IT’S
A RELATIONSHIP
“…that you may KNOW…..the only true God and
Jesus Christ…” John 17:3
Relationships are our most
important endeavors and are the only vehicle we have to connect with another
person (or thing) on any level whether deeply intimate or highly shallow.
God said it wasn’t good for man to
be alone or he tells children to honor their parents (Genesis 2:18, Exodus 20:2
and Deuteronomy 5:16). These commands are about relationships.
For Christians, relationships began
back in the Garden of Eden where God and Adam connected through a unified,
divine, and loving relationship.
Nothing hindered this deep
“oneness” connection since sin or darkness had not yet entered the picture. Adam
could actually keep this command,"…..Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind" (Luke 10:27).
Adam, at one time, loved God with
all his mind, all his heart, all his soul, and all his spirit. This had to be
the most exquisite, holy, and mind-blowing relationship ever experienced by
another human being on this earth.
Before the fall, Adam was in a
relationship with God most people have never known and it was nothing for him
to take walks with God in the cool of the day (Genesis 3:8).
Bad relationships are so common
among most people, that the supernatural relationship between Adam and God
can’t even penetrate the imagination without the limitation of human finite
thinking or experiences.
Bad relationships with others entail
some or all of the following issues and concerns:
1.
distrust,
2.
imbalanced
demands
3.
some
idea of so-called human perfection
4.
feels
unsafe
5.
involves
high levels of low esteem,
6.
is
jealous,
7.
hosts
of un-kindnesses
8.
lack
of gentleness
9.
pride
10.
selfishness;
withholds love
11.
is
controlling
12.
manipulates
to get their way,
13.
keeps
a record of another’s wrong,
14.
shuts
the other person out; un-forgiving,
15.
blames others for their behavior or emotional
issues,
16.
Have
negative behaviors that hurt others,
17.
Is
extremely sensitive, yet critical of others
18.
Is
easily angered
19.
shows
little or no grace or mercy,
20.
Is
unwilling to suffer through anything or make sacrifices for another, and
21.
Is
quick to judge and think evil of another person’s character.
22.
Often
wants what it doesn’t reciprocate.
Adam had none of those concerns or
negative experiences. For a while, Adam enjoyed a relationship with God
uninterrupted by the sin and darkness that plague most relationships today.
In the loving relationship with
God, Adam was freely given dominion over some of God’s creation. Adam didn’t do
anything to earn it, deserve it, or to be worthy of such a generous
opportunity, but he simply responded to God’s love.
What a GREAT love. God gave Adam
the world in a sense. In addition, there were no laws for Adam to try to keep
or a sinful nature to interfere. God and Adam were united by the Holy Spirit
and since the Spirit knows what God requires, even the deep things; Adam stayed
pleasing and upright with God (Romans 8).
 |
| FREEDOM TO RESPOND = CHOOSE LIFE |
However, what lay virginally dormant
in Adam was a “freedom to respond” to his experiences that he knew nothing
about, but God did. God also knew that the “freedom to respond” could lead to a
separation in the loving relationship he shared with Adam.
So God made a loving appeal to Adam
as a way to maintain their oneness,
“….of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
When God made this appeal to Adam,
Eve was still “one” with him in a way that is unique to God, but bestowed upon
man to experience too. Adam said Eve was
“….bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”
(Genesis 2:23a).
When God made man in his image, the
bible says he created them “male and
female” and when he spoke, he spoke to “them,” even through Eve had not yet
been bodily manifested (Genesis 1:27-28).
I believe when God made the appeal
to Adam about “the tree of knowledge of
good and evil” he made it to “them.” When Eve was finally manifested and
taken from Adam; we know now she was “a
weaker vessel (1 Peter 3:7d).
 |
| 1 PETER 3:8=7 |
This doesn’t support any
foolishness that women are weaker emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, or as
co-heirs of Grace. It says weaker “vessel,” which points undeniably to physical
strength.
This, however, does not make women
less valuable or a less of a co-heir of Grace, rather is it a basis to explore another
view of why Satan went to Eve and not Adam to destroy the relationship between
“them” and God.
There are many
speculations for this and we all know several traditional views of this Genesis
story. However, we will only look at one view in this book as it relates to the
relationship with God.
CONTINUE IN PART 2
EXCERPT FROM "ITS A RELATIONSHIP" CHAPTER
OF "TRANSFORMING LOVE" BY
DR PENSACOLA H. JEFFERSON
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