1 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:
Up to this point man was morally innocent. When he sinned, he by nature became a
Sinner and he died spiritually immediately and began to die physically.
Since Adam became a sinner before Eve conceived a child, all mankind whom descended from Adam is thus sinners just like him except Christ. Because of Adam’s sin, death entered into the human race.
Romans 5: 12-14
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude (likeness, similarity or resemblance) of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
3:1 without any introduction the serpent appeared in paradise, which in turn gives us the first clue in scripture in creation out the one Adam and Eve experienced. The serpent symbolizes something both enthralling and vile. Yet Eve or Adam saw no danger embodied in the serpent.
The Hebrew word for cunning sounds like the Hebrew word for naked in Genesis 2:25. Adam and Eve were naked in innocence and gullibility. Eve showed no surprise on hearing a strange voice from the serpent (snake). Has God indeed said: Note that the serpent did not use the divine name Yahweh.
3:2 To refute woman’s ideology that man should have warned them. it is clearly recognizable that woman was fully aware of the consequences when she quotes: We may eat: Eve repeated the positive word of God
Genesis 2-4 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:
In the 60’s there was a transition from a modern world to a postmodern world while the Cinderella church was sleeping the world was changing. Truths were being embedded into the fabric of the American culture were under attack. Patriotism, morality, community, theology and the culture were under attack. The church did not understand this change and reacted with judgment and condemnation. (Explain the Life of a hippie).
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe people who created their own communities, listened to psychedelic rock, embraced the sexual revolution, and used drugs such as cannabis and LSD to explore alternative states of consciousness.
In the postmodern world there was no anchor, no foundation. Men and Women were looking for reality. Drugs didn’t work neither did the mighty dollar. Therefore, the world took off looking for its soul.
The Altar within You
The mind is the seat of all spiritual and carnal conflict. By now you probably have noticed that that the act of becoming a Christian has introduced many internal conflicts into your life. Conversely, one doesn’t really come to know God until he or she experiences personal conflict.
Somebody might have mistakenly assured you that when you came to God, your troubles would be over. Somebody lied to you. I’m sure you have learned by now as many people have, that walking with God is not conflict free.
It is the mind that we wrestle with the spiritual and carnal nature. Because we have the power to choose, we find ourselves engaged in the daily battle of deciding between life and death. (Romans 8:6
For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Many give their life to christ believing that all they have to do is attend church on sunday, turn over all their problems to God, and subsequently, God will keep the conflict and they then get to go home to live free from their problems; unfortunately it doesn’t work like that. We can’t just take our sin and our circumstances to the Lord and leave them in some mystical place thinking that this will resolve the conflict.
It is natural that when we give our lives to Christ we want to be free of all of our issues.
We come to him seeking peace and a refuge from the troubling storms of life that daily permeate our existence.
We want to leave them somewhere far, far away. So we take them to the altar to leave them with God.
But, where is the altar if it is not in you?
The only altar on which you can lay your troubles is the altar within you.
If God is in you, then He is the one who introduces the conflict in order that when you meet God at the place of surrender (The Altar), He can begin to replace those things that have always caused conflict between your carnal or sinful desires and the will of the spirit. It is important to understand that your struggle is not with the devil; it is with God, because God has set you up through the introduction of conflict into your life, in order to bring you to a place of maturity.
