Our Negative Inheritance from the Fall

"The idyllic setting in the Garden of Eden was shattered. The effects of man's fall were dramatic, immediate and far-reaching, infecting every subsequent member of the human race."

(excerpt taken from Neil Anderson, "Victory Over the Darkness")

Genesis Chapter 3:11-24
11. And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12. And the man said, "The woman whom Thou gavest [to be] with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." 13. Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14. And the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly shall you go, And dust shall you eat All the days of your life; 15. And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel." 16. To the woman He said, "I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you." 17. Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; 19. By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." 20. Now the man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all [the] living. 21. And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 22. Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, lest he stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever "-- 23. therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam and Eve thought they would hide from God, Shame overtook them, and God asked Adam a question. "Who told you, you were naked?" God knew the answer. He wasn't on vacation when all this was going on. I suppose He waited for them to come to Him and confess, but they did not. They hid instead. It is said that there is great significance in that God gave them clothing for a covering. Up until this time they had not needed clothing because they were not aware they needed it. There was no shame in their nakedness. God himself sacrificed animals for their sin, to cover them; the beginning of that act of repentance.
         
God sent Adam and Eve from the garden, and with that banishment came curses. For Eve, childbearing and being subservient to her husband. To Adam, that he would work and toil for his living and that the earth would also change...just because they disobeyed. To Satan, that he would be cursed above all animals, slithering on the ground. A prophetic warning is given to Satan by God. "You will be at odds with the woman and her seed". Here God is speaking of Mary and her seed Jesus.

Romans 16:20
"And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you."

Jesus crushed Satan by His sacrificial crucifixion on the cross, but Satan bruised Jesus' heal. Jesus regained the authority that was given away by Adam. He regained our "authority as believers" but Satan still is allowed to wander the earthly realm. This is our problem as Christians today; we have authority here on earth over Satan and all his demons, we just don't know it, or do not know how to exercise our authority. Jesus stepped on Satan, and he is under our feet, but he still can "bruise" us.


As a few of you mentioned, the book by Kenneth E. Hagin "The Believer's Authority" is a book that details this subject and is one of the very best, and I highly recommend it. It will explain this very important concept that we all need to know.
                       

So let's look at the diagram and see what changed after the "fall".

In the Garden, Adam and Eve experienced "Zoe" life. They were in spiritual union and relationship with God. When they sinned their spiritual life died. Their spiritual union with God was severed.

Genesis 2:17
"but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."

God had warned them, but then Satan twisted their thinking and they sinned.

What about their "Physical Life" or "Bios"? Well, even though they did not die immediately their physical death was put in motion. They would have lived eternally in the Garden with God, but once they left, they entered the world of physical death. So now, every human comes into this world, physically alive, but spiritually dead, separated from God.

We are not born without sin and the world and life corrupts us. We are born fully into the "sin nature". The only human being born without that sin nature was Jesus.

So their spirit suffered spiritual death, and their body suffered the start of death and decay, tomorrow we will look at what happened to their "soul" the mind, will, and emotions.

I know there is a lot to read and keep up with. Hopefully you are gaining the main points of the information. It's good when there can be group discussion. I'll still encourage you to buy the book if you'd like. There is a lot to absorb in these little "dailies". You know how I love to hear from you!
Thank you again for your comments and input. I love hearing how these posts allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. That's how the Word of God ministers and changes us. It penetrates "bone and marrow" to get to our hearts, where it can begin to work!

Love in Jesus,

Debra