The Eden Effect: Sin in The Garden

THE

EDEN

EFFECT

Sin in the Garden

A Theological View of how Sin Entered

The Garden of Eden

2018

All Rights Reserved.

Michael G. Barnes

The Eden Effect

Sin in the Garden

Sin in the garden of Eden was passed on to mankind through Adam and Eve which continues today and is known as the most disastrous catastrophe on the face of all the earth, affecting everyone. This event in the garden would affect from deep inside humanity, it could be labeled as; The Eden Effect. In Genesis 3 of the Bible, it records man’s disobedience to his creator God, and the result of listening to Satan and ignoring the instructions and warnings from God. Man fell into sin that has since affected all of creation from generation to generation. There had to be a way of escape from the catastrophe of the Eden Effect or mankind would die eternally in his sins. The cure would come only one way and God would provide it, it must be God’s way.

Michael G. Barnes Th.D.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

SCRIPTURE

THE ENCOUNTER (Gen 3:1-5)

THE DECEPTION (Gen 3:6-7)

THE CONSEQUENCES (Gen 3:8-11)

THE BLAME GAME (Gen 3:12-13)

THE PAIN (Gen 3:14-16)

THE WORK (Gen 3:17-19)

THE COVERING (Gen 3:20-21)

THE TREE of LIFE (Gen 3:22-24)

IS THERE A CURE FOR SIN?

THE PURPOSE of THIS BOOK

SALVATION - PLAN & PRAYER

BIOGRAPHY

All Scripture is from the KJV unless noted otherwise.

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

Oh!

Precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

PREFACE

The Eden Effect.

Sin in the Garden

The Bible is the absolute word of truth from God Himself. God spoke and demonstrated His will to Holy inspired men and they wrote as they were inspired and instructed. The Bible is the book for living the way that God intended His creation to live on earth, so they may live in Heaven with Him through all eternity.

In the Book of Genesis (beginnings), God’s plan was laid out; it records the beginning of time, life, sin, salvation, and the human race. This book gives mankind instructions as to living the way that pleases God; in peace, harmony, without conflict or error.

The events that had taken place in Genesis 3 are a direct side effect as to why we have the rest of the Bible. The Eden Effect was set on disobedience, and all humanity would suffer the consequences. From this point forward, salvation is the theme and goal for mankind.

In studying the book of Genesis, we will focus mainly on chapter three, where we see a change that takes place in Gods perfect creation. This change is centralized in the garden, but it is catastrophic because it affected everyone from that day, even until this very day. In a place called Eden (located in modern-day Iraq in the Middle East), God planted a garden and placed His creation there.

It was an oasis or paradise, but soon Satan in his rebellion to; influence, infect, impact, impress and inhabit, would sneak in and change the purpose here on earth as to the original plans God created. God though, always has a plan, God provides for His people. As you read through this book, you will soon discover that the purpose is to make you aware that Satan and Sin is real and is still as strong today or maybe even stronger, and more enticing than it was in the Garden of Eden. The world we live in today has become ingenious at hiding the real effects of sin by renaming and redirecting the impact on people’s lives. We will expose and explore these enticing events and its effects in Eden. Also, this book will make you aware that there is a Savior that God sent into this world just for you, and He provided a way of escape from Satan’s snares so that you could live eternally with, The Creator in Heaven.

INTRODUCTION

The Eden Effect

As we study the word and acts of sin, when it first entered the world, we soon see that this was a catastrophic event in history that turned into an epidemic that continues to sway and sweep around the entire world today, feeding on people. What took place in the Garden of Eden in just one day, has affected every human being that has entered the world. This place located in Mesopotamia (which is today, modern-day Iraq) is where sin was first encountered, where it made its grand debut. Sin is a disastrous disease that destroys families, homes, relationships, and it causes eternal death. This catastrophic epidemic is everywhere just waiting for a moment to destroy and kill. Sin is one of the oldest and deadliest diseases known to mankind and is the major problem with the world today.

Understanding sin is the basic element to understanding the need for salvation and the method that God applies for the purchase of our freedom. It is the primary teaching of the Bible that all have sinned, and it is sin that sent the Lord Jesus Christ to the cross. The entire Bible is God’s revelation of our sin and our need to be redeemed by the blood of Christ Jesus. (According, to Lewis Sperry Chafer, in Major Bible Themes).

The garden of Eden was not just any garden, this garden was created by God as a habitat for his first creation on earth; this place was an absolute oasis on earth, no sickness, no death, no worry’s, no pain, just pure pleasure poured out on an innocent, shameless, creation by an all Holy God who desired his creation to live in peace and safety. How wonderful does that sound? That is what God created here on earth and the devil came right in to destroy it. Basically, everything we deal with today is because of what took place on one day in the Garden of Eden.

Where was Eden?

(Genesis 2:10-14)

(Source; NKJV Chronological Study Bible).

The Book of Genesis states that God planted a garden eastward in Eden (Gen 2:8). The name Eden is used not only for the region where God placed the garden but also for the garden itself (2:15). For centuries, biblical commentators have speculated on the location of Eden, studying the description of the garden for possible hints. The garden is associated with four rivers: Pishon, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates (2:10-14). The last two rivers are known, Hiddekel being the Hebrew name for the Tigris River.

Thus, the mention of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers would suggest a location for Eden somewhere in Mesopotamia. Unfortunately, the other rivers Pishon and Gihon, are obscure and defy absolute placement. Pishon was in the land of Havilah (2:11), which has been associated with Arabia (Gen 25:18), as well as with India. Gihon was in Cush (2:13), which was an ancient name for the area south of Egypt. Some scholars have argued that Pishon and Gihon represent the Indus and Nile rivers, but others contend that they may have been canals.

To the ancient writer of Genesis, Eden was a place blessed with an abundant supply of water. Unfortunately, this writer’s description of Eden’s rivers will not help us pinpoint an exact location for Eden itself. As I look at the maps, it seems to me that Eden would have been located in modern day Iraq. The Bible mentions a place called Eden, which means there was a place called Eden, whether we can pinpoint its exact location or not. God placed the first man there and he inhabited that land for a period of time. It was in Eden where sin entered, not only into the world but into the human, the mankind that God created. Sin is a worldwide curse, yet the word sin is also a forgotten and often ignored word. In our society today, nobody likes to talk about sin. We have given a three, letter word:

S - I – N.

So many names today as to make it sound less impacting on our lives. The one name the world loves is alternative, however; there is no alternative to sin. People are people, sin is sin, and they both have been around about the same time. It didn’t take long for sin to enter the lives of the first couple and ever since then, it has been passed down from person to person.

We try to hide our sins from other people, sin is not something new, sin is a curse, a worldwide catastrophe turned epidemic and continues to destroy.

Sin has sneaked, slithered, and slimed its way across the universe, becoming the largest universal catastrophe known to mankind, since the beginning of time. Sin is a deception and a deceiver, and it is destroying everything it possibly can encounter.

The effect in the Garden of Eden would make a catastrophic change, not only in humanity but in nature itself from that moment forward.

The word epidemic, according to the Merriam/Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus is defined as; catching, contagious, infectious, spreading, affecting or tending to affect a disproportionately large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time,