God gave man free choice. We aren’t His puppets. When God made Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden, He told Adam that he could eat of any tree in the Garden, except the one in the middle of the Garden.
But the LORD God warned him,
"You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to
die." Genesis
2:16-17
God didn’t say that Adam couldn’t touch it, but obviously, when Adam passed the instructions onto Eve about that tree, he added…Don’t Touch, or you will die. That cunning serpent must have been listening. When he had the opportunity, he deceived Eve. She ate of the fruit and gave it to Adam. There you have it. Sin began to invade mankind…and Satan began laughing, thinking he was thwarting God’s plan. I don’t think that he is laughing quite so hard today. There are lots of strong Christians out there and they are likely quoting a favorite verse that is uplifting.
But you belong to God, my dear
children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit
who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 1 John 4:4
Do you
believe that Jesus Christ in the form of the Holy Spirit lives in you…and that you
have won a victory? Don’t be deceived. Study God’s word, see what is predicted
to come next, and dig into historical facts. We have such a great resource just
waiting for us to tap into and then be ready to defend Jesus Christ, share the
Gospel of His resurrection, and boldly encourage others to develop a
relationship with God, the Father, with Jesus Christ your Redeemer, and with the
Holy Spirit. Sin came into the world with a bite of fruit. What are you spiritually
eating today? Are you letting sin into your life? The choice is yours.
When
Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread
to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was
given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to
break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those
who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a
symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great
difference between Adam's sin and God's gracious gift. For the sin of this one
man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and
his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. And the
result of God's gracious gift is very different from the result of that one
man's sin. For Adam's sin led to condemnation, but God's free gift leads to our
being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. Romans 5:12-16
Prayer
– Lord – Thank You, Jesus, for being God’s gracious gift to mankind—and saving
us from Adam’s sin…as well as from our own sins.
Meditate.
Consider God’s redemptive plan against death.
Verse
of Salvation ~ Jesus said to the people who believed in him, "You are
truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know
the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
© 2025 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
Parenting Day By Day - Daily Devotional for Building Character
Coins in the Bible: New Testament Stories
No comments:
Post a Comment