First, it should be understood that you cannot give away something you do not possess. The difference between Adam and Jesus is the difference in what was passed on to man from Adam to Jesus and thereafter – more than 2,000 years later. There were many faithful men and women that believed in and trusted Almighty God to the point of the ultimate self-sacrifice, yet there was one thing they did not possess, the one thing that Jesus did. It is what made Jesus a god. You can get a sense of what this was in the previous verse quoted above and from Jesus' own words at John 8:12-18:
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." 13 The Pharisees challenged him, "Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid." 14 Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and where I am going. But you have no idea where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards; I pass judgment on no one. 16 But if I do judge, my decisions are right, because I am not alone. I stand with the Father, who sent me. 17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid. 18 I am one who testifies for myself; my other witness is the Father, who sent me." NIV (Emphasis added)
What Dad lost with his hay-shocking episode, he could not pass on to his sons, no matter how badly he wanted to. I'm sure he initially believed that his real-world sacrifices he'd made had purchased him the authority to do so. They did not.
What I brought back to Dad was the opportunity to regain his manhood; the value of his compromised soul. That was the ability to transcend into a “spiritual” thinking man. (1 Corinthians 2:14-16) The price I was willing and able to pay served as a covering for his transgressions. He had a responsibility to value, primarily, the life of his sons. That required his continuing to follow Jesus' self-sacrificing example by putting his sons before himself. More importantly, he was required to complete the sacrifice the Apostle Peter failed to perform three times as prophetically demonstrated in these verses contained in Luke 22:31-34; 60-62. Unfortunately, he rejected God's requirements upon all men for respecting and valuing the life God entrusted to him and all men. Unlike Peter, however, he has continued to deny his sons for the past 45 years.
When you read those scriptures about Adam and Eve there in the first part of the Bible, most people believe God is talking about this physical world we live in, the literal creation of the first human man and woman, and how man fell from God's grace to sin and death caused by a failed marriage. To be sure, most marriage relationships fit that description. Most, but not mine! In fact, most individuals fight this losing battle within themselves. A casual observer might think sin had to do with man's disobedience to God – Adam and Eve broke God's Law. The punishment for that was death. A closer examination should reveal that these scriptures are God's curse for something else. The sin was according to God's pronounced judgment: “Because you (Adam) listened to your wife's voice and took to eating ...” Adam's sin was not eating the fruit in disobedience, but “listening to his wife.” Adam listened, compromised his personal will as directed by God and then acted on her desires and wants and as a consequence compromised his integrity to his living soul or “being.” Remember, Adam was created in “God's image” or as a “living soul” or a “living being” and Adam never made it to the “tree of life.” So, there was one glaring difference between Jesus and Adam. That difference is defined by the Apostle in 1 Corinthians 15:45: “It is even so written: 'The first man Adam became a living soul.' The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” Jesus, like Adam, was a “living being” or a “living soul” until Jesus became a “life-giving spirit.” That happened when God anointed and empowered him with His holy spirit and Jesus became the Christ. At that point Jesus became something more than Adam, he could transfigure. Jesus figurative death at baptism, the death of his own personal will met the equivalent value. God accepted that redemptive value, resurrected him to spiritual life through receipt of His holy spirit to become a “life-giving spirit.” His value as man of light or life was defined by God's personal recognition with power and authority to enforce God's will.
Adam did not possess the “light of the world” or the “light of life” like Jesus Christ. Even so, he was personally recognized by God and possessed a clean conscience, was spiritually perfect and could communicate or talk directly with God. In this regard, Jesus was equal to Adam. By going against his soul, effectively sacrificing it by submitting to his wife's will, Adam lost his value, life or light as a Son of God and his soul died even though he continued to live many hundreds of years.
It should be recognized here, according to the Biblical record, that God had no personal dealings with Eve. Hence she did not share the same relationship with God as her husband. She learned about God's will and His commandments from her husband, Adam. Eve's understanding of God's will came to her from only Adam. When she acted on the Devil's lie she lost her innocence; her clean, undefiled conscience. She betrayed her husband and to justify that right she had to cause him to lose his innocence too. Since she had compromised her integrity to him, she had to get him to compromise his integrity to God – the source of Adam's clean conscience. Only then would she be free to do whatever she wanted without any interference from her conscience; be like God or so she thought. Only then would she actually know in her mind the difference between good and bad because of what she lost with her husband. Since she had lost her husband's trust and her conscience was unable to direct her way, and the both of them had to try to figure out what was and what was not, it now became a battle of wills. This is what they passed on to their children – lifeless or dark souls or dark beings.
Eve fell victim to the first energetic parasite; the father of all liars and murderers. She did not become “like” God because God is Truth and Truth is Light and Life. Knowledge and understanding are NOT Truth. They are man's fabrication. They are lies and originate with the first liar. She wanted life or light to come to her the way she wanted it, directly, not the way Adam gave it to her. She wanted life, light or truth the way God gave it to Adam. So she caused Adam to lose that personal recognition, forcing him to become like her, a parasite. To sustain themselves they used the life-force of their children. They used every conceivable way to coerce, intimidate, and bully their children into believing they were so imperfect that only their parents knew the Truth and what was necessary to survive. God's way of sustaining life through love and true freedom as he had ordained was now lost to mankind. Mankind's existence resembled that of the animals. Occasionally, according to the Bible, a prophet or a prophetess would appear through an extreme measure of faith to show man God's Way, His Commandments or Laws. Through faith they completed God's Laws or Will as best as they could know them perfectly and provided the necessary redemption thus allowing man to continue alive on this earth awhile longer. They became the “proof” of mankind's innate nature – lifeless, would-be gods.
Moses was one of these prophetic men. He brought the Old Law Covenant, a supposed blessing for mankind through his people's linage. Jesus Christ fulfilled, validated or “proofed” that Law perfectly and brought or produced its promised and prophesied replacement, God's New Covenant. This happened when he dedicated his life or human will to do God's Will, was baptized in water immersion to symbolize this sacrifice and was personally recognized by God and received His holy spirit. Jesus Christ's brothers and sisters, God's Sons, those living today fulfill that New Covenant perfectly and thus serve as man's redemption today. They are the only ones that freely offer that value or truth and grace. Even though, like the incorruptible Jesus, where their value, life or light is mostly rejected by all the people, they remain a beacon of Truth or Light to anyone willing to accept them.
Shocking hay in the rain equals submission to the parasite. Dad compromised his manhood for the sake of love and peace, or at least that is what he chose to believe. He thought he was proving to everyone what a “better man” he was. In fact, Dad believed that sacrificing for his country and serving his patriotic duty was a rights of passage that gave him personal recognition and respect. That “proof” is NOT what his father, father-in-law or his wife saw or accepted. Unfortunately, everyone demeaned and ridiculed him for what they considered his continually being dictated to and dominated by a woman. What my mother wanted is exactly what Eve desired. Interestingly, that is exactly what my Grandfather offered Mom; the power to decide what she thought was best for herself and her family. What Eve wanted, the ability to decide for herself and make be what is “right and wrong” or “good and bad” – not have to obey God's commandments as revealed or made manifest to her by her husband or masculine logical side. She wanted to circumvent her soul and make her understanding the truth or light as revealed by her feelings, emotions and personal wants and desires. She really wanted immaculate conception. What she got was absolute corruption.
Jesus became a man or woman's redeemer when they could accept his offer – the way for them to become the "truth." So, it was with Dad. Jesus clarified the issue of love or the kind of love that is “truth” and “light.” It, “love,” requires sacrifice, the kind of sacrifice all Jesus disciples and Apostles, in particular Peter, were unable to make. That offer was extended to my father for nearly a lifetime, but not any more. So, what does that say about God, his Son Jesus Christ and their universal mandate of love, forgiveness and mercy?
[Picture source]
Gary.
