Evening Devotional: The Last Enemy (Protestant/Evangelical Caucus)

***That’s us since Adam....but what were the natures of Adam and Eve before they sinned? They could not have had the nature we contend with unitl afterward......***

They were free of sin, and because of their sin in the Garden, we are born with their sin imputed to us.

Jesus, the 2nd Adam, lived a sinless life. When we come to Him though faith his righteousness is imputed to us.

Romans 5:12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

....”They were free of sin, and because of their sin in the Garden, we are born with their sin imputed to us”...

Yes this I understand....You're saying they were free of sin....by nature?...... I would assume since they were made in the image of God this would be so....but then ‘how could they have fallen for satan’s deception’ if they were sinless and in his image?

I'm working on this on my end here....hopefully will discover what I'm seeking....and love that others are offering their impute.

OK, I see what you are asking.

I am shooting from the hip just a little here, and at the risk of posting something that will agitate some folks....

In the Reformed corner of Christianity we often say/hear that there were only three people with an unblemished free will. Adam, Eve and Jesus.

Adam and Eve freely choose to eat of the fruit. They could have just as easily chosen not to do so when tempted. In a far harsher environment, Jesus was tempted and resisted.

Shoot from the hip all you want as far as I’m concerned....when seeking truth and answers it seems to me putting out there what one is thinking charges other minds to consider as well.

Is say this because I’ve never dived into the issue of what Adam and Eve’s nature was prior to sin ...which led to how could they have then sinned...so it does appear they had a choice to follow what God said or not.

You wrote...”Adam and Eve freely choose to eat of the fruit. They could have just as easily chosen not to do so when tempted... In a far harsher environment, Jesus was tempted and resisted.”

In going all the way back we know that sin actually began in heaven...satan rebelled against God....then he gets booted to earth....We don’t know exactly when this happened but the scirpture evidence seems to show this occurred ‘before’ the 6 days of creation... (darkness on the face of the deep).......and we know ...so it was a ‘perfect environment of harmony and peace’ (at least in the garden) until satan shows up in the garden as a serpent and delivers his message challenging what God has said..

That sets the stage pretty much from what I’ve found written.....then ‘God makes man in his image’....I think satan was aware of this and seethed as now man had becomeso A creation of a higher intelligence than the creatures/animals ....So here was a rival to satan as God ‘gave man dominion’ over the earth....SPECIFICALLY THE GARDEN.. (Gen.2:15-16..Gen.1:28)......imagining that just as satan’s jealousy of God revealed itself in heaven...it likley esculated for God had given a lesser being then himself dominion over his creation....so satan set out to usurp the authority given to new and lesser creatures than himself makes sense to me.

(I’m thinking outloud here so don’’t mind that it might not run smoothly....)

Now when we remember the penalty for murder in Gen.9:6 was on the basis that the victim was made ‘in the image of God’ ...therfore by satan destroying ones life it was ‘an assault’ upon God’s creation , who ‘he put in charge’of the other creations on earth....

Imagine satans rage being kicked out of heaven to earth, so he messes that up (Chaos/Void)...and God steps in raising up a man in his own image which he himself personally designs from the very earth satan landed on....and unlike the numerous animals etc. he created but of man he forms just ONE human. Satan surely had to be enraged and full of jealousy for this new created being God designed.... upsurped by Adam even though Adam was created “lesser” than the angels God gave Adam dominion of the earth and animals.

I’m just trying to set what it might have been like surrounding Adam and Eve before satan showed up in the garden.

I’m getting closer I think...but still working at it.....

.....So everyone who from Adam afterwards received “a deformed, marred” image of God ....rather than the ‘perfection’ intially designed in Adam.....and ALONG WITH .....a ‘preserved’ image of Adam this is our nature ‘without’ Christ......so there’s no way anyone can be pleasing to God no matter what they do ...without Christ.

So it would seem we not only sin against God but the very image of him, his attributes,etc... once created in us....his reflection through us.... ultimately leading to death....But now Jesus restored that image of God in us (because he was perfect..the second Adam) and we are made fully pleasing to God.... because we are now IN Christ through His Spirit He has given the day we were saved. Jesus in me the hope of Glory...

I still haven’t understood how Adam sinned if his nature was sinless ...surely he must have been watching this exchange between satan and Eve because it’s written ‘she turned and gave’ to Adam and he did eat.....but the bible isn’t clear what he was doing all the time this exchange was going on....in fact it’s pretty silent ......

Silence.... about what was Adam doing...why didn’t he step in when Eve was being deceived....surely God was watching closely....Clearly the test was to Adam since the command had been given ‘to him’ not to eat....Was he so enamoured with the exchange between satan and Eve that he got caught up in their moment? Especially since there didn;t seem to be any resistence from Adam?

You’re doing pretty well and on the right track I think.

It appears that having a sin nature is not a requirement for sinning, IOW, you can sin even if you don’t yet have a sin nature. The temptation to sin for them came from without. Ours comes from within.

Although, not having a sin nature IS a requirement for NOT sinning. IOW, in order to not sin, you have to not have a sin nature. Once you have a sin nature, you’re done.

Does that make sense to you?

True .. and that’s why God prepared the animal skins for them to wear.

As His creation we are ‘valuable to God’ no matter what we do because unlike any other creature we retain the image of God in us though ‘it is corrupted’. ....Jesus changed that by restoring this image through His Spirit in us....though not fully realized until we go with Him.

You said...”The temptation to sin for them came from without. Ours comes from within”....

I think up until satan was in the garden Adam and Eve’s nature was perfect......satan caught Eve’s attention through her senses and his appearance and his voice. Makes you wonder why she entertained ‘conversation’ with this creature.....did they do so with other animals? Otherwise why did she hang around? Was it simply another voice besides God’s that attracted her?

At any rate once he had her attention , and he knew he had that, he challenges what God said....”Are you sure He said this?”...using doubt as his tactic....at this point became a test of her faith as God had already spoken on this matter with God...... All she needed to do was say I’ll obey what I don’t fully understand, .... Satan tempted Eve, that by her he might tempt Adam,.... and it worked.

Some theologians believe eve’s response where she “added” to what God said...(”Nor should we touch it” which God didn’t say), proved and shows that her love and confidence towards God were already beginning to waver. As much it showed satan that she had taken the bait and had her in his grasp.....

This happens exactly the same today when people ignore what God says and or add on that which he doesn’t say.....they first doubt and then try to explain what they want to beleive rather than what God says......satan will always influence ‘an apostasy from the Word of God’ that is spoken in its context.... He distorts its correct meaning.

Eve was duped into the believing the message, not considering it may not be from God, all she needed to do was test it..... As the serpent conversed with her correcting her errors, she assumed it lead her into a right knowledge of the divine will; that her disobedience would become an advantage.

He goes in for the kill then...the serpent said to the woman,.. “You will not surely die.”... This is the first lie recorded in the scripture. And this is why Jesus attributes to Satan the title the father of lies (Jn.8:44), he is the source of all lying.....This same lie is now taught in liberal seminaries; the word of God is not exact, nor is it to be regarded as absolute truth, it does not need to be obeyed...

We also see this so clearly with Hinduism, New Age Spirituality and the Emerging church push....reincarnation was a religious continuation to this lie assuring people as the serpent did that there is no end to their physical life you will be recycled....No need to discard something that works.

Satan then moves to ‘an affront to the truth of God’.... V.5 “For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ....The very same goal he had for himself, to be like God.

What ever the nature of man was in the garden satan clearly knew how to touch that nature....BEFORE mans fall.....and now that we all have that nature corrupted how much easier is it today...especially to those who are not “protected” by knowing God’s Word.

Actually, the first lie might have been Eve’s when she said that God told them not to even touch the tree. Where ever that part got added in, was the first lie.

Perhaps what’s when Satan knew he had Eve and could go in for the kill.