How it all started!!!!
In the previous blog#101 I explained extensively the concepts surrounding the King, his kingdom and kingdom principles. I did this to help open your mind to understand better what I am about to explain in this installment of the blog series. We are going to revisit the bible with the mindset of God being a King. The heavens and earth he created(his kingdom) and it belongs to him(ownership).
We establish the Kingship of God in terms of why he is to be viewed as the King of all Kings. He is the creator of the universe and sits above every throne on earth and in the heavens. He created the very earth that many rulers claim to conquer parts of, therefore he is the rightful owner and ruler over the heavens and the earth. God is not King because you made him King, you met him as King and through grace we can acknowledge him as our King( quoted from Myles Munroe Teachings). He created the heavens as an unseeing realm where his throne exists and then the trinity (Elohim God’s name in hebrew which is a plural noun) decided to expand his territory into the seeing realm by creating the earth. The earth by association is considered a colony of the Kingdom of heaven.
Fast forward to Adam and Eve. In Genesis chapter 1 verse 26-28 God gave man dominion over the colony he created called earth. This is similar to the Kings from centuries ago who gave small countries they conquered and colonized, to their children to rule or have dominion over. The people and everything in that country became the property of the King, managed by the royal that was given the privilege to rule, by the King.
The command from God to Adam was to be fruitful, multiply, replensish the earth and subdue it. It also included having dominion over every living thing that moved upon the earth. This was complete autonomous rule over the earth similar to God’s rule over the universe and the heavens. According to his word we were made in his image and likeness and as a King he created a kingdom for us(man) to rule over because Adam and Eve were royalty. To substantiate this Genesis chp. 2 verse 19-20 shows God giving Adam(man) the authority to name his creations, the clear sign of a ruler. This establishes man’s rule over earth the seeing realm of God’s kingdom, so much so that even God had to use men in order to accomplish his will on earth. What must be understood here is that God retains ownership of everything as creator and has supreme power to act from that stand point. On the other hand he gave dominion over the earth colony to man through Adam to colonize.
The root of mankinds demise!!!
Genesis Chp.3 describes the all familiar Garden of Eden account. Eve was decieved by the serpent into eating the fruit from the forbidden tree and sharing it with Adam. Understaning this story is crucial in understanding why Christ the Son of God had to be sent to earth to die for our sins. Remeber Adam was ruler of the earth which was his domain. His actions to eat of the forbidden fruit caused several things to occur;
- His disobedience of God’s word to not eat of the tree, was man’s declaration of independence from God’s rule. Adam represented man and was given royalty, privilege and authority under the rule of the King. Adam’s disobedience of God’s word and guidance, shifted him from being under the authority of the King to his own self governance. Independance is confused with freedom which is what the serpent sold Eve. If she ate of the tree she would have wisdom like God and be able to choose their own paths. He offered her a false sense of freedom and with that freedom she would now be her own source not the kingdom God. Independance destroys kingdoms and it will destroy the kingdom of God in your life as well. John Chp.5 verse 19, shows our King, Jesus Christ declaring his dependance on God the Father as the second Adam representing man on earth. To remain under the rule of the King, is expressing dependence on his provision and resources and obedience to his word. You can’t declare independence by following your own purpose and living life the way you see fit and still expect the resources of the Kingdom to be available.
- Adam’s disobedience activated death. Death, physical and spiritual only exists when a living thing is removed from its source. A plant that is removed from the soil does not have to be killed it dies on its own, because its source of life was removed. A branch removed from a vine cannot continue to survive and bear fruit, it will shrivel up and die. (These are all anologies I got from Pastor Tony Evans teachings on the Kingdom of God.). It is important you grasp this concept, that death was powerless in the garden of Eden until Adam gave it life through his rebellion, introducing sin to the flesh and life of man. This is why we are born spiritually dead, why Adam could no longer commune with God in the garden anymore. Eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil was man’s form of rebellion against the word of God given to him in the garden. Adam was now spiritually dead and God being Spirit could no longer commune with him as he did in the garden of Eden. God gave Adam words of instructions to rule, warnings to prevent his death and instructions to multiply and prosper. He chose the fruit of the forbidden tree to be able to determine if those words from God were wise by his standards. Most people are still doing the same thing today, reading the word of God and using their forbidden fruit wisdom to decide what they will or will not follow in the word of God. Why?
- Sin was introduced to man when Adam disobeyed God. It gave death its power, and caused separation from God spiritually. God set the conditions for disobedience (Sin), when he declared the consequences (activation of death) to Adam, for eating of the forbidden tree. Adam out of free will ate of the tree and disobeyed the word of God. God in his wisdom and love, made the first animal sacrifice to temporarily satisfy the consequence he set for disobedience, which was death. God knew, out of his great love for us that he had to deal with his spoken word or man would be doomed to eternal death. Remember when a King makes a declaration it becomes law and he is required to uphold it to defend his reputation. There is no way for God to go back on his word, he is not a liar. Therefore his solutions had to still fulfill the consequences of his former declaration. He does not want man to die so he temporarily commutes the sins of Adam and Eve unto an animal and sacrificed it on their behalf. Commuting the animals innocence to Adam and Eve allowing them to live separate from the immediate consequence of sin.’As in the old Kingdoms on earth rebellions were put down by requiring the life of the rebels, shedding their blood in death.’ Adam and Eve first used leaves to cover them selves, not knowing in their limited knowledge that blood was required to absolve them of the sin consiousness they felt. Unfotunately man was cursed by the knowledge of good and evil which gave us the choice to knowingly do bad or good. This bred more sin daily, mothly and yearly. Animal sacrifice was temporary, as it did not completely fulfill the consequence for the condition of sin. God made his declaration to a Man with a soul not to an animal, “You shall surely die”. In the end a Man with a soul had to die, but God loved us so much he could not bear watching his creation die so what did he do? ” For God so loved the World He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life”.
Adam lost the source of his power and authority to rule over the dominion of the earth when sin and death entered into the lives of man. Now completely reliant on the limited wisdom and knowlege of man, they attempted to continue to comply with God’s mandate to be fruitful, multiply and rule over the earth. Absent the backing of the Kingdom of God this task and colony was doomed to fail. Free will in each man become rampant, no one wanted to follow only lead, which bred more types of sin, jealousy envy, greed etc. As we know it eventually lead to the earth and mankind being severly corrupted, causing God to destroy the majority of his creation off the face of the earth with a flood. The colony was completely in rebellion and the King stepped in to tamp out that rebellion. He implanted loyal subjects once again into this colocny of earth and provided them with the same mandate.
NB: Adam’s act of rebellion was not just against God,but was a rejection of the word of God who was and is Jesus Christ. Don’t believe me read the following verse;
John Chp:1 1-2
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
John Chp:1 14-17
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.
John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace.
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Adam rejected Christ in the garden of Eden indirectly by rejecting God’s words of grace and favor, in order to attain his own independence. Jesus has always been the Word of God in Flesh on earth, but also from the creation of the world. I make this point because from the fall of man in the garden of Eden, we are still living in cycles of rebellion against God. Always choosing to follow our worthless wisdom and knowledge over the word of God. Constantly being provided the option to choose obedience and God’s wisdom, yet man has chosen rebellion over and over again. It always leads to death and destruction. Even today we rebel against God’s word, Jesus Christ, as our last hope and savior. The same choice Adam had in the garden, is the same choice we are faced with today. Trust in God and his word for our lives or trust in our own wisdom to fulfill our destiny in rebellion.MEN KEEP BUYING INTO THE LIE OF FREEDOM THROUGH INDEPENDANCE!!! This is not how it works in the Kingdom of God. Dependance, whole hearted surrender, in God’s Kingdom is freedom. He becomes your source, responsible for Safety, Healing, Health, Strength, Joy, Peace, Provision, Solving Problems etc. God alone is the source of power to permanently change circumstances for the better in our lives. He proved it through his Son’s miraculous signs, healings and wonders here on earth. Jesus commanded the power over;
- Death and Life,
- Healing and restoration,
- Supernatural beings (Demons)
- All Wisdom and Knowledge
- Elements of the Earth (Wind, Water, Earth etc)
- Supernatural Provision
Christ exhibited the kind of power available to citizens of the Kingdom of God. If through Christ, man pledged their allegiance once again to their creator and King, God in Heaven. Allowing the Kingdom of God to reign in their lives.
Man’s fall into sin caused God to remove Adam from His presence because of rebellion, but also his protection as well. He wanted to prevent Adam from eating of the tree of life, which would have caused man to remain in the sinful condition forever. Unable to satisfy the consequence for sin man would have been ruled by death forever. God’s purpose from the fall of Adam was to deal with sin(disobedience). It is the source of power for eternal death and damnation. Death was introduced into the Garden of Eden by God’s declaration, but it was powerless to act because there was no sin. When sin entered Adam death was activated which required sacrifice and blood from man. God needed a redo for mankind, to redeem them from the fall of Adam. How?
This gave God the opportunity to give his word to man again this time in the flesh, Jesus Christ. Christ fulfilled so many purposes it is mind blowing to discover and keep track of them.
- In flesh he became the second Adam who this time obeyed the word of God redeeming man from the sin of rebellion.
- God again created a Man in his own image, but not from the earth or from man which was contaminated with sin. Jesus’s flesh was born from pure heavenly resources as was the first Adam.
- Christ being the Word of God in flesh, witnessed to man about the Kingdom of God and the need to turn away from sin, to choose the Kingdom life. He did nothing of his own, only what God told him to do. Therefore he expressed God’s word in his life willingly performing miracles, signs and wonders. He witnessed to all, that the Kingdom of God, his rule in our lives is what we were created for, not livng in sin ruled by the flesh.
- He obeyed God’s word even to his death. As the Son of God his blood was more powerful than any animals. It held within in it eternity as it was still connected to the source of life. Therefore when the sins of man were transferred to Christ as was done with the animals, his death was more than enough to satisfy God’s consequence for sin. It payed not just for the sin of one man, but all sin for all men who believe on his name and acknowledge him as savior and Son of God.
- Christ being all man reinstated the connection between God and his creation. His blood is sufficient to cover all sin that prevented man from communing with God as he did in the Garden of Eden. Now through Christ God can now live in us.
- Christ has become the gate to which we can reach God. This is why he is the only way, truth and life no one can get to God, but through Christ. He is the only one that has the answer for sin. His sacrifice is our salvation, because his blood covers us and washes away our sins. Being born again under Christ is a declaration that you are no longer under the curse of the first Adam, but have become a new creature in Christ Jesus that has direct access spiritually to the source of life God the creator. The sin of the first Adam has been paid for by Christ’s sacrifice
- Christ removed the power of death by satisfying the consequence of God’s declaration which was eternal death. He died for the sins of the world as the second Adam, the second representative for mankind. Now that God’s original requirement (obedience) has been satisfied, the blood of Christ now covers all sin, making death powerless again as it was in the Garden of Eden.
Now that we have explained the true nature of Adam’s fall and the need for Christ the second Adam to be sacrified. We can now venture further into the bible in the next section, on how the King of King rules his kingdom . I know this is long, I warned you, but it is worth having a deeper understanding toward buidling an unshakeable faith in Jesus Christ. See you in section 103.