God and Man

GOD and Man
According to A Simple Layman

As a Simple Layman what I offer here is not the result of years of Bible schooling or years in the Seminary. Rather it is my current understanding of the relationship between GOD and man. I do feel that what I am offering is Biblically correct and does not contradict Scripture. I am however, sure that some theologian somewhere, and some people who enjoy studying every jot and tiddle will be able to find fault with this little writing.

There never was a time when GOD did not exist, He consisting of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, commonly called the Holy Trinity the source of some difficulty reconciling One GOD in three Persons to some mortal men. Sometime in the Heart of GOD there was a plan, to create a family of Sons and Daughters through whom He could demonstrate His pure and Holy Love. Intertwined with this plan was the desire to offer a Perfect Bride to His only Son, through whose Holy Union something beyond my imagination would be birthed. My mind is not able to comprehend this wonder, but the Spirit within me stirs and my heart burns as I imagine it, that one day, will be the consummation of all things when there is perfect union and harmony in all of creation.

The Story of Man

Before God created man, He did create the angels, in numbers too large to count. He also created the heavens and the earth and all that is within them. He then created His most magnifcient creation......MAN! He created man in His image and in His likeness. I believe that what Adam looked like and what He knew is so far from what we presently see, as to be apparently unrelated with the likes of you and I, in our present sinful state. However, the first Adam was created perfect and placed on a perfect earth in a perfect garden. I well imagine the garden was indeed heaven on earth, every imaginable creature and plant living in perfect harmony in a perfect, pristine atmosphere. The air would be sweet and pure, as would the waters flowing through. Every imaginable form of delightful food, was simply growing all about and there simply for the taking and enjoying.

In my own mind, this food would have been perfect in everyway, able to fully nourish our bodies while pleasing our senses beyond belief. I even believe it was so perfect as to fully be consumed as it nourished our body, requiring no elimination from the body. Everything in this garden was perfect to the highest standard imaginable, and beyond our ability to now comprehend. In this place, man could indeed live forever and there was no death in this perfect place.

How long GOD and His man communed in this state, I can not even guess, scripture is not at clear on this matter. However, there came a time when GOD decided it was not good for Adam to live alone and finding no suitable companion within the animal kingdom God created Women from out of Adam. Adam was put into a deep sleep and from his side, GOD created woman. Foreshadowing the day, when His own Son's Bride would be born from His side. For a period of time Adam and his wife Eve lived in this wondrous place, enjoying each other, and all of creation in perfect harmony with GOD.

During this time, Lucifer (the devil) conceived sin in his heart and decided He could displace GOD and rule over all creation. He was cast out, and came into the earth where he appeared as a serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. Appealing to their senses and their intellects he was able to convince them to sin against GOD.

How? Well, in this perfect garden man could eat from all trees, with the one exception, and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had told Adam to eat of any other tree but not that one. Satan, being satan convinced Eve that the tree was good for food and also good to learn the difference between good and evil, convincing her it would make her like GOD. How long it took him to convince her, I have no idea, nor do I know how long after she ate of the fruit it took for Adam to also eat.

In the moment they ate of that tree their eyes were opened to evil and their sin created a barrier between themselves and GOD with their willful act of disobedience. Before that single act, there had been no evil, in the garden up to that point everything was perfect.....but in that awful moment evil and sin sprang to life in the earth through man's sin. Until that moment man had been in total agreement with GOD and walked in harmony with his Creator, he now had come into agreement with Satan and had surrendered the keys to earth in that one terrible moment.

The Way Home

At that moment man was driven from the garden, so that he could not eat from the Tree of Life which also grew in the garden, for had he eaten he would have forever lived in his sinful state. From this point onward the Bible chronicles the history of our loving GOD restoring man to Himself. Even though, it would seem that man does not really want to have anything to do with his Maker. It would seem we are more content to live by His direction rather than by Him.

Jim Taylor
aka A Simple Layman