The Foundations of the GospelSample

The Great Deception

In Genesis chapter 2, God placed Adam and Eve in His Garden called Eden. The Garden of Eden was the reality of Heaven and where Adam and Eve enjoyed the goodness of God in its fullness.

Adam and Eve were invited to partake of every tree in the garden except one. However, there was a serpent (satan) in the garden who deceived Adam and Eve and convinced them to eat the forbidden tree.

Adam and Eve did not die physically when they ate of the tree, but they died spiritually. They were instantly cut off from their relationship with God because of sin, and union and communion with God were severed.

The problem is that when Adam and Eve died, everyone who was born after them (which is the entire human race) was born into Adam and born into sin - cut off from the source of love. The results of sin were a sinful nature and an earthly reality.

SINFUL NATURE

Because sin cut mankind off from the source of love, man was no longer in union with God. Therefore, Adam and Eve were no longer expressions of the love of God, but instead, they needed the love of God. To fill the void in the human heart, man became self-centered.

EARTHLY REALITY

Sin also cut man off from communion with God. As long as Adam and Eve were in a relationship with God, they knew the ways of God and the perspective of Heaven. Now that mankind was cut off from their communion with God, man succumbed to a belief system based on what they could perceive with their senses.

CONCLUSION

The original intent of mankind was to be in union and communion with God. Man had a Godly nature and lived through a Heavenly reality. Because of sin, the relationship between God and man was severed. This separation caused man to lose his Godly nature and Heavenly reality. Man took on a sinful, self-centered nature and an earthly reality.

Questions:

1. In what ways do you feel that you act out of your sinful nature?
2. How does the original intent for man compare to how the world operates today?