The Well
The Well |
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Connecting Hope to the Hurting | |
Thursday
January 10, 2008
And the Lord God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground and breathed
into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person. Then the Lord
God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had
created. And the Lord God planted all sorts of trees in the garden — beautiful
trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the
tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…
The Lord God
placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it. But the Lord God
gave him this warning: "You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you
will surely die." And the Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be
alone. I will make a companion who will help him."
Genesis 2:6-9,
15-18
Throughout the process of creating Adam, we see God's love as an active force — connecting with His creation. As God breathed life into Adam, He also gave him free will. You may be asking how I know that — because immediately he was given a choice; choice is the evidence of free will.
There is little mention of the "tree of life," but many theologians believe that tree was representative of eternal life, and others believe it represented Jesus Christ. In Rick Joyner's book, There Were Two Trees in the Garden, he says, "The knowledge of good and evil kills us by distracting us from the One who is the source of life: the Tree of Life — Jesus. The Tree of Knowledge causes us to focus our attention upon ourselves. Sin is empowered by the law; not just because the evil is revealed but the good as well. It drives us either to corruption or self-righteousness, both of which lead to death. The Old Covenant is the Letter; the New Covenant is the Spirit. If we read the New Testament with an Old Covenant heart it will just be law to us. We'll have dead religion with righteousness that is based on compliance with written commandments instead of a living relationship with our God."
So, based on that summary I would say that knowledge is carnal — wisdom and understanding are spiritual. We have a choice. Do we want to live a carnal life, empty of the Spirit, or a Spiritual life? We have free choice. Free will, freedom to choose has led me to some pretty strange places, but praise the Lord — His grace was greater than my sin.
So, we see that not only did God breathe life into Adam and gave Him free will, but He met every one of his needs, emotional, physical, and sexual, by giving him a companion. When we make the free will choice to walk with God in the garden of our lives, He will provide for our needs too — what He did for Adam — He'll do for you.
As we begin to walk in the power of love provided through the Holy Spirit, we will find ourselves filled with love overflowing. We will find it easier to "speak the truth in love." We will walk in harmony rather than walking in jealousy and strife. We will recognize that gender was created simply to recreate rather than to differentiate. Then, we will connect with one another in order to be recreated in His image.
When we reach out to another person in love the seed planting process begins and we begin to reap what we sow. What are you sowing this week? Sow God!
Heavenly Father, help us remember that You want us to do unto others as we would want them to do unto us. Help us sow the seeds of love and harmony today. Help us lay aside our differences and love as You love. Remind us that You love us even though You are Holy, perfect in every way, and we don't even know what perfect means. Help us praise You by loving one another and bridging the gap that the enemy has created. We need You Father. We need You Jesus. We need You Holy Spirit. Anoint us with the power to love as You love.
