Eden Speaks: In The Details (Part 2 of 2)

“In the Garden of Eden, there is one underlining truth that springs up out of all—Will it be obedience or disobedience.”  (F. Lugo)

 

Beloved, this is a long awaited conclusion to a two-part series called “Lessons from the Master.” The first one was written on January 17, 2014 entitled “Gethsemane Speaks: Lessons from the Master (Part 1 of 2)” and not until last night as I was speaking to the Lord concerning this quote I heard in a movie, “I trust everyone. I just don’t trust the devil inside of them,” was I reminded of this quote. Have you ever heard the saying, “The devil is in the details?” Here is the origin from which such a saying can come from. In the garden, the devil; with his slithery and shrewd tactics, spoke details to Eve and it lead her and her companion to get in way over their heads. You may have heard the story, but check out this great insight the Master revealed to me from it! With that said, I now invite you Into My HEART…

It can be said that Satan by his words, caused man to fall in the garden of Eden, however, it was the disobedience of the man and woman that caused this fall.

“Our disobedience to God causes our ears to be open to Satan’s words, whereas, our obedience to God, causes our ears to be open to the Word of God.” — F. Lugo

Knowing the details of things, situations and circumstances shouldn’t cause us to get into deep trouble, however, history has proven, that knowing too much always leads to troubles, leading to our own demise. 

The devil is in the details. Let us look to the human existence, and our need-to-know sinful and curious nature, and sadly, I speak from experience. A young man meets a young woman or is introduced to a young woman and they hit it off. Eventually the man purposes in his heart to marry this young woman. However, rather than being content to have a companion and later a wife that he may be able to consummate his love to her once they are lawfully married, he needs to know the details of her body. What she looks like, feels like. He needs to lay with her, live with her and ultimately rob himself of the blessing of not knowing her until they are committed in marriage to each other. 

Or the man who without employment is now employed and rather than being content with his pay and the ability to save for a more prosperous future, needs to know what it feels like to have this and attain that, so much so, he finds himself one day in massive debt, without choices that would lead to a prosperous future and his life has been reduced to nothing more than dependence on others as opposed to an independence that God has given him due to his contentment in what God has said. 

What is the remedy for such destructive knowledge? The answer lies within what the Lord God commanded Adam and Eve: “The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:15-17 NLT) 

The remedy is to obey God’s Word. 

The remedy is to heed what He says. 

The remedy is to be content with what God reveals to us.

The above may seem to many as too abrupt and without a silver lining, however, for the one who does obey God, here’s good news concerning God’s understanding of who we are. Once again, let us look to God’s Word: 

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” (Genesis 2:18 NLT) 

First God blessed the man through His commandment with great abundance, 

•  ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden’ 

then God gave a stipulation through His command to the man, 

•  ‘except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ 

and finally God closes with the warning of breaking His command, 

•  ‘If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.’

Now this wonderful God who through His commands richly blesses us and mercifully warns us, also shows His compassion towards us in that He foreknows we are a people who are in need, will struggle with contentment and are susceptible to curiosity. In His complete wisdom, the Lord God decides to present a remedy to such a character trait. He says ‘I will make a helper who is just right for him.’

This ‘just right’ is God’s remedy to our need, contentment and curiosity. Through this ‘helper’ those areas that can potentially harm us unless given attention to, are well taken care of. 

Thank you Lord!

 

Once again, God’s perfect wisdom is shown in His complete knowledge of man. In order for man to be content, he surely cannot be in control as for him to be in control is to leave himself only able to provide for himself through his limited understanding. So what does God do? He doesn’t reveal everything to us all at once: 

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.” (Genesis 2:21-22 NLT). 

As a result of the Lord God’s perfect wisdom and complete knowledge, the man not knowing everything, is able to rejoice in the glorious thing the Lord God has done: 

“At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” (Genesis 2:23 NLT) 

With what God had done and was not hindered in doing, due to the man not knowing everything and in not knowing everything unable to complicate things [that is, getting out of his own way and allowing God to have His perfect way], God revealed a peaceful path to experiencing and embracing God’s abundant blessings: 

“This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” (Genesis 2:24 NLT)  

“Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.” (Genesis 2:25 NLT) 

This not feeling ‘no shame’ came through God’s doing [will] and mans’ not doing [submissive to God’s will]. 

The fact of the matter is. We as a human race have not stopped wanting to bite off more than we can chew ever since the garden. We have followed in our ancestors footsteps and continue to this day to know discontentment that leads to immeasurable struggles and ultimately our death and destruction. It sounds dark and morbid, but it’s a sad fact. 

Regardless of what we will think or say or want to believe, it doesn’t change the fact that God’s will is perfect, pleasing and good and although many may be skeptical of it, revealing their nature to be that of Adam and Eve in wanting to know more and inevitably experience less, this is the big [but] that refutes it all, “[But] God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” (Romans 5:8-11 NLT). 

How I pray, truly pray, we will not hinder God’s will from being perfectly accomplished in our lives as He sees fit, so that we will know with perfect and content knowledge leading to immeasurable joy that “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” (Romans 5:6 NLT). 

Oh Lord, you are our great and loving God. You have complete wisdom and perfect knowledge of everything. Have mercy on us oh Lord, as we are a people given to discontentment, curiosity and wanting to do it our way. We fail every time and as a result do not experience your best. Thank you that at the right time, you sent your Son to us to save us and make us friends with you, although we will never be worthy of Him. May we become a people by your will, who are content with you, what you say and what you graciously and perfectly and completely have for us. Amen. 

As always…YOU ARE LOVED.