THE PLAN OF
SALVATION
Genesis 2:16 And the
Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;
and evil, for when you eat from it you will (17) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (NIV)
In six days, God had created a world that was perfect. From the stars in
the sky to the animals in the sea, everything was in perfection according to
His original design. Then on the sixth day of the week, He created man in the
likeness of Himself. He had great plans for man and wanted to be in
relationship with him. All that He required was obedience to His will by not
eating fruit from one tree in the garden. He had given man everything that he
could want. There was no reason for man to have a desire for anything other
than to please his Maker.
However, the devil transferred himself into a serpent, and
tricked Eve into believing that he could offer more than what God had given.
God must have been holding something back from them, and only he would be able
give to them what God withheld; that was the knowledge of good and evil. They would be wise and know the secrets of the
universe. After all, they had a right to know…or did they? They would be like
God which was what the devil actually wanted for himself. Therefore, since he
couldn’t obtain it, he would try to trick Eve into thinking that she could.
Eve, believing everything that she had heard from the
serpent, reached up, and grabbed the fruit from the tree that God had forbidden
them to touch. She bit the fruit and also offered it to Adam. He knew what
wrong she had done. Despite knowing that there would be consequences for being
disobedient, he indulged in eating the fruit as well.They immediately went into hiding in order to keep God from
seeing and knowing what they had done. They knew that they were naked and
because of their nakedness, they felt shame. They were embarrassed in front of
the One who had created every part of their bodies. Their sin had opened their
eyes beyond what they had anticipated. Where there was once freedom, there was
now the bondage of disgrace, which they did not want to bare.
God placed a curse on the serpent that was once the most
intelligent of all the animals. It would now be made to crawl on its belly and
live in dirt for the rest of its life and those of its species. There would
always be a separation of fear and hate between the woman and it. There
wouldn’t be any type of reconciliation between the two. What once was a good
relationship between man and all beasts, would now be one of contempt and
distrust.
For the act of disobedience, man was made to leave the
garden that they once called home. They were no longer able to live in the presence
of God. The intimate bond between them was broken. There could be no more talks
with God face to face. Man was unable to be in the presence of God without
trembling with fear due to sin. An animal’s life had to be taken in order to
cover up their shameful naked bodies. Blood had to be shed. An animal had to
die.Man was no longer be able to eat from the tree of Life in
the Garden of Eden. To continue to do so would have meant that they would live
forever. Therefore, sin would have no end. They were banished from the garden.
To ensure that they would never have access again, God placed an angel with a
flashing sword to forever secure and prevent entrance to the Tree of Life.
At that moment of disobedience, the Father orchestrated a
plan, for the salvation of mankind. It didn’t matter the cost, He loved man so
much that He was willing to send His only Son to an evil world to save all
humanity. A world that was full of sin and wickedness. It was a world that had rejected God and
would reject His Son.
God was no longer able to talk face to
face with man. The human nature of mankind was too sinful for the most intimate
interaction and relationship that God desired. He wanted to commune with man
without there being a separation of minds. He desired man to have a heart for
Him. God longed for the sinful wall that now separated them to disappear.The only means for that relationship to once again be
restored would be a sacrifice of the highest magnitude. It would be one that
would cost the Father heartbreak to give. A sacrifice that even He would have a
hard time giving, but had to be done. He was willing to do it. His Son was
willing to come and be martyred to please His Father. He was willing to be the
sacrificial Lamb who would take away the sins of the world.
The details had to be mapped out. The timing had to be
perfect. There was no room for mistakes in order to guarantee its success. It
would take generations to come to fruition, but it would come. Man would be
saved at all cost. Their sinful nature would be used to the Father’s advantage
to save them from themselves. He didn’t ask their permission. They didn’t even
know that they were in need of saving. God knew what man didn’t. Mankind was up for grabs. The
devil enjoyed his momentary victory. He succeeded in separating God from the
one thing that He desired the most. The devil would now be able to inflict pain
and misery as a result of man falling into temptation. Man was now at his mercy
and unless God intervened, they would be lost forever.
The devil relishing in his accomplishments would now be
able to turn all of mankind into sinful beings. There would be pain, suffering,
hard labor, death and disease. Adam and Eve had caused the whole world to pay
for their indiscretions. Generation after generation would reap the rewards
from their one act of disobedience. The deception of Satan would continue to fester for
centuries as the world would become more evil as time passed by. It grieved God’s heart, as He
looked down upon man and saw how they had turned their backs totally against
Him; A creation that He loved and had so much hope for. A world, that did not
even want to acknowledge Him, but would rather worship images from materials
that He had created.
The devil wanted to get back at God for kicking him out of
heaven. His jealousy of God was his motivation for trying to destroy the
creation that God had made. He was envious of the Son’s position with whom God
had a relationship. He wanted to be like God. He wanted to be worshiped like God.
He wanted…to be God.
Now that the devil had been successful with his plans to
make mankind fall, God would have to go into action. However, the devil made
sure to bring tragedy, death and heartbreak into the line that God would use in
order to be a vessel for His Son to come through. Because Satan knew of God’s
plans, he did everything in his power to turn the world as evil as he could.His first action was to make brothers, Cain and Abel, turn
against each other. He again used what seemed to be one of his most useful
tactics, which became his own downfall from heaven…jealousy. Cain, being the
first born of Adam and Eve, grew jealous of Abel when God accepted his
sacrifice, but refused that of Cain’s. Jealousy turned to anger, which in
return, turned to rage leading to the first murder.
From there on, the world became so evil that God decided to
destroy it by means of a flood. The creation that He once loved was too wicked
for Him to be able to stand. Man was doing every immoral thing possible on the
earth and took great pleasure in doing so. Therefore, after instructing Noah to
build a great ark, which would hold his family of eight, and hand selecting
animals from across the earth, God sent a flood to destroy all that He had
made. The devil would once again cause mankind to be evil and
consequently caused God’s anger to flow resulting in the destruction of Sodom
and Gomorrah. Two cities, which were so full of sin and lust, that the men
wanted to even sleep with the angels who were guests in Lot’s home. Satan
repeatedly kept turning people wicked and away from God. He wanted to rule the
world and with it, cause its ultimate destruction. However,
his plan of destruction would not defeat God’s ultimate plan of salvation. God
would still send His Son to save mankind regardless of the devil’s ruthless
attempts at sabotage. The plan had already been made. It had been pre-approved
and finalized. It would continue to go forth. No demonic forces would stop it.
Yet, the devil would still give it a try.
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