Genesis 2:15-16 “And the Lord commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree in the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God’s command to Adam and Eve was fairly simple and the consequences were spelled out. He had given them dominion over His entire creation and He had offered them access to all that they would ever need. His abundance was overwhelming and His goodness to them was indescribable, but their passions got the best of them. As a result of the temptation of the evil one, they disobeyed God’s clear commands and suffered the penalty that had already been laid out.
Adam and Eve came out of the rebellion physically unscathed, but their days were now numbered, and they were spiritually dead and separated from God. When they heard the sound of God in the garden in the cool of the day, they hid themselves, embarrassed by their nakedness and ashamed to be in the presence of their Creator. Their sin had created a wall between them and God, and the intimacy once enjoyed had been interrupted. Sin had now invaded God’s perfect world!
Adam’s rebellion has drastically impacted all of creation and all people. Paul said in Romans 5:12, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” We all come into this world dead in our sins, and that includes you! This becomes even more evident in Ephesians 2:1 where Paul says, “….and you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”
It is vitally important for you and I to understand that apart from Christ we are spiritually dead and that sin is not simply something that is offered on the outside, but it is something that is going on within our hearts. I Samuel 16:7 says, concerning King David, that “…man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.” Although some take this as good news, Jeremiah 17:9 says that “…the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
Christ is the only one who can expose the deceit and heal your heart. He is the only one who can undo the damage done by Adam, because as I Corinthians 15:45 states, He is the “last Adam”.
Begin the day thanking God for the work of rescue that He has done in your life through faith, and be careful not to make the mistake of following your heart, but instead, follow His Spirit.
