THE GARDEN…THE ARCHENEMY…THE FALL.

 Many years ago I was going through something and it concerned a loved one. The Lord said to me and I wrote it in my journal, "The enemy will always attack the seat of your affections.  He has come against you because you are the seat of My affection. If he can hurt you he hurts Me." (Thank God, the Lord always turns what the enemy means for harm, into good for us.)

Adam (man and woman) were the seat of God's affections.  He crowned them with His glory and honor. I have been watching Billie Brim on Kenneth Copeland this week (She wrote a book called "The Blood and the Glory".) She said man was literally crowned and covered with the Glory of God.

Let's read Genesis 3. I'm like Susan in Chronicles of Narnia…"He's a beaver he shouldn't be talking."  Well, he's a serpent and he shouldn't be talking!

Had she talked to this serpent before? She doesn't seem shocked he's there and he's talking.

The serpent uses the Word of God against her …mockingly…"Has God said?"

Vs. 4. The serpent calls Lord God a liar. And then makes it sound like God is holding out on her.

(Don't ever try to reason with the devil…he is cunning…just say, "It is written…"

Speak the blood of Jesus and tell him to get out of your garden!)

Remember, she is talking to the arch enemy of God.  She is made in the image of God. Within her is the Breathe of God. She has "The life", Communion with God.  He walks with her and man every evening in the garden. They live in the presence of God. They are in perfect communion. All her needs are met.

First she looked. And then she desired it. And then she ate. And gave it to her husband who was with her! And he ate it!   1 Timothy 2:14.  He was not deceived!

Adam, what is happening? You have dominion.  You know the Word of God is true. You know if you eat of this tree you will surely die.  What about your wife?  She's talking to a serpent…a little help would be appreciated here! A lot of spiritual authority…Dominion…would have protected both of you.

Adam. Adam…you ate the fruit! Why didn't you speak up?  Were you tongue tied…you who named all the animals?  Were you so enamored with this woman and concerned with what she would think of you? Beats me Adam, you could have saved us a lot of trouble!!! Now was not the time to be passive!!!!! Why didn't you yell "Get out of my garden!!!!?

As soon as they ate, their eyes were opened to the nakedness, and for the first time they felt "shame."  They tried to cover their nakedness. (Did the Glory of God lift off of them when they sinned?)

Now they heard the Voice of the Lord God as He walked in the garden in the cool of the day….The echo of these words ring through time…"Adam where are you?"

For the 1st time they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. (Selah…pause and think.) vs. 10 for the 1st time they were afraid…they had never known fear.

Sin makes us afraid of God…it makes us hide…it brings us shame.

Vs. 11…Did you go against the "One" commandment I gave you?

Now comes the Blame Game. Vs. 12 the man said, "The woman You gave me…she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."  Not only is he blaming the woman but he is blaming God for giving her to him.

Vs. 13 the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

Vs. 14. The Lord God never asks the serpent why he did what he did. He curses him. I have never heard a serpent make a sound have you? Like other animals have their own voice…like a meow or bark.   As far as I know serpents only hiss and rattle. The serpent is more cursed then every beast and he will crawl in the dust and eat dust all the days of his life.

Vs. 15 the first prophesy given for a Redeemer.  He would be the Seed of the woman; He would bruise (or crush) the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise His heel.

Beth Moore from "Jesus the One and Only"…" As Jesus ascended the last thing the disciples saw were the scars on His feet.  Now God incarnate stepped off this planet with feet scarred and bruised. As God predicted, the ancient serpent struck Christ's heel, but on the Day He ascended, all things were under His feet. Jesus Christ walked the way of humanity so humanity could walk the Way of God. How beautiful the feet that bring good news."

Through a woman, a Redeemer would come.

I want to share a story with you.  When I was born my mother and I lived with her family in the small town of Magdalena, New Mexico (where I was born). We lived outside of town on a ranch…it was barren, dry and desolate.  My mother told me this story: she had me outside playing in a galvanized tub (one or two years old). She heard something and looked down and there was a rattlesnake shaking his rattle.  She screamed and my 4ft 11inch grandmother came out the screen door with a rifle and shot the head off that rattler. Yea Grandma!  She was a Hot Shot!  (Too bad she wasn't in the Garden).

(It's ok Grandma, Jesus crushed the serpents head.)

Vs. 16-19.  The woman's conception would be more painful and her desire would be unto her husband and he would rule over her.

Adam, because he had listened to the voice of his wife and eaten of the tree, the ground would be cursed. The ground was cursed because of Adam…it would bring forth thorns and thistles and he would have to toil by the sweat of his brow.

I still see this in our lives.  The woman is so concerned about relationships and the man is preoccupied in his work and how to make a living. The woman is trying to work on their marriage while the man is working on his job. The job usually is his 1st priority.

Vs. 20- 24.Adam changed the woman's name to Eve.

 Innocent blood is shed in order to cover their nakedness. To ensure they do not eat of the Tree of Life (Why didn't they before?) they are sent from the garden.  The Lord God did not want them to live in a sinful state forever.  Vs 24...  Lord God drove them out of the Garden of Eden. Cherubim's and a flaming sword guarded the garden so they could never return.

  They had lived in perfect harmony with their Lord God and each other. Now sin separated them from God and from each other. (I doubt there was much harmony.) Now they had a sinful nature to deal with and the consequences of their sin.

Paradise lost! Sin…shame…loss of glory…fears…the 1st painful memory and regret…

They were driven out into the earth of thorns and thistles. Their footsteps were blame, shame and regret.

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God."

With the Lord God, the Most High, there is always hope.  He has a plan …a plan of redemption.  We know Him as Jesus Christ, the Savior….the Seed of the Woman…the

Hidden Mystery of God.