“Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (Genesis 2:16-17). Was it God’s intention that man would not have knowledge or not be wise? “See, the LORD has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah; and He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge” (Exodus 35:30-31). “Now Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him” (Deuteronomy 34:9). “And the Child (Jesus) grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him” (Luke 2:40). God always intended to give man knowledge and wisdom, but man allowed Satan to get ahead of God. Satan promised mankind what God would have given to them and man grabbed it.

“The devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:8-9). “In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:8-9). WHAT? Yes, God put everything under Jesus Christ, our Savior. Jesus said, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Matthew 4:10). Jesus would not take from Satan the lie but waited on the Father to present Him with the truth. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (John 28:18).

Satan will promise, with a lie, the very promises that God gives us in truth. “Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” (Galatians 3:3). The enemy will try to get us to seek the promise of salvation by our own means. Just as Adam ate the fruit to seek knowledge, we seek knowledge without hearing God. We seek to make our knowledge, and out acts based on our knowledge, our righteousness and salvation. Jesus is our Righteousness and Salvation. God gives us life and we still seek to find it on our own. God gives us His Holy Spirit and gifts of the Spirit, but we do not want to look to God. God gives to us NOW FAITH! But we want to believe that faith is for another day. God has given all authority to our King, but we would rather have a little authority that is not of God. We want to know and that desire to know rules over us instead of Jesus our King.

The curse of Adam has been broken and we can accept the Blood of Jesus and reject the knowledge of mankind. Jesus came to unite us back to God. Jesus came to remove the sin that kept us from looking upon God’s face. Father and Son have sent the Holy Spirit to cover the entire earth and to flow through the true believer. God is available to all of mankind, but the individual must accept God. We do not need to justify our sins, but give them to Jesus – pray. We do not need to condemn others with their sins, but give them to Jesus – pray for them. We do not need to pretend to be holy, but let Jesus be holy and dwell in His holiness. Let Jesus be righteous and dwell in His righteousness. Let Jesus be Savior and give God the glory for our salvation. Thank You Lord! Thank You Lord! Thank You Lord!

© 2006, Tim D. Coulter Sr.