Continued
V. THE MISSION OF CHRIST
Once more: The doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul makes the body only worthless clay, formed into a prison that binds, and fetters, and clogs the free action of the soul, while death is the friendly messenger that bursts the prison bars, and sets free the aspiring soul to seek its native sphere. One of the most influential of American preachers said lately, of one who had died, that that person "is living, and more thoroughly living to-day than any of us who are clogged and hampered and chained down by earthly impediment." This is simply the expression of the common belief of those who hold to the idea that the soul is immortal. Embodied in meter so that it can be sung, it runs on this wise:-
"Why should we start and fear to die?
What timorous worms we mortals are!
Death is the gate to endless joy;
And yet we dread to enter there."
Now we read in the word of God as follows:
"O death, I will be thy plagues." Hos. 13:14. And again we read that "death" "shall be destroyed." 1 Cor. 15:26.
Can it be that God is going to visit with plagues, and destroy, the gate to endless joy? Is he so displeased to have his creatures entering into endless joy that he is determined to destroy the very means by which they enter that blissful state? If the words of this preacher, the language of this hymn, and the doctrine upon which they are founded, be the truth, then the Lord is going to do just the thing that is here pointed out, that is, he is going to visit with plagues and destroy, the gate to endless joy.
But this is not all. We read further of Christ:
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14.
Granting the claim that death is the gate to endless joy, then from this scripture it follows, just as absolutely as logic can demonstrate, that the devil, having the power of death, is the gate-keeper. And so the Lord is not only going to destroy this "gate to endless joy," but he is going to destroy him that keeps it. Nor yet is this all. Granting not only the claim based upon the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, that death is the gate to endless joy, but also that the soul is clogged, and hampered, and imprisoned by its confinement in the body, and that it is released by death, it follows that if there had never been any death in the world, no soul could have ever been set free, and there never would have been any gate to endless joy. And as it was the devil who brought death into the world, therefore, under that doctrine, to him must be accorded the honor of setting men free from this world, and of creating and opening to men the gate of endless joy. But this is the very thing that Christ says that he himself came to do.
He says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." John 14:6.
"I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 10:9.
Therefore when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul makes death the gate to endless joy, and the friendly messenger that releases men from this world, it supplants the Saviour of the world, and bestows upon Satan the honor that is due to Christ.
And by all this we lay against the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul the legitimate and logical charge that it frustrates the purpose of God, that it nullifies the mission of Christ, and supplants the Saviour of the world. And if anything more is needed to show that between that doctrine and the truth of God there is a difference wide as eternity, it will be found in the following pages.
(End Excerpt) The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?
BY A. T. JONES.
(((My Thoughts--
I only know personally a few people who accept the truth about death. There are many out there that believe the truth, but I don't know them all personally. I can tell you this, more people don't believe the truth than do. More people don't want to believe the truth, they don't even want to study it thoroughly. Most people hold tight to traditions taught to them. Traditions covered up in a guise of religion, lathered with a thick coat of the best sheep's wool in existence to hide the wolf attributes underneath. Deceived. Completely hoodwinked! Totally bamboozled! And this causes them to simply NOT care whether their belief in instant heaven after death is truth or not. Even religious scholars have decided to believe the lies, and that's good enough for the common folk.
What makes me think I have the truth and they don't? God's word, and Satan's lies, they make me believe it. Logic takes over after the Holy Spirit conviction of the truth and the scales falling off my eyes. Logic that I wouldn't want ANY of my dead loved ones to be able to watch the horrors of the world below as so many believe they do. Logic that when I sleep there is a long period of nothingness going on around me, eight hours of it on a good day. Logic that the next thing I know after I fall asleep is waking up and those hours have gone by, they are gone and I wasn't aware of a single one of them. Logic that death being a peaceful sleep of knowing nothing until my Savior returns to call me to Him, is a wonderful thing! I'm here on earth alive, the next minute dead, and then the next minute I see my Savior arriving in the air and I hear Him calling me to meet him up there along with all those who have fallen asleep in Christ. Wonderful, wonderful logic that is much better than some presumed instant life after death. Let's ask ourselves some questions and do some serious thinking, all while praying desperately for the Holy Spirit's guidance!
What was the first lie told to a human being? Let's go back to the Garden of Eden-
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?
The serpent -'And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan Rev. 12:9'
The old serpent also known as the devil or satan, SAID to the woman…
"Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
The devil posed a question to Eve. Hey, hath God said? Here we have the devil invoking God's name to Eve. The devil disguised as a serpent is telling her that he knows about God, he knows that God talked to her and gave her instructions about the garden. They know someone in common.
Eve didn't faint upon hearing a serpent talking, or maybe at her ability to understand the animal talking, so we can surmise it was a common thing for an animal to talk- something we have all probably imagined would be awesome. Eve simply listened to the question posed to her. This beautiful serpent out of nowhere talks to her about God. Eve wouldn't find that odd either, that the creature knows God, God created the creatures too. Not only did God create the creatures, the creatures would have access to God, as God visited with Adam and Eve. The question being posed by the serpent was one of seeming curiosity. "Hey, has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
That'd be like me asking my daughter if she were pet sitting at my sister's house, "Hey, has your Aunt said you shouldn't eat everything in her refrigerator?" Just a curiosity question, right? No need for any alarm, not on my daughter's part, or on Eve's when the serpent asked his question. My daughter would just answer that her Aunt told her she could eat everything except the contents of that special box in the middle of the fridge. No need for alarm, just questions being asked and answered.
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.
Eve answered the serpent's question with the only answer she could give- the truth. She possibly surmised that maybe this particular serpent wasn't around when God was giving the instructions to her and Adam.
"We can eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but…"
She didn't say we can eat fruit of every tree, that would have been a lie. "…of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, we shall not eat of it." She should have stopped there, or said the 'lest ye die' part, but she added a little embellishment onto God's restriction. "…neither shall we touch it, lest we die."
The serpent knew she embellished. I mean, logically after being given such a restriction, I know I probably would infer that I shouldn't even touch something that could kill me. Touching it is a bit too close to eating it. In fact, I can't eat it, if I don't touch it. So, if I don't touch it, I won't eat it and therefore I won't die. Adding such a precaution makes sense. God went to all the trouble of telling them they'd die so another thing we must infer is they knew what dying meant. It's no good to tell someone they're going to die if they have no clue what dying is. None. It wouldn't be a deterrent of any sort. Or, do you believe they just had to trust God and that the word 'die' meant something undesirable? Maybe they were created with the knowledge of death, or else, God explained it to them, it's one or the other because they knew death was something undesirable 'lest we die'. Curious as it is, we just can't know how the knowledge of death came to Adam and Eve.
Death as we know, is the opposite of life. If something is living, it's not dead. If something is living it's doing all the things living means. When a person dies, they can no longer breathe, their internal organs shut down and stop functioning, they can't speak, or think or hear or do anything but simply begin their decaying process. Being dead is not something preferred. It's not something a person living a perfect life in all ways, a life unending, a life of promised eternity would ever desire. Death meant an end to their existence and they knew this, Eve knew it because God told her, or gave her the knowledge. DON'T EAT. IF YOU EAT, YOU DIE. DYING IS NOT GOOD and UNWANTED.
The serpent knew what death meant too, again how he came by the knowledge we don't know. If the serpent didn't know what death meant, he wouldn't care about the tree's ability to cause that unknown thing that was undesirable. LOGIC dictates comprehension of death on the part of Adam and Eve as well as the serpent. The serpent wanted their death. Their ending. The devil wanted them to stop being alive, it would take care of one huge problem of his, God having creatures around that were created in God's own image. Getting rid of these creatures was a good thing for the devil. Getting these God-imaged creatures to disobey God, just as he had done, even better! Defy God, rebel against God, reveal to all the other angels that hadn't comprehended God's evilness, how truly awful God is when He demands any sort of obedience from the creatures He makes. Reveal that God didn't make these God-imaged creatures with God powers already because He's self-serving. And by the way, the devil would add, my wanting to be God too, just like Him, maybe take the place of Him, that isn't so bad, right? Right?!
So, the serpent replied to Eve… The first lie.
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.
"You won't die. God knows the day you eat it, your understanding will be opened and you'll be as gods, you'll know good and evil."
Yes, the serpent told Eve that she didn't know about good and evil. He also implied God didn't want her to know about good and evil, that God was keeping her understanding limited, God was withholding something that could make her even more like God, not just an image, but the real deal, the whole package, the very thing God is. The devil was telling her that God didn't want her to be another god. And……………the serpent IMPLIED all that in such a way, that it seemed like God REALLY WAS protecting her from all those things by LYING to her!
Satan twisted things, God is the one who lied to her, of course for her own good. God was the one who deceived her, telling her she'd die. God, even as well intentioned as He was, creating her and all, didn't speak all the truth. That implication meant one thing, the fruit was okay to eat, that death thing wouldn't happen. All that would happen was she would become more like the Creator God she loved! Yes, she LOVED GOD. She'd be more like God, and know more. She'd be as a god, but NOT God. The serpent didn't say she'd be God Himself, or even one greater than God, he simply said she'd be as a god, her and Adam both would be as gods. They'd know good… well, didn't they already know good? Eve knew good, she had to. But this evil stuff. Did God give them knowledge of evil? He gave them knowledge of death- a consequence of an evil action, but did they know anything more of evil? He didn't explain the why behind the not eating from the tree to them. He told them not to do something and expected obedience.
Everyone knows- parents and, or authority figures over children- have been known to do the same thing, tell us not to do something and when asked why not, we hear, 'because I said so'- answer is often shouted in frustration. A parent wants to be obeyed which in truth is not the bad thing that some want to make it out to be. I'm reminded of Corrie Ten Boom, a Holocaust survivor who wrote about asking her father about death, as a child. Her father told her to pick up a really heavy suitcase. She told her father she couldn't pick it up it was too heavy. He then proceeded to tell her that the knowledge of death right now at her young age would be too heavy for her to carry but one day she'd know. She was pleased with the answer and wrote so.
We know not all children would have been satisfied with such a response, they might say right back, but I want to know anyway. The father then might have to say, simply, no. We expect obedience from children because a lot of times it's to protect them from harm. If they listen to us in all things, then when we tell them to stop when something can harm them- they listen and are kept from that harm. Disobedience can lead to very tragic consequences. God wanted obedience and as the Creator of the very ones He was asking obedience from, He deserved that obedience. He didn't force that obedience though. God gave Adam and Eve an instruction meant to be obeyed and God was nothing but pure love to Adam and Eve. They wanted to obey Him, and they DID obey Him for who knows how long, we aren't told. They obeyed God, there was no reason not to. They had so many other trees to eat fruit from, they did not need the fruit that had been forbidden to them.
Then the serpent comes along and tells Eve she can be MORE like the God she loves- not in those exact words. I imagine part of the reason redemption's offer was extended was because there were a few logically redeemable reasons for it to be from a deception standpoint.
Eve wasn't thinking evilly, she DIDN'T say to herself, 'Okay, I'll hurt God if I do this, but I'm doing it anyway.'
There was no maliciousness in her eating the fruit. She WAS DECEIVED! The serpent didn't tell her if she ate the fruit she'd change in a bad way. The serpent convinced her the change from eating the fruit would be a very GOOD thing! He lied! She fell for the lie! Had Eve gone over to that tree and plucked a fruit and bit into it without the devil's DECEPTIVE influence, humanity wouldn't exist. In fact, the serpent KNEW that Adam and Eve left to their own devices were NEVER going to disobey God, never. He had to exert his influence over Eve. She was alone, she was walking about the garden, she could see the forbidden tree from where she stood…
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.
She moved closer to that tree, it's possible they could have been walking in its direction the whole time they were talking. She came closer to the tree than ever before, in fact, she'd never been close enough to really see the fruit it had on it or she would have known already it was pleasant to the eye. Why would she have ever gotten close to it before now? She was staying as far away from it as possible, it was forbidden. In fact in her mind she'd already convinced herself that to even touch it would harm her, let alone eat it. No, she'd never even seen the tree close enough to make out the type of fruit it was, and by that time, she'd eaten a lot of various fruit from the myriad of fruit trees in the huge garden.
There she was, she could really see the fruit now for the first time and it looked like good food! In fact it looked amazing! It was really beautiful! Not only was the fruit gorgeous but the tree itself was wonderful! It seemed to exude the promise of its hidden wisdom, wisdom she knew her and Adam were ready for. God may even be happy she'd done this. Maybe the test was their becoming mature enough to realize the tree was really good and they could now prove they were wise enough to become wiser. You know, like the serpent said. God knew the tree would make them wiser and that was a good thing, right? Eve believed it was. Had the serpent outright attacked God, he would have gotten no whare with Eve. Yes, God did lie to them but for their own good, that made God seem caring, not hateful.
Reaching out her hand, her fingertips moving ever closer to a luscious looking piece of fruit and she finally touched it. Nothing happened! She didn't die! She touched this special fruit that would make her more like the God she loved and it hadn't hurt her as she'd led herself to believe it would. Wrapping both hands around the beautiful large piece of perfectly ripe fruit she tugged it free from the tree and stared at it in wonder. Quickly she turned around smiling from ear to ear, the serpent had been right, touching the fruit hadn't killed her. He said she surely wouldn't die and she hadn't! Everything else he said had to be true! Running off she hurried to Adam. She had to tell him everything! Bringing the fruit to her face she inhaled it's wonderful scent, which was unlike any other fruit she'd had. Oh, it had to taste as good as it smelled! She was almost to Adam, there he was, she could see him! She'd give it to him too and they'd both be more like God, it would be wonderful! Just imagine the amazing conversations they could have once they had more knowledge!
Quickly she took a bite of the fruit and smiling around the mouthful she came up to Adam and held the fruit out to him. Adam saw the fruit and the bite taken from it as Eve slowly chewed, smiling happily as she did, and he took the fruit and bit into it, smiling back at her. Together they chewed their mouthful of fruit smiling at each other and then they swallowed.
The masticated fruit slid into their stomachs, the eating of the forbidden fruit was complete and the horror that would become theirs, and all humanities exisitence, began.
Instantly their disobedience ripped away the divine light of purity they were clothed in and their glorious bodies they'd never seen without that light were altered. As we all can imagine perfection transforming into imperfection, it had to be horrific. All the numerous things about our flesh bodies that have no inclination of perfection, things that are considered filthy, stinky, out of place, wrong. So many things about our bodies are not what was intended, not what existed in the perfect light of God's love. Adam and Eve instantly felt something they'd never felt before, shame! They'd lost their perfection and protection, God, and what was left of them was hideous and something to be covered up immediately!
I imagine that as we see a decayed corpse and the disgustingness of it, the change from a live person, Adam and Eve felt the same revulsion at their own alteration. Seriously. The step down had to be exceedingly drastic.
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.
Imagine it! There they were, disgusted by their altered appearance. Their eyes were opened NOT to the reality of their naked bodies as we perceive naked bodies. Their eyes were opened to the RESULTS of their sin and it was a nightmare what they were seeing and understanding. They were without God, and that left them completely naked in all ways, vulnerable, exposed, fearful. We who have never experience perfection can feel the same way. Finding ourselves (fully clothed) in certain situations can make us feel naked - exposed, vulnerable).
FROM Google-- 'The phrase "naked fear" (also used interchangeably with terms like raw fear or primal fear) describes an intense, instinctual, and unfiltered state of terror. It refers to the most basic, visceral human reaction to an immediate threat—one that strips away logic, higher reasoning, and composure, leaving a person entirely exposed and vulnerable.'
Imagine being fully clothed only to suddenly have no clothes on. MOST, not all, but most people would be mortified! Adam and Eve were perfect and clothed in God's glorious light, and to be suddenly without it was devastating to them. They grabbed huge fig leaves and began putting them together probably with thin vines, anything just to make something to cover themselves up, to put something on them to bring back some of the perfection they had only moments ago. If they could just clothe themselves maybe it would make everything better somehow. Maybe they'd stop feeling so awful and vulnerable. Then…
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.
The Lord was walking in the garden calling out to them, they heard Him, their beloved Creator, their God! Yes, they were hiding, they didn’t want Him to see them like they were! They didn't want Him to know what they'd done. God kept calling…
Gen 3:9 And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
Adam had to answer, he couldn't hide from God any longer.
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.
He was afraid. That fear was in his voice loud and clear. He told God he was no longer clothed in the covering that God had created upon Him, no longer wrapped in God's perfection, being naked implied the horror he'd become without God's clothing, and the reason he needed to hide.
And God asked…
Gen 3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
But God knew the horrible truth even as He asked the question. There was only one way for Adam to be fearful in a naked state.
Gen 3:11 Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
Oh the sadness that had to be in His voice, the heartbreak, the disappointment, the agony of being disobeyed, the knowledge of what that meant. The fact they were still alive and not instantly dead meant one thing, they hadn't done this thing of their own accord, not fully. There was someone that spoke with them. That someone may not have told them they were naked, but that someone had a hand in what they'd done. That Adam and Eve were filled with fear, shame, regret, and despised what they'd done was all there in their fear and their replies. They were scrambling trying to figure out a way to make it better somehow and their answers to God were them trying to shift the blame just enough so God would understand somehow it wasn't their fault, not fully.
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 woman you gave me. You know, if you hadn't given her to me this wouldn't have happened. Is that what Adam is implying? Why else clarify that God gave the women to be with him? That woman, YOU gave me, she gave me the fruit and I ate it. She did it! She gave it to me! I didn't go get it! She's worse than I am! She's the instigator, she did it first!
Gen 3:13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?
What did you do, woman? Why, why did you give your husband the forbidden fruit? Why? God had to know from her own lips what reasoning she'd used to do something so awful.
Gen 3:13… And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
I was tricked by the serpent! I only ate it because of him! He tricked me he told me you just didn't want us to be more like you, smarter, wiser and, and, and he said I wouldn't die. And he was right, I didn't die. I thought you were just trying to keep us from knowing too much, too soon, and I thought we were ready. I wanted to surprise you! I passed your test! I love you, I just… I just wanted to be like you, but not you, just a little more like you so we could be closer! Tricked, I was tricked! Please, please… I would take it back if I could! The serpent, he… he deceived me! I, I didn't know he could be deceptive! I didn't know we were to protect ourselves from beautiful serpents! I'm sorry! ((Yes, Adam and Eve could have said so much more that went unrecorded, so much more that the situation called for, but even if they didn't, their recorded words were enough.)) The truth was out there, the serpent had beguiled her, she knew that now, and she eaten the forbidden fruit, and she gave Adam the fruit and he ate it too.
The devil, the ol' serpent hadn't gone anywhere. There he remained in the serpent's form watching everything unfold. He'd done it, he'd gotten the woman to disobey God and he had been very surprised when Eve hadn't died instantly the moment her mouth touched the fruit. He watched the pair running around as their protective clothing of God's loving light disappeared. They were changing! No longer appearing as God's perfect image in so many surprising details. Were they in the process of dying? Was that what dying looked like? He didn't know. Then God arrived and still, the serpent didn't leave. He had to find out what was going on. God had said they'd die if they did what they did and they weren't dead. Before he could ask a single question, God turned His attention towards him.
Gen 3:14 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; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Wait, what?! God was cursing the creature the devil was possessing? A forever reminder to the creature that maybe could have protested the possession? Cursed! And that wasn't all, only this time God was speaking solely to the devil spirit-being within the serpent. God was going to put hatred between the woman's seed and the devil's seed. Hatred. And then God said the devil's head would by bruised by the woman's seed, and the woman's male seed would have His heel bruised. Wait! He was being punished! She ate the fruit! She disobeyed! All he did was deceive her a little. He knew though, he knew he'd lied to her, manipulated her, tricked her and now he had to pay for his part in getting her to disobey, but it'd been so easy!
God was saying the woman was going to have a seed, but so too would he! But that awful woman, who did not die like she was supposed to, was going to have a male seed that would destroy him! She was supposed to die! DIE! BE NO MORE, NOT HAVE SEED! God told the pair they'd die and they didn't!
God wasn't finished talking though- He told the woman…
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.
She was going to have sorrow, the children she was going to bear would bring her sorrow and her husband would rule over her, Adam had never ruled over her! They were a pair, they were equal if different, but now…now he would rule over her. His form was different larger, taller. She was being punished. Eve heard it and knew she deserved everything! She'd let herself be deceived! The serpent told her she wouldn't die, she hadn't died fully, but a part of her, the best part was dead to her, she was no longer one with God, but separated from Him! It was awful! So awful!
Gen 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Gen 3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…
The man was being punished too because he listened to the woman, his wife, and ate of the tree after God commanded he not eat of it. The ground would be cursed, and in sorrow the food he had to eat now would be from the ground and awful- no more perfect fruit from the trees of the Garden already ripe and ready for the picking, and that wasn't all….
Gen 3:19 for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
He was going to return to dust!! What!? If he returned to dust he wouldn't be able to do anything at all, he'd not have a form to do anything! This was the death they feared! They all knew it…they knew they would die, and here it was only it wasn't instant death they were going to be allowed to have children, to do the multiplying God had spoken of before. This was a good thing, that they could have children before dying, but oh, the horror of it all!
The Devil heard the pronouncement about them returning to dust and was thrilled. They would die eventually and they'd suffer, all very good things, and things they deserved. It was the woman's fault she was so gullible and the stupid man didn't protest the eating of the fruit- he knew it was a fruit he'd never seen before, he knew. Guilty, the pair of them! At least he'd get to watch them die. He wasn't going to stay in the stupid serpent form and eat dust. He was spirit and intended on making their time before they became dust as miserable as possible. So miserable maybe he could get them to not have any children at all, that would take care of that seed business.
All was said and done. The separation between man and God was complete. God, with a very heavy heart had doled out their punishments and had given them the prophetic words of their future. Even the serpent hiding the evil devil's form was being punished and the devil, well he'd been told that someday he would die, his head would be crushed. Yes, the devil was spirit form and even so, a man child would come that would destroy him. All the seeds of the devil, those who embrace the spirit of his evil, joining themselves to him in spirit, would perish along with him. Yes, the seeds would war against each other, hating each other those that were of God and those that were of the devil, there would be intense hatred that would come from all the evil unleashed by the disobedience. The cost of the disobedience was a price God Himself would have to pay.
Gen 3:20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
Not leaving His first created children without one more lesson, non-verbal though it be. There in front of them, God took beloved animals, that in the curse of sin could no long be understood by their caretaking humans, and killed them, sacrificed them because of the wrong they'd done. As they watched in horror, God stripped the hides from the formerly living, wondrous creatures and placed them upon Adam and Eve, covering them in something that would forever remind them of the consequences of their separating themselves from Him. Death. No, not their immediate deaths, but death of innocent animals because of what they'd done. Death of the simple animals who were forced into changes themselves because a of what Adam and Eve had done. The animals had been there as precious gifts of companionship. Remember, Adam named them all and among hadn't found a partner, but he'd found friends in them all. God had created Eve to be Adam's partner and yet he didn't remove the animals. They were loving creatures each unique and wonderous. Even the very smart Serpent who had allowed itself to be possessed by the devil, had been a creature of love and companionship on a level different than those of humankind. Now… now all that had changed in a two bites of a forbidden fruit. Sin, disobeying the God of love, the God who is love itself, bringing condemnation down upon the entire earth and all its inhabitants. The devil had succeeded in corrupting the perfect creations of God and would now have his way, the earth was no longer God's world. As Jesus would say…
Jhn_8:23 And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.
Jhn_18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Jhn_12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
Jhn_14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Jhn_16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
This world is Satan's, and those repentant, those of the woman's seed, one of them would in time redeem the sinful, repentant children of God.
For now, at mankind's sinful beginning, God had this to say-
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 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.
Mankind, the creatures created in the very image of God, were filled now with the knowledge of evil. Evil to its most depraved depths was now in those created to know only God's love. Evil could not be allowed to LIVE FOREVER but must die in every man. No longer could Adam and Eve eat of the Tree of Life there in the garden of Eden, banned from the garden to never more walk among the wondrous beauty of pure love, they were thrust out into a life of hardship. A life they would live and no matter what any future child of mankind did they would never find that peace of purity in love in the things of an earth that now belonged to the devil.
TELL me please, where is God's message of a part of man living forever to be found in all this?
From dust you came, to dust you will return. You will suffer as you live, and you will return to dust. The animals killed right before your eyes, their lives ended, to dust they returned. To dust. Not to another life, another way of living, not an entrance way to eternal bliss. Never, ever a stepping stone to the next life- NO next life was promised.
The devil's destruction was promised. A man child from the woman's seed was promised to defeat the devil. In that defeat is implied eventual restoration. In that victory over the evil one, who caused the downfall of humankind, a way would be created for redemption. This was the GOOD NEWS that Jesus- Immanuel- God with us- the God-Man brought to earth. He was the way to life! He promised to RETURN to take us who are His with HIM to His Father's House where He is PREPARING many mansions for US, so that when He returns for us we will rise to meet Him in the air and forevermore be with Him! We will go to heaven with Him THEN, and not a moment sooner! Not a second sooner!
There were only a select few compared to the many who were given the honor of entering Heaven before Christ returns. So very few- Enoch, Elijah, Moses, those resurrected upon His death… so very, very few. ALL the rest are in their graves. All the rest of old have long turned to dust. The dust of those long dead who loved God will be recreated by Christ Jesus into immortal, incorruptible forms just as those living will be changed to immortality- by Jesus! The CREATOR, recreating His creatures! How glorious that will be! The curse will be over, death swallowed up in victory never more to reign.
Right now, we still die just as we have always done since sin entered the world. We still die - our life ends, we know nothing, can do nothing, we enter a long sleep that is only long to those remembering their dead loved ones. To the sleeping dead, they know nothing of time is passing. They know nothing of those who belong to God throughout the many years living in Christ and dying in Christ- the future promised Redeemer, the realized Redeemer, the Risen Redeemer. They only know the life they once lived, and then they'll wake to realize a life redeemed in the love of God as they are given immortality. A life to be lived in the LOVE God is and always has been and always will be, a life barely comprehensible to us now, but a life, a promise, offered to us to accept or reject.
Satan loves his most favored of deceptions- that death is just a stepping stone to a new heavenly life- instantly for all. Doesn't matter how awful you've been or whether or not you love God at all- you'll just be placed somewhere to work off your sins and eventually join immortal love, or you'll go to a place where you'll suffer endlessly forever and ever and ever --- which is TOTALLY ILLOGICAL and against all that God IS! A place of eternal torment or a place of temporary hardship until you're fitted for the real heaven! LUDICROUS!
People choose NOW. This is their temporary place of hardship, it comes with the eternal choice made here and now! Oh for all to recognize the lunacy in the lies and deceptions! The evil will be wiped out and all those who choose evil along with it, punished in a lake of fire, consumed utterly and gone. No place of torment immortal will exist, it would go against all that is GOD to do so. Fairness, Justice, Mercy, Grace, and the LOVE manifest in these, demands an eternal immortal end to evil and all things evil. We can scarcely comprehend a life without the horrors that exist for us day to day, but it exists! It is promised to us! Jesus WILL RETURN FOR US! HE IS OUR HOPE! HE IS OUR SALVATION! HE IS LIFE NOW AND EVER MORE! END OF MY THOUGHTS))))
