Lust’s End

"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. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed, and her seed and it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

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 shall not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, til thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return.

And Adam called his wife's name Eve: because she was the mother of all living.

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them.

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 forever; therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 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."

(Genesis 3:14-24)

I felt it was important to include the entire pronouncement of God upon the serpent, the man and the woman, all in one posting rather than risk losing the impact of just what all was caused by (or set into motion by) the actions of the serpent, the man and the woman combined.

But tomorrow is another day in which we can explore all that was lost by man and woman giving into those desires that ran contrary to the Word of God; just keep in mind that nothing has changed in all of these centuries past….men and women still make choices contrary to God….and still pay a price higher than they would have ever imagined, for making choices ruled by lust.

The Blame Game

"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. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked: and I hid myself. And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou hast given to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." (Genesis 3:8-13)

How sad the human condition when in rebellion to God…

The man blames the woman, and even indirectly blames God as though if God had not given the woman to man in the first place, this never would have happened.

The woman blames the serpent who beguiled (deceived or tempted) her.

No one accepts responsibility for their own rebellious action, especially while standing before the Almighty God and Creator of the Universe. None of us stand before God, yet even though we know we did wrong, we just can't seem to help at times, trying to make excuses and blaming our circumstances, our environment, our boss, our spouse, our children…whatever we can grasp at to try to deflect the gaze of God from looking too closely at us…especially when it is clear that "hiding" doesn't help (as Adam found out).

I recently went to a Celebrate Recovery conference that deals with folks' "hurts, habits and hang-ups" otherwise known as "sin." In this conference the word BLAME was given a little jingle to go along with it that says "Don't Be-LAME." Get it? B….LAME….BLAME. A little corny perhaps but it sure stuck with me. It is even less than lame to cast about for someone else to lay the blame on for our own bad choices and actions. But we see the very first exhibition of this human ailment here in the man and woman in the garden.

One of the things that recovery programs, such as Celebrate Recovery, do to help people understand how they got to be where they are, is by helping them face the reality that no one is to blame except they themselves. No one forced that alcoholic to bring that drink to his lips and drink of it. No one forced the overeater to put that sweet morsel in her mouth.

One of the things that we like to do (and that we do so well) is denying reality. Just as the man and woman in the garden were not ready to face the reality of what their rebellion against God would bring them.

But deal with it we all must. Who was it that said "It's better to deal with sin now, than to deal with it later?" God always offers a way of escape from the just punishment of our sins through his Son Jesus Christ. But to receive that pardon requires two things on our part: humility and confession of sin; continuing to blame anyone or anything will not save us. I wonder how differently things might have turned out if the man and woman in the garden had humbled themselves before God who is so merciful?

But their deed is done. And so for their descendants (us) now it is only Jesus who can save us from the just punishment of a just and holy God; for Jesus IS the mercy of God given to us today. And the Word tells us that today is the acceptable day of salvation; for there is a point in each of our lives where repentance and salvation can no longer be found, and as only God knows when that time will arrive, we are foolish beyond all imagination to wait for another day to confess our sins to Him and receive mercy and pardon from sin, otherwise known as salvation. For that day may never arrive for us. Today He is here waiting for us to turn to Him; not with the arrogance and pride of blame and finding fault in others, but with the humility of a soul that knows he is at fault, that he is a sinner, and in desperate need of a Savior now.

On the next posting, we will look at the consequences of the actions that this first couple faced, and how that affects us still today. However, that posting won't happen til March 1 as I will be out of the country until then.

See you in March!

The Shame That Sin Brings

"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. 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." (Genesis 3:6-7)

These passages very clearly reveal to us just one of the effects that sin has on mankind; and that effect is SHAME.

God's design for us includes a conscience, and it is apparently this conscience that kicks in when we do something that we know to be wrong, even if we have "reasoned" our way around it, and convinced ourselves that "it can't be THAT wrong", either because everyone else around us seems to be doing it as well or because it just feels too good to be that bad.

It is the shame that causes:

• A child to hide behind a lie when caught stealing gum from the store;
  
• An alcoholic to drink alone when no one can see him;
  
• An overeater to sneak unnecessary but tempting food into her mouth when no one is watching;
  
• A sexually immoral person to hide behind a façade of respect and responsibility;
  
• And the list goes on and on…
  

Notice the thought processes leading up to the act of the sin of eating from the forbidden tree.

The woman saw that:

• the tree was good for food (lust of the appetite);
  
• the fruit was pleasant to the eyes (lust of the eyes);
  
• the tree was to be desired to make one wise (lust of the pride of life).
  

Now compare those lusts to the sins listed in the "shame" listing and you will find that it is always the same things (lusts) that motivate us to sin. We might think how ridiculous that the woman had all the fruit of all the trees to eat and she risked everything just to get to eat one particular fruit. But don't we also risk everything when we sin, just to get that one thing that we feel we MUST have in spite of all that we already DO have? Do you see the deception that takes our otherwise seemingly normal and rational mind and makes it abnormal and irrational instead, doing whatever is necessary to get to that forbidden fruit?

Do you see also how the woman brought the forbidden fruit to the man so that he could join her in her sin? Just as we encourage others to sin with us?

And when they sinned, when they chose to be rebellious towards the plan God had set in place for them, when they decided to do things their own way and ignore God, then their eyes were opened. Innocence was lost. Shame entered in. Now they had knowledge of good AND evil, for they had listened to evil and obeyed evil, rather than God.

Tomorrow we'll discuss further their attempt to cover the shame of their rebellion with fig leaves.

“Ye shall be as gods…”

"And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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." (Genesis 3:4-5)

 So far, we have seen the serpent misquoting God. Now we see him deliberately contradicting what God has said and simultaneously providing an alternative statement that he offers up as truth…"ye shall be as gods."

This "subtil" serpent (meaning clever and wily in the Hebrew use of the word) has drawn the woman's attention away from the deadly consequences of eating the fruit towards the deceptively attractive lure of being equal to God Himself. Very wily…and very evil.

In only two brief sentences, the serpent has caused the woman to consider as truth what is in fact deception: that Sin is not really bad and God is not really good.

If you are just reading the Bible for the first time, you won't have the advantage of knowing what the Bible says further along about this serpent, and about his motivations. So, I think this would be a good time to jump ahead a bit to explain more about this serpent and why he has such an interest in the woman.

To begin with, let's take a look at an angel by the name of Lucifer (Hebrew word heylel meaning: light-bearer, shining one, morning star):

Isaiah 14:12-15: "How have you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cast down on the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit."

Angels are quite obviously not men, they are angels; beings created by God for purposes other than that for which man was created. Yet, angels must also have "free will;" or in other words, the ability to choose to be obedient to God, their Creator, or to not be obedient. Lucifer, obviously, chose the latter; and the reason he did so was because of pride and lust for power and fame. He wanted to be just like GOD. And it was this sin of arrogance against the Most High God, his own Creator, that Isaiah prophecies will bring him out of the heavens straight into the pit of hell. WARNING: If the sin of pride can happen to an angel who is in the very presence of God, how much more vulnerable is man to this sin and its disastrous consequences? This would be a good time for us to search our own hearts, asking the Lord to help reveal pride in us if it is, in fact, there; and then asking Him to forgive us as we repent of it.

As you can see from what the serpent is saying to the woman in the garden, the serpent has that same mentality of Lucifer that motivates him to cause the woman to doubt, then leads her astray and actually toward disobedience, which is sin, and toward the consequences of that sin, which is death.

So what is the tie-in between the serpent and Lucifer? Well, it must be one of two things.

Either the serpent is Lucifer, an angel who is able to transform himself into a serpent or into an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14) when in fact he has lost his standing as a beautiful angel (an angel that left his God-given place Jude 1:6) and is now full of darkness and wickedness; now known as Satan (meaning adversary, enemy, one who withstands Luke 10:18).

OR, if he didn't actually transform himself into the serpent, he at least inhabited (or controlled the mind and/or body of) the serpent.

In either case, the motivation is the same…to cause the woman to doubt the word of God, to then help her to "reason" her way around God's command, and to show her the "benefits" of sin. All lies and deception!

The same thing we fall for today, is it not?

We'll continue tomorrow with the results of the serpent's conversation with the woman in the garden.

The Weaker Sex?

We've pondered the ability of animals to speak in the past Garden of Eden (you did notice that the woman does not appear startled that the serpent is speaking to her). Now let's look at what the serpent said to the woman and her responses to it.

In verse 1 the serpent says to Eve: "Hath God said. Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" A careful comparison of this statement to the one that God actually spoke might be helpful, for God actually said this instead: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof ye shall surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

It appears the serpent has taken what began as a positive statement from God "You can eat EVERYTHING…except this specific tree" (paraphrased) and turned it into a negative: "You can't eat of every tree?" Can you see the subtlety of the change in wording? We begin to see in this very first statement of the serpent his motivation of presenting the Creator, God, as not being as good as He appears to be. This is not a true statement. This is a lie, and the beginning of many to follow. Let's go on.

The woman's reply was: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
Here, we have another misstatement of what God actually said; this time coming from the woman. Is she also a liar?

Actually, if we look at Genesis 2:16, we see that God spoke the command concerning the eating of trees to the man alone; woman wasn't even created yet. Thus, the woman had to have heard about it from the man. Did the man not relay it properly to her? Was she not listening as carefully as she might have been if God Himself were speaking to her? We could debate that all day long, but not really ever know for sure, because the Bible doesn't explain that to us. We can only determine what happened according to the information we have been given. What we see is that the woman has missed a few key points here.

First, she doesn't call the tree by its name: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead she seems to be giving the approximate location of the tree, but doesn't seem to know what it's about.

Secondly, she says that God said not to touch it, yet He did not say that at all.

Thirdly, she said "lest ye die" which has the connotation of "don't eat, don't touch, because if you do you might die." But God's statement was explicit: "in the day that thou eatest thereof ye shall surely die."
 It is so clear from this that the woman was ill-informed, whether this is her own fault or the man's is not as important (perhaps) as the fact that the serpent somehow determined that she was the weakest link and the one to be approached in order to help him accomplish the rebellion in the garden that he clearly had in mind, as we shall see as we continue in tomorrow's posting.

The Subtil Serpent

"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? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 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. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 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." (Genesis 3:1-5)

Now we arrive at the point where the first woman is tempted to disobey God. And we find that the tempter is a serpent…and a talking serpent at that. Before we get into what he said and why (another posting), let's consider why it was that an animal was talking at all. Did all of the animals in the Garden of Eden talk?

Actually that's quite possible.

A simple reading of Revelation 4:6-11 reveals that there will be animals as well as men praising God (once more) in heaven:

"And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, the four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

 Other translations replace the word "beast" with "living creature." The Greek word for "beast" is zoon, meaning beast or brute or living creature. Because these "beasts" have wings, we often read quickly over what we do not understand and assign them to be angels, but in fact the same word zoon used here is the same word zoon used in Hebrews 13:11 which speaks of the animals that were sacrificed on the altar for our sins before Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Thus, we see that whether they have wings now or not, these are actually animals that are speaking and praising the Lord God Almighty.

The reason the animals are not talking today is because of the strong link that exists between man and creation: when man disobeyed God and sinned for the first time (an event that is often referred to as "the Fall"), so also fell creation: the earth and the animals. All three (man, animals and the earth) have been on a downward spiral towards death and destruction ever since; when sin entered in, violence and death entered in as well. But all of God's creation is forever linked. That is why creation mourns now but will rejoice in that day that Jesus Christ returns to judge evil [See earlier posting titled "Earth Song."]

Because animals might be restored to a former better condition of being able to speak, does not, however, elevate them, or the earth, above the creation that God called man.  In all of this, these things must be kept in proper perspective.  While Jesus came to restore all things, His death on the cross was to redeem fallen man; it is only because man is so linked to creation that creation itself will also be blessed by the blessing of redeemed man, just as all creation was doomed when man sinned.

The Sacred Trinity of Marriage

The more we study the Word of God, the more we should be able to see that following Christ is all about relationships and little to do with religion and rituals.

Genesis chapter 1 began by illuminating for us the relationship that was present at the time of creation: God, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God (aka the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). This divine relationship is seen all throughout the Bible. Never, even in that solitary moment on the cross that was destined to be, was the relationship anything other than united. So it should be in the marriage relationship as well, without exception.

Just as the Son and the Spirit glorify God, so also should the sacred covenant of marriage between a man and a woman also glorify God.

Think about this: God walked with Adam and Eve. He visited the Garden to spend time in intimate relationship with them. He was the third part of that special trinity called marriage, yet not last but first. When that intimacy between God, man and woman is maintained, the divine purpose for marriage is fulfilled. When there are not thee in unity but only the two, without God, then the marriage has lost its divine purpose. When we remain obedient to God in all of this, we remain in intimate relationship with Him.

There are good marriages that do not include God. But only those modeled after God's unchanging purpose have eternal value. United in Christ, the marriage relationship is powerful in all that it accomplishes for God. We miss out on the divine purpose when we sidestep God in this divine equation called marriage.

The Help Meet

Well, I wasn't going to get into this so quickly, but the Lord revealed something to me through His Word this morning that I found rather exciting, so let's look at the "help meet" that Woman was created to be for Man.

The Hebrew word used to describe the purpose of the Woman in Genesis 2:18 and 2:20 (translated in the KJV as "help meet") is ezer: meaning quite simply a helper, an aider. On the surface, that doesn't seem all that impressive a job title, does it?

BUT…let me share with you what the Lord showed me this morning:

Remember how Paul compares the husband to Christ? He said that the husband was to love the wife as Christ loved the church. Well, there seems to be a similar analogy for wives found in the simple Hebrew word of "ezer." Think about it. If the husband can be compared to Christ, then the wife might be compared to the Holy Spirit who is also known as "the helper," mightn't she?

Before you begin calling my statements sacrilegious, know that I am not saying woman IS the Holy Spirit, just like Paul is not saying that the husband IS Christ. But we cannot deny that the Holy Spirit IS sent to be a "helper" just as woman also is sent to be a "helper." So I think we can learn a lot from looking at the similarities of the "job title."

Remember what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 11:1-15, parts of which I highlight here:

"But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God….a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image of glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels."

Just as the purpose of the Holy Spirit is to glorify Christ, so is the purpose of the wife to glorify her husband. This doesn't mean that the wife has no glory of her own; what it means is that her goal is to benefit him rather than herself just as the Holy Spirit benefits or exalts Christ in those to whom He is sent to help. Helpers cannot help those they do not love and have great respect for; which is why Paul goes on to say:

"However, let each man of you love his wife as his very own self; and let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband." Ephesians 5:33 [The Amplified Bible offers this amplification of the words respects and reverences: that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly.]

The primary meaning for the Greek word for glory [doksa] is: "opinion, view, estimate." In other words, Jesus became the world's view or opinion of who the Father was because he was the "glory" of God. If Jesus had been a cruel person, still performing those miracles, the view of God that would have been given to the world would have been that God is cruel. But Jesus presented a true view of God in that God is love, justice, mercy and grace.

Paul says that man also is the image or reflection of the glory of God; as such man is to present a view of God that is consistent with whom God is. The same goes for a woman, except that the view or opinion that she herself presents to the world extends to her husband first, for that is her main purpose, and as she accomplishes that purpose of glorifying her husband, she also is glorified.

To put this into more practical terms, you must read Proverbs 31. The picture presented there is of a woman that most of us women desire to be, and that, frankly, some husbands wish they had. But what is that woman all about? She is about providing for her husband and her children and her household. She is a hard worker, without a doubt. She does not seek praise from the world, yet by all that she does, by the very act of taking care of her husband and children, and seeing to it that no shame is brought to them by any lack in her, she "glorifies" her husband; and her husband and her children have nothing but good to say about her. In all of this, in all of her obedience to God, God also is glorified.

Now picture a modern-day distortion of this woman (although according to some of the problems demonstrated in the Corinthian church this is not only a modern-day problem):

She is a wife and mother, and she also is a hard worker (so far very similar to the woman in Proverbs 31). But she has to be in control of everything because basically, in her own opinion, her husband is useless, and if she didn't take care of everything, it would all fall apart. She is the strength of the family, and she makes sure everyone knows it because she spends a lot of time complaining about her husband to family and friends; this also builds up her own ego and garners affirmation for herself from other women who agree with her actions and attitude (perhaps they have similar situations at home). There is a lot of chaos in the house because arguments frequently break out about how to raise the kids, how to spend the money, etc. There is a constant power struggle over who has the last word. She frequently berates her husband in front of the kids (and others) and eventually they lose respect for him themselves; and as she is the outspoken and dominant leader of the household, she gains their wary respect instead. If the children are girls, they grow up to be just like their mother; if they are boys they grow up to be like their dad. God is not glorified; and the cycle continues into future generations.

Please note that this dysfunction is not the fault of the woman alone, for the man has not done what God intended for him to do either. But two wrongs have never made things right. In fact, if the woman had remained consistent to God's purpose, she might have been able to "help" the man become the head of the household; but to usurp his position completely or even partially was not in God's will. And, of course, if neither party love God more than themselves they cannot possibly fulfill His will towards their marriage partner.

This is a long posting but there is still more to be said in the next posting.

A Sacred Union

And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to Fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Genesis 2:18-25)

There is so much to consider and to learn from these passages; where to begin?

We are shown by God almost immediately in His written Word to us, exactly what it was that God intended when He created Man and Woman.

First of all, He intended for man to be obedient to Him. He then intended for man to leave his father and his mother. Having fulfilled this responsibility, God next intended man to cleave unto his wife (cleave means "to adhere firmly and closely, or loyally and unwaveringly").

Then God intended, upon the obedience of the man in accomplishing the first two things (leaving father and mother and then cleaving to woman), for the man and woman to become one flesh. In fact, He designed their separate and unique bodies specifically for this purpose. And God never intended for that "one flesh" to later be "torn asunder"…or ripped apart.

If a man "adheres firmly" to a woman, that would indicate he is stuck like glue to her; not in a dysfunctional, desperately needy adherence, but in a whole and healthy "til death do us part" adherence; a "for better or worse" adherence; a "no matter what…I will never leave nor forsake you" adherence. How many men do that these days? How many men have "stickability" in their relationships with their wives, no matter what life throws at them? There are some, but the numbers are becoming smaller every day.

That "cleaving" involves something else as well; it involves a man "loving" a woman as much as he loves himself….because his wife is in fact, himself…they are ONE….ONE FLESH! In some supernatural way that God has ordained, a miracle of this sacred union takes place, turning two into one!

Listen to what Paul tells husbands in Ephesians 5:25-29:

"Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word. That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church..."

 What Paul is saying basically is "What man is there who gladly inflicts harm or neglect or abuse upon his own flesh? How then can he do so to his wife who IS his own flesh?" No wonder adultery or divorce are such horribly painful situations for both parties; the pain is similar to the tearing of flesh, perhaps even more so since it is supernaturally joined flesh! Often the pain and suffering associated with such a tearing is felt for many years to come, and in some cases, relief from the suffering is never found; indeed, this tearing of supernaturally joined flesh would require the skill of the supernatural Great Physician…the Lord Himself!

The main thing here is for us to see what great responsibility is given to man and how obedience to his God-given responsibility will produce such good for him; whereas man's disobedience to God can only bring pain and suffering...beginning with the man and continuing to all of those closest to him, such as his wife and his children. [Woman has been given responsibility of a different nature that we will explore when we get further into Genesis.]

Meanwhile, there is a great need for men in this day and age, at least, to comprehend what "loving" that one special woman that God has given them…really means…instead of looking down upon or constantly finding fault with…their own flesh. But that will never change until God is the center of a man's life. Then and only then, will things line up according to the will of God…

...then and only then will it be "good" for man.

Earth Song

"Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord all the earth…let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for He comes, He comes to judge the earth." (Ps. 96:1, 11-13)

"Hear the word of the Lord, ye children of Israel: for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out and blood toucheth blood. Therefore shall the land mourn…" (Hosea 4:1-3)

"How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein?" (Jeremiah 12:4)

"For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourneth; the pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up , and their course is evil, and their force is not right." (Jeremiah 23:10)

We may not understand completely the link between man and the earth, and between God and His creation, including man and the earth; but we cannot deny from biblical passages such as these that there is a link.

It has always been true that one man's actions do not touch him alone; there is always someone else touched by those actions at some point…whether for good if the actions are good, or for bad if the actions are evil. But now we must carry it even further. Now, we see that man's actions touch even the earth and all that is in it.

By the actions of one human being (Adam) the earth began mourning. By the actions of another (Jesus: the second Adam) the earth looks forward to its day of rejoicing. Praise the Lord!

I believe God doesn't waste His actions. He created man out of the dust of the earth for a reason. He linked them together forever by that action. What impacts man impacts the earth; just as what impacts the earth, impacts man. This is an important thing for us to understand…so that we can better guard our own actions, knowing what impact they have not only on ourselves and others around us, but also the earth.

And all of this touches this awesome God that we serve, the One who transcends (is far above) His creation ("Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool." Isaiah 66:1) and yet who unendingly cherishes and guards His creation; the One who has great plans ahead for His creation. It touches the Lord who has already redeemed and will soon restore man and the earth and all that is in it to their proper positions. But first He must purge it of all evil that chooses to continue to rebel against His goodness; evil which continues to cause the earth to mourn.

Psalm 104:32 tells us that "the earth trembles" under the scrutiny of the Lord; but the earth will also ultimately rejoice, just as we Christians, after the judgment, will also rejoice….we in our new immortal bodies, the earth clothed in its own new garments of immortality as well.

How glorious will that song of Psalm 96 be then…when the heavens and the earth and all that is in it will sing for joy before the Lord at the great works which He has done!