Scripture: Genesis 2 v 21 - 22: "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;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."
Genesis 3 v 1 - 5: "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?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
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.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
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."
Genesis 3 v 14 - 16, 20: "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:
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.
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.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living."
Eden is or was, or still is, the most beautiful part of God's creation. It is now a spiritual place that is kept by an angel with a sword of fire to prevent mortal, unsaved, sinful man from entering into it.
When God created the Garden of Eden it was perfect. God called every part of His creation good. He blessed it and enjoyed the fellowship of the man and woman He created. His first objective was to keep them from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
There was one tree in Eden that was forbidden to them. It was called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In modern times it would be called the World Wide Web. Back then it had fruit on it that they must not eat. Oh how tempting it is to the human soul to say that's out of bounds!
God walked, talked and Instructed them. They loved Him and He loved them. But, something or someone butted in. And ruined everything. Until that moment, if God could keep Adam and Eve from sinning, the seeds of every unborn child inside her, the Mother of all Living, would never know the Serpent, never know evil, never know death.
There would never be disease, there would never be wild animals, there would never be poisonous insects, plants or thorns to stab us. There would be no war, no weapons, no violence, no gangs, no drugs, no terror, no rape, no governments corrupt or otherwise.
There would be only people who knew God and loved Him, obeyed Him who knew no evil. The Serpent should have been shown the door, on that day and any other day. No wonder snakes give us the creeps. But no, he came in, curled around the forbidden tree, and beguiled Eve. Didn't try the man first, no took the weaker sex, the emotional one and beguiled her.
He filled her naive head with stories every conman knows so well. He flattered her. She was chosen by him to receive hidden treasure, and only she could unlock the box. And it was Pandora's Box for sure.
But it was to make her wiser than God, superior like him, the creepy snake, which was all dolled up in a fancy suit.
And she sinned, she took that forbidden fruit, and convinced Adam to do so too. Painted glowing pictures of their future life together. Of course they would need to cover their nakedness now. Being superior meant having fancy fig leaves and maybe mink wraps if we could just catch some of these animals who used to be tame.
God said, who told you two that you were naked, and why are you trying to hide from Me? What have you done? Eden was over. They were ousted, to find their own way and Satan, the Serpent, had control of the Earth and every living soul inside Eve's womb.
Until the Cross opened Eden again for those who are born again through the Blood and death of Jesus. We are a new creation, cleansed from sin, walking and talking with our God, taking back those things that were defiled. Understand who you are now, what you have and what you have been freed from. Don't be tempted to go back to that which is forbidden.
The Snake has conned people into every form of sin, anything God hates and rejects, every drink and drug he can use to destroy humans, every false religion, or false doctrine being spun to Christians who don't know what the Bible says, or to those who have never met Jesus.
In Genesis 1 v 26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
Colossians 1 v 13 - 17: " Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
The Pre-Incarnate Son of God was in Eden! Let us make man in our image said the Father! God spoke the Word, His Son created it for us. He saw it all tainted and poisoned, and separated Adam and Eve from Eden to keep it pure, holy and undefiled. We do search in our hearts to be back there.
Let us open our eyes to the simple truth of Eden, and see the depths of what God originally intended that place to be. He never wanted to make a decision like to Noah, build the ark now, the rain is coming to this desert that saw not a drop for a hundred years. To Lot, don't look back as He rained sulphur and brimstone bombs on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Let us live our lives in spiritual Eden here on Earth. Let us fellowship with our God, praising Him for our salvation from the world, worshipping Him for His love for us. Let us be serious in sharing His love and forgiveness with those still believing the conman snake and digging their way into eternal darkness.
Every religion is a con, every church not preaching the full gospel of salvation is a con. Every church still christening babies is a con. Every church not praying for healing, deliverance, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is a con. We may feel good, holy and righteous going to church and listening to a sermon and singing hymns. But is God real for the rest of the week in prayer, praise, lifestyle and obedience?
I have been through many of these churches in my lifetime and I truly know the difference between trying to make sense out of God in churches who do not have the Holy Spirit, and those that do. The true life of Eden only comes when we seek the deeper life, forsaking the world, completely dedicated to the will of God. We only seek it if we really want it.
Jesus said to His disciples on the day He left Earth and ascended into Heaven....Acts 1 v 7 - 7: "And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."
Do you think He was making polite conversation? Or giving a powerful instruction? We are in the uttermost parts of Earth and these words are for us as much as it was for them. The Holy Ghost is Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient. Everywhere, all-powerful, all-knowing. Without Him filling our spirit with the same power Jesus had, which is a total necessity, then our ability to overcome the flesh is exceedingly difficult.
God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, love us so much more than we can imagine or believe. They want us saved, well and blessed abundantly. They want us to shine God's Kingdom to the lost and draw them in with truth and love.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, the hour has come to declare the power of the Holy Spirit, who is able to do so much more than we know or can ask for. Father, get rid of that Snake, and his snakecharming ways of conning the world. Help us bring the lost back to Eden. In Jesus' name. Amen.