Intimacy with God

"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you ... "It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.' But I say to you ... "Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.' But I say to you ... " [Matthew 5:27-8, 31-32, 33-34 ESV]

God created man for relationship. He created man in His image so all who are men and women would have an intimate relationship with Him. He created them male and female so married couples would have a deeper intimacy one with another, a reflection of the individual’s intimacy with God. When Adam, the first man, sinned he destroyed his ability and desire for intimacy with God and compromised his desire and ability to have an intimate relationship with his wife, Eve. Part of the "curse", the discipline imposed upon all, a disciple designed to either drive each away from the other or to drive any toward God then toward each other, was the desire of Eve to control Adam. This judgment was a direct outgrowth of her conversation with the serpent and Adam listening to Eve when she offered him the forbidden fruit. Please note, when God forbade Adam from eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil He did not remove Adam from the tree or the tree from the Garden. He left both in close proximity so Adam would learn true obedience and hunger and thirst for continued intimacy with Him. God always knew the outcome. Man needed to know.

Jesus, in the three illustrations of adultery, divorce and oaths, challenges the thinking of the hearts of men, the traditions of men, and forces His hearers to think like God originally intended man think. In order for any to understand and live intimately with another they must first understand and live intimately with God. He is the foundation and energy behind all of creation including d Eve intimacy between people. Adultery is the manufacturing of a false or counterfeit intimacy, a temptation to replace a sanctioned relationship without short term pleasure. Divorce is the destruction of a sanctioned and intimate relationship. Breaking an oath, which compromises the integrity and trust which must be present in every intimate relationship, exposes and condemns the thinking of the heart allowing the sin of adultery and divorce. God's intimate relationship with our first parents, Adam and Eve, was wholly and completely good, with no sin or any of the overt or covert baggage which comes with sin. Adam and Eve's relationship with God and with each other was wholesome and pure. Until Adam and Eve decided to rebel and do what was right in their own eyes. We will never get such a relationship while in this corrupted and sinful world, with either God or each other. Such a relationship with God begins when we are recreated and indwelt with the Holy Spirit and we will have throughout eternity.

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [Genesis 1:26-28 ESV]

We have in the past defined and described what the "image" of God is in man. Without it we would be unable to relate to God. It is not a physical image. God does not look like us, nor we Him. He does not have a body or internal organs, with blood and flesh and bones. Nor are we exactly like Him for that which is created can never replace or equal that which eternally exists. God uses the phrase the "thinking of the heart" in several places, usually to describe how sinful man is and acts. It is a good phrase because it combines the three primary elements of His image in us. We are thinking, rational beings with emotions specifically designed to tell us when something is good, righteous and just, and warn us when something is evil and sinful, against the nature of God. We act, have wills, and will do what our heads and our hearts tell us to do. So, we are intelligent, moral-emotional creations with wills to direct our actions.

But, there is one other element, and maybe others as yet unknown, which God gave Adam and all man, which even angels do not have. God created angels also, with minds and emotions and wills. They understand, because they are also rational, thinking beings, who know the laws of God, His will and His commands and are able to act. Men are not angels but are declared in creation higher than angels. Look again at Genesis 1:26. God give us dominion. "And let them have dominion over" creation. Adam was given the world. Just as all creation is God's so God gave man charge over a part of His creation. No angel was given dominion over anything. Perhaps this was the decision of God which galled Lucifer. We are never told.

We are told God made us like Him. Not completely like Him in His eternal qualities and divine characteristics, but enough like Him so we might know Him intimately. How blessed was Adam and Eve. How blessed are we to know we are still loved by God. He wants us to hunger and thirst after intimacy with Him. Jesus, who had the morphe (form) of God, the morphe (form) of a servant, and the scheme (likeness) of a human carries in His person both the eternal image of God and the image of God given man. Not only did God make us like Him but made Himself like us to redeem us from the sentence of sin. In the incarnation of Christ we have a truly intimate relationship making possible a truly intimate relationship between a just God and those fallen, redeemed and recreated whom He loves.

Intimacy With God

You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

We are made in God's image for intimate relationship with Him and open relationship with those He has placed near us. God created in a way His creation reflects, shines, shows who He is. We may know Him by looking at all He has created. We know God, both intellectually and intimately, by looking at ourselves. But, we are tainted by sin, introduced through a single act of disobedience affecting and corrupting all who are born in sin. His image in us is degraded but still points to Him as creator.

Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, describes and defines the citizen of the kingdom of heaven (see Matthew 5:2-9) of which He is the King. He has stated explicitly what these characteristics are, then shows the results of the citizen living as God expects. Our world will hate us and attack us because of our relationship with Jesus (see Matthew 5:10-12). Sin inspires hatred from the world for anything righteous. Our response to the world is to continue in righteousness through our witness and our being prepared for eternity (see Matthew 5:13-16). Finally, Jesus states His authority and the foundation for all He has said, the description of the citizen of His kingdom, and the examples of those characteristics which follow. He has already given examples of the first three characteristics (see Matthew 5:2-4) in the previous verses (Matthew 5:21-26). He now moves on to the next few examples.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, a positive, eternal characteristic of the citizen, are assaulted with the temptation to hunger and thirst after unrighteousness, a negative, worldly, temporary quality. Those who are merciful, to actively love God and others, are assaulted by the negative, worldly bent to actively hate others. Jesus gives negative illustrations of the positive characteristics to drive home the expectations of God for those who are His. For hungering and thirsting after righteousness He uses adultery, though He could use many other temptations and sins. For mercy He uses divorce, one of the results of adultery. When He describes those who are pure in heart He uses the negative illustration of not taking oaths.

Adultery is a poison, slow acting and always fatal to all relationships. It corrupts and finally kills relationships. Even the relationship which is adulterous cannot survive the poison of adultery. Jesus takes His stance directly from the seventh commandment. People tend to expand upon God's commands in order to build a hedge so they will not come close to violating the command. Eve did this when she, or perhaps Adam, added the phrase "you will not touch" to God's command to not eat the forbidden fruit. Jesus tears down the wall built by those legalists who believe they do not commit a violation of the command by simply refraining from the physical activity. Yet, how many of them have imagined, allowing the thinking of their hearts to dwell upon or obsess over a relationship with someone not their spouse? This obsession is not limited to sexual thoughts though this is the direction it most often takes.

Divorce is an act of violence, committed over a period of time as one person abuses another until the relationship is destroyed. God does permit divorce but only on certain, specific grounds. For He does recognize the sinful nature of all and how some will compromise, devalue and actively grow to hate another. From the beginning of creation, God set apart the husband and wife and declared them one, two people intimately united, a living example of each of those who are His intimately united with Him. Sin breaks relationship, sometimes to the place where a relationship is so destroyed it cannot be restored and is violently torn apart.

Jesus does not shy away from stating a need to violently purge sin from a person’s life, from the thinking of their hearts. Those who reject Him, who refuse the calling and prompting of the Holy Spirit and the command of God to obey His voice and demand to come to Him and be reconciled, are subject to His justified wrath. Separated from Him because of sin, given grace to be reconciled to Him through the blood of Christ, and motivated by the Spirit to obey His command to accept His gift, brings together God and those who are citizens of His kingdom. They are no longer separated from Him but wholly in relationship with Him. Those who refuse to have a relationship with God will exist throughout eternity separated from Him. This separation is a justified act of violence.

It is sin which causes separation so it must be the removal of sin, or the fulfillment of the just sentence demanded by the Person of God as penalty for sin, which will reestablish and restore relationship. Since the penalty for sin is eternal separation from God then the only way in which one may become reconciled to Him would be to no longer be held accountable to the Law of God, or no longer be viewed as one who has violated God's eternal standard. Since God created man to have a relationship with Him, and has provided a means for each person to be reconciled to Him, the ultimate conclusion to all which happens is the realization of an intimate relationship between God and each person who is His. He uses marriage as a means of teaching what it means to have an intimate relationship. Any attack on marriage becomes an attack upon the Person of God and the realization of intimacy with Him.

I am going to try to understand and write about intimacy. I do not know if I will be able, using words, to describe something which is by its essence mystical and indescribable. But doing so will show the intensity of the attack upon intimacy by adultery and divorce. Pray for me.

Conclusion Matthew 5:21-26

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. [Matthew 5:21-26 ESV]

These verses, taken together, are illustrations of the first three characteristics of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven as described by Jesus in Matthew 5:3-5. They are negative illustrations of positive qualities even though the first two motivations are spoken with a negative tone. Those who are poor in spirit, who love the truth and hate the lie, will realize within themselves the truth of sin. God demanded the people of Israel realize their rebellion against Him just as a murderer, those who are angry without cause and revile others without reason, must acknowledge their deepest motivations. Israel was a rebellious people and God commanded they see their rebellion so they could war against it. Those who are self-righteous, who do not seek, need or want God's direction and council, who seek their own way and not His and are in rebellion against Him will rationalize their decisions and actions in a way which excludes Him.

God demands all realize the truth of sin.

However, simply recognizing sin is not enough. Those who are God's will realize the consequences of their sin and rebellion which means acknowledging their place before Him and His wrath against them. Jesus tells us those who are God's will mourn over their sin and the sin of the world. Sin causes separation between the person and God and between the person and all others. We were created to have a relationship with Him and do not because of sin. Our separation from Him is not God's fault. He must judge sin because His nature demands righteousness. He has provided a means of making the relationship new in Jesus' sacrifice. This is foolishness to the world but absolute truth in God's creation. We cannot worship God truthfully as long as we are guilty of sin before Him and others. Trying to worship God while guilty of sin is idolatry. Our gifts mean nothing until we mourn over the consequences of our sin, accept our guilt and accept God's gift and provision. We cannot make ourselves right but He can, and has, through His Son.

Finally, we must relinquish control to Him. We must stand before the judge and allow Him to judge righteously. If we do not accept the truth of our sin, realize the consequences of our sin, which is separation from God, then we cannot relinquish control of ourselves to Him. Meekness is God's strength in the citizen of His kingdom under His control. Should we be our own accuser, acknowledge the truth of our sin and repent, which means to turn away from sin, we will stand before a judge who will see Christ covering us with His blood and not our sin of rejecting Him and His gift. Those who do reject Him and His gift are judged by a single sin, it only takes one, and sentenced according to His just and righteous standards. His standard is Himself.

Anyone who reads the Hebrew Scripture, we call it the Old Testament, cannot help noticing how rebellious the Jews were toward God. From the exodus to the return of the exiles from Babylon, the Jewish people showed themselves stubborn and stiff-necked. These are God's words. God specifically told them if they kept His commandments and statutes He would bless them and care for them. If they forgot Him and ran after idols He would discipline them then punish them and remove them from the land He gave them. You cannot read Deuteronomy without seeing the blessings and the curses of God. He promises, and is trustworthy and able to deliver His promises. He demands obedience and because of His nature cannot tolerate disobedience, rebellion and sin.

Moses uses two phrases in Deuteronomy which reveal, I think, how we are to follow God's direction. First, he says "The thing seemed good to me" [Deuteronomy 1:23 ESV] then he says "you shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes" [Deuteronomy 12:8 ESV]. Each statement must be understood within its context. Both statements are in the same context though separated by, for us, several chapters. Moses is telling the people who are going into the "promised land" what their actions and motivations have been and what God's expectations are for them forever.

In Deuteronomy 1 Moses is telling the history of the people during their exodus. After they cross the desert God commands them to go and take possession of the land and to strictly follow His instructions about what they are to do with the inhabitants of the land. "Go up, take possession, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has told you. Do not fear or be dismayed" [Deuteronomy 1:21 ESV]. If obedience to His will shows love and relationship with Him, obedience is how God is worshipped, then disobedience shows rebellion and sin and a running after idols, or idolatry. They were to go up, to not be dismayed or afraid of the people, and take the land. God would go before them as He promised, and drive the people out, as He promised. But instead of going up, in trust and obedience, they waffled and asked to send spies into the land first. This is when Moses said "the thing seemed good to me, and I took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe" [Deuteronomy 1:23 ESV]. Twelve men went into the land and came back with their report. Ten of the men brought enough fear back with them they influenced the entire nation to rebel against God's know will. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, told the people to trust God, rely upon His strength, and take the land. Israel rebelled against God and spent the next 38 years wandering in the desert until all of the fighting men, over 600,000, died and were replaced.

Moses didn't believe God when he said "the thing seemed good to me" and lead the people into the land immediately. Had Moses not allowed the people to waffle they would have gone in. Sending in the spies was not God's idea but the thinking of hearts in rebellion against Him. People want God to assure them of the outcome before they even begin to obey. God does not work this way. He expects obedience and trust the outcome will be as He wants. He told them He would go before them. They, and Moses, did not completely believe and trust God.

In Deuteronomy 12 Moses is instructing the people how they are to worship God. In the previous chapters he has hammered the command to not ever worship idols. They are to never, when it comes too worshipping God, do "whatever is right in his own (their) eyes" [Deuteronomy 12:8 ESV]. Doing what is right in their own eyes is doing what is wrong in God's eyes. From the fall of Adam to the end of time people do what is right in their eyes but wrong in God's. When you read the book of Judges you will see this phrase stated at the end declaring the motivation of the people of Israel. "In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes" [Judges 21:25 ESV]. Israel did not recognize God as their authority did not follow His laws or obey His commands because they followed the thinking of their own hearts.

But read the rest of Moses' statement. "You shall not do according to all that we are doing here today, everyone doing whatever is right in his own eyes, for you have not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance that the LORD your God is giving you" [Deuteronomy 12:8-9 ESV]. Once you have entered His rest you will think righteously. His rest is eternity with Him, where there is no sin, where all are complete, recreated in the image and likeness of His Son. Until we enter His rest we cannot trust the thinking of our own hearts. We are still assaulted by sin in ourselves and our surroundings. We must continue recognizing our poverty of spirit. We must continue to mourn over the consequences of sin until we are completely delivered from sin. We must continue relinquishing control to Him in meekness seeking His strength and council and direction in obedience. Though we may experience His peace and rest here it is only a shadow of eternity where we shall know intimately Him who is peace and rest.

God's Judgment

"You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. [Matthew 5:21-26 ESV]

When the Israelites entered the Promised Land after 400 years of slavery in Egypt God commanded they kill everyone who lived in the land. All of the people in the land had committed wicked acts against God and each other. They practiced human sacrifice, often murdering their children in the fire for their false god. Their sin and wickedness required God act against them and He would use the Israelites as an instrument of judgment.

God is judging the nations they are to dispossess. When He commanded the Israelites to kill them all He was not wavering in His decision and would not make exceptions about their fate. He is responsible for their fates because He is the Creator and the Judge.

There were exceptions made by the Israelites. God's people did not do what He commanded. They did not "devote to destruction" all the inhabitants of the land. They began to intermarry with the locals. They observed the customs of the people who lived there even beginning to worship the idols of the land. Slowly the people of God refused to follow God and they became corrupt. So God used the people who were left, who were supposed to be removed from the land, to punish and discipline His own people. Eventually, He would drive away forever all those in the northern part of the land and exile for a time those in the southern part. They left Him so He left them.

For a time God used the Philistines to drive His people toward Him. The Philistine lived along the coast of the Sea and were a strong people. During one of the many wars and conflicts between Israel and the Philistines the Jewish army decided to try to use God the way the Philistines used their idols. Israel picked up the Ark of the Covenant and carried it into battle as a superstitious talisman or good luck charm.

God allowed His property, the Ark of the Covenant, to fall into the hands of those who hated Him. But then, the Israelites hated God, too. As long as the ark was in Philistine territory the Philistines were afflicted with diseases until they realized it was the God of Israel which was afflicting them. Sending it back, with a physical offering, seemed to end their afflictions.

For over twenty years the ark stayed at Kiriath-jearim. Then Samuel, still a young man, judged Israel. He listened to God and spoke to the people about God, telling them what God wanted. His words to Israel at the end of twenty years tell how the people changed, repented and turned back to God. God commanded they, speaking through Samuel, purge their lives and land of the idols, replacing their worship of chunks of wood and metal with a heart directed toward God. They did. "So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the LORD only" [1 Samuel 7:4 ESV].

As the nation of Israel gathered at Mizpah, on the border with the Philistines, to worship God as Samuel prayed for the nations, the Philistine army gathered to attack them. There is only one reason Samuel would have gathered the people at Mizpah. God intended for His people to attack and defeat the Philistines. There in Mizpah the entire nation of Israel worshipped God but when they realized the Philistines were gathering to attack they became afraid. Listen to what the people said as they trembled at Mizpah as the forces of their enemies gathered to attack. "And the people of Israel said to Samuel, "Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines" [1 Samuel 7:8 ESV].

They said "the LORD our God." This is the only time in all of the writings of Samuel this phrase is used. It is such a rare occurrence for the people of Israel, while in rebellion against God, to acknowledge Him as their God. This shows they had truly turned away from idols, repented of their sin, and turned toward God. As His people worshipped Him, as the Philistines prepared for battle, God began to fight the enemies of His people. He "thundered with a mighty sound" and "threw them into confusions" [1 Samuel 7:10 ESV] and Israel pursued them deep into Philistine territory and struck them down. From then until much later there was peace in the land, and the Israelites took back many of the cities and land forfeited to the Philistines. It wasn't until Samuel was an old man, and his sons had been killed by God because of their sins, the people asked for a king. Peace brought complacency and further rebellion against God.

Jesus, in the verses following His description of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven and the authority He has, talks about facing a judge because of crimes or violations of trust between people and against God. He demands all who are His recognize their sin, no matter what, and then realize the consequences of sin, how our sin drives us away from each other but especially separates us from God. Those who are His cannot be separated from Him but will be disciplined by Him to drive out sin, to purify our witness before the world and make us ready for eternity. All sin, not just murder or unjustified anger, is judged by God just as all crimes should be judged by worldly courts. Yet, with God there is no should but always.

God judges all sin. He judged all sin, found all guilty and sentenced all to separation from Him, for He cannot abide sin. Those who rebel against Him and reject Him, who violate His commands and refuse to obey, will find He rejects them. But upon the person of His Son, Jesus, He placed the sin and rebellion of all and Jesus completed the sentence of separation in our stead. He brought reconciliation between God and us. Yet, many still rebel against Him, refusing to accept His offer of peace, wanting to continue in their hatred toward Him. It only takes one sin, the sin of rejecting Jesus, to separate any from Him who created them for relationship.

When the Israelites turned from their idols, the evidence of their rebellion against God turned and worshipped God only He protected them from their enemies. This does not mean He removed their enemies from their presence but He fought against them and defeated them and contained them. They recognized sin, realized the consequences of their sin, and then relinquished control of themselves to God. He fought for them, judged the Philistines, and allowed His people to defeat them and drive them away. He judged the enemies of God for He is the Judge. When we see the evidence of our sin, against God or others, understand what this sin is doing to our relationships with God and others, and humble ourselves before God and others, He restores, gives peace and protects.

Humility versus Pride

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. [Matthew 5:25 ESV]

When looking at an accused, determining guilt or innocence, the judge will try to understand the motivation behind the words and actions. What is it which drives the person to be disobedient? God does not have to discover motivation. He already knows. His Spirit drives deep into the persons thinking and heart, probing mercilessly into the soul, exposing every sin and inkling of rebellion. But how can we know? How can I know what is in my heart? Sin is at its essence deception. At least a huge part of the essence of sin is deception.

Eve listened to a lie. Then she added a lie to God's true command. "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die'" [Genesis 3:23 ESV] She put words into God's mouth, attributing to Him a command He never said or gave. She lied to the Serpent, who knew it was a lie. She lied to herself. I'm not convinced she knew she was lying to herself when she said these words. When she, or perhaps Adam, added the words she knew it was not true. All Adam had to say was "God said we were not to eat. He never said we could not touch." But Adam did not correct Eve. There are two possibilities. Either Adam added the extra command to keep himself and his wife from violating the command or Eve added the words. It does not matter who did. God never said these words.

Eve lied to herself when she lied to the Serpent. Before she took a bite out of the forbidden fruit she sinned. It was easy to add to this lie another lie as she did when she answered the Serpent adding a lie to the truth so she does to herself now. She sees the truth and then adds a lie to it. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" [Genesis 3:6 ESV]. What is true in this statement? God made every tree good for food. Even the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was good for food. I have nothing to validate the following opinion but it is plausible God would have eventually allowed them to eat from this tree. We do not, nor can we know the circumstances under which this would happen. For them at this time the fruit of the tree, which was good for food, was forbidden. They could not eat it.

Like every other tree in the garden, and everything made by God, the tree and its fruit were a delight to the eyes. Nothing God made was bad. Everything was good. When He finished creating He declared everything good. He declared His highest creation, man created in His image, Adam and Eve, the culmination of all He created very good. Though we see many things around us which are not pleasing to the eye, a delight to the eye, everything God made was beautiful. Perhaps nettles didn't sting and mosquitoes didn't bite and there were no bare deserts and dry arid places. Man, corrupted by sin, makes things ugly, and calls this ugly beautiful while destroying God's beauty in order to remake it in man's eyes and after man's desire. We may conclude from God's essential character and His declarative words all things were good in His eyes and thus beautiful beyond our understanding. Even the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was beautiful.

Now she adds the lie. She determined in the thinking of her heart the fruit of "the tree was to be desired to make one wise." She bought the lie of the Serpent which suggested, then firmly implanted in the thinking of her heart, God was withholding wisdom, being like Him, from her. She was made in the image of God to have a relationship with Him. She was herself and could never be God. She was like God but not God. We do not know how long Eve contemplated the temptation implanted in her by the Serpent and her own lie. It could have been moments or years. Eventually she decided she wanted what belonged only to God and thought eating the forbidden fruit would give her the desire of the thinking of her heart. Her motivation changed from servant to master, from child to parent, from contentment to discontent and covetousness. She had dominion over all the earth. She wanted dominion over heaven, too.

John has given us parallel statements to those of the thinking of Eve's heart. "For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions" [1 John 2:16 ESV]. Just as Eve, and ultimately Adam, wanted to possess all which belonged to God, so we follow thinking all we have, all we own, all which is ours is actually our possessions, gotten by our own hands. John's word used here is braggadocio. Do I need to tell you what it means? We are all braggarts before God. This motivation, for it is a true motivation, is the exact opposite of the characteristics God builds and forms in those who are His. It begins with the "lust" of the flesh and the eyes where each of us looks at that which is good and delightful and pleasing and beautiful and covets it for ourselves ending in thinking we have gotten it for ourselves and it is owned by us. How arrogant and proud.

When self is promoted God is shoved out. God can never be shoved out and when life is done all we bragged about, all of our "accomplishments" and all we "own" will go to others and be forgotten. We are truly temporary in this world made for another place. God uses this world to prepare us for eternity either in His presence or out and away from His presence. He begins the change by demanding we recognize the truth of sin in ourselves and then realize, truly realize the consequences of sin. Then He moves us toward humility and meekness. How can any stand before a judge accused of violations of the law and not be humble?

Come to terms quickly with your accuser lest you be judged.

Eternal Value

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. [Matthew 5:25-26 ESV]

What is the evidence the Judge will examine? This Judge peers into the heart, knows the thoughts of all and sees everything whether done, possible, probable, hidden or blatant. He knows.

Something has happened to the thinking of the hearts of those made in His image. Just as He wants the whole person so too, the world, and sin wants the whole person. Here we can associate the world with sin though sin is internal, coming from within the person, and not external. Nothing God makes is in and of itself sinful. Eve, when she was tempted by the Serpent "saw that the tree was good for food" and that the food "was a delight to the eyes" [Genesis 3:6 ESV]. God made nothing which wasn't good. This includes the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and its fruit. As part of the world this tree, like every other tree, and its fruit, like all the other fruit, was good. It was not sinful. There was nothing in and of itself which made the fruit of this tree poisonous or bad. It was made delicious. And it looked delicious. But it was forbidden. Adam was told to not eat the fruit from this tree.

When we cling to the world we become vulnerable to the temptations of the world. Not everything in the world is wrong or sinful. It is our own desires, when attached to the things of the world are sin in the thinking of our hearts. Rebellion is a condition of the thinking of the heart, not just the thinking and not just the heart. Being in the presence of the forbidden demands trusting obedience. The thing or person forbidden is not itself, or themselves, sinful. It is desire which uses the thing or the person as a catalyst to bend us away from obedience. Desire unencumbered by disciple, responsibility and obedience to righteousness changes our motivation and encourages disobedience, which causes distrust, which kills faith.

Is desire wrong? Are we not created with desires? Desires to love, be loved, have meaningful relationships? Desires to own and control anything forbidden, or for anything which has no eternal value is automatically sinful. Eve's desire was to have what God forbade. She had everything else. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate" [Genesis 3:1-6 ESV]. Here, the word for "desire "means to covet. Eve coveted that which belonged to God. When she ate she made the false claim eating the fruit, a fruit like any other, had magical powers which would make her equal to God. Eating the fruit destroyed the relationship she had with God. Eating the fruit also strained to breaking the relationship she had with Adam. Sin and rebellion destroys relationships between God and others.

What of God's creation has eternal value? People, those created in the image of God for relationship with Him and with those around them, are the only things in this world with eternal value. Jesus did not die for a church building or a nation. He did not create animals or plants or even this world to last for eternity. He created people to last for eternity. They will either in His presences or outside of His presence. No one is created to cease to exist.

Why then, do we cling to the things of this world? Though created in God's image we are bent to rebellion by Adam's sin. Total depravity does not mean everything we do, no matter how good it is, is sinful. It does mean we have no ability, no strength or process given us which will make us right with God. Nothing we do, no matter how good or righteous it is has merit in God's sight or before His eternal standard, which is Himself. God judges the desires, words and actions of all. God is the Judge. His whole Person, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit work in unison to see the evidence, bring the accusation, judge the matter according to His holy character, pronounce sentence and carry out the execution of that sentence. God, knowing the depths of the thinking of the heart, is just in all He does for none can stand before Him as righteous based upon their own merit.

Love for the things of the world is evidence there is no love for God. We replace Him with stuff which has no eternal value. We were not created to cling to this world but to know Him intimately. We cannot as long as our covetous desires are for anything which has no eternal value.

Oure Truth

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. [Matthew 5:25-26 ESV]

Rebellion begins when we listen to a lie and believe it is truth and then repeat it as truth. We do this because we do not test the lie against truth, or better, allow truth to expose the lie. When Eve spoke with the Serpent she heard what he asked "did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'" [Genesis 3:1 ESV]? Instead of answering his lie with the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, she answered by adding to the truth her own lie. She told the Serpent God did not even want them to touch the fruit of the forbidden tree. I believe Adam was standing right there and listening to the exchange. I have no evidence for this other than she ate then gave to him. In either case he witnessed her eating the forbidden and then ate.

These two, the first people, are intelligent, morally straight servants of God with dominion over the earth. What could possibly influence them to believe a lie and not the truth? Inexperience? Forgetfulness? Perhaps they had never heard a lie before. Why would any created by God, who cannot lie, not tell the truth? Why would they lie to themselves? To set a boundary so they wouldn't even be tempted? Maybe they didn't understand the boundary God set for them. In any case, Eve added to the truth her own brand of lie and Adam did not stop her or reason with her.

Notice the progression of events as the Serpent piles one lie onto another.

The serpent lied when he told them they would not die if they ate the forbidden. He called God a liar. He attributed to God a personality and characteristic which was not true. He said God did not want them to be like Him, even though God made them in His image. They could not be like God completely. God did tell them to not eat from the tree because He did not want them to know good and evil. The serpent suggested to them that knowing good and evil was desirable and powerful and a way for them to emulate the One who created them. They were His children and children do want to be like their parents.

This is my opinion. Eventually, after they had grown to know God deeply and intimately, after a long time of learning about dominion and what the image of God in them actually was, after having a long relationship with Him, God was going to allow them to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I have no evidence for this opinion other than God created the tree, set the boundary, told His creation, and declared all He had done "very good." The tree and fruit were not poisonous. They could see the fruit was good for food. All of the fruit in the garden was good for food. God wanted obedience from the whole person. He did not discourage questioning. He did not tell them don't touch. He commanded they take care of the tree, for it was in their dominion, under their control. It was their tree and they were His given authority over the whole earth. I think He would have eventually given them permission to eat from the tree, perhaps after they had struggled with the one temptation they faced and overcame.

God allowed the Serpent, Satan in a skin, to tempt them. He knew they had already added their lie to His truth and He did not stop them or the serpent. Satan had already fallen and was ejected from the Presence. He had already shown his disdain and hatred for God. So God used him, the fallen one, to test those He loves, Adam and Eve and by extension all people, to show them their love for Him. We are like Him. We cannot force anyone to love us but know when they do and when they do not. God will not force us to love Him but will strengthen our love for Him once we recognize its truth.

Now, notice the progression of thought in 1 John 2:

God showed His love for us through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, whose blood covered our sin. When we see the extent of His love for us, recognize it and realize the consequences of it, we begin an intimate relationship with Him. Our relationship with Him grows as we fight and struggle and control sin, overcoming evil. We have His strength in us under His control used by us for Him, to show our love for Him. If we love anything in this world we do not love God. He tests us asking bluntly if we love Him more than we love the world. We must answer honestly and realize and recognize how strong is the tug and pull of the world, our own flesh and the lies of Satan. We cannot control the world and Satan. We do have, with God's strength, the tools needed to fight and overcome our flesh.

We must not add to God's truth our lies or the lies of the world. The only way to purge the lie is to have an intimate relationship with Truth.

Our Accuser

Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny. [Matthew 5:25-26 ESV]

In these verses the word "accuser "means someone who has a justified claim or accusation against another. A "judge" is someone given the responsibility to uphold every law strictly. Finally, the "guard" is another delegated to carry out sentence. Each has their place in the justice of God. All consequences are based upon a violation of a law and rebellion against the One who gave the law. We can recognize our "accuser" as Satan who tries to accuse those who are redeemed. But he is not the accuser in these verses. For the accuser here is Jesus who will stand against all who refuse to accept His sacrifice and grace. He is not the judge. That position is held by God, the Father, who will judge each man's works according to the righteous life of His Son. There need only be one sin, the sin of rejecting the grace commanded we receive. Finally, the officer is the Holy Spirit who will carry out sentence, either guaranteeing our place before God or removing those who are not His from His presence.

Without trying to make too much of the threefold positions found in these verses there is also a threefold element to every justified accusation. Just as the whole person is made in the image of God, which comprises many elements, the elements we are examining are the mind, or the intelligence, the moral-emotional being, or that which interprets the righteous and just standard of God, and the will. Our minds tell us to do something based on the evidence. Our moral-emotional self either warns us of the danger of violating a law or encourages us to rationalize and excuse our thinking. Then our will acts upon the thinking of our hearts. Just as God wants us to be whole, being disciplined by Him in the whole person, and works toward making us whole so rebellion involves the whole person. Both Eve and Adam fell when they ate the forbidden fruit.

We could spend the rest of our lives discussing God's commands and His expectation for obedience and that Adam was given only one prohibition for there was only one forbidden tree in the world. We could spend time on the lies of the Serpent and the accusation he threw at God, another lie. We could also spend time examining Eve's response and how she added to the command of God. Or Adam's complacence in just following the suggestion of his wife. We could spend books on the theology of Federal Headship and how in Adam the whole of humanity fell from grace. However, there was a threefold process Eve went through to decide or excuse her rebellious action. "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate" [Genesis 3:6 ESV].

She saw the evidence of the goodness of the tree and its fruit. She delighted in what she saw. She desired the fruit because she knew it would make her as wise as God. Or so she thought. Living within God's boundaries, placed not to constrain but to allow the whole person to have a relationship with Him, is true freedom. How can there be true freedom when there are boundaries? God's boundaries define the whole person. When we try to be something we are not we rebel against God's design and purpose. We have intelligence and a moral foundation, our emotions telling us when God's moral standard is being violated or upheld. He created Adam as a servant of His and gave him dominion over the earth. With one deliberate constrain, the forbidden, Adam reigned everywhere and over all things.

When he ate that which was forbidden he introduced to the world grief beyond comprehension. "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden" [Genesis 3:7-8 ESV]. They hid from Him who would judge them. I do not want to say what they should have done. They should have not eaten the forbidden. They should not have covered themselves. They should not have hidden from God. They did all of these things and then offered excuses for their rebellion. They were caught. God had already told them the consequences of their rebellion. Hiding from Him would not lessen the judgment.

We all sin. Our freedom in Christ is to come before the Judge, admit and confess the sin and know He has forgiven becasue of the Cross. It is the blood of Christ which covers us. This is called coming to terms quickly with our Accuser before we stand before the Judge so we will not be handed over to the Officer.