Understanding The Curse

Dear Servant's Of The Most High,

Our understanding of original sin, and the consequences there of, is something that most people have difficulty balancing in light of God's grace and the new covenant. Many of us understand that the covenant of Abraham and the Mosaic Law does not apply to the new covenant believer, but rather it was fulfilled through the life of Jesus with him introducing to us the eternal principles and commandments of the Kingdom of God, commonly known as the "New Covenant" .

For centuries there have been theologians, preachers, and a myriad of other recognized or self appointed leaders who have promoted either a re-invention of a modern day "christianized" mosaic style of covenant typically with overtones of worldly government associations to the blatant merging of church and state. Or they go the other extreme with complete disregard for biblically based church structure and order adapting to the culture of the day or the latest revelation that God seems to have just revealed to one of his "devout" leaders.

The first style tries to enforce conversion through the laws created by the merging of church and state and the other tries to evangelize the masses through an updated cultural approach believing that the "end justifies the means" and that when we get to heaven God will sort it all out. So for many of us who begin to approach the scriptures with humility and a thirst for his truth we find that neither approach is biblically sound, so much so that we realize that these methods are ripe for misuse both through Satan's agenda and that of sinful man.

So how does the citizen of the Kingdom of God, the child of the King, the member of the Apostolically established Church balance the following scriptures?

Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Rom 6:18-23)

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

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen 3:16-19)

Many today do not realize that it was solely Adam that sinned against God. Yes that is correct. Adam was the one that sinned against God and in reality Eve simply disobeyed her husband. Eve, when being tempted by the serpent, didn't even get God's command to Adam thoroughly correct. Look at the following scriptures,

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Gen 2:16-17)

At this point Eve didn't even exist!

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. (Gen 2:18)

Then we move ahead to when the serpent visited Eve and notice her response.

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Gen 3:2-3)

Eve didn't even thoroughly understand God's command when she faced the temptation of the serpent. It's therefore just as important that we also understand God's commands if we are to withstand the temptations of the evil one ourselves.

After Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil God came looking for Adam, not Eve. Notice the next set of verses.

And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? (Gen 3:9-11)

Now that we see that God went to Adam, the one he commanded in regards to the eating of forbidden tree, and not Eve, we begin to understand the judgement of sin that was put on each of them. Once again let's look at the punishments handed out.

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Gen 3:16-19)

We see here that Adams' punishment is much harsher than Eve's and that Eve's punishment is in direct relationship with her disobeying her husband and him only. Adam's was more than punishment, it actually resulted in the earth being cursed in regards to Adam and hard physical labor was imposed upon him and all future men from then on. Now that this has become clear we begin to see the consistency that the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write in regards to roles and positions that men and woman have in the church and the home.

We also can see that ever since the earthly, physical penalties that were imposed on Adam and Eve, both men and woman have fought against them. So how do we balance this when Paul writes that we are no longer servants of sin, and it's penalty, death, now that we are servants of righteousness? The key is in the final eternal penalty, not within the framework of the existing curse. So if this is the case how do we relate to the original punishments handed out to Adam and Eve?

It can be put very simply. Fallen man struggles with accepting the penalty of hard labor. We continually strive and look for opportunities to make our lives easier and more abundant, looking for ways to better our opportunities to earn a living, with greater financial and materialistic rewards. We are increasingly enticed to circumvent hard work and look for easier ways to increase our worth and minimize our discomforts, easily being consumed with lust and greed with the increasing ability to be unethical or even immoral in their pursuits. Yet we find that the first generation believer turned their backs on individual prosperity and affluence being directed to work hard and honorably within the community looking for opportunities to both spiritually and physically meet the needs of their brothers and sisters within the church fellowship as they were blessed to do so. They understood that living a simple life of hard work kept them away from rebelling against God's original punishment for sin. Many of them were so committed to the body of Christ that they even sold the most basic of assets to help those that were worse off, such as homes, etc.

Woman also have struggled with there punishment of being in submission to their husbands, especially in regards to spiritual leadership. We see everyday examples of woman in church leadership when it is expressly forbidden. Meanwhile men and woman consistently control their reproductivity in order to pursue worldly careers and affluence. We also find that within developed nations we have children being born in ways that completely contradict what God has established as punishment for women in general. We find few willing to choose to bear there children in the simplest most natural way, but rather have embraced the massive need for medical facilities that perform "c" sections and administer many pain fighting techniques to make ones delivery as convenient as possible.

Unfortunately the church today is filled with those trying to ignore the most basic of penalties toward sin and rebellion against God, while trying to stake claim to his promise of being free from sin.

Simply put, being free from sin does not mean being free to ignore God's penalty imposed on mankind due to original sin. Rather it means that we are to be submissive to his commands, delighting in his laws. Do you delight in knowing that God takes sin and rebellion against him seriously, so much so that we are still subject to his laws? For it is on this most righteous of basis that he will judge all evil on that triumphant day that Christ returns and establishes his kingdom on earth.

For even though we are free from serving sin we are not free from still being in the service of the King.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. (Jos 24:15)

Therefore when we read what is written in the epistles in regards to church structure and order we now understand it's connection and balance with the consequences of original sin. When scripture teaches us that we are to be modest, men with short hair, woman with long without jewelry and adornment then it behooves us to obey. When we are taught that men are to love their wives, and woman are to submit to their husbands then we need to understand that these directions are once again a result of the penalties of original sin. When we are taught that men are to be the natural and spiritual leaders of the home and in the church and that woman are to be silent while in a fellowship meeting then we must comply.

There are many other directives that would be too lengthy for this article to go into that are very clear in scripture and we must be knowledgeable in order to apply them. We must look for a simplistic understanding of these directions fighting the temptation to spiritualize them away as many of us previously did. Rebellion is considered the same as the sin of witchcraft before the Almighty, yet he has been gracious to give us all we need to follow his commands which is the stepping stone for bearing fruits of righteousness. So I trust the following verses encourages you as I end this article.

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:9-14)

In Him

Robert