The Genesis of Sin and Atonement

                                             

Read Genesis Chapter 3

“Sin always produces the same result - separation from God”. - David Jeremiah

That Adam sinned (as did his wife) is a given. Let's think about what was Adam’s Sin? Disobeying God. What caused it? Symbolically speaking it was Gluttony (wanting/eating what you shouldn't) and avarice, or greed, in desiring wisdom and power (ambition).

Adam's sin has been inherited in us as well. In our greed, sometimes do we not overlook God and what He has said and advised?

They had the best of the best in every way, but their ambition to become what they were not meant to be brought about their downfall.

How did it happen? Presenting of Deception and half-truths by Satan (which he still does); rationalization by Eve, of what God said to suit her, thereby twisting and finally rejecting what God actually said. We do the same even today.

David Jeremiah explains the seriousness, consequences and effects of that sin (which hold true even today) in the Jeremiah Bible and we quote as below –

“when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and fell into rebellion, they lost three God given privileges:

1. Their intimate communion was broken: Adam and Eve hid from God

2. (Prior to Sin, they knew God as He is. Their minds were not clouded by falsehoods and half truths.) “ When they believed Satan, their knowledge was corrupted and their understanding of God was damaged. What God had said became twisted in their minds.

3. Perhaps most importantly, instead of knowing life as they had once known it with God, they began to know death.”

Please note that while we are physically alive, separation from God brings an immediate effect: Spiritual death. Which is why Jesus said to Nicodemus that one would need to be born again. Again, a truth of today.

What started out as a beautiful journey for man, ended in tragedy. Though God did not curse Adam and Eve like He did the serpent (He had already blessed them), judgement was pronounced. A judgement carried forward till this day.

What happened afterwards is as significant and a fore runner of the need of Jesus.

Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin and themselves, but their efforts were insufficient. God's act of providing proper clothing (covering them with animal skin) shows that reconciliation with God requires His initiative and provision, not just human effort.

The "garments of skin" involved the sacrifice of animals. This is the first instance in the Bible where blood was shed, and it foreshadows the concept of atonement through sacrifice for sin.

Just as the animal's skin covered Adam and Eve's physical nakedness, later in the Bible, animal sacrifices would symbolize the covering of sin through the shedding of blood. This ultimately points forward to the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of humanity and salvation. A sacrifice provided by God, for us, to remove our sin. This is also known as the "proto evangel" - the earliest announcement of the gospel message in Scripture (Gen 3:15). It is not only a curse on the serpent, but also a ray of hope for humanity.

Thus, Genesis is not only a historical account of creation but also the reason for what happened thousands of years later - when we crucified Jesus.

(In fact, in the Greek version (and some others) of Genesis 3:15 uses the term "he and his " indicating one man (Jesus) not the entire posterity of eve).

Just as God initiated reconciliation then, He also initiated reconciliation through Jesus years later, making a full and final atonement.

Let us remember everything that Adam lost in the fall is exactly what people lack today without Jesus Christ.

Genesis: The Breath of Fire

Image is representative

Read Genesis Chapter 2 

Humanity has a unique origin and status: Adam is created in a distinct way, formed from the dust and given the breath of life by God. This is a profound and unique event, and it fires the imagination just to think about it. Even today, we have life because we breathe, and we breathe at Gods will and pleasure. Remember Job 27:3. 

God gave life to all creatures but only into man did He breathe life. How fantastic! This event was later replicated by Jesus when He breathed the Holy Spirit over His disciples. (John 20:22)

This event emphasizes humanity's special place in creation humans are a privileged lot but, as we all know from experience, along with privilege comes responsibility.

Just as we humans are unique, we have a unique multidimensional responsibility - vertical and horizontal.

Vertically Upwards - Responsibility towards God

Why did God make Adam? The key reason is to glorify God as God's crowning creation! Isiaah 43:7 clearly states this. Therefore, we need to live as an extension of God, His representative on earth, glorifying Him at all times.

Secondly To Participate in God's Kingdom: Throughout Scripture, there's a progressive revelation of God's plan for His kingdom. Humanity is invited to participate in this kingdom, living according to God's will and purposes, and ultimately experiencing the fullness of His reign.

From walking with Adam and Eve in the Garden to sending His Son, Jesus, to reconcile us, God actively seeks a loving relationship with His creation.

Vertically downwards

In Genesis we read that God handed over His world for us to look after. Let us not take this lightly. In the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25 14-30 Jesus highlights how important it is for us to look after the "property" of God (our master) and replenish it and build on it. But our Selfishness and greed do not replenish, they destroy. Therefore, responsible and unselfish stewardship is a very important responsibility we have, as stated in Genesis 1:28. This is not only to God but also to our earthly employers. The fact God made us in His image and placed us above all creation isn't a license for exploitation of His blessings but a responsibility to manage them wisely and justly, reflecting God's own love for His creation.

Horizontal

We are all created in Gods image and therefore reflect His qualities. One such quality is Gods relational nature - Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. God loves to build relationships with us, as He had with Adam and Eve, and He expects us to do the same with people around us. We need to live, as a family, as a community, in complete peace among ourselves.

This is one of the core messages of the commandments as well. 

Finally, He gave us free choice - the choice to live responsibly according to His will and design or live irresponsibly according to ours. This fact alone should convince us of the power of His love for us and His confidence and trust. Do we repay that love, confidence and trust with betrayal, as did Adam, Eve, Judas and scores of others including you and me? In Paradise Lost John Milton refers to our "mortal tast". The choice we have is - do we give in to our mortal tast or do we choose to trust and obey God?

The Genesis of Evolution

“Except for the divinity of Jesus Christ, no issue polarizes believers and sceptics as much as the question of the origin of our planet Earth. Is the world the result of divine creation or evolution.” – David Jeremiah.

Today, let us not focus on who is right or who is wrong - but on what we believe. 

We know that as Gods Spirit hovered over the face of the primeval waters; so did Gods Spirit hover over Moses’ hand as he wrote this Book of Beginnings. We know that the actual inspiration of the Book of Genesis is the Holy Spirit Himself who was present during the process of creation, as part of the triune, and this foundational truth invites us to view Genesis as the ultimate account of creation, focusing on why the world was made rather than merely how it came to be.

To really imagine the magnificence of creation as described in Genesis, we need to look around us. Recognizing the grandeur and complexity of creation helps us grasp the immense power and wisdom of God. Understanding creation’s beauty and order reveals the deep relationship between Creator and creation—a central theme throughout Scripture. Today, the world leaves us in awe, as creation continues to reveal mysteries that boggle the human mind. Even now, we understand only fragments of our origins—whether one looks to divine creation or evolution.

For instance, consider the deep sea, which covers 95% of Earth's living space and holds countless undiscovered species. Life might have begun here, yet its inhabitants astound us with their bizarre beauty—giant squids, colonies of cooperative organisms, and creatures whose size or behaviors defy imagination. Through advances like live-streamed ocean exploration, we can now witness these wonders firsthand, marveling at habitats we were once blind to.

On the other end of the spectrum are towering mountains like the Himalayas and Mount Everest, whose mysteries and majesty stretch the limits of human imagination.

If we want to have a glimpse of the world God had intended, read Isiaah 11 ver 6-9, Isiaah 65:25 and Revelations 21. 

And amidst these natural marvels, humanity stands as God's crowning creation—on whom God showered attention to create a being who is intricately and wonderfully made. Among all the earth and its creatures- the human creation inspired King David to marvel at Gods work.

And the most marvelous fact is that He made us in His own image!

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them”. Genesis 1:27 KJV

This fact, in itself is so charged that it makes the mind boggle at the thought. Imagine, we are the very image of God. It maybe physical (we do not know) but we are definitely in His image spiritually.

This should remind us of the inherent dignity in every person, urging us to honor others and ourselves as bearers of God's likeness, regardless of flaws or differences.

The second fact that mesmerizes and which we don’t notice much, is that when God finished each part of creation, “He saw that it was good”. He was not giving Himself a pat on the back, but was referring to the fact that what He created was "good" for, and had a role to play in, His creation. It's time we took cognizance of this aspect of creation and learned to respect all that God Himself found good, which is His entire creation. Instead of misusing all the resources God gave us, we need to start respecting them and replenishing them, given that He made us stewards of His world.

Lastly, Genesis addresses the question of why did God actually create the world and us? Genesis Emphasizes the Divine Purpose in and of creation. Genesis 1:1 says - "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." This verse establishes that creation was intentional, reflecting God's sovereignty and purpose. It focuses on who created and why—to bring order and meaning to the universe. In Genesis 1:26-27 it goes on to say - : "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky..." thus making us "stewards" of His creation. 

Thus, Humanity is created with a specific purpose: to reflect God's image and steward creation. This highlights the why of human existence.

The Bible's teachings align with our divine purpose: to love and care for one another, to protect God’s world, and to revere and love the Creator and honor Him in all that we do. Understanding this helps us live lives of deeper gratitude and responsibility toward God and His creation.

Spiritual or Artificial Intelligence?

You may be wondering what is this new term - Spiritual Intelligence?

In Mark 12:30, Jesus instructs us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This commandment is fundamental to our faith and challenges us to love God with all our being. While our heart represents our emotions desires and passions, our soul is the essence of who we are, our life force and our spiritual center. 

And then comes the mind. Loving God with our mind means using our intellect to know and understand Him better. We study the Bible and learn about His character His promises and His ways. We also use our minds to gain more knowledge of Him and apply that knowledge in our daily life. And this is where Spiritual Intelligence comes in.

Today we are not going to define Spiritual intelligence in general, but we are going to create a Christian framework for it. It is a mindset and is important for us to be able to delve into the Word of our Lord to understand and apply it to our lives. 

Spiritual Intelligence is the combination of the soul and the mind, working together to understand God and His word and apply it with meaning, purpose, and values, to our lives. It goes beyond intellectual intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ) by integrating a Biblical sense of awareness, ethics, and inner wisdom. Hence, we have the Word (Bible) from where we gain wisdom and information; we have the soul which processes that information to gain deeper understanding and finally we have the mind which captures that information and applies it to our lives. It is Spiritual Intelligence which helps us to make ethical decisions in our personal and professional lives, creating a Biblical Integrity in ourselves. 

While the exact term "spiritual intelligence" may not be explicitly mentioned in the Bible, it does emphasize divine wisdom, discernment, and applying spiritual insights to life.

Therefore, when we read the Word, we need to apply our spiritual intelligence to understand the word and apply it to our lives. Unfortunately, many of us today depend on external sources for wisdom - using sources like Artificial intelligence. People, including Christians use it to understand or interpret the Bible and even preach, producing a soulless, heart less and mindless understanding and message. This kind of knowledge and understanding can be dangerous, giving reality to Christs warning in Matthew 7:15.

Therefore, we would urge our readers today to kindly NOT use Gemini, Co-pilot or any other AI tool during the course of our learnings, except as a research or historical data tool and to further fact check it against the Bible. If it is not there, it may be false. 

Instead, we will use our heart, emotions, human logic and human feelings as we study the word of God. We will also pray for the Holy Spirit to open our minds as we read and learn.

The Upper Room

In our last post, we pondered on how Easter is a new beginning. If the Friday crucifixion changed the world for the apostles, Easter brought hope.

Between Easter and the Day of Pentecost (When the Holy Spirit came upon them and which is a period of 50 days), the Apostles were primarily Experiencing the Risen Christ and learning from Him. As they waited to be anointed by the Holy Spirit, after Jesus' ascension, they spent their time praying and fellowshipping, gathered in the "upper room" (Acts 1:12-14). They devoted themselves to prayer along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers, preparing for their future Ministry. Preparing for a new beginning and a new reality.

Today, the day after Easter, we too decided to make a new beginning: Reading, Understanding and practicing Gods word from the beginning. Thus, from tomorrow we will focus on the Bible, from Genesis to Revelations, to understand the word through Spiritual Intelligence - insights we all can receive from the Holy Spirit.

We hope you will accompany us on this journey, to learn anew, understand afresh and experience a renewed strength in in our spiritual life.

Our devotional posts will be derived from, what we call Spiritual Intelligence, be based on the Jeremiah Bible as well as our own research. We hope to learn something new every day.

Our first post will explain the term Spiritual Intelligence, and how we can instill it within ourselves, to better understand the Word of God.