eve.
According to the Companion Bible
this took place in 4,004 BC. According to the Reese
Chronological Bible Adam fell in 3,975 BC. It is no accident that
secular history records the birth of agriculture at Sumer, in the
region of Eden, about the same time.
Adam and Eve
were a peculiar creation, hand-crafted for the high purpose of God.
Accordingly, God never told Adam and Eve to reproduce, as he had told
the earlier people. In fact, Adam and Eve didn’t know how. Thus they
dwelt together naked, but without children. And
they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
In Eden’s
paradise Adam and Eve lived as kings, with all their needs met by the
devoted care of God. They did not need to strive to know God, for each
day he walked and talked with them, in the cool of the evening. They
did not need clothes, for the climate of Eden was always perfect. They
did not worry about food as the hunter-gatherers who lived outside the
garden. Instead, Adam had a job, to keep the garden and to dress it.
In Eden, God abundantly provided everything that Adam and Eve
required. Their days were immersed in the beauty, truth, grace, and
presence of God. Out of the ground made the
LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good
for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the
tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Along with
Adam and Eve in the garden, there was a Serpent. This Serpent was not
a garter snake. The Serpent was an upright biped, specially created as
an instrument of evil, in the hand of God. Now
the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD
God had made.
The Hebrew
word for serpent is nachash. Nachash
means “snake,” but in this case, nachash is not a reptile, it is a
proper name. Like Redd Foxx or Sitting Bull, Mr. “Serpent” was a
man. And within this man there pulsed the rebellious iniquity of
Satan. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of
God; ... Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; ... Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity
was found in thee.
The being
called “Serpent” was created and sustained by the power of God. It
was the wisdom of God that directed all his actions.
Nachash is
symbolized by the staff of God in the hand of Moses. And
he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from
before it. This troublous serpent, though fearsome at its
entrance, soon became an instrument of deliverance. This serpent-staff
played an essential role as Moses rescued the children of Israel from
Egyptian slavery. In similar fashion, the evil of Nachash is a
necessary component in the overcoming process which will eventually
change the children of Adam into the Sons of God. And
the LORD said unto Moses, Put forth thine hand, and take it by the
tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in
his hand.
God is the
creator and sustainer of all good and every evil. All his applications
of good and evil are directed toward the eternal deliverance of man.
Even the wicked rebellion found in Nachash served the pleasure of God
and now contributes to the birth of God’s Sons. For the knowledge of
good and evil is fundamental to the structure of God’s spiritual
offspring.
During the
good days in Eden, Adam received the personal instruction of God. This
was a time of calm and preparation, even as the stage was being set
for what appeared as disaster. The seeds of Eve’s failure were sown
in these “good” times.
When God
first told Adam not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good &
Evil, Eve was not present. She had not yet been created. Eve received
this instruction later on, but this second-hand information did not
produce the personal knowledge, nor the intimate relationship with
God, that would be required to sustain her. You too must come to know
God personally and intimately, or you too will fail.
Nothing in
the garden of Eden happened by accident. Its just that the glory of
Eden was never intended to endure forever. When the ominous day of
evil drew near, Adam was dispatched by the wisdom of God to a far-off
corner of the garden. While attending to some minor chore, the
foreboding gloom of God engulfed his wife.
God intends
that husbands and wives should irrevocably entwine their lives to
achieve spiritual victory. They are not to be separated. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife: and they shall be one flesh. By this unity they can ward
off the attacks of Satan and garner spiritual success at every hand.
The cowardly
Serpent would never have come against Adam and Eve together. Instead
he singled out the naive, beautiful, naked, harmless Eve, as the
singular object of his sordid desires.
Eve was
alone when her hour came. When Eve saw Nachash, she was not alarmed by
his presence- he was obviously a familiar sight in the garden. When
Nachash spoke to Eve, she was not surprised by his speech. She was not
repulsed by his appearance or his touch.
But the
spirit of Satan had entered into Nachash, and Eve knew not that he had
become a formidable and lethal enemy. By the evil power of Satan
working through Nachash, Eve was beguiled, seduced, and quickly
overwhelmed. And he said unto the woman, Yea,
hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Eve’s
response was weak. She did not specifically name the forbidden tree,
she only alluded to its location. Eve’s reply was thus accurate, but
also incomplete and exploring. Precariously, it left the door open to
further discussion. And the woman said unto
the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath
said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Eve’s
feeble reply was also made in the third person, “God hath said, ...
.” Eve had not internalized the wisdom of God as her own. She had
not yet incorporated his instruction into her attitudes and actions.
It had not yet become a part of her own personal character. To Eve,
the wisdom of God was still an external commandment, as written in
stones, and not in her heart.
Eve made only a single reply to the advances of Satan. She had
that one, solitary chance to defeat his power and prevent disaster.
But preventing Eve’s failure was not God’s plan. Eve had been
specially prepared for that moment. She had been purposefully
separated from Adam, and she did not have the firsthand, personal
instruction of God. She did not have the attitude of one doing battle;
she was not a warrior for truth. Eve had not internalized the
commandments of God, and her defense lacked the power of personal
conviction. Her single response was weak and ineffectual. Eve had been
prepared to fail. By the wisdom of God she lacked the aptitude for
victory, and her one hope for success gently whispered away on the
evening breeze.
Then came
the cunning power of the Serpentine lie. Satan’s statements always
contain some truth, but his truth is always laced with a fatal dose of
spiritual strychnine. By swallowing his truth without careful
scrutiny, Eve also ingested his poison. And
the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: for God doth
know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
True to
Satan’s assertion, Eve gained the knowledge of good & evil when
she ate of the tree. But contrary to Satan’s lie, Eve then entered
into a state of spiritual death. The glistening spirit that had been
placed into her fell into a corruption of servitude. For
in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And
this was the plan of God.
God is the
energizer of Satanic evil. He was standing right there in Eden,
watching this catastrophic nightmare. He could have stopped it at any
time. He could have personally instructed Eve, or had Adam return
suddenly. God could have prevented this ruinous horror, but that would
not have accomplished his goal.
Instead,
according to the purpose of God, Eve was enraptured by Satanic
deception. Being seduced and defeated, she actually found herself
hungering for the Tree of Death. And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to
the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat.
At length
Adam returned to the scene, to find his pathetic, beautiful, lifelong
companion, adorned by the knowledge of good and evil, and groveling in
spiritual death. In the agony of this wretched scheme, Adam surely
groaned and wept. Even now one can see him throwing himself to the
ground and crying out to God with a nauseous sobbing pain that could
not be comforted.
Adam
wrestled a long time with the ramifications of this enduring
nightmare. But alas the foul deed was done and irreversible. The
finality was grave, and writhing, Adam struggled to comprehend the
sovereignty of God in this situation of incomprehensible horror.
In the end,
Adam was faced with only two choices. He could either abandon Eve to
the lonely wretchedness of her sin, or he could join her.
Adam was
steered through this intense situation by the personal instruction of
God. Adam learned that man’s subjection to sin was required for the
future production of God’s spiritual Sons. The wisdom of God thus
required Adam to sacrifice himself, that he might join Eve in the grip
of death.
This
knowledge of God’s plan and sovereignty did not make Adam’s task
any easier; it only made it purposive. No doubt Adam sweat great drops
of blood, suffering in agonizing torment as he wrestled with his new,
unwanted destiny.
But soon
Adam was strengthened by the abiding love of his Heavenly Father. And
for the joy of obedience unto God (the joy that was set before him)
Adam set aside his own desires for peace and self-preservation. In
willing surrender unto self-sacrifice, Adam chose to join the woman he
loved. And [Eve] gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat.
By acting in
obedience to God, Adam gained all the knowledge and experience of sin,
but he was not a transgressor. He who knew no sin, was made sin by the
wisdom of God. For Adam was first formed, then
Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in
the transgression.
Eve’s sin
with Nachash was physical adultery. Just like Jesus, Eve was betrayed
by a kiss. As Eve was engaged in this failure, her senses were
aroused. So the woman perceiving that the tree
was good for food, and beautiful to the eyes, and a tree stimulating
to the intellect, she took some of its fruit and ate it. Genesis 3:6
(Fenton). The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil was
sexual intercourse, and by the use of aprons, Adam and Eve tried to
hide their new discovery. And the eyes of them
both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed
fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
The result
of eating from this tree was the physical conception of children. Thus
the judgment of God was made appropriate to the crime, and for Eve’s
punishment she was sentenced to pain in childbirth. Unto
the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.
The Serpent
had beguiled Eve of her chastity. As the
serpent completely deceived Eve, in his craftiness, your minds should
be corrupted from the singleness and the chasteness which are due unto
the Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (Emphasized). After partaking of
the forbidden tree, Eve would become a mother. And
Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all
living. By way of protection and consolation, God then covered
their naked bodies. Unto Adam also and to his
wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Eve was
sexually seduced by Nachash and conceived to him. Shortly afterward
she engaged in the same activity with Adam, and conceived also to him.
She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. Nine
months later Eve gave birth to twins. And Adam
knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have
gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. Abel
was the child of Adam, but Cain was the child of Nachash and he
inherited the same Satanic spirit of his father. Not
as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother.
This simple truth is illustrated by the fact that both good & evil grew on the same tree. In this case the tree is represented by Eve’s womb, which Cain and Abel occupied at the same time.
Cain and
Abel grew up, and eventually both men offered a sacrifice to the Lord.
Abel’s sacrifice was accepted by God, but Cain’s was rejected.
This rejection caused Cain to enter a jealous rage and to kill his
half-brother Abel. When God questioned Cain about the event, Cain lied
to God. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is
Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?
Cain was the
offspring of Nachash; he was a murderer and a liar from the beginning.
Thus God placed a curse upon Cain which would pass on to all his
descendants. Now art thou cursed from the
earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from
thy hand.
God then
sent Cain away from the geographical area of Eden, so that his
children would not commingle with the future children of Adam and Eve.
This curse upon Cain was so wretched that he feared for his life as he
encountered the hunter-gatherer peoples who lived in the area. Behold,
thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from
thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in
the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me
shall slay me.
Eventually
Cain settled in with these nomadic peoples and chose himself a wife.
Cain became a great leader of these people, introducing them to
civilization, agriculture, and the construction of permanent cities. And
Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded
a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son,
Enoch.
Cain was
eventually killed in a hunting accident by Lamech, his great, great,
great grandson. In this same accident, the young son of Lamech was
also killed. And Lamech said unto his wives,
Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my
speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my
hurt. If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and
sevenfold. (See also, Jasher 2:27-31.)
In the aftermath of Eden’s fall, Cain was sent away and Abel was dead. A great while later, Adam and Eve had another son, named Seth. It is this third son, Seth, who eventually continued the Adamic race.
It is
interesting to note that Eve’s spiritual weakness had appeared only
when she had been separated from Adam. God then remedied this
vulnerability by redirecting her desires. From that time forward, Eve
would find her fulfillment only in being alongside her husband. And
thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Even the
wives of today will find their peace and spiritual victory in
remaining in devoted concert with their husbands. Married people today
must jealously guard this mutual desire as their most precious
treasure. When husbands and wives immerse themselves in gratitude,
giving, and self-sacrifice, marriages flourish. Anything else leads to
discord, adultery, failure, and spiritual death.
The fall of
Adam and Eve was crucial to God’s plan, and accomplished three
important things. It provided Adam and Eve with the knowledge of
physical procreation; it provided them with the knowledge of good
& evil; and it lowered them into a state of spiritual death. Prior
to their failure in Eden they did not possess these three essential
components.
When Adam
and Eve sinned, they gained the knowledge of procreation. Before their
fall they lived together in naked bliss, but they had no children.
Their hearts and minds were guileless and naive. They were fulfilled
and happy in all things. They were not self-seeking, sensual, or
hedonistic, and they knew nothing of reproduction. They were never
given the command to be fruitful and multiply, and they did not know
how.
But the
knowledge of procreation was essential to the proliferation of their
race. Without this knowledge they would have remained alone in idle
amusement, and you would never have been born. From the sorrow of Eden’s
fall, have come the billions of Adamites who have lived upon the
earth.
When Adam
and Eve sinned, they also gained the knowledge of good & evil.
This knowledge is immensely important. All good and all evil is
created by God himself. I am the LORD, and
there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make
peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. Thus
the knowledge of good & evil is also the knowledge of God. Good
and evil events are a viewport into the mind of God. Since God
possesses the knowledge of good & evil, this knowledge is also
required for his offspring. You have been subjected to the painful
vanity of good & evil on planet earth, and this knowledge and
experience makes you more like your Heavenly Father. And
the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know
good and evil.
The third important thing accomplished by Eden’s fall, was the spiritual demise of Adam and Eve. Contrary to Satan’s lie, when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they fell into a state of spiritual death.
The Bible
asserts that all men on the earth today are born spiritually “dead.”
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with
Christ in God. Whether walking around or lying in a cemetery,
they do not have eternal life. Jesus said unto
him, Let the dead bury their dead. The unregenerate mortals of
earth must be constantly replenished by the spirit of God to survive.
They are not self-contained producers of autonomous life. Their
continued existence is a gift, not a possession. He
that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life.
After the
Satanic seduction and failure of Adam and Eve, they came to be ruled
by a tyrant of spiritual death. This despotic purveyor of destruction
is the fallen, self-centered, Adamic nature. It is called the “carnal
mind.”
The carnal
mind was conceived in spiritual adultery, and it is the spiritual
offspring of Satan. Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth
in him. This mind prefers spiritual death above all else. It is
sensual, completely selfish, and can never forgive.
The carnal
mind is also “double-minded,” in that it is mesmerized by both
good & evil. It dwells in a bipolar world. It can be recognized by
its relentless drive to classify every earthly event as either “good”
or “evil.” Thus the carnal mind in every man flogs its host to
pursue one or the other, and it really matters very little which. For
both of these grow on the same tree, and this is the tree of death.
Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
The pursuit
of good or evil will both result in continued death for the Adamic
race. Death by evil is an obvious malady. It comes amidst impurities,
perversions, drugs, crime, and produces both a spiritual and physical
demise. Death by good is far more subtle. It arrives amidst temporal
abundance, and lurks in the self-righteousness of those who think that
wealth and works will make them immortal. To be sure, good excels evil
as the heavens are higher than the earth. And you are commanded by God
to pursue good and to turn away from evil deeds. But if your spiritual
understanding remains paralyzed in this duality, you will die either
way.
Having
gained the knowledge of good & evil, your task now is not simply
to shun evil and do good. Rather, your mission is to find your way out
of spiritual death. Spiritual immortality cannot be found in either
good or evil. No amount of good can give you spiritual life. Spiritual
life can only be obtained by changing trees. You must climb down off
the Tree of Good & Evil, and walk to the Tree of Life.
The Tree of
Life is Jesus Christ. He is the pattern Son, the firstborn of many
brethren. He is what you are to become. I am
come that they might have life.
As you begin
your trek toward the immortality of Jesus Christ, moving from death
unto life, you will encounter the flaming sword of God. When Adam and
Eve sinned, God placed a flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of
Life. Your path to eternal life leads through this sword. As a beacon
of flashing flame, this sword lights your way to Sonship. So
he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden
Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way
of the tree of life.
The flaming
sword represents a process that accomplishes the destruction of your
carnal mind. God does not intend for you to gain eternal life while
still infested with your fallen, Adamic nature. God intends that your
Satanic, double-minded, idolatrous carnal mind, must die.
This
crucifixion of your carnality is also the maturing process for your
spirit. As you begin your approach unto life, your carnality will be
hacked to pieces and torched. It is the death and decay of this old
Adamic nature that provides the nutrients for your spiritual growth.
The flaming
sword represents the earthly trials and afflictions that God brings to
your life. Whether you call them good or evil, these events are
intended to accomplish the destruction of your carnal mind, and by
this same process, the acquisition of your spiritual maturity.
When the
sword of undeserved tribulation enters into your daily sphere, be
assured that you are on the path to spirit life. As you are pummeled
by terrifying episodes of horror, look through the pain and hold fast
to the eternal purpose of God. For whom the
Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
The
slashing, burning, unfair actions of earthly travail, are part of the
process that will lead to your own spiritual conquest. Beloved,
think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you. For according
to the plan of God, spiritual beauty, life, and joy, can come only
from the ashes of your carnality. To appoint
unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the
oil of joy for mourning.
The carnal
mind is addicted to good and evil, and these two must both be
eradicated. Good and evil are symbolized by Cain and Abel.
Spiritually, Abel represents good and Cain represents evil. Just as
Cain and Abel were twins, so also good & evil are twins, for they
both grow on the same tree. Good & evil are the twins of spiritual
death, the offspring of the carnal mind.
The
destruction of good & evil are symbolized by the experiences of
Cain and Abel. Cain was cursed by God and sent far away, but Abel was
murdered, or “sacrificed.” This is the formula for the restoration
of man. The evil in your life must be sent far away, and the good must
be sacrificed.
This process
is further illustrated by Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was sent away by
Abraham, and Isaac was sacrificed. Again, in the New Testament, the
evil Barabbas was sent away, while the good Jesus Christ was
crucified.
After you
begin to send “evil” away, God will then sacrifice the “good”
of your life. This is the work of the flaming sword. Both good and
evil must be chopped-up, burnt-up, and consumed as by fire. The only
thing that will survive this process is your newly matured spirit, and
it will partake of the Tree of Life.
As you turn
away from evil, God will bring experiences to your life that will
rearrange your priorities. By this, your good and evil works will all
become vain and unprofitable. This process will realign your desires,
so that you will not love family, or business, or your own life,
nearly as much as you desire God’s fullness. If
any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and
children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he
cannot be my disciple.
All that you
now value on earth will be hacked to pieces and torched by the love of
God. When this process is complete, even earthly good will lose its
allure, and your values will be permanently altered to prefer the
eternal realm of the spirit above all else. Yea
doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things.
Under the
Levitical Law there were two goats used in the Atonement. One goat
received the sins, or evil, of the people. This goat was cursed and
sent far away into the wilderness. Like Cain, he was soon killed by
the seemingly accidental events of life on earth. In your life also,
the evil must first be sent away. But
fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once
named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish
talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of
thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor
covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God.
The second
goat of Atonement was unspotted and perfect. This sinless goat was
sacrificed. It is the blood of this sinless, good goat that finally
came to rest upon the Ark of the Covenant. It is the blood of this
sacrifice that represents your spiritual destiny, to sit upon the
mercy seat of the Ark, which is the golden throne of God.
The
sacrifice of the “good” in your life is not accidental. It is
specifically accomplished by the sovereign wisdom of God. When your
perfect spouse, children, business, or health, suddenly and
inexplicably fail, you are passing through the flaming sword- you are
on your way to the golden throne of God. This
is one thing, therefore I said it, He destroyeth the perfect and the
wicked.
Your carnal
mind is a double-minded, Satanic assassin. It is a cross-eyed beast,
that worships one god of good and another god of evil. Being thus
blinded, it cannot perceive the indivisible wisdom of God.
In contrast,
the spiritual Mind of Christ is singly eyed. It prefers an unshakable
faith in God’s utter and total sovereignty. The Mind of Christ
willingly surrenders to the wisdom of its Father, even when it doesn’t
understand it. This surrender will lead unto self-sacrifice, and the
crucifixion of your carnality. Let this mind
be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, ... being found in
fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross.
Just as
Jesus did, you must learn that every power in the universe is
sustained by God. Jesus answered, Thou
couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee
from above. As John the Baptist, you must come to understand
that every accident on earth is the orchestration of God. John
answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him
from heaven. As Paul, you must become immovably steadfast in
the confusing, unseen wisdom of every earthly event. According
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will.
To the Mind
of Christ, all things in the created realm are but a sequence of
events, emanating from the throne of God, to accomplish his purpose.
The Mind of Christ is an experiential possession of the knowledge of
God’s total sovereignty. It is the product of the flaming sword. If
therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
When God
decides to move you toward spiritual maturity, he will bring
undeserved trials to your life. When these experiences arrive, you won’t
like them at all. Your first thought will be disbelief. Your first
inclination will be to deny God’s sovereignty and run away.
But each
crisis is actually a disguised opportunity to bring about your own
spiritual immortality. The afflictions of life present opportunities
for you to crucify your carnal mind, and to mature your spirit.
When an
inexplicable problem arises in your life, rather than blame the Devil
for it, look it straight in the eye and proclaim that the wisdom of
your Heavenly Father is lurking inside, even inside the torment and
anguish. This is the doorway to spiritual life. The afflictions of
earth are caused by your Heavenly Father. They present opportunities
for your willing surrender unto self-sacrifice. This is the same
opportunity Adam received in Eden, and Jesus received in Gethsemane. Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I
will, but as thou wilt.
Face your
dilemma squarely, and offer yourself as a living sacrifice. I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. By
this spiritual warfare your selfish carnal mind will be killed. As you
succeed in this battle, you will climb down off the Tree of Death and
approach to the Tree of Life.
The two
special trees in the garden of Eden both represent conceptions, the
initiation of new life. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil
produced physical conception, which resulted in spiritual death. So
also, the Tree of Life produces a spiritual conception, which will
result in spiritual immortality.
The Tree of
Life is a promise that you too can possess the same eternal life that
now dwells in Christ Jesus. When a seed from his spirit is brought to
maturity inside your spirit, you will become a new source of
autonomous spiritual life. You will become a spiritually begotten Son
of the Living God.
After Cain
and Abel were destroyed, Adam and Eve had a second son. This new son
was named Seth, and he represents the spiritual Sons of God, born from
the Tree of Life. Seth symbolizes an entirely new spirit creature that
is born after the carnal mind and its good & evil have been
destroyed.
Seth is not
Eve’s first birthing, but her second. Howbeit
that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and
afterward that which is spiritual. Seth, Eve’s second
birthing, represents the spirit child of God. The
first man is of the ground, earthy: the second man is of heaven. 1
Corinthians 15:47 (Emphasized).
And so it is
with you. Your first birth brought forth your physical Adamic body.
Now it is your second, spiritual birth, that will bring forth the
offspring of God.
Your
physical man and its carnal mind will inherit nothing from God. It is
only your spirit that can inherit all the wisdom, wealth, and life of
your Heavenly Father. Now this I say,
brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God;
neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
As your
physical glories are exhausted in earthly vanity, God will do a
supernatural work in your spirit, to bring forth a spiritual child.
Your spirit is to conceive to the life that is found in Jesus Christ.
By this you will bring forth a new spirit being; a begotten Son of God.
Just as in
the book of Genesis, everything on earth brings forth after its own
kind. Thus the Sons of God that are born on the earth will become just
like their Father. As we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. The
spiritually conceived Sons of God will inherit eternal life, and all
the wealth that their Father possesses. To accomplish this spiritual
birth is the only reason for your existence on this planet. That
ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Prior to the
fall of Adam and Eve in Eden, they did not know how to have children.
They gained this knowledge when they were overwhelmed by evil. Thus
evil was the catalyst necessary for reproduction.
Spiritually
the process is identical. Without your subjection to evil, you could
not bring forth a spiritual child. This was God’s purpose for the
fall of mankind in Eden. The Adamic race has been subjected to evil,
that it might eventually bring forth the Sons of God. If
ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not?
As a result
of Eve’s failure in Eden, she received perhaps the single greatest
promise of God in the entire Bible. This promise was God’s
unconditional statement that she would experience earthly sorrow, and
that as a result, she would bring forth a spirit child. All the
immutable power of God lies in this promise of ultimate spiritual
triumph. Unto the woman he said, I will
greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children.
This one
phrase, In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children, summarizes the mind of God. It reveals his plan for
man, the process that will achieve it, and your destiny. You will have
sorrow, and you will bring forth a spirit Son. The veracity and
performance of this promise does not depend on your actions. The power
of this promise resides purely in the pleasure of God. In his own good
time, God will bring forth his Sons from the people of the Adamic
race. For as in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive.
The garden
of Eden was a physical and historical place, but it also symbolizes
the motives and methods of God. Eden is an allegory of your life.
In Hebrew, garden
of Eden means “enclosure of pleasure.” Within this enclosure
there were three principal players: Adam, Eve, and Nachash. The Bible
describes these three as co-existing inside the garden that God
planted.
Your life is
also the garden of God. You are the planting of the Lord, and the
garden of Eden represents your present state upon planet earth. Your
Adamic existence is an experience in sensuality (pleasure), ordained
by the wisdom of God. Within this enclosure your life has three parts:
Adam represents your physical body; Eve represents your spirit; and
Nachash represents your fallen Adamic nature, the errant desires of
the carnal mind. A garden enclosed is my
Darling, my Perfect. Song of Solomon 4:12 (Fenton).
Your
physical body is symbolized by Adam. Adam was formed from the dust of
the ground. His body then became a container for the spirit that God
breathed into him. By this, God became Adam’s Father twice, first in
the natural, then in the spirit. In like fashion, your physical body
is a container for the spirit that God placed inside you.
The physical
body is perfectly described in the Greek by the word, soma.
Soma means, “the body, both of men or animals, living or
dead.” The body (soma) is the hardware of your life, and includes
the five basic senses. And if thy right eye
offend thee, pluck it out, ... And if thy right hand offend thee, cut
it off, ... for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members
should perish, and not that thy whole body (soma) should be cast into
hell.
The body
(soma) originates the physical needs required to sustain its health.
These include the need for food, water, warmth, and sleep. Take
no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink;
nor yet for your body (soma), what ye shall put on.
The soma is
the home for your spirit during its earthly sojourn. Therefore
we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the
body (soma), we are absent from the Lord. The soma has no life
of its own. It is only a physical container for the spirit. The
body (soma) without the spirit is dead. When the spirit leaves
the body, the body dies. Thus the soma can be considered as being
either alive or dead. He went to Pilate, and
begged the body (soma) of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body (soma)
to be delivered.
Your spirit
is represented by Eve. Before Eve’s incarnation she dwelt inside
Adam’s physical body. In like fashion, your spirit dwells inside
your physical body. Also like Eve, your spirit is feminine. My
soul shall make her boast in the LORD. This means that,
like a woman, your spirit has the ability to reproduce life. God is
the Father of every spirit, and every human being has a personal
spirit which came out from God. It is this spirit that is capable of
reproducing a Son of God.
The spirit
is perfectly described in the Greek by the word, pneuma.
Pneuma means, “the wind;
breath; the spirit, which like the wind, is invisible, immaterial and
powerful.” Pneuma is used for the spirit in man, the Holy Spirit,
and the spirits of angels and demons. A pneuma can be either good or
evil, but it is never both.
When applied
specifically to the spirit in a man, pneuma means, “the sentient element in man, that by
which he perceives, reflects, feels, desires.” Pneuma is “the
vital principal by which the body is animated; a simple essence,
possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting.”
Your spirit
(pneuma) is the real “you.” It is your self-awareness, your
conscience, and your living personality. You are a spirit being (pneuma)
dwelling inside a physical body. For what man
knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit (pneuma) of man which is
in him? Your spirit was sent from God and entered your body
when you were conceived in your mother’s womb. When your body dies,
this process is reversed. Then shall the dust
return to the earth as it was: and the spirit (pneuma) shall return
unto God who gave it.
Your spirit
(pneuma), desires uprightness in your life. For
God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit (pneuma) in the gospel
of his Son. The spirit cannot bring forth evil. It can be
subjected to evil, and beguiled by evil, but of itself it can bring
forth only Godliness. For the fruit of the
Spirit (pneuma) is in all goodness and righteousness and truth.
The pneuma
(spirit) in man is sinless, and not corruptible. But
let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not
corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit (pneuma). Though
your mind and body may sin, yet your spirit cannot. And
if Christ be in you, the body (soma) is dead because of sin; but the
Spirit (pneuma) is life because of righteousness. Your spirit
subsists in purity, awaiting the quickening unto life. For
we through the Spirit (pneuma) wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. Your spirit is expected to grow up, grow strong, and
ultimately to seize control of your body. But
I keep under my body (soma), and bring it into subjection.
Your fallen
Adamic nature is represented by Nachash. Just as Nachash lived
side-by-side with Adam and Eve in the garden, so also your carnal mind
lives alongside your body and spirit. Nachash was Satanically
energized as the betrayer of Eve. So also, your own carnal nature is
energized by evil, and is the betrayer of your spirit. Nachash
represents the corrupt, “fleshly” nature of mortal man.
The flesh
is well described in the Greek by the word, sarx.
Sarx can mean, “flesh; the
soft substance of the living body.” But sarx
also means, “human nature; the earthly nature of man apart from
divine influence; the animal nature.”
When Adam
and Eve fell into sin, their human nature took on a new and devilish
character. The sarx (flesh) was infused with Satanic evil. After that
the sarx was defined as, “the seat of sin in man (but this is not
the same thing as in the body); the lower and temporary element in the
Christian.” Sarx is most
often used in the New Testament to describe an acquired, sinister, and
malignant nature. The sarx is your own carnality.
Your carnal
mind is the offspring of Satan through Nachash. This is Satan’s
entrance into your life. Because the carnal
mind (sarx) is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. Your own carnality is a conduit for
Satanic evil. By this oppressive miscreant you are made subject to the
vanities of earth. All of your sins have been originated by Satanic
power, acting through your “flesh” (sarx), which is the carnal
mind. I myself serve the law of God; but with
the flesh (sarx) the law of sin.
The sarx is
a treacherous villain, a conspirator meeting with the Devil to plot
the sins that are later expressed in a groveling body. The wicked sarx
is a dumping ground for every Satanic notion that is looking for a
home. As a diseased depository, it accepts every desire for filth and
uses these unctions to bombard your body and spirit. Putting
off the body of the sins of the flesh (sarx).
The sarx was
created in Eden and has been placed in your life as the loyal
opposition. It is the adversary of your spirit. Your spirit is
expected to rise up and slay the sarx. The sarx is to be eradicated
from your life. Make not provision for the
flesh (sarx), to fulfil the lusts thereof.
This is the
maturing process for the spirit Son of God that is growing within you.
By this competition this spirit warrior must distinguish himself as
one of the greatest conquerors who will ever exist. And
they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh (sarx) with the
affections and lusts.
The
trilateral consortium of Adam, Eve, and Nachash, represent the
composition of every man. Each human being is composed of body (soma),
spirit (pneuma), and a licentious human nature (sarx).
Before the
fall in Eden, these three dwelt together in peace, along with the
visible presence of God. But after the fall, the relationship between
body, spirit, and flesh were dramatically altered. Both Nachash and
Adam had inseminated Eve. Eve was thus joined as one flesh with
Nachash. What? know ye not that he which is
joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one
flesh. And Eve was also joined unto one flesh with Adam. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his
wife: and they shall be one flesh.
At the fall
in Eden, Eve became welded into one flesh with both Adam and Nachash.
This represents the fallen state of Adamic man today, for your spirit
is now fused to a physical body and an evil carnal nature.
The
insemination of Eve was the forbidden fruit, the very action that God
had prohibited at the Tree of Good & Evil. When Nachash and Adam
violated this prohibition, God set a curse on them both. For their
rebellion and sin, God cursed Nachash (the flesh), and Adam (the
body). These are the “curses of Eden.”
The fall of
the Adamic race was instigated by Nachash. Thus he received the first
curse of God. As the serpent, the fleshly nature of man was cursed by
God to become the lowly carnal mind. And the
LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.
The carnal
mind of man is the lowest form of animal life on planet earth. Upon
thy belly shalt thou go. Only man is capable of blasphemy,
perversion, and depravity. Like Nachash, the sarx was invaded by
Satan, and became the carnal mind. This carnal mind is of its father,
the Devil. It is deluded with evil and enthralled with its own beauty.
It is the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy
wisdom by reason of thy brightness.
This Satanic
adversary (Nachash, the sarx, the carnal mind) was then given power
over your body (the dust). And dust shalt thou
eat all the days of thy life. To your fallen carnal nature,
your body is but snake food, the fodder and playground of iniquity.
Adam
was made from the dust of the earth, and hence the second curse of God
was directed to the ground, which represents the substance of the
physical body. And unto Adam he said, ... cursed
is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the
days of thy life.
After the
fall, the physical body of man began to produce disease, aging, and
death. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring
forth to thee. This corrupted body requires constant effort to
prolong its health, and in the end it will die. In
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the
ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return.
The fall of
Adam in Eden was the plan of God all along. For though Adam was
created as a man to “till the ground,” he was not actually set to
this task until after the fall. Only after the fall was Adam finally
sent forth from the garden to accomplish the objective for which he
was created. Therefore the LORD God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was
taken. Thus the fall of Adam and Eve, and the curses of Eden,
were the plan of God from the beginning.
For her
part, Eve did not receive a curse from God, but she was made subject
to both Adam and Nachash. Eve (the spirit) was made subservient to
Adam (the body). Today your spirit is enslaved to the maintenance of
your physical body and besieged by the constant cravings of the five
senses. And thy desire shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over thee.
Eve (the
spirit) was also made subject to the torment of Nachash (the carnal
mind). By the edict of God, the spirit
and the carnal mind took up permanent positions as sworn enemies.
Today your spirit and your carnal mind are locked in mortal combat, a
battle to the death. Your spirit must ultimately eradicate the
carnality within you. Through this struggle your spirit will
eventually bring forth a Son of God, matured and strong. I
will put enmity between you [the carnal mind] and the woman [the
spirit], and between your offspring and her offspring; He [the spirit
Son within you] shall bruise and tread your head under foot, and you
[the carnal nature] will lie in wait and bruise His heel. Genesis 3:15
(Amplified).
The events
of Eden produced the state of your existence today: you are a feminine
spirit that is chained to the curses of God. You are Adam, Eve, and
Nachash; soma, sarx, and pneuma; three travelers bonded in a struggle
of life against death. The current condition of man is this
contradictive mixture of sin, vanity, discord, shame, and sensuality,
all joined to the promise of immortal strength.
In this new interrelationship men need God desperately, yet hide from
him. Running and darting amongst the trees of the garden, they waiver
precariously between good and evil, life and death. And
they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool
of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of
the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.
God is the
benevolent source of all goodness and each day he calls to wayfaring
man. God initiates every contact with his fallen creatures. He comes
to you, and not vice-versa. And the LORD God
called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
But in
terror, and with a destitute spirituality, man hides from God’s
truth, his judgment, and life. I was afraid,
because I was naked; and I hid myself. All this wondrous drama
is enfolded within the stealthy wisdom of God, as he surreptitiously
manipulates all things, with a feigned naiveté. And
he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Sealed
within the womb of planet earth this intrigue unfolds, with each actor
playing its assigned role and coursing toward its certain destiny. The
body, carnal mind, and spirit, each have a part to play. Romans 8:13
describes this current state of man, and summarizes the objectives of
your spirit. For if ye live after the flesh
(sarx), ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit (pneuma) do mortify
the deeds of the body (soma), ye shall live.
The carnal
mind (sarx) is God cursed, despitefully wicked and deceitful above all
things. The body (soma) is duped and controlled by the carnal mind. As
a parasite the carnal mind uses the body to bring forth evil deeds,
which hasten the body’s own demise.
The spirit
(pneuma) has an objective. It must control the deeds of the body and
kill the carnal mind. This takes place at the flaming sword, where the
carnal mind is hacked to pieces and torched. Accomplishing this is a
prerequisite that you must complete before you will ever partake of
the Tree of Life.
This same
interrelationship is illustrated in the Tabernacle. The first and
largest room is the Holy place and it represents the body (soma). Like
the body, this room is equipped with bread, oil lamps, and incense,
which minister to the five senses.
The smaller
inner room is the Most Holy Place, and it represents the spirit
(pneuma). Like your spirit, this smaller room contains the Ark of the
Covenant, the unbroken laws of God, and the luminous glory of God’s
abiding presence.
Between
these two rooms is a sturdy veil. This veil sits at enmity between the
body and the spirit, blocking access and vision. The veil represents
the flesh (sarx), the carnal mind. It is this veil that was ripped in
half at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, just as the carnal mind in
you must be crucified and destroyed. Having
therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood
of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us,
through the veil, that is to say, his flesh (sarx).
Your body
was designed as a container for your spirit. Within this container
your feminine spirit is expected to conceive to the Holy Spirit and
bring forth a new Son of God. But by the wisdom of God, the
interjection of Satan-Nachash (the sarx), complicated this simple
arrangement. What? know ye not that your body
(soma) is the temple of the Holy Ghost (pneuma) which is in you, which
ye have of God?
The sarx was
Satan’s futile attempt to prevent the birth of God’s Sons. Since
the fall of Adam in Eden, every human baby has been born with a sarx,
a fallen, Adamic nature. Each child comes into the world laboring
under the two curses of Eden, one on the mind, and the other on the
body. When your spirit conceives to the Holy Spirit, and you set out
on the path to Sonship, you will find the sarx already in your way. It
stands as a veil, to block your vision and impede your progress.
Each morning
of your life, Satan’s Sarx paces to and fro, like Goliath, boasting
conceitedly, asserting that its power is invincible, and defying the
promise of the living God. Daily the Sarx arrogantly demands obeisance
from your body and spirit, as some pompous, little, over-stuffed,
self-possessed dictator. This, your own carnal mind, is the
Anti-Christ. It is the adversary of your spiritual maturity. It is the
minister of Satan in your life. Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshipped; so that he [the carnal mind] as God sitteth in the temple
of God [your body], shewing himself that he is God.
As long as the sarx continues its reign of terror in your daily affairs, spiritual mastery will elude you. Every morning this contest begins anew, sarx verses spirit, death verses life. Within the battleground of your own body, your spirit must eventually become victorious over the carnal mind. For they that are after the flesh (sarx) do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit (pneuma) the things of the Spirit.
The victory
of the Sons of God must originate within your spirit. Which
worship God in the spirit (pneuma), and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
have no confidence in the flesh (sarx). After your spirit
conceives to the Holy Spirit, it then mounts an offensive to destroy
the carnal mind. So then they that are in the
flesh (sarx) cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh (sarx),
but in the Spirit (pneuma), if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
you.
The carnal
mind craves to perpetuate your spiritual death. But as this slithering
adversary is destroyed, the conquering Son of God within you will eat
from the Tree of Life. For to be carnally
(sarx) minded is death; but to be spiritually (pneuma) minded is life
and peace.
This battle
between soma, sarx, and pneuma, has been specially provided by the
wisdom of God. It is designed to produce the spiritual strength
required for the mature Sons of God. And the outcome of this
confrontation rests in the certainty of God’s plan, administered by
his loving kindness.
God made
your body sorrowful. In sorrow shalt thou eat
of it all the days of thy life. He also made your spirit
sorrowful. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children. These two will be changed and brought to a glorious
resurrection. I will gather them that are
sorrowful for the solemn assembly. Though your spirit is now in
anguish, it carries the promise of eternal life. In
the midst of judgment there is the promise and the certainty of the
Lord’s deliverance there shall be no gloom for her who was in
anguish. Isaiah 9:1 Amplified.
But the
carnal mind was never sorrowful. It is a ravenous destroyer which is
never satisfied with its destructions. Your fallen carnal nature was
designed to fail, and it will eventually die. It
is the spirit (pneuma) that quickeneth; the flesh (sarx) profiteth
nothing. For the carnal mind, there is no permanent
resurrection.
Immortality
is the promise for your spirit alone. Your spirit will one day
conceive a Son which will kill your carnal mind and control your
physical body. This new victorious Son will be honored with
resurrection, and glorified with everlasting life. There
is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh (sarx), but after the Spirit (pneuma).
The Sons of
God are newly begotten spirit beings who have conquered the mind and
body. For as many as are led by the Spirit
(pneuma) of God, they are the sons of God. These Sons will grow
into life eternal and receive a new resurrected body with unlimited
capability. This new habitation will not be a prison like your present
body. After the resurrection you will be able to put a body on, or
take it off, like a tailored suit. Who shall
change our vile body (soma), that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body.
Like Jesus
Christ, all the Sons of God will eventually be resurrected to become
autonomous, self-perpetuating sources of pure spirit life. These Sons
will be free of the sarx, dwelling in immortality, with or without a
body, where and how they please. The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one
that is born of the Spirit (pneuma).
The destiny for your spirit is so glorious, it easily exceeds the abilities of human comprehension. But equally wonderful is to discover the ancient origin of your spirit. What could be the source of this amazing entity, that has within itself the capability to reproduce God? While the events of Eve’s creation are historical fact, they are also an allegory to explain the origination of your spirit. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
After God
made Adam, he began a search for a suitable helpmate. But being a
unique creation, there was nothing found in all the universe that
could match Adam’s excellence. Therefore God stopped looking outside
Adam, and started looking inside.
God put Adam
to sleep, and rummaging around inside, found a small section of rib
that could be used to create Eve. God removed this small piece from
Adam and used it to fashion Adam’s wife. Thus Eve originally dwelt
as a living part of Adam. She was a rib, a piece of the structure that
was closest to his heart. When Eve was separated from Adam she was
bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh.
Eve was a
suitable wife for Adam because they shared a common origin. Eve
originated from the excellence of Adam, and thus carried with her the
genetics of Adam’s glorious, limitless capacity. Eve was created for
a specific purpose, not only as Adam’s helpmate, but also to be the
womb for Adam’s children. Eve was created with the ability to
reproduce her husband.
Adam and Eve eventually had a son named Seth. When Seth was conceived he was a brand-new Adamite, one that had never existed before. When Seth was born he was a new life source, wholly independent from Adam or Eve. At maturity, Seth possessed all the same stature, capacity, strength, intellect, and life, that Adam possessed. But Seth was not Adam. Seth was virtually identical to Adam with respect to quantity and quality; but Seth was a new living entity, with a life of his own. Seth was the delight of his father, and inherited all the wealth that Adam possessed.
While these events are true and factual, they are also an allegory to explain the creation of man. Adam represents God, Eve represents your human spirit, and Seth represents the Son of God that will be born from the union of these two.
When God decided to reproduce himself, he scoured the created realms looking for a wife. After diligent search he found nothing suitable, for nothing in creation can encompass the capacity of its creator. God was the only deity in existence. He was the only life source dwelling anywhere in space or time. Finding nothing suitable for his wife, God finally began to look within himself. There he cast his eye on his own “rib.” This rib was “Elohim.”
Just as your body is composed of heart, bones, hands, etc., so also God is composed of several distinct portions. Each of these portions specializes in a specific task. One portion of God is Elohim.
Elohim is a Hebrew word that occurs about 2,700 times in the Bible, and is normally translated “God.” Amazingly, this word is both plural and feminine. Even as your heart is composed of millions of individual cells, so also Elohim is composed of millions of individual spirits. And each of these Elohim spirits is “feminine.” This means that they can reproduce life, but they do not possess it innately.
Like any woman, the Elohim have the ability to reproduce life, but they cannot initiate it. Like a wife being joined to a husband, a feminine spirit of Elohim is only half of a whole¾ it does not possess all the totality of God. Being feminine means that the spirits of Elohim have the ability to reproduce a new creature, if they first get the seed of life from their husband. And being a living part of God, the Elohim share his genetic potential and limitless capacity.
The many feminine spirits of Elohim are the creative aspect of God. In the beginning, “Elohim” created the heavens and the earth. In fact, Elohim created all things in the universe, except Adam himself. Adam was fashioned by Yahweh.
As the center of God’s creative resources, Elohim represents the “womb” of God. Each spirit of Elohim is like a feminine spiritual egg, that has within itself all the ability to reproduce God. When this spiritual egg comes in contact with the masculine spirit of Yahweh, spiritual conception occurs. The new spirit embryo that is formed is an entirely new creature. This new spirit being possesses a new life, all its own.
During
gestation this spiritual child grows to maturity. When it is fully
grown it comes to spirit birth and emerges from the womb. This new
spiritual Son is then a brand-new, autonomous life source. It will
possess all the same stature, strength, intellect, and life, that its
Father possesses- and that is all the substance of God. Like Seth,
this new Son will be the delight of his Father and will inherit all
his Father’s wealth.
The spirits of Elohim are the rib of God. God removed a piece
of the Elohim from himself, and placed a small portion into each
Adamic body. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
All the
children of Adam are the feminine spirits of Elohim made flesh. Your
own spirit originated from this Elohim company. You are a feminine
spirit of Elohim, dwelling in a mortal body. Jesus Christ himself
stated that you are a spirit from the Elohim group. I
have said, Ye are gods (Elohim); and all of you are children of the
most High. But ye shall die like men. (Psalm 82:6-7, and quoted
by Jesus in John 10:34-36.)
Your spirit
is as ancient as God himself. Your spirit originated with God from the
beginning. According as he hath chosen us in
him before the foundation of the world.
As a
feminine spiritual egg, your spirit has the capacity to reproduce your
Heavenly Father. Having predestinated us unto
the adoption [SonPlacing] of children by Jesus Christ to himself. When
you receive the masculine seed of life from the resurrected Jesus
Christ, your feminine spirit combines with his male spirit and a new
conception occurs. The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
Immediately
after conception, the egg and sperm disappear, for they join to form a
single new spirit being. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. These
new spirit beings are newly conceived Sons of God. This new spirit Son
that will be born from you is begotten of God. Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
This new
life source is then matured in earthly travail, by killing the carnal
mind and subduing the Adamic body. By your
endurance shall ye gain your lives for a possession. Luke 21:19
(Emphasized).
This process
was perfected first in Jesus Christ. For whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And
now it is going to happen in you. Moreover
whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called,
them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
When you
complete your path to Sonship, you will possess all the same wisdom,
knowledge, power, and immortality that your Heavenly Father possesses.
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all
things into his hand. You will be the delight of God and
inherit all his wealth. If children, then
heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
This is the
heritage and destiny of the Sons of God. This is the wisdom and
promise of Eden. An inheritance incorruptible,
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you
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