When Adam and Eve disobeyed the Lord and ate the fruit of the wrong tree, the Lord spelled out the consequences for each of them in Genesis 3:16-19. These curses were not because God was angry or vindictive. It was much worse than that.
After these curses, we learn that Adam called his wife’s name Eve, “because she was the mother of all the living,” v. 20. Yet she was not the mother of all all life, was she? She did not create the animals or creeping things, neither the creatures of the air nor sea.
God created and sustains all of the living (Psalm 145:16; Hebrews 1:2-3). When Adam and Eve sinned by disobeying the Lord, the Lord allowed them to go their own way without Him. Since they chose another ruler, God withdrew. He, the giver of all life, spelled out the effects of that withdrawal, the curse. They had chosen another lord, an idol, and rejected the Bread of Life.
In the Garden, they had lived by faith in God’s words, His very life sustaining them and giving them strength and energy to fulfill their mandate, which was to enlarge a beautiful garden to fill the whole earth. This they would do, but only if they chose to enjoy their relationship by trusting in the person of the Lord God who ruled over all.
They chose to trust the words of the father of lies and put their faith in his words.
And so we see the destructive results in the curse throughout the history of Israel. We see what people do when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25), rather than walk in submission to the Sovereign Lord.
Moses and Joshua saw the importance of paying strict attention to the Lord’s commands. They saw victory with obedience and disaster with disobedience. Through their history in the books of Judges, Samuel, and kings, with the prophets bearing witness, we see the consequences of the Jews’ obedience and disobedience, of prosperity and loss, of life and death.
This principle carried over to Jesus’ teachings. We cannot serve God and Mammon — that is, wealth (Matthew 6:24). The broad way of following the crowd leads to destruction, and the hard-to-find narrow way leads to life (Matthew 7:13-14). Hearing His word and following it results in a stable house built on the rock that withstands the storms. Disregarding His words results in ruin (Matthew 7:24-29). Following His will by faith results in the fruit of a good character, and will result in entering His kingdom of joy. Neglecting their role of service will result in lasting banishment (Matthew 25:14-30).
The epistles of the New Testament continue to carry out this idea of picking whom we will follow. We continue to have the option to choose Jesus Christ as Lord over all, or an idol. Paul spells out the sinfulness of the flesh’s dominion when we don’t let the Lord order our lives.
The struggle is between the flesh and the Spirit. When we choose to follow the promptings of the flesh, we don’t experience the benefits of the life-giving God. We experience the effects of sin ramping up our “normal” inclinations so they spiral out of control. We hurt ourselves and others. The consequences of our sin become obvious to all.
Yet in our foolishness, naïveté, and susceptibility to the god of this world who is still in play, we keep naming the things of destruction our “Eve;” they are the preferred source of life. Adam’s eyes and mind were darkened by the Fall. He “died” to the One who is true life. So we die when we choose these other things over Christ.
Then we suffer the effects of the curse as Adam did. The curse is another word for the consequences of choosing something over the Lordship of Christ. They are the effects of disobedience and lack of genuine trust and faith in God.
The remedy presented to us repeatedly in Romans, Galatians, and the other epistles is ongoing surrender to the Lord. It is to pursue His words in the Scriptures and let them play out in our lives in faith. It is to let His living Word rule our minds instead of our own inclinations. The remedy is to let Christ be Lord instead of letting sin have dominion over us.
Some will say of Christmas that Jesus is the reason for the season. But they think too low. Jesus is the reason for our choices hour by hour.
When we are led by the Holy Spirit of God, we are in the right position with God, and the God of love will produce the fruit of love in us. “If by the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live” (Romans 8:13). “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16-18). Faith in Jesus is the switch that turns us from trusting in the flesh to trusting Christ.
Flesh can never put its trust in the God the the Bible. It decides what we need and chooses that. If anything smacks of yielding to another, resistance is swift. It is the Spirit’s work to expose the consequences of sin to us and the blessings that will come through faith in Jesus. This instrument to illuminate sinners (in church and out) is called the gospel.
If we hear the true gospel and respond appropriately, we surrender in faith to Jesus to follow Him and Christ will rule on the throne of our hearts. (“Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord.”) Where God is in control of that life, the fruit of the Spirit will emerge and that person will be conformed to the image of the Son (Romans 8:29).
If we misunderstand the gospel, we may turn to religion and follow man’s programs, and the flesh will remain on the throne. It will allow the idea of a historical figure inside without letting the inner person fall under His sway. (“I’m a good person, do good things, and go to church.”) Where the flesh is in charge, the works of the flesh will continue, and that person will be rejected from the kingdom (Galatians 5:19-21).
People wonder: “Can I lose my salvation?” From the lessons from Scripture given, any believer can depart from Christ and follow idols, and if they continue in that path, lacking faith and living by the routines of life, they will not be conformed to the image of the Son, which is God’s plan for all believers. How can this plan be accomplished without faith and obedience, since the life of Jesus is characterized by both?
Instead of pronouncing someone unsaved, one could ask if they heard the gospel, then clarify its message. If it is believed, then go over their practice of meditating on the Scriptures, and teach them how to do so if that is lacking. This is to get them into the place of faith and obedience. Then go on to prayer and do the same. If they are not being conformed to the image of the Son, then these steps are urgently needed under the New Covenant of faith and grace. Through His grace we may obey and have victory over sin.
The Holy Spirit is the go-between who carries the message from Jesus to the believer (John 16:13-15). He is the Spirit of Christ who dwells in the believer (John 14:16-17, 14:26). He speaks to us through the Bible when our hearts are open to receive.
The Scriptures are paramount, because we cannot be obedient to the Lord if we don’t know what He has to say to us — and He speaks through the Word. Through the Word, faith is born (Romans 10:17) and works of faith will follow. This is the training of the disciple day by day. To walk with God by faith, putting off the works of the flesh as the Spirit reveals them through the Word. We put off the flesh so that we may put on Christ.
When we are merely cutting off bad habits, then we are focused only on the external. We may be subject to peer pressure to conform, but we are not being taught by the Spirit. The flesh is voluntarily subjecting itself to external rules, but God wants to write His laws on the heart.
Then the person learns to choose wisely the things of God and walk in faith and obedience. He will not, as did Adam, attribute the source of life to the wrong things, but to the Resurrection and the Life, the one who has been renewing his own life in an ever-increasing measure.
