Life or Judgement? Choosing to live outside the Curse

God originally made man to have no knowledge or awareness of good and evil. He held that particular knowledge for Himself. He never equipped man to handle it. God did not make us to make judgements, but to look to Him and and take on His judgements as our own.

Adam and Eve's beginnings were so envious to me. Imagine walking in the cool evening with the Lord and sharing your day with Him and He with you. Just like I will walk on the beach with Sam and we talk about the beauty surrounding us, the wonder of God's goodness, or sit and drink in the amazing sunset, so I imagine God and His creation walking and talking about the same things. Simply enjoying each others company. Doesn't that sound awesome? I believe that part of Jesus' gift of salvation is the returning to that simple enjoyable relationship with the Godhead. To take away our proclivity through sin, towards judgement. To give us back our life.

You cannot live in the state of Judgement and the state of Life at the same time. You cannot exist in both places at once, you either live in Judgement OR Life. Just as when Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (hereafter called the TKGE*) their eyes focused on their nakedness and not their communion with their Father, so also we, when judging, focus on the sin (thus living in the State of judgement), instead of the Redeemer (the state of Life).

How did we get here (the state of sin) and what is to be done about it?

Gen. 2 15) Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16)And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." 25) And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree [was] good for food, that it [was] pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make [one] wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7) Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 8) And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9) Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where [are] you?" 10) So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." 11) And He said, "Who told you that you [were] naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?"... 3:22) Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- 23) therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24) So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

First and foremost came unbelief. Adam and Eve chose to believe the serpent instead of the loving, caring God from whom they had receive life. The quest for wisdom, through unbelief, brought the original sin curse - by having the knowledge of good and evil, they became aware that they were naked. Then they judged nakedness as evil and therefore tried clothing themselves by their own hands. Adam and Eve had always been naked, but didn't see it as evil, because they took God's judgement as their own. Once they ate of the TKGE*, they began to see through their own eyes and make their own (unrighteous) judgements. They then saw they were different than God, they were human, they judged themselves as lacking. Thus began the cycle of trying to cover up humanness, judging it as evil. I believe that trying, by our own hand, to cover up our humanity is the evil. To not see ourselves as God originally made us, and instead, see ourselves through our own unrighteous judgement, is the evil. Our humanity isn't the sinful nature. The sinful nature comes through our trying to set things right by our own hands, by our own force of will. Trying to cover up the fact that we aren't God, that we are human, instead of embracing how God made us and believing Him when He called it "good".

Gen. 1:31 - Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed [it was] very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

We were cursed when we chose unbelief and independence. But thank God He sent Jesus to become that curse (see following verses for examples) for us, taking on all the curses of the Old Testament (the Law) that rightfully belong to us.

1 Cor. 5:21 - For He made Him who knew no sin [to be] sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Gal. 3:3 - Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree:

Deut. 21:23 - you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Deut. 26:27 - "Cursed is the man who does not uphold the words of this law by carrying them out." Then all the people shall say, "Amen!"

Ezra 7:26 - Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether [it be] death, or banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.

When we live in the sinful nature, we make our own judgments to do or not do, be or not be, say or not say, instead of existing in Christ, through His Spirit. It is that Spirit who knows what to do and will make the right judgement. We might know, because of the TKGE*, what is good and what is evil, but we cannot, on our own, make a righteous judgement. If Christ himself would not judge on his own, who are we to judge?

John 5:3 - (Jesus said) I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

I Pet. 2:23 - (Jesus) who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed [Himself] to Him who judges righteously;

John 7:24 - Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.

I believe that Jesus' death and resurrection set us free from the curse, the law, and returned us to the original state of fellowship and communion with Him. To Life.

Rom. 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Anytime we judge by own unrighteousness, that is evil, that is the curse of the law, the "falling short", as is the definition of sin. We cannot, by any of our own effort, make ourselves righteous, give ourselves salvation or any thing else. We can't even breathe on our own. Our very existence comes from and through God. If we can't save or clothe ourselves, who will?

Rom. 7:18, 24 & 25a - I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature...What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!

I have chosen to live outside the curse, to let Jesus take on the curse I deserve. I have chosen to walk in the garden in the cool of the evening with my Lord. I CHOOSE LIFE!!!!

Deut. 13:9 - This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

* theTKGE - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil