Satan is Real

 Jesus Was Tested as a King

Book of Matthew Chapter 4 Verse 1 through 11

We should remember the numbering of the Chapters and verses in the modern Bible did not exist in the time of Jesus so if we back up to Chapter 3 in the Book of Matthew, we find these verses.

Mat 3:16  And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 

Mat 3:17  And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 

It is this time that the Lord Jesus Christ began His earthly ministry!

The next thing we see is the beginning of our lesson today.

We will find Jesus being tempted of the Devil.

What is temptation? We could say temptation is "enticement". Enticed to do things that go against the Word of God!

The source of all temptation is Satan and the works of Satan.

Satan can be effective in his works of temptation because we live in the flesh.

We know that God cannot be tempted and neither does He tempt any of His children nor is He the source of temptation to those who are lost.

Jas 1:13  Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

When we read that Jesus is tempted of Satan, we should understand that it is because Jesus was 100% man still being 100% God.

It was extremely important that Jesus, while in His flesh be sin free, impeccable. After salvation this should be our goal.

We will see that Jesus did not just wander into temptation but the Holy Spirit who drove Christ Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil.

There is no place we can go upon this earth that we will not be exposed to temptation!

The Holy Spirit drove Jesus Christ into the wilderness which may not be far from where Jesus was baptized of John the Baptist.

*****Mat 4:1  Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 

We must never understand that this was the only time that our Lord Jesus faced temptation because He was tempted throughout His ministry upon this earth, but He cannot be tempted now that He is back in Heaven as said in the Book of James but also in other places.

Heb 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 

We should understand that if Christ Jesus was so tempted then, while in His flesh, then it could have been possible that He could have sinned if He so chose to.

To be a true man then Jesus was capable of sinning!

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 

1Pe 2:22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 

1Pe 2:23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: 

1Pe 2:24  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

We should understand as a test of our own goodness, God will allow us to be tempted of Satan.

All human goodness needs the strain of temptation.

We will never have a testimony until we have been tested!

We do not know what form Satan took in his temptation of Christ Jesus, but we do know he took the form of a serpent when he went after Eve.

When we read and study this passage, we know this temptation was terrible enough but the worst of the times of the temptation of Christ came in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Luk 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. 

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 

Heb 12:3  For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 

Heb 12:4  "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin". 

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 

Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 

Before this temptation began our Lord Jesus first fasted.

*****Mat 4:2  And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 

Fasting has been in the Church from the beginning and again our example is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fasting has a place in our relationship with the Lord.

Fasting is a means to teach us self-discipline.

Fasting is a means of preparation for beginning a ministry as it seems the Lord Jesus was doing here in this passage.

Fasting is not a means to obtain God's Grace! 

Grace comes by beginning a "sincere" relationship with the Lord by accepting the work He did for our salvation.

All fast are not acceptable to the Lord.

Isa 58:4  Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high. 

Isa 58:5  Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? 

Isa 58:6  Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? 

Isa 58:7  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? 

Isa 58:8  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. 

Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; 

Isa 58:10  And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: 

Isa 58:11  And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. 

We are bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus, making Jesus our new owner. We should hate man-made slavery, but it is a privilege to be a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ!

Fasting is not a substitute for righteousness.

The ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ began with a fast for 40 days and forty nights and there can be little doubt that Jesus was very hungry.

We should understand that Satan (the Tempter) will usually show up when we are in a period of physical and mental weakness.

He will then try to confront us with his lies.

*****Mat 4:3  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 

In this temptation of our Lord we must remember that Jesus was 100% man and 100% God. If Jesus in the flesh could not fulfill His ministry without being sustained by His Godly power, then no human would be able to do so.

Jesus had to refrain from using the power of God to sustain Himself. It will obvious He did use some portions of Godly power to help others as we study the Gospels but never for Himself!

These are called miracles which He still does today!

God will help us because we do not have the power within ourselves to do so!

In fact the greatest lesson we will learn in life is, that we cannot help ourselves to obtained salvation, we need the Lord Jesus Christ in a personal relationship to be saved.

The Lord Jesus Christ possesses the only means of salvation. Do not be fooled by naysayers!

By the end of those forty days, Jesus in His flesh had reached a point where it was critical that He get something to eat.

Satan knew this as he had been spying on Jesus all this time.

There is nothing outside God's creative power except the power to do wrong!

There is hardly anywhere you go in Israel where you will not see stones and many of those stones were round and to the hungry eye, they could appear to be small loaves of bread.

It would have been really easy for the Lord to do this.

In fact John the Baptist said God could just as easily raised up humans from those same stones.

Luk 3:8  Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 

Jesus later said if He needed to hear praise He could just as easily gotten praise from those same stones.

Luk 19:40  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. 

Yes, He could have easily changed those stones into bread, but He did have a response to the tempter.

*****Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

The message of Satan: Go ahead and trust yourself, you do not need God.

The message of Jesus to Satan: I choose to live by God's ways!

This must be our answer! We must choose to live according to the Word of God!

Jesus had all the power of God, but it is always best to live by the Word of God!

As humans we may be bound by our human necessities, but when we base our existence on our necessities, then these things will become our standard for living.

God lives upon a greater plain and He knows we have human needs, and it is He, that supplies those needs so, we need much more than life's necessities. 

We need God! We do not need some false god, we need Jehovah God, and we need the truth of life and the truth of Spiritual life!

We have in our possession a Book of Truth. The world can only provide lies with very little truth because higher powers have decided that the public is too ignorant to know the truth.

God on the other hand is not afraid to give us the truth!

Our physical life is but a short period of time, but our Spiritual life is forever!

Jesus quoted part of a passage from the Book of Deuteronomy.

Deu 8:3  And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; "that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live". 

Every human being has a spiritual hunger that must be satisfied yet, so many settle with falseness, and they are never really satisfied in this life.

Many reject the need for spiritual things, and this leads them to a miserable life.

Many choose some sort of substitute for the truth and they ruin their bodies and their minds. They are happy one day and miserable for many more days, and livein endless cycles of denial.

We can only be at peace when we have the satisfaction of the Lord Jesus Christ and depend upon the truth of the Scriptures for true life now, and endless life forever.

When we get to Heaven, we will be more alive than we can ever obtain here upon this earth.

The Devil did not like the response of the Lord, so he took the Lord to Jerusalem.

*****Mat 4:5  Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 

Mat 4:6  And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

As there was not a designated pinnacle upon the roof of the Temple, the Greek word used here means the highest point of the roof of the Temple. The apex of the building.

The word pinnacle in architecture, is a term used for a wing-like projection and was most probably one of the Temple porches that overlooked the Kedron Valley that is between the Mount of Olives and Mount Moriah which adds to its height.

We should understand that the city of Jerusalem also sits upon a hill and at this time of Jesus, Jerusalem was probably the highest capitol city in the ancient world.

In the Gospels only Matthew describes Jerusalem as the Holy City.

Again the Devil quotes Scripture. We must understand that Satan has read every bit of Scripture and he can understand it as much as any lost person can, but without the Holy Spirit he cannot understand the truth of the message of God.

Here, the Devil quotes from the Book of Psalms.

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 

Psa 91:12  They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 

Of course God could get safely off the top of any high peak, but in the flesh the Lord would have perished.

The angels would have certainly rushed to His rescue.

We must remember that Satan was trying to get Jesus to use His godly powers to save Himself. 

He did not have to prove Himself to Satan. Satan knew exactly who the Lord Jesus was.

Jas 2:19  Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

If Jesus was a human Messiah, then certainly God the Father would have not allowed Him to be injured.

The Lord Jesus gives us a great understanding of the truth of God!

No matter our relationship with our Heavenly Father we must never tempt God.

God will do exactly what He says He will do and in most cases He will go far beyond what He says, but we must never test God just to see if He is telling the truth.

What our Heavenly Father says is the truth without question! God is not to be tested! God is to be trusted!

Faith is the greatest key to our relationship with our Heavenly Father!

Heb 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. 

The Lord Jesus replies sternly to Satan.

*****Mat 4:7  Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

We must clearly understand, the only way we can obtain the glory of the Lord is by obedience!

God gave us His Word so we could know the truth and decide ourselves who to believe!

This is where Adam failed and this in the one thing we must overcome!

Again Jesus quotes from the Old Testament, the New Testament had not been written.

Deu 6:16  "Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God", as ye tempted him in Massah. 

At Massah, Moses and Aaron had displayed distrust in Jehovah when they tried to glorify themselves with a miracle of God.

Num 20:7  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 

Num 20:8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. 

Num 20:9  And Moses took the rod from before the LORD, as he commanded him. 

Num 20:10  And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? 

Num 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. 

Num 20:12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. 

We should understand this as the one thing that kept Moses from leading the children of Israel into the Promised Land.

We as the Church understand that it is by "obedience" to the Word of God that we enter into God's true Promised Land, the New Heaven.

We must never tempt our Heavenly Father!

We must always obey the written Word of God!

The Lord Jesus Christ in His flesh could never misuse the true power He had while He was upon this Earth!

Again, Satan was defeated but Satan will never stop until the Lord is through with him, but he can only tempt us, he cannot force us to sin if you are one of God's children by Jesus Christ.

We sin when we choose to go against the Word of God!

*****Mat 4:8  Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 

Mat 4:9  And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

What is the greatest sin we do as Christians today? We compromise our ministry and our mission in the work of Christ with this evil and wicked world!

We lose our testimony and are all but useless in the work the Lord has given us to do!

It is not important to know if there is such a mountain in this world.

It is important to know that as powerful as Satan maybe, he does not have absolute power on this earth and he never has had that power.

It would have only been important to Satan if he could convince the flesh side of the Messiah that he did have this power.

In these three temptations we have seen the truth of the temptations of the Devil.

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

Our Lord Jesus was tempted in these three things.

Satan maybe the prince of this world but he will be judged and spend eternity in Hell just like every other non-believer!

Joh 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

Joh 14:30  Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.

Joh 16:11  Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

He is also called the prince of the power of the air:

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

We should clearly understand that Satan only has limited power, and that limited power is under the control of Jehovah God!

Many a national leader has fallen under the trap of that same offer Satan made to the Lord Jesus Christ.

We see it every day in the USA, the craving for power.

Eventually the Antichrist will step upon the scene and he will crave for worldly power.

Luke wrote it like this:

Luk 4:6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 

Luk 4:7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 

Satan is indeed the ruler of darkness, but darkness is always overruled by Light.

Shine a light into a dark room and you will see darkness flee to its limited places to hide where darkness becomes shadows that move about as the light moves about always hiding from the light.

Jesus gives Satan His greatest rebuke.

*****Mat 4:10  Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

We must understand that though Satan is powerful, he does not have the power of God.

God will never lead us into temptation, but this is Satan's favorite game!

We are to put on the armor of God and take our stand even if we are facing the Devil!

Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

We must know who has the greatest power!

1Jn 4:4  Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Satan cannot overcome the child of God unless we allow it to happen.

We are to worship only the Lord our God and He only are we to serve! It is just that simple!

The Devil gave up for a moment, but he tempted Jesus all the days he was upon the Earth.

*****Mat 4:11  Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. 

The Lord Jesus Christ describes to us actual scenes. We do not know what form the Devil used and it is not important. 

These were not dreams that the Lord had but a reality, and it will be the same for each of us that love Him.

Satan just does not give up!

If Satan is bold enough to tempt the Lord, knowing who He was then, why should we think he will not come after us.

Now he may not come himself. Remember Satan can only be in one place at a time, but he will send one of his demons.

Satan will do his very best to ruin our Christian testimony, but without his temptations, we would not have a testimony to begin with.

We have the power within us to resist the Devil, the Tempter, Satan, the Deceiver, or whatever you want to call him!

It begins with Scripture.

Many Churches today listen to preachers who twist the truth because they have sold out to Satan.

They preach from perverted text with intent to deceive because they are already sold out to the Devil.

If you know the Scriptures then run them out of the pulpits of America, and you will witness the greatest change this nation has ever had!

The angels did come to minister to the Lord for no doubt he was weak, which is another lesson for us.

Even in His weakness, the Lord easily overcame the full power of Satan with His flesh side!

Jesus Christ is our example in everything we do for the Lord God!

Amen

The Freedom to Choose

 

The Fruit of Sin

Book of Genesis Chapter 4 (Focus on verses 1-15)

What does the word fruit mean?

In a general sense, fruit is the things that the earth produces for nourishment of animals and humans, but also for clothing and for profit.

It is the seed of the plant or in many cases the part of the fruit that holds the seed.

In Christianity, we say the fruit of the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

In the case of sin, it means the effect of sin or the consequence of sin and we could add the production of sin.

So far in our lessons we saw in God's creation that everything was very good.

In reality we see that Heaven was not perfect and the Earth was not perfect, and we noticed that Satan took advantage of these things in Heaven until he was tossed out and then he immediately took advantage upon this earth.

Now this not to say God cannot create perfect things because He can, and He will.

Much of the Bible teaches us how with a plan God, conceived everything before He made anything.

God has a plan to make every human perfect.

The only perfect being in existence is our Creator!

Now we can also say all those that have made their journey to our Heavenly Home are now perfect even though they are not yet complete.

1Th 4:14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus "will God bring with him".

God has placed a craving within each human to seek out our Creator!

In order for God's plan to work, then each human was given the ability to make choices.

Choice is the act of selecting from two or more things to determine which one is preferred and in the end which one is best for us.

God installed in each of us the yearning to reach out for perfection, but we can never reach this perfection without His help and He planned it this way!

This is the lesson we must learn early in life, but some do not learn it until later in life, but the opportunity still remains until we reach physical death!

Adam and Eve are now sinners in need of a Savior and the Earth has been cursed because of sin.

We say all the time that it was our Creator who caused the curse, in reality it is because sin changes us and it is not for the better!

Adam was told to leave the Garden of Eden and Adam now has to work hard to provide for his family and those who are true to our families are still doing this today.

In our lesson today we will learn of the birth of the first children upon this earth!

Gen 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.

We will also note that no children were born to Adam and Eve until they had succumbed to sin.

Everyone must face temptation!

In this chapter we also begin to see the results of false worship.

Though they were now sinners, the relationship of Adam and Eve to the Lord had been restored with the blood sacrifice of a lamb and they had also received some clothing to cover their nakedness.

We can have one question that goes unanswered. It is believed that all humans were had meals of vegetables and herbs until after the flood, but we might ask what happened to the meat of the animals that were sacrificed unless it was all sacrificed to the Lord.

What does that word "knew" mean to us?

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children"; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Adam "knew" that part of being a helpmeet to him was also a purpose for Eve was to bring forth children and by her falling into sin she had made this work much more sorrowful which means mental pain and grief.

The pains of bearing children will be used in many different ways throughout the Bible.

Adam recognized her nature and uses according to the Word of God.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Do not be fooled by that word replenish. It simply means to make the earth full of humans and replace those that will die off.

There are actually two descriptions of sorrow:

2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Adam had relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and she would bear many children and her children would bear many children and so those children would bear many children and the world would begin its population growth.

Yes, the wives of Cain and Seth were also their sisters, but this did not create the same problems that incest creates today. We could say they pure bloods.

Her first child was a male child who was named Cain.

Eve had felt that sorrow in childbearing, but she now felt the joy of deliverance.

She also knew that all children are from the Lord and they are not given to abort, to murder, nor to treat as less than human, from the moment of conception.

Mar 10:13 And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them.

Mar 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

Mar 10:15 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

Mar 10:16 And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them.

Jesus loved the little children and we should too!

Those nine months had been a great learning experience to pass on to her children.

Nine months later she had her second son, Abel.

*****Gen 4:2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.

We know that there is nothing wrong with either of these occupations.

Food and clothing are necessities of life.

The name Abel suggest pastoral life as Cain to agricultural life.

We know that in the Bible, Moses and David and many others had been shepherds and while alone with their sheep, they got a better understanding of God.

We also know that a tiller of the ground, after the soil is tilled and the seed planted, they too have much time to spend with the Lord for Him to provide the needed Sun and water.

This is why some of the first false gods pertained to the Sun and the Moon.

Even if the earth brought forth the water as an underground sprinkler system, now because of the curse it also brought forth briers and weeds and the bramble bush.

It amazes me that weeds thrive without water.

God had already planted the pastures, but they now contained things that could cause harm to the sheep and also the danger of wild animals that did not exist before sin entered the world.

The shepherd began to understand the ways of man and the need of a Shepherd.

Psa 78:70 He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:

Psa 78:71 From following the ewes great with young he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance.

Psa 78:72 So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.

It became time to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.

Cain wanted to be recognized for his works, but God would not allow this!

*****Gen 4:3 And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.

We should understand that God had required a specific time and a certain place for worship.

We can see that this was probably be at harvest time. No doubt that Cain had worked hard, but he did have to realize that though he tilled the ground the seed he used came from God's creation. The watering of the plants came by God's irrigation system.

Many a farmer would love to have an irrigation system as this one in the Book of Genesis.

Cain also had to realize that it was the Sun another creation of God that caused this harvest to be bountiful.

When Cain had gone to worship on his own and he offered a sacrifice that he had never seen his parents offer, we can see that Cain was trying to add to the Word of God

This day of sacrifice was later added to days of worship for the Hebrew children.

Exo 23:16 And the feast of harvest, the firstfruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.

This was a bloodless sacrifice!

Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

They understood that sin had enter into the world.

When Moses wrote the commandments, all 613, we should know that many of these laws already existed from the time of Adam and Eve.

At this time, all tree fruits and garden produce, were excluded for the sacrifice.

Why, because God had caused these things to grow before sin entered in the world.

The true sin of Cain was the fact that he attached to his sacrifice his ability to do these things without the help of God.

We are never to feel like we can do without God for one minute.

Worship is recognizing we have God our Creator and we are trying to please Him.

Sacrifice is an outward show of that worship.

We must be willing to give back to God because He has given so much to us.

Even before Moses the tithe is established, but in reality, all we have belongs to God and our acknowledgement of sacrifice is to show our gratitude for the things God has provided.

When we give back a tenth, then we are saying God will give back that tenth in multiples when we obey Him.

Another truth is it is just as wrong to approach God with empty hands!

Exo 23:15 Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread: (thou shalt eat unleavened bread seven days, as I commanded thee, in the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou camest out from Egypt: and "none shall appear before me empty:")

Obviously, Cain had brought a part of his harvest all of which our Creator had caused to grow.

It may not have been the best that he offered but more probable it was his attitude of making himself equal with God.

We must be very careful how we approach our Heavenly Father!

Jesus said in teaching His disciples how to pray:

Luk_11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

We must begin by acknowledging the power of the Almighty Living God!

When we cannot do this, we make our selves gods and equal to our Heavenly Father and this what Satan told Eve.

Sin is disobedience and disobedience is like telling God we know more how to take care of ourselves than He does!

We can be sure that Adam would have been very careful to teach his children, how to approach God!

Let us see what Abel did.

*****Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Abel brought the first born of his flocks and the choicest portions.

When we give the Lord our very best, and the very best of ourselves, God sees that He is first in our lives.

It should be obvious to us that Cain was a wicked man and Abel was not!

They both were sinners. The sin of Abel would be forgiven. The sin of Cain would not be forgiven.

It also seems here that flesh (meat) could have been eaten before the flood.

God accepted the person of Abel, then He accepted his sacrifice.

Heb_11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

1Jn_3:12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Cain was evil and wicked in his heart.

*****Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

Gen 4:6 And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

Even when God knew how wicked and evil Cain was trying to be, God still loved on him.

God still loves the sinner today!

Cain was mad and it showed.

It is almost impossible to hide our anger from those who are close to us, but it is impossible to hide our anger from God.

Anger held for very long becomes sin!

Eph_4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:

What happens when we do?

Eph 4:27 Neither give place to the devil.

This is exactly what happened to Cain.

We can see that most all the principles of sin can be found in the Book of Genesis.

God says: Why are you so mad Cain? You see God will always give us space to repent!

Rev_2:21 And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.

We will see that Cain will do the same, he will refuse to repent because he would allow himself to think he was better than Abel as good as God!

*****Gen 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

If you cannot see the tender side of our God in this Scripture, then you are blind!

You can also see that God opens the door of repentance to Cain and all Cain had to do was to walk inside.

We can see that if we are to remain in the will of God, then those things we do according to His commandments, we must do well!

In reality there was nothing wrong with the sacrifice that Cain offered, it was his attitude of sacrifice.

Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

1Jn 5:4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Giving our best means to give according to a righteous heart. Not in self-righteousness!

According to Jehovah, sin is always lying at the door ready to pounce on our mistakes and our misgivings.

We are to rule over our sin and not allow sin to rule over us!

The Apostle Paul said:

Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Col_3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Put our sin in that coffin and go ahead bury it, so it can no more come between us and the Lord!

What do we know? Cain ignored God's Words and rebelled and sin grew into murder.

These facts of the first murder upon this earth are recorded in the Bible.

*****Gen 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

We can read into this what we want, but it seems Cain enticed his brother Abel away from his family and murdered him.

Today we would say this was premeditated murder!

There is deception in most all murders! This thing did not happen by accident!

Cain allowed his anger to fester into a greater sin!

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Gen 4:5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

There was surely some jealousy.

More important there was complete rejection of the will of God!

Cain simply was not going to be obedient to the Word of God nor the teaching of his parents.

The Plants multiplied as the Lord said.

The Animals multiplied as the Lord said.

The Humans multiplied as the Lord had said.

We now see that sin will multiply at every opportunity as the Lord has said! (sin lieth at the door)

In fact we will soon see the sin will far outpace righteousness in this newly created world.

Sin is as a predator ready to strike at any time!

1Pe_5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Cain may have been out of sight of his parents and who knows his plan of deceiving them, but we are never out of sight of our Creator, Elohim.

It was the blood of Abel that cried out to its Creator.

The Blood of Abel cried out for vengeance just as the blood of all martyrs.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

We know that the blood of our Savior does not cry out for vengeance, the blood of Jesus cries out for redemption!

Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,

Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

And the Lord said to Cain:

*****Gen 4:9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

Gen 4:10 And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Cain had murdered his brother Abel, but just listen as he responds to God's questions.

Keep in mind, Jehovah already knows everything that happened, and when and why it happened. We cannot fool God!

When God questions us like this, He is never looking for answers, He is looking for remorse.

He is looking for a confession of our sin!

He is looking for repentance!

After God's rebuke of his sacrifice, Cain did not learn from his mistake, he had a new sin, the sin of hatred.

Cain hated his brother more each day until he lured him away from his parents and murdered him.

Certainly, he knew where the body of his brother was located.

God knew where the body of Abel was located.

Cain denied the responsibility for his sin and treated his brother’s absence as if it were nothing.

You see no matter what the "judge" says.

No matter what society says.

The premeditated murderer has no remorse for what they have done!

Satan had such a hold on Cain that he might acknowledge the death of his brother, but he would never confess his sin and repent.

Cain was now a child of Satan!

Cain was probably the very first person to enter into Hell! If not him then his son!

Next question, are we our brother's keeper?

Abel was a keeper of sheep, Cain said "am I my brother’s keeper". Cain was saying, am I to be his shepherd?

What does God say about the wicked?

Psa 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

Psa 10:2 The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined.

Psa 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.

Psa 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

Psa 10:5 His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them.

Psa 10:6 He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.

Psa 10:7 His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity.

Psa 10:8 He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.

Psa 10:9 He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net.

Psa 10:10 He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones.

Psa 10:11 He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.

Psa 10:12 Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up thine hand: forget not the humble.

Psa 10:13 Wherefore doth the wicked contemn God? he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it.

Psa 10:14 Thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest mischief and spite, to requite it with thy hand: the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.

Psa 10:15 Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.

Psa 10:16 The LORD is King for ever and ever: the heathen are perished out of his land.

Psa 10:17 LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Psa 10:18 To judge the fatherless and the oppressed, that the man of the earth may no more oppress.

What is wrong in America today?

What is wrong in the world today?

2Ti 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2Ti 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

There is no natural affection for one another, and it began with Cain.

God had no choice but to bring judgment to Cain.

*****Gen 4:11 And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

Gen 4:12 When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

The man with the first green thumb lost his ability, because green thumbs come by the hand of God!

We must understand that there will be consequences for sin!

Even when sin is repented there will still be consequences.

Today we are still paying for the consequences of that first murder.

Cain had shown no remorse for the premeditated murder of his brother.

The one thing we should remember is, that because of the sin of Adam, we all inherited our sin nature.

One man wrote: "Even at the time when we face the Lord of Life, Jesus the Messiah, the juices of death still flow through our flesh"!

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

You see, it was so important for Cain to settle these things with his brother in peace and not in death.

It is the same for all of us today!

Jesus also says that we may not always be able to do this, but this does not mean we are not to try very hard.

God told Cain if he would do well all these things would one day be a bad memory.

Life goes haywire when we think it is just too much to listen to what God has to say!

We must understand that to violate a brother is a deadly act and it is about the same to violate a brother or sister in Christ!

Listen as the Apostle Paul speaks to the Church.

Rom 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Rom 12:20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

The first curse (Genesis 3:14-19) is Elohim's punishment for the consequences of sin.

What about Cain? Yes, he was part of the first curse as a descendant of Adam, his first son.

For Cain, he found farming to be enjoyable and preferred it above all things even God.

Now by the curse, he would no longer have such bountiful harvest.

Now by the curse, the harvest would no longer yield its strength.

He would have to eat more to keep his strength, and we all know this causes us to be overweight.

You can see God withholds His blessing when we are not obedient to the things, He teaches us!

Cain could only listen as Elohim gives His verdict of judgment.

Cain was cursed in his soul.

A vagabond in his body, a vagabond being a fugitive, a wanderer, no longer considering any place his home.

His labors would no longer be prosperous.

This is the first curse pronounced against a human being, but Cain still had the power to repent which he never did all the days of his life.

The ground had already been cursed because of the sin of Adam and Eve, but the misery of Cain would be far worse.

Added to this the blood of Abel was now in the earth and the blood of martyrs pour onto the earth are never forgotten by the Lord.

Rev 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Rev 6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Rev 6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Jesus had these things to say:

Luk 11:47 Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them.

Luk 11:48 Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres.

Luk 11:49 Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute:

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

God will never forget those who shed the blood of innocents!

How did Cain respond? Just like every guilty person who has done such things.

*****Gen 4:13 And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

Gen 4:14 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.

Cain felt that he could never be forgiven, but he never repented.

Repentance brings forgiveness!

So many people do not understand the "Grace of God".

Rom_5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Even in the time of Cain, the Lord was still full of "Grace" but Cain rejected the "Grace of God" just like many do today.

Cain's soul remained troubled all his days!

Cain hardened his heart against God.

Listen to what Cain says:

1) The punishment is just too great.

2) It is just too severe.

3) Its simply unfair.

4) It is just too abusive.

5) It is just too much for me and for anyone else to bear.

6) It just goes beyond and far outweighs the sin he had committed.

Lam 3:39 Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins?

Lam 3:40 Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD.

These are the same excuses used by the liberal hearts today!

Just look at those who are destroying properties and committing murders in the name of protest, where all the methods that police use are considered just too harsh.

Cain understands that others may never forgive him, and they will seek to do him harm.

Cain does not hate his sin.

Cain does not hate that he caused the death of his only brother.

As we see the happenings of the Church today, the world sees the judgment of the Church far too harsh for the sin of the world and the Church has become the enemy for trying to do good.

Isa_5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

God never changes and all those such as Cain who refuse to repent will live similar lives until they find out, Hell is much worse than hell on earth!

Cain feared for his own safety, but God was not about to allow His judgment to end so easily and God was not about to allow a revenge killing which is still murder.

*****Gen 4:15 And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

The murder of Abel was premeditated murder on the part of Cain.

For anyone to commit revenge killing would be far worse in the eyes of God and it should be.

Remember God had set the family unit as the first members of society.

As more family units came about a society would be formed.

Revenge is one of the things that breaks down societies.

We see this more and more today!

There is no doubt that some of the history of our nation is not a proud thing to look back upon.

History is history. History cannot be erased, but it is there to learn from our mistakes and see that it does not happen again.

What is going on in America today is revenge thinking!

Certain groups want revenge in any way they can get it or they will try to take it and they will be looked upon as seven times worse in the eyes of God and those who push such an agenda will be seen even worse than these people!

Why? Because vengeance belongs to the Lord.

The containment of these things will bring about a stable society where these things can be studied to make sure they do not happen again, and laws changed to make all the people be on equal standing.

We do not see this in our government today and I am not talking our President who inherited this mess.

We only see people starving for power when there is only one Power and that is the power of God.

We as society and who seek equality, will never win until we use our power to vote to make real changes and quit listening to broken and unrealistic promises.

Washington needs to be overhauled and those old scalawags need to be retired for good!

Remember the family unit is the first thing God established and the governments are to protect the family unit and not cause the destruction of families as we see today.

The government is not in place to run the lives of the people.

In fact the people are to put a government in place to protect the people and to serve the people.

A sevenfold judgment on those who violate the commands of God is serious.

Amen

When Sin Began Then Came Death

 

The Beginning of Sin on Earth

Book of Genesis Chapter 3

What is the truth of humanity? The world believes that humans are basically good. We may do some bad things, but we all have a good nature and just need to educate ourselves so our good nature will rule our lives.

This sounds good but it is a total lie!

The truth is we all have a sinful and evil nature and we may all do some things good, but we are all sinners in need of a Savior.

This is the theme of the Bible with the Lord Jesus Christ being that One and Only Savior!

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The Book of Genesis being the Book of the Beginnings, explains to us where and how sin began.

We must understand sin is any and all things that go against the written Word of God or we could say the "commands" of our Creator, Elohim!

In this chapter we will meet the source of all sin, Satan who is alive and even more evil today.

*****Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

It is important that we believe that Adam and Eve are real people in most all ways just as we are today.

At this time in their lives they were just totally innocent and did not know sin.

God had created innocent people who knew no sin and all they knew was that they were to obey the words spoken by our Creator.

What was one of the things God had commanded Adam?

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

Gen 2:17 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.

God explained to Adam that there was one tree in the Garden of Eden that he was not to eat from. Seems simple enough.

Adam was not denied anything that was good for him. He was "commanded" not to do this one thing that would harm him.

Now as we meet Satan, we will see why the Bible uses that word "subtil".

That word "subtil" means being artful in cunning; being sly; being crafty; being wiley; insinuating and skillful at executing these things.

What will we find out about Satan? He is Lucifer, the leader of a pack of angels who rebelled against God, and was tossed out of Heaven to become the prince of darkness upon this earth.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

What else did Jesus say?

Joh 8:44 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. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Joh 8:45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

Let us just see how this wicked angel operates as he transforms himself into a serpent?

2Co 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

First, we see he does not go after Adam, but instead he first attacks the woman.

As far as we know God did not give Eve the command about this tree but to Adam who should have informed Eve which he did.

Eve got her information second handed but she did understand she was not to eat of the fruit of this tree.

Now watch as Satan will twist the Word of God to cause confusion. "Did God say these things or did your husband say these things?"

*****Gen 3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

Gen 3:3 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.

First Eve answered correctly. She knew she could eat from all the trees in the Garden of Eden but this one tree.

Do you notice that just like many do today, Eve tried to add to the Word of God!

She did get her information second handed because Adam was commanded by God not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden known as "the tree of knowledge of good and evil".

We can see that Adam passed this knowledge on to his wife Eve.

God did not tell Adam not to touch this tree but just the opposite, God told Adam to dress all the trees in the Garden of Eden.

To dress could mean to prune, or cultivate, or other things along this line.

We can probably see that neither Adam nor Eve really understood what this "death" would mean just as those who are lost do not understand it today!

Most of the world sees "death" as the cessation of life.

Since humans are both physical and spiritual then this definition is only partially true.

We could say that death is the separation of the soul from the body.

What did Jesus say just before His death?

Luk 23:46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Jesus was not dead until His Spirit left His body!

Remember God is Spirit and Jesus had only taken up the flesh of a human to be with us here on Earth.

But this is the same for all humans, we are not dead until our spirit leaves our body.

Ecc 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.

This is the death that the Church accepts.

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.

Still this is not the complete definition of death.

Notice every human will suffer this death, but we must not miss that phrase "but after this the judgment".

We must understand that physical death is the result of sin and that sin through Adam in the Garden of Eden.

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

But then that "Judgment".

It is in the power of this "judgment" when our Heavenly Father determines true death!

Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

True death comes to all those who reject the free gift of "Grace", which comes by the knowledge of the Work that Christ Jesus has done to provide that "Grace".

That spirit given to us by our Creator will not ever die!

Death for the believer is actually spectacular.

2Co 5:8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

2Co 5:9 Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him.

Death to the unbeliever is very sad, because they allowed it to happen to themselves!

Mat 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.

Psa 18:5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

True death comes, when to be absent from the body "is not" to be present with the Lord!

Luk 16:22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

Luk 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

Notice till this day, this man is still in that same position looking up toward Heaven, a place he will never see.

This the death of living in torments throughout eternity!

This is the death to avoid!

This is the death that Adam and Eve did not understand.

This is the death that Old Serpent desires for every human, an eternal separation from our Creator

*****Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

Gen 3:5 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.

Many take these things for granted but these two people Adam and Eve are our historical parents and Satan wasted no time in going after them to cause them to die so the Messiah could never come.

Satan went after the first family and he tries his best to destroy all families today!

What is the greatest lie of sin? That sin will somehow make us better, that there is some great benefit to sin.

The truth is, sin brings death just like our Creator said it would!

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.  

This is the same thing God told Adam.

We know that God had made this command to Adam and Adam had relayed this to his wife.

We see that Satan that old serpent, begins to twist the Word of God to make it seem that our Creator was keeping secrets from us, which He never does.

Sin will cause all of us to believe that we can be as God, but this will never be true!

Sin will cause us to believe we have needs that cannot be met in any other way.

Sin will cause us to believe that our eyes will be opened to some new reality.

Sin will cause us to believe that we can do as God does.

Sin will cause us to believe that we know more about our needs than our Creator ever did.

All these things are illusions.

What do little gods do, make people think they do not need God!

What was the downfall of the people before the Great Flood of Noah's day?

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

This is what sin accomplishes and we see this more today than we ever have!

If we took a good look around us, we would see that our world has reached this place again!

Our Creator God is the God of the living not the God of the dead because Satan is the god of the dead!

Joh 8:44 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. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Eve did not stand a chance against Satan and Adam stood by and allowed this to happen to his wife because in his eyes, his wife could do no wrong because of his great love for her.

*****Gen 3:6 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, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

How did the Apostle John describe these things?

1Jn_2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

These things perfectly describe Eve's actions because this statement is true for all of us when it comes to sin!

Eve saw that this was a healthy tree and the fruit good or better than all the other trees, (the lust of the eyes).

Eve felt that if she ate of the fruit it would be just like Satan had said, (the lust of the flesh).

Eve felt she would become wise, even as wise as Jehovah, Elohim, (the pride of life).

Eve was deceived by her own lust while she was enticed and tempted by Satan.

I keep saying Satan because it was Satan who had used a snake as a disguise in his deception and his conquest of Eve.

Rev 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

We do not know what was going in Adam's mind while Satan was tempting Eve, but it appears that Adam was standing right beside Eve during this whole thing.

1Ti 2:13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.

1Ti 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

1Ti 2:15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

We must understand there are some things that we do not need to know!

There are many things that we do not need in our lives.

The one thing we must do, to keep doing our best is to obey the written Word of God.

The Bible is not a Book of suggestions, but a book of commandments!

The Bible is a Book of Truth!

We must obey the commandments of God rightly divided.

There are three groups in the Bible. The Hebrew children, the Church, and the lost world.

We should know who God is speaking to, knowing that the entire Bible is written for the Christian.

The entire Bible is the Word of God!

So what happened when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit?

*****Gen 3:7 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.

We must realize that there was a time on this earth that there was no sin, but it did not last long.

The day sin entered into humanity was the very first day our world began to die!

Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

The very first thing that was lost was innocence.

Innocence is the freedom from guilt.

Innocence is the freedom from evil intentions. (This is a biggie today)

Innocence is the untainted purity of heart and life.

Adam and Eve lost these things and so did the world that would come from their lineage!

Isa 30:1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:

And the woes began!

They immediately felt guilty for what they had done.

They immediately knew something was wrong, they had changed in their heart and mind.

It was not those eyes in their head that was opened! It was the eyes of their heart and their mind.

They had eaten from the fruit of evil and turned against God!

What was their first thought? Let us hide this from God! (Which is impossible)

Most all of us have been guilty of trying to hide our sin from God.

Even as Christians, we will try to hang on to that pet sin we have for as long as possible.

Job 31:33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom:

There is absolutely nothing of this earth that can hide our sin from the Almighty God.

When we turn away from God, He will turn away from us.

While they were trying to hide their sin, God called out to them.

You see up until this time God would walk with Adam.

*****Gen 3:8 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.

Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

Here we see the philosophy of most all humans. They believe that Jehovah God does not have the power to see what we are doing.

Adam and Eve would find out that we cannot hide the things we do from God our Creator!

Pro 15:3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.

Yes, we must feel shame for not being obedient to the Word of God!

Yahweh would come down to this earth and walk amongst His creation up until this day and talk to Adam and Eve face to face, but this would now end.

Now it cannot be said that Elohim does not still come and walk upon this earth when He so chooses or why would there be flowers and beautiful landscapes where humans cannot travel, but he does not talk face to face with humans after this event, at least until Jesus was upon this earth.

To restore that fellowship we must accept the work that the Lord Jesus did for our salvation in faith!

Corruption had entered into the creation of our Holy God!

Most of this world still tries to run away from God!

Most of this world still refuse to listen to what God has to say!

Most of this world does not seek the true God, Jehovah!

Most of this world denies the existence of our Creator!

Most of this world denies sin!

Most of this world ignores the truth and listen to heretics!

God called out to Adam and Adam responded.

*****Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

When we respond to God's questions, He is not seeking information from us.

God has perfect knowledge and perfect perception and we are all guilty before Him!

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

There is the sin of commission and then the sin of omission. We are guilty of one or the other or most times of both every day!

Adam had been disobedient, and he knew it!

Adam did not know what death really meant!

Adam was afraid with real fear, something humanity has forgotten, just how powerful God truly is.

Adam knew that what he had done had made a real impact on his relationship with his Creator!

Adam knew he was no longer innocent!

Adam knew he was no longer in the image of God!

Adam had been created in original righteousness, knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

All these things lost in the fall of Adam, have been restored in Jesus Christ, if we have "faith" in Him!

Eph 4:20 But ye have not so learned Christ;

Eph 4:21 If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:

Eph 4:22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts;

Eph 4:23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;

Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.

Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

God said: "who told you, you are naked", but He did not wait for the answer because He already knew the answer.

God then confronted Adam's guilt. Adam had disobeyed the commands of His Creator and He wanted Adam to admit to his sin.

This is something we must all do!

We must admit we are sinners and then we can realize we need a Savior!

We have learned in this one chapter the origin of sin in humanity.

If Adam is not a real person who brought sin into humanity, then there is no need for Jesus to take away  that sin!

This is the theme of the lie of evolution!

There is a reason God gives us commands because sin brings real harmful consequences to human beings!

What did Satan do to achieve his success?

1) Satan raised doubt concerning the Word of God and God's commands.

2) Satan lied and He is the father of all liars.

3) Satan twisted the Word of God into a lie.

Satan told Eve she would be like God with the knowledge of good and evil, but he did not mention the pain, the suffering and the death that would surely occur because God cannot lie.

Then Adam hunts for and excuse for his disobedience.

*****Gen 3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

The key to our forgiveness from the Lord is the admission of our guilt.

We must understand we are sinners.

Even though Adam was innocent before he rejected the commands of the Lord, that was no longer the case.

Adam was a sinner and he now possessed the traits of a sinner.

Adam first tried to blame God and next he blamed Eve.

See what Adam says: "The woman that thou gavest to me".

In other words God this would not have happened if you had not created woman!

Many a person, even Christians, have a tendency, to blame God, for things that go on in their life.

"It's your fault God because you did this and you did that", ridiculous!

God had already told Adam that that his problems began when he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree in the middle of the Garden after God, (Elohim) had told him not to.

Sin breaks our relationship with the Heavenly Father, our Creator.

Adam needed to see the depth that he had fallen.

Psa 38:3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin.

Psa 38:4 For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me.

Psa 38:5 My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness.

We cannot run away and hide from who we are!

Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Rom 3:11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Rom 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

Rom 3:13 Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:

Rom 3:14 Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:

Rom 3:15 Their feet are swift to shed blood:

Rom 3:16 Destruction and misery are in their ways:

Rom 3:17 And the way of peace have they not known:

Rom 3:18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

Rom 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

Rom 3:22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Rom 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

We are sinners and we will remain sinners unless we give our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ and we will still remain sinners as long as we are in this flesh, but those sins will be under the blood, blotted out from the eyes of God!

We need to quit making excuses!

Yes, it was Eve who gave into the temptations of Satan, but it was Adam who had received the direct commandment for his Creator to not eat of that tree.

Adam made Eve his idol when he listened to her rather than God!

Adam allowed the love of his wife to be more than the love of his Creator.

Luk 14:26 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.

Luk 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

I am sure the Lord has heard every excuse that has ever been used.

We might say just what is the big deal about this little sin?

All the descendants of Adam and Eve would now be born sinners. This is every person that has been born from the time of Adam and Eve.

Many a person have said "well my sin is so little compared to a murderer" but we are not to compare ourselves to other humans, we are to compare ourselves to the sinless Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Joh 12:48 He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.

Jas 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As Christians who read the Bible and hear the truth of God, we know that the Bible is a book of commandments and not a book of suggestions.

Adam was wrong!

Now God questions Eve.

*****Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

What does Satan do? He beguiles everyone he possibly can!

To beguile is to mislead by craftiness!

To beguile is deceive, to delude, to mislead, to divert, to entertain, to charm.

These are all words that describe Satan.

Eve would have needed much support from her husband, and we should realize they were both innocent, we could say perfect, at least, very good.

The truth of Satan is that without the Lord Jesus Christ a person cannot stand up against Satan!

2Ti 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

2Ti 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, "who are taken captive by him at his will".

When Satan comes after someone who does not know the Lord, they have no armor to protect them!

When Satan comes after a child of God, we have available the whole armor of God and the power of the Holy Spirit if we will just stand our ground, but at the same time we need to flee from all temptation.

2Ti_2:22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

But if we stand firm on our relationship with the Lord, it is Satan who will flee!

Jas_4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

God would chastise both Adam and Eve.

God would place a curse upon the earth.

God would change the snake forever.

God told Satan that one day in the future he would also die the same death as all those who reject the truth of God!

Sin entered into God's creation and He had to send His Son to make a way to escape this eternal death!

Amen