Genesis 3 is a story that is 100% real and in the New Testament Paul talks about the true man named Adam. Man sinned and then after man sins, God took them out of the Garden of Eden because He knew that that was the only way to redeem them; He did it out of love. There are things that are in Genesis 3 that are not talked about again until the end of the Bible in Revelation. There are images in this chapter that God talks about in Revelation. There are 66 books in the Bible and 39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New. There are 1,500 years between the time that Genesis was written and Revelation being written. 66 books, 1,500 years of difference and it was originally written in 3 languages AND it was written on 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Europe) from a minimum of 40 authors that didn’t all know each other that were from different times and different places before it was all translated and put together. The most interesting thing is that in all these books there is one theme that connects them all and that they have in common; Relationships between God and man. The Bible is not a book written by men because every book written by 40 men from different places made a story that all went together in different “chapters”. It was written by men that were speaking God’s words and stories.
When the man sins God curses the serpent. He tells the serpent that he will have his head crushed by men and that he will strike us at our heel. The men carry the seed of the woman. The only woman to carry a seed not by man was Mary. The first promise God said to Satan; “You did not win, because one day, the seed of a woman will have victory over you forever.” (Genesis 3:15) By deceit the enemy robbed authority from the man and so sin robs everything and destroys everything.
God created man to be under His authority. Isaiah 14:12-14 is God talking to Satan about how he was thrown from heaven onto the earth for trying and wanting to be above the stars of God and building a throne above the heavens and being like God. Satan’s greatest sin was independence. He wanted to go from underneath God’s authority and have his own authority. He decided that he wasn’t under God’s authority or above it but that he would be at the same level as Him. Rebellion is what Satan chose and it’s also what Adam and Eve chose; to come out from under God’s authority and to be their own authority. We have committed the same sin as Satan has. Nobody goes to heaven because they are obligated; they are there by their decision and by love. That’s why the kingdom of God is love.
(Colossians 1:20) God didn’t only liberate man from sin; He restored all things and was able to redeem everything. That’s why the work of the cross is a complete work.
(Luke 22:39-42) Jesus prays to God to spare Him from having to die on the cross if it is God’s will. Without Gethsemane, the work of the cross would not have been completed. The people did not grab Jesus; He surrendered Himself even though He knew the outcome. Gethsemane means: Oil presser. Why were the disciples falling asleep? Most of them were fishermen who worked during the night, so why couldn’t they stay awake? (SIDENOTE: Hebrews 12-Jesus went to the cross with joy.) Why Gethsemane? Why did Christ pray this way?
Hebrews 5:7 “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God.” Why does Jesus cry like this? He took on our sins on the cross but something started to happen in Gethsemane that was important for Him to leave and say “the time has come”. He left in victory from Gethsemane and destroyed the enemy on the cross. In Gethsemane He won the victory. But what happened in Gethsemane that made this so? What made Gethsemane important? In Gethsemane Jesus was confronted with the demonic strong holds. Hell itself presented itself in Gethsemane and Jesus made an open show of them and gained ground and victory there. Nobody was able to take Jesus, He handed himself in. He knew it was time and left Gethsemane knowing He had victory assured.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
John 8:28 “So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father has taught me.’”
Why did Jesus pray as He did? He wasn’t forced to go to the cross, He chose it. Humanity had opened the door of independence for Satan to have authority. In Gethsemane Jesus was pressed and broken because the will of Christ was broken. Jesus had a will just like that of the Father and when He got to Gethsemane, confronting hell itself, and found independence. In that moment Jesus died to His own will and did the will of the Father. When he leaves he knows it is time for God’s will to go so he knew the victory was already won. Hell did not want him to leave Gethsemane because it knew that the victory of Christ was already won.
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