"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (King James Version)
INTERPRETATION: After reading this topic #12, you will understand why Jesus said "ye are of your father the devil," as well as the origin of evil in our world. As revealed in previous topics #1 through #11 (see Home Page), God created us, beginning with Adam and Eve, to be His children and blessed us in Genesis 1:28 to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." If God's blessings had been respected and achieved, the Kingdom of Heaven would have begun ages ago, springing from the family values of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; and, today we would be living in a utopian, joyful society with God's will being done "on Earth, as it is in heaven."
Yet, the scripture tells us that due to the original sin, Adam and Eve hid from God in an emotional state of fear, guilt and shame and that their first son killed his younger brother. Even today, the values of the first family permeate our generation with fear, guilt and shame and the killing of our brothers continues. For example, nothing captures the reality of the human condition better than the video below called the "falling man." It shows that as recently as 2001, some humans chose to fly jetliners into the World Trade Center to kill as many other humans as possible:
The Falling Man (Parental discretion advised)
I. The Meaning of the Symbols in Genesis
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines symbolism as 1: the art or practice of using symbols especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visible or sensuous representations: as a : artistic imitation or invention that is a method of revealing or suggesting immaterial, ideal, or otherwise intangible truth or states b : the use of conventional or traditional signs in the representation of divine beings and spirits. 2 : a system of symbols or representations.
A. Is The Fruit Literal or Symbolic?
Genesis 1:1-3 states, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
The following 4 reasons reveal that "the fruit" is a symbol within Genesis 1:1-3, representing a deeper intangible truth. The fruit is symbolic, as follows:
1. Literal fruit does not grow on symbolic trees.
Prior topic 5. "Be Fruitful", concluded that "the tree of life is a symbol of the individual goal we all seek - perfection of God's image within us; that is, "to be fruitful." Additionally, prior topic 6. "Multiply", concluded that "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a symbol of the different outcomes, good and evil, that Adam and Eve could choose based on the fruitfulness of their relationship with God." The tree symbols, reflecting the goal of individual perfection as the tree of life and the subsequent goal of family perfection, or lack thereof, as the tree of knowledge of good and evil, are repeated below:
2. God is a God of love
James 1:13 states, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:" Even common sense tells us that God would not be interested in testing the obedience of His children, particularly at the possible cost of their lives. Would any parent place poisonous food in front of their children with the intention of testing their obedience? Clearly, the answer is no!
3. Fruit is not worth more than life
The fruit must represent something of tremendous value; because, no one would be willing to risk their lives to eat a literal fruit. After all, they could eat anything else and there were plenty of other fruit in the garden. Surely, hunger played no role. Yet, Eve took a risk, that she did not have to take, and ate of it after having been told that "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
4. The effects of the fruit are hereditary
The human heart is the place where we are to perfect God's love and spirit dwelling within us. Yet, the effects of the fruit damaged the hearts of the entire human race so that even today we suffer from its consequences. In Matthew 15:11-20, Jesus stated "Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man."
B. Is The Serpent Literal or Symbolic?
Revelations 12:7-9 states, "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
Hence, the "old serpent" in the garden of Eden was no ordinary snake, but once lived in heaven, which is in the spiritual dimension, as expressed in the verse above. Additionally, Genesis 3:1 states, "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
The serpent knew God's word well enough to bring the fruit to Eve's attention. He was crafty enough to speak to her and to exact his design upon her, the daughter of God. He was able to communicate in a manner that set him apart from any "beast of the field." He knew about the commandment from God that had been communicated to Adam, as stated in Genesis 2:17, "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." And, he knew that Adam had in turn communicated the commandment to his wife, Eve.
Clearly, the serpent is a symbol of a spiritual being, which as shown below, is an angel:
Revelations 12:9
C. Did God create Satan?
Genesis 1:31 states, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." This verse of scripture tells us that at the conclusion of God's creative process, every being was "very good." Hence, it was a "very good" being of position and status in heaven that became an evil force in human affairs. Essentially, a "very good" being that was created by God entered into a corruption process and became the corrupted being we now call "the Devil, and Satan."
This concurs with the view expressed above in Genesis 12:7-9, which states, "neither was their place found any more in heaven." Also, it expresses that this being had an affiliation with angels in heaven who were "cast out" with him. Clearly, the scripture is describing a "very good" being who became dissatisfied with his station in heaven and was cast out with his angels. Hence, we must conclude that God did not create Satan but that he came about through a corruption process of a "very good" being, as will be explained further down in this topic.
Other bible verses also speak about a corruption process. For example, 2 Peter 2:4 states, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." Similarly, Jude 1:6 states, "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Also, Job 1:6 states, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it." Additionally, Genesis 6:2 states, "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."
D. Who is this being called Satan?
Further examination of Revelation 12:7-9 above reveals that "there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels." Hence, this being had angels under his stewardship, governance and leadership and held a position or station in heaven on par with Michael, with whom he battled. Jude 1:9 states, "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee." Thus, this being is able to function on the archangel level. The word “archangel” derives from the Greek arche (ruler) and angelos (messenger). Archangels serve a variety of functions in the heavenly hierarchy including the administration of heavenly duties and the daily operation of the cosmos.
Ezekiel 28:13-15 identifies this being in the Garden of Eden, prior to the original sin, as "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee." The cherubim, singular cherub, are believed by most to be beyond the throne of God; they are the guardians of light and of the stars. Their rank among angels is uncertain but they are always categorized in the first sphere. Cherubim are said to have perfect knowledge of God, surpassed only by the love of the Seraphim.
Isaiah 14:12 names this being by stating, "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." The application of the name Lucifer to Satan has existed since the third century A.D., and ties to Luke 10:18, in which Jesus stated, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."
click to enlarge
Hence, Lucifer is no literal serpent or snake at all, but is a spiritual being, an angel with the powers of archangels and cherubim and is symbolized as a serpent because he enacted his design upon the daughter of God, Eve, and enticed her to eat the fruit, abandoning her position as God's daughter by disobeying God's commandment as told to her by her husband, Adam. He is called a serpent because of the way he used his wisdom. As a "covering cherub," he was supposed to be a guardian angel to safeguard God's purpose for Adam and Eve to fulfill the blessings of genesis 1:28; instead, he became corrupted and misled the daughter of God, Eve.
II. Lucifer's Motive for Corrupting the Daughter of God, Eve
Lucifer was "very good," "every precious stone was thy covering," "the anointed cherub that covereth," "wast upon the holy mountain of God," "wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created," "till iniquity was found in thee;" So, what happened?
A. Heavenly Order Prior to the Existence of Adam and Eve
Before Adam and Eve even existed, there was a time period when Lucifer, with all his beauty, wisdom and stature in heaven, could go directly to God. Considering that he was the angel that later had direct access to God's precious children, Adam and Eve, he was the angel most trusted by God. It is similar to parents desiring a most trusted baby-sitter for their children, preferably a family member, relative, or very close friend. Hence, prior to Adam and Eve's existence, Lucifer enjoyed a status second to none in heaven, as diagrammed below:
As the "anointed cherub that covereth," Lucifer had intimate knowledge of God's purpose for Adam and Eve and knew why God would command them not to eat of "the fruit." As shown above, prior to Adam and Eve's existence, Lucifer stood atop the heavenly order, which glorified God and all stood waiting for the revealing of the son of God, Adam. All of the heavens waited for the crowning moment, the denouement of God's creation, his image incarnate in the first man and woman. And then it happened, "God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."
B. Heavenly Order after the Existence of Adam and Eve
As discussed in topic 11. "The evening and the morning," except for Adam and Eve, every creation reached perfection through the force of natural law. However, man's growth through the indirect dominion occurs through a combination of natural law plus man completing his portion of responsibility, which for Adam and Eve involved heeding God's commandment, with 100% of their effort, not to eat of "the fruit." By embodying God's word to them, they would have grown through the indirect dominion and into the direct dominion of God's love. Once that level of relationship with God is achieved, "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God." (Romans 8:38-39) Then, they would "be fruitful" and would have the maturity and stature to "multiply" and handle the responsibilities of parenthood as God's representatives.
Hence, the role and purpose of Adam and Eve inevitably place the heavenly order in its final hierarchy, as shown below:
C. The Changing of the Guard
As shown vividly above, the heavenly order is different before and after the existence of Adam and Eve. Ultimately, as expressed in I Corinthians 15:27-28, "For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." This is the position of Adam in perfection, and, would have been the 1st Adam's position had he not engaged in the original sin. And of course, as will be explained in later topics, this is the position of the 2nd Adam, Jesus, who stated it best as "no one comes to the father but through me." This was the 1st Adam's purpose, had he not sinned.
The changing of the guard can be understood by thinking of Adam and Eve like a prince and princess that are young in maturity. God can be thought of like the King and Lucifer like the palace tutor, who has a temporary charge to educate and guide the young prince and princess. Yet, the tutor knows all along that the day will come when the young prince and princess take authority over him. Another way to think of it is like a trustee charged with guarding an inheritance until the heirs become of age. In any case, Lucifer's iniquity emerged as he had a problem with giving up his direct access to God and humbling himself to go through Adam, as diagrammed above.
Lucifer's situation can be compared to that of a child who is suddenly displaced by a newborn baby. Until the new infant arrived, the older sibling was the sole recipient of his mother's love. Now, however, he may feel that his mother's love for him has decreased and he may become burdenend with feelings of rejection and envy. Similar behavior has been observed in pets that were their master's best friend, until their master had his first child. Clearly, Lucifer began to struggle with the idea of coming to God through his son, Adam. The struggle has played throughout human history.
III. The Process of the Original Sin
A. Lucifer failed to take God's point of View
When we don't take God's point of view, then what is left? Who's viewpoint do we take? When we don't see things from the perspective of what is good for God's will, then we take things from the viewpoint of our own interests. Our thoughts become, "what's good for me...what's in it for me...this is no good for me!" This is exactly what Lucifer did. Rather than accept that God's plan was to rule all things through His children, Lucifer and his posse of angels refused to acquiesce to that authority. That authority was best expressed by St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 6:3, "know ye not that we will judge angels?" (See topic 10. "We shall judge angels")
Clearly, Lucifer did not do a good job of dealing with his struggle about Adam's position. Instead, he concluded that, "I am just not going to do that." He didn't see coming to God through Adam as the way for him and he rejected that standard. And by rejecting the channel of God's love, through Adam, he started to feel like God didn't love him. It's similar to an older sibling who decides to run away from home because of the new baby in the house, completely oblivious to his parents point of view, thinking only that, "this is no good for me."
B. Lucifer Left His Position
Since God's love was to flow to Lucifer through Adam, by rejecting God's plan Lucifer separated himself from the channel of God's love. What happens when we leave the channel where God's love can reach us? We start to feel very empty inside because we cannot feel God's love. Lucifer began to sulk..."poor me... nobody cares about me.... after all I've done." Basically, Lucifer became full of himself. Rather than realize that he did not feel God's love because he was out of position to come to God through Adam, Lucifer began to feel that God had changed on him and had led him on to think He loved him, only to stiff him for Adam. In his mind, since God was not absolute, but changing in His love, then it was okay for him to use whatever means necessary to get what he wanted. And since he felt he was not getting the love he wanted from God, he gravitated toward Eve with the suggestion to eat "the fruit." The only thing standing in the way was the commandment from God, not to eat of it, as had been told to her by her husband, Adam.
C. Lucifer Prevents the Changing of the Guard and Reverses the Heavenly Order
Eve should have been strong in her faith in Adam's word to her, not to eat of "the fruit." She should have had faith in what God commanded them to do and not do. The moment had arrived in her spiritual growth where she should have declared to Lucifer, "You must listen to me! I am not supposed to listen to you! Get thee away from me with your craziness and go and right yourself with God! I am going right now to tell my husband, Adam, what you are trying to do."
In Genesis 3:4-5, the moment the serpent, "said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," he had rejected God's word and inserted his own replacement word. Basically, he told Eve, "God doesn't have your best interest at heart, like I do...TRUST ME!" It is at that moment that Lucifer took God's position, convincing Eve to reject God's word and to take his word. Rather than subjugate Lucifer through her own faith in God's word, she allowed Lucifer to entice her into having faith in him and his "substitute word!" She believed Satan's word and acted upon it, empowering him as her God and ruler.
Of his own volition, Lucifer cannot become God and ruler over anyone, just as a dictator cannot take control of a nation by himself. Unless he can elicit Adam and Eve's voluntary submission to his will, all he would have been was a disgruntled angel, who would have eventually got himself back together with Adam as his Lord and ruler. The key is that Adam and Eve empowered him and elected him, over God's word, as their dictator. Hence, the heavenly order was reversed resulting in a contrary god with us stuck in the middle feeling internally conflicted within ourselves. St. Paul expressed the internal conflict in Romans 7:22-24 as, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"
D. Lucifer Multiplied the Evil
As is so often the case when someone does wrong, they attempt to make it okay by convincing everyone else to join in the mob. Hence, Lucifer lead the angels under his governance to follow his actions. In like manner, Eve set forth to make her actions okay by convincing her husband that he had got it all wrong and that he, too, should trust the word of Satan.
IV. The Meaning of "the Fruit"
A. Fornication
Proverbs 30:20 states, "Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness." Similarly, Eve ate, wiped her mouth, and said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."
Song of Solomon 4:12-16 states, "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon. Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits." Clearly, the fruit is a symbol of love and eating the fruit is symbolic of a sexual relationship. In the garden of Eden, the only sin that man would possibly commit at the risk of his life was a sin involving love.
The root of sin is not the first human ancestors eating a literal fruit, but their establishing a blood relationship through fornication with Lucifer, who was symbolized by the serpent. The blood relationship is the reason the sin is passed on from generation to generation.
B. Ashamed of their Nakedness
Job 31:33 states, "If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom..." Job's words indicate that Adam concealed his transgression, which means that if the fruit were a literal fruit, then Adam and Eve should have covered their mouths to conceal their transgression of eating it. Yet, we know that Adam and Eve covered the sexual parts of their bodies.
Prior to the original sin, Genesis 2:25 states, "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." Yet, after being tempted by the serpent and committing sin, Genesis 3:7 states, "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons."
C. We await adoption
Adam and Eve forsook God, their true father, and became one with a false father, Satan, which is expressed in Romans 8:23, which states, "And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." The fact that we are waiting for adoption into God's lineage tells us that we are not of God's lineage. Because of the original sin, God lost his seed.
2 Corinthians 4:4 states, "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Hence, Lucifer became the god of this world.
John 12:31 states, "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." Hence, Lucifer became the prince of this world.
John 8:44, the opening passage of this post, Jesus states, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." Hence, Lucifer became the father of this world.
Genesis 6:5-6 states, "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."
D. A 2nd Adam must Come Back
Hence, Adam must come back and claim his rightful position. Adam must return so that all can come to God through a pure, divine son of God. Adam's return, as the goal of history, will be discussed in future topics on this blogsite.
In conclusion, we all were ignorant of the sexual nature of our genitals as children. We all, including Adam and Eve, began by thinking of our genitalia for urination purposes only. At some point, each of us acquired sexual knowledge through either self-exploration, observation, or molestation. Of course, the worst way to acquire sexual knowledge is through molestation. Sadly, molestation is the best description of how Eve acquired her sexual knowledge from Lucifer. There is nothing more dangerous than opening the sexual eyes of an immature person.
Of course, Eve and Lucifer could not produce offspring; but, their union caused her spirit to die the day she ate of the fruit, just as God had warned. By fornicating with Lucifer, she became one body with him in selfishness, contaminating the fruit of her womb with spiritual death and casting her heart far away from God's love. A mutation occurs when a DNA gene is damaged or changed in such a way as to alter the genetic message carried by that gene. Naturally, the spiritual message within the DNA genes were radiated within Eve's contaminated womb. When Eve, in turn, convinced Adam to forsake God's word and to eat the fruit, she of course became pregnant with Cain, the result of a spiritually defiled sperm and egg.
Hence, they began to multiply before they were "fruitful" or mature. It was akin to spiritual babies having physical, contaminated babies in an emotional state of fear, guilt and shame. Even though Adam and Eve lived to be hundreds of years old, physically, spiritually they were dead, very much like walking zombies. Truly, their hearts were broken, trust was destroyed, and finger-pointing became their family values. God did not lie to them about the consequences of "eating the fruit." This is why Jesus stated in Matthew 8:21-22, "And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." Jesus meant, let the spiritually dead, bury the physically dead, follow me to obtain life.
Today, Satan continues to influence world affairs through his legions of fallen angels, called demons. He does this by influencing our minds and spirits, through the opening that each of us inherited from the original sin. A good example of this is found in Luke 22:3, which states, "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him [Jesus] unto them." Only through strong faith in God's word, coupled with prayer and sincere actions, can we prevent Satan from entering. It is time to stop repeating the mistake of Adam and Eve.
As St. Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 6:16-18, "What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."
1 Corinthians 7:7-9, "For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and another after that. I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."
