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The Fall of Man : Doubt Denial & Delusion
Before Adam and Eve sinned it is a sure thing that Lucifer did first, for it is he who tells the first lie in history. Satan said to Eve, "Ye shall not surely die... and ye shall be as gods..." But even before this first ever recorded lie that old devil planted seeds of doubt in EveÕs mind, saying, "Yea, hath God said..." This same strategy continues today even in the footnotes of the NIV Bible with such spurious claims that, 'the best manuscripts omit such verses...' Denial was followed hot on the heels of doubt as the serpent said, "Ye shall not surely die" in response to Eve telling him that they would surely die if they ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The devil appealed to Eve's emotions. The fruit was good to look at, no? It looked good enough to eat, didn't it? Besides, God is just trying to keep you down. The trifecta of the the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life was sprung on an innocent and unsuspecting Eve. Eve followed her stomach, her gut, her own instincts, her eyes, and her pride. She put all of these before God's word. Oh, that we all would put God's word first and foremost all the time and learn the lesson herein contained. What misery we could often avoid if only we would answer every situation with, "Thus saith the LORD."
Next Adam is lured into the fall by his soul mate Eve, the very proto-bride made from his very side. The book of I Timothy 2:14 informs us that, "Adam was not deceived..." What is meant by this? Is it that Adam so loved his bride that he knowingly chose to lower himself to her level, to die the death that she was bound to die? It seems that Adam plays the type, the foreshadowing type of Christ, who, "being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." (Philippians 2:8).
Adam and Eve's plight was a new separation from God. God came to the garden and summoned Adam and Eve. He searched them out and searched the hearts, minds, and souls. God sentenced them to death. If has been pointed out by countless critics that Adam and Eve did not die, but lived on for hundreds of years. In this respect it is interesting to note Young's Literal Translation of Genesis 2:17, "for in the day of thine eating of it--dying thou dost die." So the process of death had begun for the human race at that time. Whether of not the universal heat death known to cosmologists as entropy began there or not, can we be sure? After all, perhaps it began when Lucifer took the plunge and became Satan, which may have been moments or weeks earlier.
Adam and Eve's flight from God's seeking of them reveals a new found fear of God. When God confronts Adam with probing questions, Adam brings forth the first rendition of a game that has been played by every tongue and every tribe for thousands of years. We know that game as the blame game. Adam blames Eve. Then he blames God for making Eve. Then he blames the devil rather than taking responsibility for his own actions. My wife tells a funny story which illustrates how children are born into sin, not needing to even learn it. When she was still small enough to be in the process of being potty trained, she wet her pants one day. When her mother asked her, "Did you wet your pants?", she answered by saying that her sister had done it!
The bottom line is that God summoned, searched and sentenced Adam and Eve because they knew the rules, they knew the consequences, and they knew that they had been given a choice. The good news is that God pursued them. And God is still pursuing men and women today. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 1
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