The Almighty created man with certain needs which must be met if he is to live happily, as the Lord meant for him to live.  Everything our first parents needed for their spiritual, physical and material life was provided in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:16,17).  But something happened.  They lost it all by way of a self-inflicted spiritual wound.  Several years ago a song exploded onto the music scene and immediately became a hit.  The song was titled “We Could Have Had It All” which told of a couple who had everything going for them until a self-inflicted problem broke the bond that held them together, thereby ending the possibility of “having it all.”

Adam and Eve literally “had it all”–comfort, beauty, provisions, freedom, safety, as well as DOMINION over the earth and everything on, under and above it, as well as everything in the body of waters that dotted it (Gen. 1:28:29).  There was NOTHING that was not under their rule.  Read The Unknown Power of God’s Elect and “You Walk as Men.”  Key words–Unknown and Walk respectively.  Along with everything else, the first human beings were given dominion over the Serpent (Satan) who, along with his fallen angles, occupied the heaven above them.  That heaven includes the area where man lives was revealed by the Prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel who tell us that “heaven” is everything above ground level.  As they proclaim, birds fly and build their nests in heaven (48:28/Eze. 31:6).  This means that we are in heaven even when lying down.  Recall that Paul noted the existence of at least three heavens (2 Cor. 12:2).  You’ve got to love God’s “fine print.”

To retain their incredible life and all that was involved in it Adam and Eve needed only to obey their Creator who enjoyed their company so much that He came from His throne in heaven to earth in the cool of the day to talk with them face-to-face (Gen. 3:8,9).  This reveals the close relationship enjoyed by the Lord and His most valued creation.  Notice in verse nine that upon His arrival for their His visit to the Garden on that fateful day God called out for Adam and Eve, revealing that He came to earth specifically to visit with them.  They heard His voice from their hiding place.  ADAM AND EVE KNEW THEIR CREATOR ON A ONE-TO-ONE BASIS, WHICH IS THE WAY THEY AND THEIR DESCENDANTS WERE DESIGNED TO KNOW HIM.  This intimate spiritual relationship was meant to characterize man’s relationship with God forever.  To maintain that relationship mankind had only to obey His Words (commands).

However, the first humans rejected the Words of their Creator and embraced the words of Satan, which they found more appealing in that they allowed THEM to determine what to do and not to do.  Their obedience to his words created a vacuum within their hearts that demanded to be filled.  Satan was quick to fill it, and the rest is history.  The fact that 99% of humanity has preferred Satan’s words over God’s Words demonstrates the power he exerts over religious man through his false prophets.  Any phone book will reveal the control Satan Inc. has over professing Christendom.

Man was created with a need for an overreaching hand, a guiding force that is greater than himself to guide and direct him as he walks through this life.  However, not everyone recognizes that basic human need which is as powerful as one’s need for food, drink and air.  An ever-decreasing percentage of mankind recognizes that need.  Polls reveal that those who profess to have a relationship with the Biblical God have steadily decreased in number over the past several generations.  I noted in the previous posting that as man’s intellect enables him to invent more and more things to make his life easier, he comes to depend on the Lord less and less.  For example, farmers no longer need to pray for rain; they use their invention to suck water from the earth with which to irrigate their crops.  Man’s “daily bread” is now taken from an invention where it has been cold-stored since he used another of his inventions in which to ride to the store where he purchased it, etc.   As a result, God is no longer the hub to which man is connected and around which he lives his life.   What he allowed man to invent for positive effects, man has used to show that he can do just fine by himself.  God has to be satisfied with the lip service man gives Him on Sunday morning and at mealtime.

Until, that is, the unexpected arrives to blow or wash all of man’s self-made “things” away, or until fire turns it into ash, or until disease ravages man himself, or until a war breaks out, or an accident takes him down, or ….  Until such an event takes place, man plots his own life course.  The ultimate question concerns why these things happen.  When disaster arrives unchurched man points an accusative finger toward his fellow man or to “the forces of nature” to answer the “why” question.  Conversely, churchman blames Satan.  Unchurched man looks to his fellow man to solve the current problem.   Churchman turns (temporarily) to God in search of help.  Though the groups look in the opposite directions for help, both solve their respective problems using the same man-made methods and inventions.  For example, the medical profession is one of the largest businesses in the world.  It is to that profession that both groups automatically look for help.  When war arrives, man looks to his military to save the day.  Why do both the churched and the unchurched look to man when physical problems arise?.  Did not Jesus say: “I am your God who heals you” (Exo. 15:26).  Why does a society look to its military when war threatens?  Did not God tell His people that the enemy would come at him one way and flee from him seven ways? (Deut. 28:7).  However, we need to note what He says in 28:25–that if we do not obey Him we will flee before our enemies seven ways.  Why does religious man look to what he himself has created when he has God’s promises recorded in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.  This website is dedicated to answering those and other like questions.  The problem is that only a minutely few people believe the answers God provides.

The irony is that the churched and the unchurched are in total agreement on one thing relative to the terrible things that occur in life–GOD DID NOT CAUSE THEM.  The unchurched “know” that He does not exist and therefore plays no part in the problems that they continue to endure.  The churched “know” that God is not involved because of His great love for them.   The unchurched “know” that what happens is simply life doing its thing.  The churched “know” that Satan is always the culprit.  The double irony is that the very Book which both the religious and the unreligious reject proves that both parties are wrong and that God places both parties in the same spiritual category.

Having been rejected by both parties, God continues to do what He promised to do: BLESS THOSE WHO OBEY HIM AND CURSE THOSE WHO DO NOT OBEY HIM.  Because neither group believes and obeys God, both groups continue down Satan’s path which takes them ever farther away from their Creator while desperately searching for someone or something to fill the void created by His absence.  Because those in both groups “have peace” about their chosen lifestyle, those in neither group know that they are unwittingly searching for that “something” or “someone.”  They are unaware of their profound spiritual deficit because Satan has supplied them with his substitute void-filling entity Biblically known as the “spirit of antichrist” (1 Jn. 2:18).  The spirit of antichrist has replaced the Spirit of Christ in the lives of 99% of the worlds’ population, approximately one-third of whom believe they are serving the Biblical God whom the “know” resides within them.  Read Bait and Switch.  Key word–Bait.  The rest of the world serves a variety of different gods from false gods and goddesses to fame, from drugs to sex, from money to popularity, from ….  As stated earlier, when God is pushed out, everything becomes a potential god.  The spirit of antichrist has an unlimited list of gods from which man can choose to worship and serve.

Only by diligently studying the Holy Scriptures with a heart eager to embrace what is written therein can man be cleansed of the spirit of antichrist and be filled God’s spiritual voice which must be obeyed in order to receive what is promised in those Holy Scriptures (Rom. 8:14).  Do not look for God in the Truth-rejecting Catholic/Protestant Church System.  He is not there; He has “left the building” and will not return.  Christ tells the modern day (Laodicean) church that He stands outside and calls to those inside to come to Him (Rev. 3:14-22).  One must “Come out of her, separate from her and refuse to touch that unclean thing” ever again.  Then, and only then, will He be one’s God and one will be His child (2 Cor. 6:14-7:1).  The Almighty asks what relationship can He have with Satan?  The answer is obvious.

As John declares in 7:1: “Having God’s promises (if we obey Him), let us cleanse (“wash by the water of the Word”–Eph. 5:26) ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God.”  Let us fill our spiritual house with God and allow Him to develop in us Christ-level holiness and righteousness whose end result will be salvation (Rom. 5:21; 6:22).  L.J.