"Original Sin" has had a much greater effect on humanity than we give the devil credit for.
When satan offered the possibility that Adam & Eve could know what God knows, see what God sees and have control over their destiny, it had a virtual timeless effect on us all. (I say virtual because, Jesus and eternity are factors that change the rules.)
I meet Christian after Christian, let alone seekers of truth, that just will not be satisfied unless they understand everything. When they hear the word "faith," the first preceding word that comes to their mind is "blind."
The term "blind faith" is not a Christian term, let alone a biblical one. Somewhere along the line, because people have become more and more reliant on instant proof or personal experience, the everyday Christian does seem to think that we're to follow Christ with our eyes closed. This just is not the case! If that we're true, then we would not be given the bible as a reference of God's goodness! He gave it to us for a reason. It is a God-breathed book of solid truths about His character, yet we still rely on things like our feelings, human reasoning, personal experience or a single preacher. But He gave us His Word as THE standard by which we measure all things.
What does it say that the definition of faith is?
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
The words "assurance" and "conviction" are not terms based in blindness or even the unknown. It's based IN the KNOWING!
Yet we need to understand that faith is not a human attribute. It is a gift from God. It is revealed in the hearts of those who hear the good news and believe it. We cannot conjure up greater faith on our own. Faith grows through our allowance of God's continual revelation in our hearts, and that through intimacy with the Father.
The bible says, "For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." Galatians 6:8
We as Western Christians have embraced and even helped reciprocate a culture of sowing to or "feeding" the flesh, to which we see corruption & death. Yet in our own lives we ask "why am I not seeing a breakthrough?" Or we say "I just have a hard time trusting God or everything the bible says."
The first question then is, what are we feeding?
Stepping back, lets look again at original sin. What exactly happened there?
Adam and Eve walked freely in the garden WITH God, uninhibited, unafraid, unashamed... It was a natural, God-centered life. It was a life FULL of blessing because they had FULL access to His provision, His goodness & His love toward them.
But when satan sowed the seed of distrust, it became discontent even BEFORE the fruit was eaten! They had RECEIVED the seed even before their act of disobedience. That distrust and discontent opened up the possibility that not only was God keeping something from them, but even holding them back from something so much greater - SELF trust, SELF reliance, KNOWING EVERYTHING.
Now before this, had Adam & Eve had enough experience with God to have FAITH in His words over Satan's? We might at first say, no possibly not... But in reality, the primary thing that they did have, again was ALL that He created - the whole earth - was for their pleasure. But that blessing had but ONE condition. "Trust Me." To obey is to trust. To disobey is to distrust.
So what do we say to all this? So what... are we screwed?! NO WAY!
Here's where it gets good...
Romans 5:8-11 "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation..." and so on and so on.
That cross, on which Christ was crucified, becomes the very instrument by which we are now given full access to that once torn relationship with our Father. That cross becomes our bridge, from the dead, dry and lifeless habitation, over the great chasm created through sin, back into the beauty of His blessing.
2 Peter 1:11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
