|
The Garden Experience
Part
2
Great getting' up mornin' to ya folks! Sleep well? OK, wipe those sleepy seeds from your eyes, pour yourself a really good cup of that French Press coffee you've had steeping, and let's get back to where we left off yesterday.
We're still in the Garden. We've just been meditating on Adam and Eve, and their creation, and all that the Lord set in motion when He created them. Too bad things didn't stay like we've just seen -- at least from a human perspective -- but God had a Plan: a Plan for an overcoming people that had to be set in motion with the events we are about to witness.
Our attention is being riveted on a creature whose appearance defies description. Is this one of the many living creatures over whom Adam has been given dominion? It is. But watch.
This creature stands waiting in the trees. He is tall, lithe, handsome -- in fact, his countenance would redefine the word, "beautiful." His appearance could be called, "serpentine," yet he bears little resemblance to the snakes we have known. He radiates a luminescence which is reminiscent of the presence of the Lord, yet is distinctly different. In fact, the more one looks at it, the more one realizes that this radiance -- as magnetic as it may seem -- most certainly does not originate in the Lord. He is a being who obviously was created by the Lord for His purposes, and He epitomizes all that mankind would call perfection and beauty. There is a strange spirit which emanates, however, and we can easily see that his
onoma, his very essence, stands in opposition to the Lord. What a strange magnetism he exudes! Though he has been once called, Lucifer ("the light bearer"), and now is known as, The Serpent, we know that in the centuries and millennia to come, he will lead millions upon millions of people into darkness.
Adam and Eve have obviously seen him many times over the years. As near as we can tell, they have occupied the Garden for the past two thousand years. I'm not trying to be heretical, here. They were, after all, created at the beginning of the 6th day, and have walked with the Lord God through the 6th and 7th days. A day with the Lord is as a thousand years, right? Now, we are early in the 8th day. It is pretty obvious that, from the serpent's greeting to Eve, he must certainly have spoken on many occasions to her. It is quite apparent that he has been setting up this day for a long time, and now prepares to spring a trap on her.
The words that the serpent speaks ring with a kind of logic. Veiled behind those words, however, is a nefarious purpose, planned, desired, and hoped for from the moment he was cast out of the presence of the Lord. Once privy to the counsels of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, he has known of the creation plan before it was ever spoken into existence. He has known of the desire of the Lord Jesus Christ to have for Himself a counterpart. In his rebellion against the Godhead and attempt to usurp the throne of the universe, he established a plan and course of action to become that counterpart, never mind the fact that he was not created for that purpose.
Lucifer refused to accept the fact that he was not created for the throne, nor for fellowship on a co-equal footing with the Lord God. From his perspective he had been created to rule, placed in a position of command over the angelic hosts. That certainly was a position of power and authority. Whether he liked it or not, however, he was a created being -- not a creator. The
onoma of the Godhead had never been given to be the essence of his being -- and never would!
Because he could not accept the fact that he was not -- and never would be -- given that place of intimacy and co-regency with Jesus Christ, he gathered together a third of the angelic hosts in heaven in a conspiracy to take the throne and fulfill that place by his own might, power and authority. The fact that we see him here today is clear and present evidence that he failed in that endeavor, and was thrown out of heaven -- never to again enjoy the place for which he was created.
His aspiration and objective here in the Garden is to steal Adam's bride and counterpart for himself, and to thwart the plan of the Lord God to bring into existence that Bride who will be His counterpart. His ultimate mission is to take Eve for himself, to counterfeit and duplicate the Plan, gaining in the process one who would become the counterpart of Lucifer. With his
onoma fulfilled -- so he thinks -- he will now be able to seize the throne of the universe because he will have that fullness of expression which the Lord lacks.
One has to appreciate the perfection in Eve to understand why the serpent is going after her. It is not that Eve is Adam's weakness -- his Achilles Heel. Everything she represents is the consummation of excellence. Everything within her bespeaks a total love for Adam -- and for the Lord God. She makes Adam, Adam! The serpent is consumed with jealousy because of what he sees. He is bound and determined to have her for himself.
The Lord has enabled us to see into his thoughts. His mind is a virtual maelstrom. How dare the Lord God create such perfection for a human being and try to enslave me as an incomplete being, all the while setting the stage for Himself to have that kind of fulfillment? Adam is just a flesh and blood being created from the dust of the earth and is not entitled to that kind of enjoyment. He does not have the kind of powers I have. I will take the woman for myself. I will change her. No matter how long it takes, I will make her love me. The Lord thinks He's going to get a counterpart! Hahh! Just wait until He sees what I am going to do!
As we see Adam and Eve approach the serpent, there is a lilting sound to his voice which immediately captures their attention. Ignoring Adam, it is to Eve he now speaks, drawing her attention to the two trees in the midst of the Garden,
"Yea, hath God said, 'Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
As this mostly one-sided conversation ensues and the serpent lays his trap for Eve, he little knows that he is about to spring a trap on himself -- a trap whose jaws will inexorably close on him though he will attempt to escape. The serpent is obviously unaware of the fact that when the first life was breathed into Adam, the Lord breathed His
onoma into him, and that Adam is going to do the unexpected in a moment.
Adam's face is filled with puzzlement as he hears the serpent say to Eve,
"You shall not surely die. For the Lord knows that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."
Thoughts race through his mind. What does being gods have to do with anything? We have fellowship and intimate friendship with the Lord God, our Creator, even now. We have been given dominion over the earth, and over every creature that walks upon the earth. There has been nothing withheld from us. Do we need something that He has not given us? We have been created in the likeness and image of the Lord God. Are we not
"as God" even now? Hmmmm.............what is good? For that matter, what is evil?
As these thoughts have filled him, Adam has looked off into the distance, somewhat oblivious to Eve's gaze at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Logic dictates that they obey the voice of the Lord in this matter. He has said, "Of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, you shall not eat; for in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die." Adam is not really sure what that means since death is an unknown quantity, and they have never seen death, having been created with such regenerative powers as to virtually live forever, but a termination or cessation of their relationship with the Lord God seems certain if they partake. That must be what death is all about.
Adam comes to with a start as he now realizes that Eve has reached up and taken a piece of this ripe, red, delicious-looking fruit off the tree and is taking a bite. Oh, no! Eve, what have you done? Eve's lips pucker somewhat with the bittersweet taste, and a smile now stretches across her face. There is no dawning of knowledge, yet -- just an awareness that the fruit is tasty. She hands it now to Adam.
A sinking feeling fills the pit of Adam's stomach. The words spoken by their best friend, God, ring in his ears.
"In the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die." Oh, Eve! What have you done? If you are separated from God, you will be separated from me. If you are separated from me, you will have no one to protect and watch over you. I will be lonely and incomplete again. You will be lonely and incomplete in the same measure that I once knew. I will not -- I cannot permit you to know that kind of agony.
And Adam reaches to take the fruit from his beloved, Eve, to the utter horror and surprise of the serpent. He will partake of it, and in so doing, redeem her from the separation from him which would otherwise surely come. Though Eve will know death, it will not be the kind of death which would have come had she been ripped from his fellowship, companionship and protection. Adam will gladly take the death to himself, and in so doing, prevent the serpent from having her to his exclusive domain.
You can see the astonishment on the serpent's visage. He had hoped to have the woman for himself. They would become one -- or so he had thought -- and he would have his revenge against the Lord. He would have what the Lord did not have -- a counterpart, an other self, a co-equal to fulfill his
onoma.
Such arrogance! Such pride! This picture of brazenness takes us back to what we saw in Haman. Haman was the perfect specimen of Lucifer -- the serpent, Satan -- as he sought to accomplish precisely the same thing with the destruction of Esther and her people, and gain the throne by the overthrow of Xerxes (Ahasuerus).
And again it has come to naught. Oh, the serpent will have Adam and Eve under his dominion. Though they will still be One, they will be his slaves, and he will have prevented the Lord from having His Bride........or so he thinks. His efforts to have a bride for himself will not cease. He will change his approach many times in the ages to come. He will greatly fear the human race, even though they are under his dominion. He will seek in every possible way to prevent them from ever seeing the heart and purposes of the Lord to have for Himself a counterpart. His approaches will become more and more camouflaged as he strives to gain the heart of a people. He will become even more crafty. And in the end, it will still come to naught.
Adam's act will condemn them both to removal from the Garden, and separation from the Lord God, and the intimate relationship they have known with Him. Outside the Garden and beyond this place, this portal where eternity has ruled, a time clock will begin ticking. Adam and Eve will begin to feel -- albeit slowly, at first -- the effects of aging. The clock will tick for nine hundred and thirty years for Adam and Eve, and they will die, as surely as the Lord had warned them. They will die "in the day they ate thereof."
Just as they were created on the "sixth day," where "a day with the Lord is as a thousand years," and will dwell with the Lord through the sixth and seventh days, they will die before the end of the eighth day, some nine hundred thirty years following their departure from the Garden. If measured within the framework of time as we have known time, their lives would stretch from their exiting of the Garden to the day when David erected his tabernacle. No human beings -- ever -- will dwell on the face of the earth for a span of time to equal that of Adam and Eve -- unless it be us........but we will not speculate on that!
An extraordinary thing will have happened, however. Adam's act of participating with Eve and eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil will have thwarted the Serpent's plan. He thought he was going to rob Adam of Eve, and in so doing, prevent the Plan of the Lord God from going forth in the earth. True, the Serpent did now have Adam and Eve living under his dominion -- so to speak -- but the Plan of the Lord God was even more surely established in the earth.
Adam has demonstrated the onoma of the Lord. He chose to die for his beloved Eve rather than allow her to be forever separated from him, and imprisoned to the abuses of the serpent, whose true colors became evident as he spoke his lies and opposition to the expressed word and warning of the Lord. He would go down in history as "the first Adam," having redeemed his bride from destruction, separation, and imprisonment.
Yes, they and their descendants born outside the Garden would be subject to the wiles, the torments, the treachery of the serpent, who would henceforth be called, Satan. Yes, they would now have to "work for a living" by tilling the ground instead of watching it simply spring forth spontaneously as it had in the Garden. Yes, they would know disease and sickness, labor and hardship. They would see their descendants fight among themselves and kill one another. They would live to see such evil come upon the earth as could scarcely be imagined. They would see the true effects of eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil as death reigned in the earth. They would know that although they had been given the Tree of Knowledge -- along with the Tree of Life in the Garden -- and the freedom to choose whether to partake or to heed the warnings of the Lord God, it was their choices which had separated them from Him.
Yet, in the midst of it all, hope and a promise would spring forth in their beings, for in the midst of their removal from the Garden of Eden, the Lord had spoken. As the Serpent was transformed from a creature of beauty and loveliness into a hated snake who would be forever condemned to crawl on his belly in the dust of the earth, trodden over and despised of the human race, God had spoken, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; and it shall overwhelm and crush your head, and you shall snap at and attempt to bruise his heel."
Thus was there promised to Eve -- and to Adam -- the coming of a descendant who would turn the tables on the serpent -- one who would crush him and destroy his power over the human race. That One would come in the likeness of Adam, who redeemed his bride from destruction. That One would redeem His Bride from destruction, and finally -- once and for all -- finish the power of the Serpent in the earth.
Watching Adam this day as he departs the Garden with Eve, we cannot help but be overwhelmed with the picture of our Bridegroom. It is also a strange paradox. Adam was created, formed, molded, shaped in the exact likeness and image of our Bridegroom. Yet He, Jesus Christ, came into the earth as the seed of Adam and Eve, created, molded, shaped in the image of Adam. By another paradox, He was not the seed of Adam, but the seed of Eve. True, He came of a woman, but he was implanted in the woman -- not by man, but by the Holy Spirit with whom He was already One. Thus he came as "the second Adam," the "last Adam," if you will.
A cycle has been completed. Adam was not born of a woman -- he was created, molded, formed under pressure by the hand of the Lord God, and had the breath of life breathed into him by the Lord. Eve came from Adam, having been drawn from his side -- not having been born of a woman. Though Jesus was born of a woman, He was not of the seed of Adam, nor was He in any way a genetic descendant. The life which was in Him was the breath of the Spirit, sent by the Father -- with whom He was One in the beginning. In the same manner that Eve came from Adam's side, we have come from Jesus' side. Eve came from Adam's side, created after the flesh to be his counterpart. We came from Jesus' side, created, drawn, molded, and shaped under pressure -- after the Spirit -- to become His counterpart -- after the Spirit.
Adam has the heart of the Lord for his bride, Eve. He understood what the Lord had experienced in being without a counterpart. He knew what it was to be incomplete. At the same time, there was no way he could countenance seeing Eve taken into captivity. She was his counterpart -- his other self. Rather than save his own life and allow Eve to suffer separation from him and perpetual bondage to the serpent, he has chosen to sacrifice his everlasting life here in the Garden and his place of unity and fellowship with the Lord God. He could not more clearly demonstrate the
onoma of our Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ, who left his place of unity and fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit as He came to redeem us from our place of perpetual separation and bondage to the serpent.
In another extraordinary paradox we see that Jesus, because He was and is God -- in leaving his place of unity and fellowship with the Father and the Holy Spirit to enter the human race as the promised seed of Eve -- and Adam -- in order to redeem His Bride, succeeded in only solidifying that relationship even more. Just as Adam left his throne in the Garden, Jesus left his throne in the heavenlies -- but He was sent to fulfill the original mission of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, established before time began.
All of this -- every event which we have seen -- was foreknown and foreordained before the first words were spoken,
"Let there be light!"
Again, the now familiar portal into eternity quickly opens before us and around us. Again we are engulfed in the ever-present sense of our Lord and Bridegroom. As Adam and Eve fade from our view, along with the Garden, we are gripped with an awe as we consider the meticulous care that our Adam used in preparing for us, the infinite detail He went to in preparing the circumstances of our development and growth, and the deep love He demonstrated as He set the stage to have for Himself an overcoming Bride.
Eve is very much the picture of us. And yet, though she was clearly Adam's exact and precise counterpart, she was a bride after the flesh. When faced with the temptation to have "the knowledge of good," and the "knowledge of evil," she succumbed. We, likewise, have been faced with the same temptation, but have overcome -- choosing rather the Tree of Life and an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, our Adam. Because we have overcome, we are a part of this corporate company known as "The Bride of Christ."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Well, there it is, folks! This was a bit of a different way to take a look at things, but I thought you might appreciate seeing this experience through my eyes and the things that went through my spirit as I saw these events unfold. Now, don't you go jumping to conclusions. I'm not trying to preach some new doctrines, or anything like that. These are things for you to consider and meditate over during the day -- and maybe the days to come. Let's see what the Lord does with this, and what kind of revelation He brings to all of us.
In the meantime, have a blessed day!
Regner A. Capener
EKKLESIA HOUSE
RR-15, Box 6180
Mission, TX 78574-9589
(956) 583-5355
Chat
with Regner
This article may be reprinted, reposted, copied and re-used – in whole or in part – with proper attribution.
|
