2.1 The Fatal Flaw

The events taking place in Genesis Chapter 3 should create in our souls a horror greater than humans can comprehend. The fact that it has not is part of God’s mercy, in clothing us with the skin of a beast, to dull our grasp of our awful reality. Yet the more we eat of the Tree of Life, the greater the horror of the tree of death and of Adam’s actions becomes to us.

Evil has no substance; neither is there such a thing as a “sin nature.” Every created thing comes out from and is sustained by the good-speaking of Jesus every moment; there is no other cause. Men and angels do evil things ONLY by turning their backs against the Jesus out from whom they come, refusing Him.

A Huge Risk. Refusing Jesus in each moment is always the greater evil. The sinful actions committed by such a one are simply using God for self-gain at the expense of and for power over others.

The fatal flaw found in the design of all humans is the possession of all authority and hearts created to rule, but no power whatsoever to accomplish anything real. The fatal flaw found in the design of all angels is the possession of great abilities of strength, beauty, and wisdom, but no authority to act whatsoever. These elements of design are essential to the revelation of Jesus Christ, but God is taking a huge risk because all are free of Him, free to do anything we want with what He gives.

Elements of Design. Humans are symmorphic, designed to contain and to reveal all the fulness of God All-Carrying, the One who accomplishes all only by the giving of His Spirit. Angels are gifted to serve, in our heavenly role, those humans who share their lives with God, those who are devoted by His Spirit. They act only by our authority.

Humans are in charge. Neither angels nor the Spirit of God are authorized to act in the ordering of created things, whether spirit or physic. Both move only by human authority. Humans are designed to be FILLED with the Spirit, in spirit, in soul, and in body. It is the Spirit who “ought to” energeo all in us. Yet angels, as spiritual beings with some power, can inhabit and energeo humans as well, contrary to nature.

God Has No Body. This lesson is titled “The Fatal Flaw.” “Fatal flaw” is a literary term that refers to something in a story character’s makeup that allows for or even causes a bad decision that leads to devastating consequences. Yet it is story more than anything else that enables us to understand the human dilemma, including God’s dilemma.

For, you see, the Scriptures are clear, God also is disabled. God is lacking something in His design. God is invisible; He has no form through which He can be known inside of creation. God is missing a Body. He designed humans in every particulate of our makeup and of our life together to be that Body that God needs. – A body You have prepared for Me.

God Needs Somebody. Yet there is even more in God’s own design. You see, if God is Fellowship, if He is family, if He loves, if He gives, then He needs somebody else. God NEEDS somebody to Love.

For this reason, in every conceivable part of the design of the entire creation, whether of things in the spiritual realms or of things in the physical realms, everything NEEDS something else in order to be complete. And if you NEED somebody to love, then that means that you are incomplete in yourself. Without them, you are without.

God did NOT set up anything or anyone to fail. But He did make us to need one another. “And therein lies the rub,” as the Bard said.

Given All. The study of Symmorphy, learning the dynamics of a Personal God dwelling inside of my person such that we share all form and life and every moment together, is problematic. Not only does “Learn of Me” never end, but also the “topic of study” increases forever. You never become an “expert.”

By the Blood Covenant, God has given all that He is to me. I love God because He first loves me. I am devoted to God because He is first devoted to me. All that I am belongs to God because all that God is first belongs to me. This is terrifying. And from the start, I have insisted that God seize hold of me and never let me go, no matter how hard I scream or how fast I run.

Anything at All. God gives me all that He is, invites me to seize hold of everything I find inside of Him as my own, gives me full access to all the power of His Spirit, bequeaths me with all authority inside of my world, and then sets me free of Himself. I can do anything I want with the Word God speaks. I can do anything I want with the Spirit God gives. I can do anything I want with the Hheart I share with God, anything at all.

It is inside of this glory that we comprehend God as Adam and Eve made their way through the trees of the garden. God is utterly Personal. Everything He does, and everything that exists is utterly personal to Him. We look upon Genesis 3 only here inside the utter SAFETY of God’s Heart.

A Differing Relationship. Angels have a different relationship with God than humans. As part of their relating, God instructs angels, and then they do as He instructs. They are capable of acting in this way, unlike humans, who can do nothing of themselves. Humans must have Jesus as Word written inside their own hearts. Angels can respond to word on the outside of them.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not an evil tree. It represented God’s word as law, as external instruction to be obeyed. But it was made for angels, not humans. And the covering cherub who anointed that tree of God’s external instructions was anointed to lead the hosts of heaven in singing with God, NOT to empower humans.

Eat from Your Own Tree. Angels had a relationship with God of perfect obedience. As sons of God, we have a relationship with God of perfect union through Jesus, causing our desire and God’s desire to be as one. When humans try “perfect obedience” (always dishonestly and always as imposed on others) they become inhuman and ungodly. When angels try to enter into union with humans they become demonic. The tree of knowledge and instruction is good for angels. The Tree of Life is good for humans. – Eat from your own tree.

Adam and Eve were DRAWN to the Tree of Life, to fierce and glorious liberty and to the Bond of Commitment that is Jesus, faith working through Love.

The Issue. Now, we have considered the setting of Genesis 3 and the design of every being and person found in the story line. All of this is by God’s purpose, and none of it is for failure. We will see that human sin changes nothing inside God’s intention or in the meaning and action of Salvation.

But these things are only the context; they are not the ISSUE. Here is the line that shows us God’s issue. – For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. In the day when I cried out, You answered me (Psalm 138:3-4). Or this – Who do you say that I am? Or, “Look at me, God, I belong to you, let it be to me according to Your Word.”

Jesus Faithful and True. God’s issue is always and only His Word. When God speaks, does He speak the truth? When God speaks, does His Word cause all things that are True and real?

So what if some do not believe? Does their unbelief negate the faith of God? It cannot be so! Let God be true and every man a liar [a fake], as it has been written, “That You may be justified inside Your words, and will overcome when You are being judged” (Romans 3:3-4).

God intends to prove Jesus faithful and True, that when He speaks, His Word is sure. And this PROVING of Jesus inside of and through us, Jesus as every Word God speaks, is the GLORY of our Salvation.

Salvation for the Lost. Now, considering Genesis 3 must become the second most horrifying experience ever for us. The reason is simple. Through our entire lives we have been doing the same thing Adam did for the exact same reasons. And we have been doing these horrific and criminal, felonious and wicked things against God and against ourselves – for NO reason whatsoever. We have HURT God our Father beyond comprehension – without a cause.

Salvation is only for the LOST, for those who cry, “Jesus, save me." But before we can know such a Savior, we must first know the horror of the series of wicked actions that were the greatest crime ever committed in human history.