Fall of man

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) 

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God made people to be like Himself, and then gave people the authority to rule over the earth. 

Genesis 2: 15-17 (NET) 

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 

Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.

In the beginning God gave people a choice to have everything except for a forbidden fruit. To live forever, or die. 

Genesis 3: 1-6 (NET) 

Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made. 

He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, 

‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” 

The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” 

When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. 

She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Eve was convinced by the serpent that God’s word was not actually true, so she and Adam ate of the fruit and died. Death was never God’s perfect will for people; however, God permitted them to disobey Him with a cost.

Matthew 5:18 (KJV) Jesus speaking…For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 

Matthew 24:35 (NET) Jesus speaking…Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

Hebrew 6: 18 (Net) …it is impossible for God to lie. Although God is sovereign, He never goes back on His word.

I Peter 1:18-21 (NET) You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold, but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was manifested in these last times for your sake.

Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. 

God knows the future better than we know the past.

Because I know that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theater in 1865, does not mean that I had anything to do it. 

In the same way because God knew that Adam would sin in the garden before He created the world does not mean that God had anything to do with it.

God foreknew that people would disobey him, and He had already decided to send Jesus to die for people before He created the world. 

Romans 8:29-31 (KJV) For whom he (God) did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.

Ephesians 1:4-5 (KJV) According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.

Ephesians 5:1 (KJV) Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children. 

Before God created the world, God decided that those who yield to the Lordship of Jesus (or to be in Him) to be holy and to be God’s own adopted children. 

Those who yield to Christ are predestined to be like Christ in every way.

Genesis 1:26 (KJV) And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Romans 10:9-10 (KJV) That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

When we yield to Christ, God puts us back on track to be like God Himself as He originally intended.

John 3:16-17 (KJV) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 

Jesus came on a rescue mission to save us. 

Revelation 3:20 (KJV) Jesus speaking..Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

If you just ask Jesus to come into your life as your Lord and Savior and believe that He did so, Jesus promised that He would do it. Remember, He can not lie.

Romans 8:14-16 (KJV) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. 

For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 

The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

When we ask Jesus to come into our lives as our Lord and Savior, He gives His Holy Spirit to live inside us. 

Those who truly follow the Holy Spirit’s promptings are God’s children. 

The Holy Spirit convinces our born again human spirit that we are truly God’s children.

Galatians 5:16 (KJV) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 

Becoming like Jesus is a moment by moment decision (like walking) to obey (or not) the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

When we follow the Spirit, we will not yield to sin. I Corinthians 15:26, 52-4 (NET) The last enemy to be eliminated is death. 

I Corinthians 15:52-54 (NET) In a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. 

For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 

Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

Death is God’s enemy, too! Through Jesus, we ultimately have back (and much more) what we had before Adam’s sin.