IF, THEN
by
Dr. Gale A. Ragan-Reid
(December 14, 2019)
“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.” (Genesis 2: 16-17, King James Version [KJV]).
Greetings In the Holy Name of Jesus Yahshuah,
My sisters and brothers, the times are one and the same, in relationships for the power struggles for favor, from GOD YAHWEH, remain between us, foreshadowing the future of our love for GOD and the future of our love for one another. God’s love is both a commanding and a demanding love that requires attention to commitment for all times. As much as we like to think it is right to sin now, for that was then and now is now. It is not right. Sinning against the Word of God is wrong, for all times. Yet the God we serve is a forgiving God, even moreso, many times than man is with woman and woman is with man.
The conditions began to set forth from the Word of God in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil [Gen. 2: 17, KJV]. Since God sent them out of the Garden of Eden [3: 23-24, KJV], we find, God talking to one of the sons of Adam and Eve, Cain, for his countenance had fallen.“ Now, my memory takes me back to a mother and son relationship wherein she so desired that her son become a Federal Bureau Of Investigations Officer [FBI for the United States of America (USA)]. This was more than a notion, it was a life - long dream for her son that led her to sternly question his girlfriend about her conduct and desires in the relationship she had with her son, particularly desires for drugs and drug use. The mother did not accept the girlfriend.
Now, God received Cain and Abel offerings but God had respect for Abel’s offering of the firstlings of his flock but God did not have respect for Cain’s offering of the fruit of the ground [4: 3-5, KJV]. God told Cain:
“And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.” [4: 7, KJV].
Most importantly, as we journey through faith, Eve’s faith in the Word of God, broke underestimating the influence of the serpent and her son, Cain’s faith broke under God’s non-acceptance of his offering. He did not understand what God told him, obviously that sin is at the root of why his offering was not accepted for he carried his brother’s desire and wanted to rule over him. There are times when no matter what you do, you only want what your brother or sister wants even what your mother and/or father wants and you want only to pressed them down under your need to rule over them. For many children of God, it plays out as sibling rivalry, others call it domination, moreover, many call it power and authority over others and for some, it is a rebellious need to be head. Let us say God read Cain’s heart just as Jesus read the woman of Samaria’s heart (the woman at the well).
Cain went out from the presence of God to the east of Eden to a land called Nod, for God did not let him stay since he killed his brother [4: 16, KJV]. The problem is the Word of God is constant but the faith of mankind is not constant. We hear the folks say hold on to God’s unchanging hand. How many of you remember what a love one told you, not to do yet as time went by and you finally found yourself in the space of time where what they said made sense, you either forgot what they said, once you arrived in the prophesy or you did not see how what they said should have been said. You wonder why they harshly judged you and why they did not tell you what God revealed to them so you could have a say-so in the revelation.
Yet, when all is said and done you wish you had the faith needed to do just as they told you, the strength to hold on to God’s unchanging hand, for truth be told God did not reveal your future to you. The hardest heart breaks and the cold-bloodiest heart breaks but the will of God sees beyond the walls of contentions that are strongholds on your faith binding you as a captive to momentary pleasure and foolhardy folly, for the flesh is weak. Do you dust yourself off, after the fall of grace; and get back up? By all means necessary, yes, you must, you have no other choice other than to suffer and die, without grace.
More importantly, we discover in reflection that the knowledge of good and evil is just as binding as the ability to be fruitful and multiply, for Eve did not know she was naked and Cain did not receive acceptance of his fruit of the ground offering. What does that tell us? It demonstrates that even with God walking in the midst of the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, the weakness of the flesh led Eve astray and even with God receiving both the offerings of the firstlings of flock which were sheep and the fruit of the ground, Cain’s offering was not accepted because Cain’s offering was not in the plan of God.
For the Word of God through Christ Jesus says, “...Feed my sheep.” [John 21:17, KJV]. Therefore, the offering of sheep was accepted because Jesus’ blood, the blood of the lamb, saved man yet the prophecy was still to be filled. There was no way Cain could win over Abel except in his heart to accept that Abel was chosen to lead the way in the offerings. Cain did not want to be his brother’s keeper [Gen. 4: 9, KJV, And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?”].
Cain needed the very offering that his brother Abel presented to God, for he killed the brother who tended to the sheep. God drove him out as a fugitive and a vagabond [Gen. 4:12, KJV] and he said, “Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findest me shall slay me.”]. He did not understand the offerings as the offerings related to a sacrifice needed for sin meaning that the sacrifice that was prophecy was also a part of everyday life, unaffordable for most of the children of God who could not afford the cost to pay for redemption of their sins because the poor stayed poor and the rich got richer than before, rightfully so, from the blessings of God.
God called Abram. According to Genesis 12: 1-4, KJV:
“Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”
God’s strength to see his plan through even after the fall of man with Adam and Eve, the murder of Abel, Adam and Eve’s son who tended the sheep, and the flood to destroy man off the earth, we see God called Abram, Terah’s son.
In closing, my Father God in heaven hallowed be thy name. I find in the reflection of Christ Jesus that the life we live is our own life to live yet we are in the one body of Christ Jesus. The children of God who live in hate of the Word of God, committed sin as an appetite to disapprove of Jesus’ righteousness, for to them, How can a man measure up to such a high order of beliefs living the life a man lives or living the life of sin a man settles into, and still make it to heaven, for evil men placed the blame for every sin they committed on someone else. How many have they sent to prison on the lies they told? How many have they killed in the darkness of their calculated evil just because they harshly judged them and deemed they must die?
Folks like that who easily commit sins say to you using words of honor to give friendly unsolicited advice, do not do this or do that with this person or that person because you do not know they could have a case or the police could be looking for them. Folks speak just like that to draw you close to them even after they just stole someone else’s property perhaps the property of the same person they are trying to draw to them, speaking with honor and respect yet the words are lies and deception like a snake. You could counter their words with, Is it peace with you since you say they could have just committed sin or are you here to steal, kill, and destroy? This counter response which unmasks the evil intent could place you in harm’s way or eminent danger, so, making an escape as soon as possible to get as far away from evil is best because evil will act maybe sooner than later, to take you.
If you hear the Word of God, then, it is a blessing to you, to know the voice of your Father God in heaven, for you belong to him and you are in the kingdom of God, albeit in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, for evermore. Accordingly John 10: 27-28, KJV says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” [lifehopeandtruth.com, “ Even though Satan’s attempt to destroy Jesus when He was a child failed, the devil did not give up. Prior to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1). During this temptation, Satan tried to get Jesus to violate God’s law and worship him instead of God. The devil offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” (verse 8) if Jesus would worship him. But Jesus did not do so.”]
Christ be with you. God be with you. Walk with God.
Amen.
