The store hannes
5 Feb 2022
New day
Why the 'Now' of the Serpent?
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." Genesis 3:1, KJV.
In my little fraternity with God's Word, each time I come to the above verse, I just wish there was no Genesis chapter three. I wish the entire Bible ended at chapter two. Just imagine what this earth would look like, if we all are living only between Genesis chapters one and two! Everything God made within those two chapters "was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Even when there was no rain on earth, the Lord's garden, Eden, for which the Man was put in charge, flourished. Everything the Man needed in life, was provided. To crown it all, Baba Himself would come down, walk in Eden and commune with Adam and Eve. It was a daily, sweet and wonderful fellowship, such that both God and Man did not want to miss.
It was such a great honour God crowned the Man with, the kind that drew the envy of angels. The angels never had such privilege, and so they cried, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:5-6). In Eden, both Adam and Eve were naked, and yet there was nothing to be ashamed of (v. 25). The Shekinah glory of the Father made the difference; it was a covering for them. Even those animals we now refer to as wild, were very friendly - each of them passed before Adam for a kind of naming ceremony (Gen. 2:19-20), without any hassle. The Man bore the image of God, and they never struggled to live to please God. Those were glorious days on earth.
But with Genesis chapter three, came the trouble and disaster for the human race. The Bible says, NOW THE SERPENT! The word "now" presupposes that there was a "before". Before then, the serpent existed inactive, as if not worried about the existence of a single man! But as soon as the two became one flesh - marriage consummation - in the will of God, there came the "now" of the serpent. The sleeping devil in the serpent woke up, as soon as God instituted marriage. The enemy located the weak point of the newly wedded couple and thus he attacked them via it. The first thing he did was to show them what they were lacking and to debase what God had done. Subtly, he overblown what they seemingly lacked, purposely to put them against God and to frustrate their marital purpose.
Right from the beginning till now, the devil has not ceased to attack marriages, especially Christian ones, very vehemently. He is bent on frustrating the divine counsel to prove God to be a liar. Have you ever wondered why, certain ignominious things your spouse could not engage in as a single, s/he is now at home with such? It is because, now the serpent has showed up. Things we never heard of Christian marriages are now appearing normal. Why? The serpent has subtly crawled into many a home; as men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. We can no longer pretend about the enemy's vicious attacks on marriage. The devil seems not so bothered about a single person; but once s/he enters into marriage and that as a Christian, the devil comes with enough troubles.
Art thou married? Please strive to grasp this truth: The trouble of/in your marriage is not your spouse; it is NOW the serpent! The misdeeds of your partner are not him or her; they are products of the 'now' of the serpent. Stop dwelling on the undoing of your in-laws or friends; they are not your main problem. And if they are, it must be that the tempter's voice has whispered so softly and subtly to them, contrary to God's counsel. Beloved, if you will not grapple with this truth, you will be fighting as one beating the air, giving the devil more grounds in your marriage. The devil is taking an advantage of our ignorance, helping us to miss the real issue, to chase shadows. This is no time to point fingers; let us give love to our fellow humans, while we face the devil, the archenemy of our homes. Pore over 1 John 3:8.
5 Feb 2022
A little more
Why the 'Now' of the Serpent?
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." Genesis 3:1, KJV.
In my little fraternity with God's Word, each time I come to the above verse, I just wish there was no Genesis chapter three. I wish the entire Bible ended at chapter two. Just imagine what this earth would look like, if we all are living only between Genesis chapters one and two! Everything God made within those two chapters "was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Even when there was no rain on earth, the Lord's garden, Eden, for which the Man was put in charge, flourished. Everything the Man needed in life, was provided. To crown it all, Baba Himself would come down, walk in Eden and commune with Adam and Eve. It was a daily, sweet and wonderful fellowship, such that both God and Man did not want to miss.
It was such a great honour God crowned the Man with, the kind that drew the envy of angels. The angels never had such privilege, and so they cried, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:5-6). In Eden, both Adam and Eve were naked, and yet there was nothing to be ashamed of (v. 25). The Shekinah glory of the Father made the difference; it was a covering for them. Even those animals we now refer to as wild, were very friendly - each of them passed before Adam for a kind of naming ceremony (Gen. 2:19-20), without any hassle. The Man bore the image of God, and they never struggled to live to please God. Those were glorious days on earth.
But with Genesis chapter three, came the trouble and disaster for the human race. The Bible says, NOW THE SERPENT! The word "now" presupposes that there was a "before". Before then, the serpent existed inactive, as if not worried about the existence of a single man! But as soon as the two became one flesh - marriage consummation - in the will of God, there came the "now" of the serpent. The sleeping devil in the serpent woke up, as soon as God instituted marriage. The enemy located the weak point of the newly wedded couple and thus he attacked them via it. The first thing he did was to show them what they were lacking and to debase what God had done. Subtly, he overblown what they seemingly lacked, purposely to put them against God and to frustrate their marital purpose.
Right from the beginning till now, the devil has not ceased to attack marriages, especially Christian ones, very vehemently. He is bent on frustrating the divine counsel to prove God to be a liar. Have you ever wondered why, certain ignominious things your spouse could not engage in as a single, s/he is now at home with such? It is because, now the serpent has showed up. Things we never heard of Christian marriages are now appearing normal. Why? The serpent has subtly crawled into many a home; as men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. We can no longer pretend about the enemy's vicious attacks on marriage. The devil seems not so bothered about a single person; but once s/he enters into marriage and that as a Christian, the devil comes with enough troubles.
Art thou married? Please strive to grasp this truth: The trouble of/in your marriage is not your spouse; it is NOW the serpent! The misdeeds of your partner are not him or her; they are products of the 'now' of the serpent. Stop dwelling on the undoing of your in-laws or friends; they are not your main problem. And if they are, it must be that the tempter's voice has whispered so softly and subtly to them, contrary to God's counsel. Beloved, if you will not grapple with this truth, you will be fighting as one beating the air, giving the devil more grounds in your marriage. The devil is taking an advantage of our ignorance, helping us to miss the real issue, to chase shadows. This is no time to point fingers; let us give love to our fellow humans, while we face the devil, the archenemy of our homes. Pore over 1 John 3:8.
5 Feb 2022
This yes
Why the 'Now' of the Serpent?
"Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made..." Genesis 3:1, KJV.
In my little fraternity with God's Word, each time I come to the above verse, I just wish there was no Genesis chapter three. I wish the entire Bible ended at chapter two. Just imagine what this earth would look like, if we all are living only between Genesis chapters one and two! Everything God made within those two chapters "was very good" (Gen. 1:31). Even when there was no rain on earth, the Lord's garden, Eden, for which the Man was put in charge, flourished. Everything the Man needed in life, was provided. To crown it all, Baba Himself would come down, walk in Eden and commune with Adam and Eve. It was a daily, sweet and wonderful fellowship, such that both God and Man did not want to miss.
It was such a great honour God crowned the Man with, the kind that drew the envy of angels. The angels never had such privilege, and so they cried, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" (Ps. 8:4-5; Heb. 2:5-6). In Eden, both Adam and Eve were naked, and yet there was nothing to be ashamed of (v. 25). The Shekinah glory of the Father made the difference; it was a covering for them. Even those animals we now refer to as wild, were very friendly - each of them passed before Adam for a kind of naming ceremony (Gen. 2:19-20), without any hassle. The Man bore the image of God, and they never struggled to live to please God. Those were glorious days on earth.
But with Genesis chapter three, came the trouble and disaster for the human race. The Bible says, NOW THE SERPENT! The word "now" presupposes that there was a "before". Before then, the serpent existed inactive, as if not worried about the existence of a single man! But as soon as the two became one flesh - marriage consummation - in the will of God, there came the "now" of the serpent. The sleeping devil in the serpent woke up, as soon as God instituted marriage. The enemy located the weak point of the newly wedded couple and thus he attacked them via it. The first thing he did was to show them what they were lacking and to debase what God had done. Subtly, he overblown what they seemingly lacked, purposely to put them against God and to frustrate their marital purpose.
Right from the beginning till now, the devil has not ceased to attack marriages, especially Christian ones, very vehemently. He is bent on frustrating the divine counsel to prove God to be a liar. Have you ever wondered why, certain ignominious things your spouse could not engage in as a single, s/he is now at home with such? It is because, now the serpent has showed up. Things we never heard of Christian marriages are now appearing normal. Why? The serpent has subtly crawled into many a home; as men slept, the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. We can no longer pretend about the enemy's vicious attacks on marriage. The devil seems not so bothered about a single person; but once s/he enters into marriage and that as a Christian, the devil comes with enough troubles.
Art thou married? Please strive to grasp this truth: The trouble of/in your marriage is not your spouse; it is NOW the serpent! The misdeeds of your partner are not him or her; they are products of the 'now' of the serpent. Stop dwelling on the undoing of your in-laws or friends; they are not your main problem. And if they are, it must be that the tempter's voice has whispered so softly and subtly to them, contrary to God's counsel. Beloved, if you will not grapple with this truth, you will be fighting as one beating the air, giving the devil more grounds in your marriage. The devil is taking an advantage of our ignorance, helping us to miss the real issue, to chase shadows. This is no time to point fingers; let us give love to our fellow humans, while we face the devil, the archenemy of our homes. Pore over 1 John 3:8.
