And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25

Somethings are not always considered when we try to learn of God or just the way this world functions. We are more fascinated with the spectacular or mysterious such as prophecy of miracle working. They certainly have their place but there are other areas that hardly spark an interest. In particular how often we read in Genesis that mankind was created as "naked yet unashamed". This state of being is commonly called "innocence" but do we stop to think about what that means?

God placed man in the Garden where they had unhindered fellowship and communication with God their creator and it says He blessed them. They also had some sort of companionship with the animals too. They were given freely absolutely everything they needed to live and thrive.

So right there we can see the things that cause us today to have worries and anxiety were absent in their lives. They did not have to worry about paying bills - food bills, rent, mortgages, car payments, medical bills, school loans. None of that existed in their physical world.

We build homes for protection from the elements, critters and unwanted guests. Whatever environmental conditions existed we can not say but we know it did not rain. "For the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth." Genesis 2:5 The animals were friendly and harmless and at that time unwanted guests or threats did not exist. So if there were shelters they were not for protection as we know it.

Then the really great thing is that they were "blessed" by God with His providence - His purpose - His presence and everything else they could have ever possibly needed. And the only work they had to do was to till and keep the Garden. Free room and board with blessings to boot.

No possible reason for anxiety either naturally or spiritually. They had total security for all provisions and they had total security in their relationship with God. This was the world of being naked and yet unashamed. This was the world of innocence.

I ask you - was that a better world? They call it paradise for a reason.

But then here comes that serpent. Most agree this was some form or manifestation of Satan - an angel with issues. What issues? Hmm...

Well at one time a perfect God abode in a perfect heaven surrounded by perfect angels. That is until something entered that perfection that God did not create. We find that one angel commonly called Lucifer which was his Latin name - otherwise the original Hebrew calls him Haylel. This angel created something in his own heart called iniquity. Speaking of Lucifer:

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. Ezekiel 28:15

James adds to the idea that sin originates from within:

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. James 1:14-15

Lucifer was tempted with something. Something was in his heart that wanted something. His wanting something then led him to do something. When he did something he sinned. And when he sinned he earned a penalty

What was that something?

For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:13-15

They say go big or go home. Well this angel went big. Scripture tells us that angels are created as ministering spirits. They are servants doing assigned tasks ordained by God. God is the decision maker - angels are the servants. Well this particular servant named Lucifer conceived in his heart the notion that he wanted to be a decision maker. Not just any decision maker but God Himself. Yep he went big and earned this judgment - "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell."

Wanting something and attaining something are two different things. Wanting by your own abilities and resources can only gain what your own abilities and resources can gain. We have a God who possesses infinite and endless resources and abilities within Himself as the originator and source of all that exists.

Where were the resources and abilities going to come from for this created servant to attain what he wanted? In this case to be like God. Well experience tells us the path of sin only goes from bad to worse. Not only was the original decision bad enough but then that decision added other poor choices and actions all leading to Jesus saying this about the devil:

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy... John 10:10

The perfect and exalted Lucifer was reduced to a murdering thief to support his habit - to support his delusion.

Which brings us back to the Garden. God just finished creating a world of vast resources and put two innocent creatures in charge of the whole thing. For an opportunistic thief looking for resources this was just too good a chance to pass up on. What was just a thought hidden in his heart now found opportunity to make his delusions come true. The thief came to talk the innocent creature out of the paradise they possessed. But what could he offer that was enticing enough to make them give up their paradise and their relationship with God? Hmm...

"Did God really say...?" The devil placed a question in Eve's mind. With the question there she answered - "God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."  Hmm... What would an innocent new creature know about dyeing? Did they ever experience this loss?

At that point the devil found his opening and the thief made a full outright attack against God's integrity and character.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:4-5

The devil called God a liar and questioned His motives by denying them something that could make them better. So now the devil knew what he could offer them. This woman really never experienced death but just in case the devil offered "ye shall be as gods". Do gods die? So the offer was immortality outside of the True God. Then came the mysterious opened eyes to be instantly imparted with wisdom to know good and evil.

What's evil? What would an innocent know of evil? Why isn't God telling me about evil? Why would God allow me to die? Those questions were enough to cause Eve to seriously consider. She looked at the tree that God planted in His Garden - If it was good enough for God - why wasn't it good enough for Eve. Or why wasn't Eve good enough to be like a god to know good and evil?

What's wrong with me? What am I missing out on? Questions unanswered lead to more questions and the devil was right there to become her answer man. And Boom - "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

They were willing to give up their paradise and relationship with God because they thought this becoming a god thing was real and this opened eyes thing would give them more than they had. But what really happened in this transaction?

Rom 6:16  Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 

Their willing obedience to the serpent's voice made them his servants. The angel who is a servant by creation found himself now controlling his own brand new servants who just happened to be heirs by creation. In other words the devil just took control of assets, resources and abilities that he didn't have before.

If God didn't take the serpent's legs away he might have done a happy dance.

Short term gains do not mean long term success. Even given the history of humanity - this history has a last page and that page finds the promise of "Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell" fulfilled. And the "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" will be proven to be a delusion created in his heart.

The devil just cannot not steal enough nor kill enough to ever gain enough to put God out of the picture.

This all is God's picture.

But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: 1 Corinthians 2:7

What did God "ordain before the world unto our glory"?

The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Revelation 13:8

Who (speaking of Jesus) verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 1 Peter 1:20

You mean before the devil made his move? Before Adam and Eve were even created? Before the devil invented his delusion? God had already put in place the means through which believers would attain glory? Yep. And my advice is don't bet against the One doing all the foreordaining.

When God ordains you to be an angel - stay an angel.

When God ordains you unto glory - Then who's doing the happy dance now!

Let's get back to the fateful day and what transpired when Eve took the bait - er - the fruit. Remember the devil made a promise "your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil". What actually happened when they ate the fruit?

And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. Genesis 3:7

And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. Genesis 3:10

Their eyes were opened - yes - but where is the God like wisdom? Hey - you're naked! Is this the wisdom I traded paradise for? And "I was afraid and I hid myself" - was that God like valor? "They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons." Well... friend I grow figs and if you know about fig leaves they exude a very harsh caustic sap that will burn your skin if not careful. Not exactly the wisest choice to cover your body with oozing fig leaves.

Their eyes were opened - yes - but they got robbed by a lying devil. His promises were empty and fell flat. It is nothing at all God like to be filled with fear with only wisdom enough to see you are naked and of all things cover yourself with caustic sap. The devil might have gotten a chuckle at that moment but God came a walking.

Yep. God came by and seeing the situation He pointed Adam and Eve to the foreordained One. He gave them a better idea - let me take those fig leaves and I'll give you something better. Then He offered them council and hope for the future telling them about the future "seed" or offspring that will come and crush the lying devil's head. God speaking to the serpent:

And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike His heel. Genesis 3:15 NLT

Her offspring to come would be Jesus. Until that day - sacrifice became the pattern as a representation of "The Lamb slain" to "cover" their sin and shame.

Yes, the devil did not get instant judgment and humanity got stuck outside of paradise working hard by the sweat of our brow - with opened eyes that now sees ourselves as lacking and wanting and filled with fears.

But think about this. What really changed after mankind fell? The earth was still here. The animals were still here. God was still here. What changed is we lost our innocence and our perceptions changed. Being unashamed changed to opened eyes that sees ourselves as lacking and wanting and filled with fears. That change in our perceptions created a different environment for humanity.

In the beginning humanity was ordained to have dominion over the whole world. If humanity did not fall, innocence and paradise would have covered the earth.

Instead a humanity that was filled with the anxiety and fear of having to meet our own needs and protect our own stuff - forged ahead to cover the earth.

In a world of innocence - all still operating under the full blessings of God - everybody would always have everything they could possibly need because the providence of God would always supply. If I had everything I could ever want I would not need your stuff and you would not need my stuff. Because it's all God's stuff to enjoy and share.

Instead because we each have to work by the sweat of our brow and we have to gather our own provisions one way or the other. Your work creates your stuff and my work creates my stuff. But the fear of loss created by the loss of innocence makes us want to protect our own stuff.

That system of protecting our own stuff spread across the globe. We built walls to protect our stuff. We built doors with locks to protect our own stuff. We built cities with police forces to protect our own stuff. We built nations with armies to protect our own stuff. The universal world system that exists now exists because we with opened eyes - see ourselves as lacking and wanting and fear makes us want to protect our own stuff.

That's what happened when innocence was lost. Opened eyes - closed our hearts to the reality - It's all God's stuff.

Enter the Head Crusher

He came into the very world He created, but the world didn't recognize Him. John 1:10 NLT

From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another. John 1:16 NLT

Knowing Jesus' story we have to ask a question. How can an individual who owned very little besides the clothes on His back offer as much as He did? He owned no home - had no profession to earn an income after He began His public ministry. He did not personally carry any cash - yet everywhere He went He was preforming priceless service for free.

How much would it cost you to feed five thousand people?

What price is there when mothers and fathers had their dead children returned to them alive?

What price is adequate when people born blind were given sight for the first time? Or any of the other countless healings and restorations?

Lives were changed in ways their own resources could never repay...

"From His abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another."

To answer the question of how can vagrant man possessing no earthly goods continually offer priceless abundance we need to ask: What did He posses that no one else on earth possessed? So what did Jesus possess?

What was Jesus that no man on earth is? All humanity is fallen and therefore under the influence of Satan. Remember "his servants ye are to whom ye obey" Rom 6:16 Our eyes were opened but our heart became closed to God. We hid from Him.

Does Jesus share in that condition? Was Jesus fallen? No. Jesus was sinless therefore Satan tried but had zero influence over Jesus. Jesus was sinless therefore Jesus was innocent and obedient to God. For Jesus - God was more than bread, more than fame and more than earthly kingdoms. This then made Jesus more than a man - it made Him a conduit to give bread, glory and life.

And as the very first man to be innocent since the fall of mankind - He came to walk this earth again.

Something that was not experienced in the five thousand years since Adam fell - humanity had the opportunity to experience what it was like to have a man appropriate all the fulness of God's attributes and blessings without measure or limit. That abundance poured through Him - through that vagrant man - through to us all.

Putting the lies aside - This is the fruit of believing God is enough.

Everything He touched - every person He touched got to experience the overwhelming abundance of God because He was innocent in His relationship with God. That vagrant man demonstrated the original providence of God. And that should demonstrate to us all what we lost when we lost our innocence.

Sin Puts Us Outside the Flow of Providence

God is the source of all things. He is the source of life and all that exists. As such He is the rightful head over all things and it is His exclusive right to bring His order to His creation. Bringing order to His creation He ordains. That is what God does. He says to the stars stay there. He says to the earth stay there. To the angels He says do this or that. He puts everything where He wants it and instructs His agents to their tasks. That is called God's order.

As we discussed earlier Lucifer was the very first agent to move out of that order because he didn't want to be a servant - he wanted to be a decision maker - like God. He disregarded God's order in which God says of Lucifer:

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created...

Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so... Ezekiel 28:15, 14

"I have set thee so" means it was God who ordained Lucifer to be all he was at that time and being "perfect" is no small thing. From all the other descriptions in that passage in Ezekiel 28 Lucifer was at the pinnacle of his game. He was at the peak. When you are standing at your peak - and you move - every direction is down.

Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Isaiah 14:15

Yep...

He imagined in his heart he could go higher but that brings us back to the question - by what resources could he go higher than perfect?

This then reveals the nature of sin. He imagined in his heart and we imagine in our hearts. Are our imaginations reality? We can attempt to make our imaginations a reality and we can achieve many great things sometimes. But you see that word "Yet" in that verse? Well that word "yet" means we have only so much time before our imagined reality hits the wall of God's ordained reality.

The nature of sin is that we become blind to the ordained reality of God. "I heard your voice... and I hid myself." Gen 3:10 When we hide ourselves we do not want to be seen nor see that from which we are hiding. In this case God. In essence we are blinding ourselves and that hiding cuts you off from God and His providence. In short sin separates us from God the source of life.

The trees were still there. I suppose they could have lived in the jungle till they died that is. God did say that was a consequence did He not? Again pointing to what God knows versus what we imagine. Remember they imagined they were going to become gods - the devil imagined he was going to be like God - so this imagining stuff needs careful handling lest we hit that wall of God's ordained reality.

Hitting walls is easy to do when you are driving blind.

Blindness is curable when you come to the Light.

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. John 3:19-21

The word "reproved" means to be proved wrong. Those living in darkness do not want to be proved wrong. Wrong about what? Paul uses the term "vanity of their minds" or we can say the imagined desires of our mind.

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Ephesians 4:17-18

Thanks Paul for saying in few words what I just said in the last few paragraphs. Wrong imaginations make us blind and alienate us from God. But coming to the light has a different outcome. Coming to the light - enlightens the understanding - eliminates the ignorance - heals the blindness and reconciles us back into the life of God. And as Jesus said - they coming to the light - "manifest that they are wrought in God." Wrought in God means being restored to the original work of God. Or getting back to the plan before we got hijacked by an over imaginative serpent.

Well the head crusher came - the Innocent One - who came to reconcile us back to God.

For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans 5:10

"We shall be saved by His life" amongst the most glorious promises ever made. Let's remember Jesus came as a man and through Him untold, innumerable priceless blessings just flooded a single nation at that time. Now that He lives forever more - exponentially every generation and every nation has opportunity for reconciliation. May God be glorified! Amen.

Reconciliation means a whole lot more than what we know mainly because reconciliation connects us back into the same providential flow of all the fulness of God's powers and blessings. Scripture repeatedly speaks of us having unfettered access to God.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2

For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Ephesians 2:18

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

God is there. Provision is there. This is what we need to believe and partake of. Jesus actually went a step further with not only having access and partaking but He uses the word abide. Not just go to... but to live with...

...He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit... John 15:5

The further steps of reconciliation bringing forth much fruit need a closer look:

And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: Colossians 1:20-22

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5:9

Un-blind yourself. Un-stop your ears. "To those who have ears let him hear." There are four words in these two passages that are screaming something the devil does not want you to hear. Those words are Holy, Unblameable, Unreproveable and Justified. Those words say Jesus' blood has not only reconciled us back to God with forgiveness but those words say we are INNOCENT.

The same innocence man had and lost. The same innocence that manifest the flow of God's abundance through Jesus.

These words have to be received as the grace of God and as the ordained will of God for your life. Not in imagined and empty lifestyles. Holiness needs to become a lifestyle. Becoming unblameable and unreproveable needs to become a lifestyle. Justification or the declaration of innocence needs to become the mantle that clothes you and makes you unashamed.

All of this requires a faith that is willing to become. For every individual our level of faith determines where we settle and what we become.

Here is the fact - Jesus opened the door that restores humanity back into the full flow of God's providence and power. That is the River of Life coming from the throne of God ordained for our healing. Our personal level of faith is going to allow for a full spectrum of receiving. Everything from just dipping our toes because that is where we feel comfortable - to diving headlong into the depths because we just can't get enough of God.

Jesus showed us what is possible as far as what we can become if we chose but God also accepts us without condemnation when we obey the Gospel.

Yes, of course Jesus was born sinless and innocent - an important detail. That distinction is what made His blood the only blood that could pay the price for our forgiveness. Which He willingly paid to make you innocent through that forgiveness. Grace was not cheap - Let Grace teach you.

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Titus 2:11-13

My friend you are innocent - you do with that what you will. Adam and Eve lived in the paradise of God's abundance and believed a voice that told them they were lacking. We have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, declared holy, unblameable, unreproveable and justified. There is no lacking but oppositely - great riches in this grace that God has bestowed. Are we going to imagine this is not enough? And believe the same lie again?

My friend, God has declared you innocent. Don't let opened eyes make you ashamed of what God has covered.

Live from what He has given you.

This is what Lucifer should have been content with. This is exactly what Jesus demonstrated was more than enough.

Putting the lies aside - This is the fruit of believing God is enough.

And now that the lie has been exposed and reconciliation and restoration made - May we all live by the fulness of the abundance of God's good nature and power. To God be the glory forever, Amen.