Kingdom Come

Adam joining his wife in death saved her from the dreadful isolation that defines death, but that didn’t reconcile her to a spiritual relationship for eternal life with the Creator.

God can unilaterally forgive sinners but even He can only offer restoration of relationship, which must be accepted by the sinner.

And the LORD God said…Because thou hast done this…thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:6-16)

There is a direct connection between

• the woman’s desire for tasty food, pleasure, and wisdom getting her in trouble and dragging her husband down into her trouble,
• and God’s response by putting her desires under her husband’s oversight.

It’s to prevent a recurrence!

It is also to reconcile her broken relationship with her husband. How could he ever trust her in the future if she didn’t admit her weakness and allow him to protect himself as much as her from a recurrence?

YHVH wasn’t setting up a tyrannical marriage system. Adam had proven his love for his wife by dying for her. If the rest of us women screened prospective husbands for Adam’s qualifications we wouldn’t find ourselves desperately backing out of slavery.

Hello! We love that word “boundaries” in psychology, don’t we?

When you hear the phrase ‘setting boundaries’ you might think it’s all about putting up walls or barriers between you and your loved ones. But that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Essentially, setting boundaries…shows just how much you care about the other person, because you’re willing to put in the effort to nurture and sustain that relationship.

1. Acknowledge the damage done by his / her actions. Honestly, most relationships just limp along at this level, with continued trauma and apologies, harbored resentment and anger, and increasing distance between the parties.
2. Offer to repair the damage done to the extent possible, also called repairs / reparations.
   • In politics, monetary reparations are often imposed on the countries that started, but lost, a war.
   • In a court of law, a monetary fine is often imposed on the offender, which puts a value on the damage caused by the wrongdoer’s actions.  This allows the judge to maintain his integrity (honesty, righteousness, faithfulness to the law).
3. Take action to prevent a recurrence. Stop drinking. Get counseling. Stop interacting superficially with with co-workers and online resources and engage instead in the hard work of building a relationship with your family.

In ancient Israel, the Day of Atonement laid the foundation for God to forgive the people of any sins committed since the previous year’s feast…

Today, the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are days of repentance, when Jews express remorse for their sins through prayer and fasting.

Expressing remorse and roasting a lamb is utterly meaningless if you have no intention of changing your behavior.

Ask anyone who’s been in an unfaithful marriage. Sin is addictive. A spouse guilty of infidelity must be willing to have their activities monitored, not only to prove their changed behavior, but to provide the assistance absolutely required to make the changes.

The Woman did this when she submitted to the new rule giving Adam dominion over her – a BIG change from being created equals!

“…be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (II Corinthians 5:20-21)

Being made righteous is not some abracadabra invisible magical transformation!

The Woman was “made” righteous over a grueling, time-consuming process of submitting herself to Adam’s boundaries and oversight while she developed new habits.

This is spelled out in the New Testament.

• “they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
• Therefore IF any [hu]man [think the Woman] BE IN in Christ [think in submission to Adam], he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
• And [for the new creature] all [his/her] things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ / Adam” (II Corinthians 5:10-18)

Becoming a new creation requires focusing on what the Lord – be he Adam or the Word of God or any godly authority – tells us not to do instead of what our instincts and bodily cravings for pleasure drive us into doing against our better judgment. Look in a mirror. Anyone besides me see a need to be less self-indulgent?

“we all, with open face beholding as in a glass / mirror reflecting back to us the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image…by the Spirit of the Lord.” (II Corinthians 3:18b)

Ask any homeless drug addict who has prayed the Sinner’s Prayer countless times at rescue missions but still steals and lies to feed his drug habit, dying a little more every day. He / She has not experienced transformation to new life in this world – nor in the world to come.

This is not just philosophical logic. This is spiritual law.

• “Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, IF ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…
• [But] Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin…Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.” (John 8:31-59)

The reality is that anyone who is “made” righteous does so by applying the Savior’s Life Force to one’s own lifestyle choices in alignment with the Father.

Someone who has truly embraced the free gift of salvation, i.e. is connected to God’s Spirit, will show it in their conversion. This is clearly stated to be terminating fulfillment of physical desires for short-term sensual pleasures obtained at the cost of long-term self-destruction. It is equated with crucifixion because it is acknowledged to be painful and takes time to kill.

• “Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized [by the Spirit / merged] into Jesus Christ were baptized / fully immersed into his death...
  • that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
• For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
  • we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
• Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed…Now if we be dead with Christ,
  • we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more…
• Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
  • but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
• Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof…
  • but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God…
• Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey;
  • whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?,,,
• What fruit [productive results]  had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed?
  • for the end of those things is death…” (Romans 6)

“For the flesh / body lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other…Now the works of the flesh are manifest / obvious, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God…And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” (Galatians 5:17-24)

So-called Christ-one/ians who do not in fact personally apply Christ’s death to the flesh do not therefore attain his resurrection to new life, obviously not in this world, and neither in the world to come.

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death…Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. 

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, THEY are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:2-3, 9-14)

“know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)

And right there is the problem with powerless Christianity. Our leaders embrace popular culture to attract followers and wealth instead of accepting the sufferings of Christ.