Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them".

God’s Original Plan for Us

God's original plan for mankind was for us to enjoy life and have fellowship with Him and to partake of His blessings. He designed the world so that we would enjoy our life on earth for eternity.

Genesis 2:7-9 (NKJV) “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

God created a paradise, a perfect, exquisite, and lush garden filled with all manner of God's special treats. Every tree was unique in its shape, vibrant color, and each with its own distinctive and delectable fruit. It must have been a breathtaking wonderland for Adam to wander through and visually take in the magnificence, smell all the fragrances, and taste the sweetness of all the different fruits, each in their original uncontaminated state. Eden was a garden planted explicitly by God. It was a place God made to be a perfect habitation for the beginning of humanity.

Genesis 2:15-17 (NKJV) says, “Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”  

Consider God's statement here in verse 16-17: "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die."

Everything was good until Satan, the fallen angel, came into the picture. When God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were both innocent and pure. Satan came disguised as a snake and spoke to Eve, convincing her to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil. Eve told the serpent that God said they should not eat it for they would die if they did, but Satan tempted Eve to eat, saying that she would become like God if she did. Eve believed the lie and picked the forbidden fruit and took a bite of the fruit. She then gave some to Adam for him to eat. Their eyes were opened, and their innocence was lost.  Now that they had sinned, Adam and Eve immediately felt ashamed and tried to hide from God.

After they sinned in (Genesis 3:19), God sentenced them to die as per Genesis 2:17. That is why they were removed from the Garden of Eden. Had they eaten from the Tree of Life they would have lived forever. Which was partly why they were forbidden from eating from the tree. They had already eaten of the Tree Of Knowledge of Good and Evil. So, God made sure they did not eat from the Tree of Life.

Genesis 3:24 (NKJV) says, “So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.”

After the rebellion of Adam and Eve, the world was in a fallen state and suffered the degrading and deadly spiritual, moral, and social consequences of sinfulness. From friendship with God to estrangement from Him, and enmity with Him has left us diseased and dying in every part of our body.

God created this world, and He created man to have fellowship with Him. Instead, man chose to go his own way when he disobeyed God's instructions in the garden, and the true fellowship with God was broken.

This self-will is still evident today. It is exhibited by an attitude of active rejection or passive indifference. This behavior is what God's Word calls sin. Adam had the privilege of purity and perfection. God had given him dominion over all creation. He was the appointed caretaker over all living creatures, and all the garden was also under his management. He had a job that kept him busy because planting was already finished. The weather was mild, the river irrigated the garden sufficiently, and everything was producing perfectly. God would visit them in the cool of the day.

This time, however, instead of going out to meet God, they hid themselves from the presence of God. What a sad change because before they sinned, if they had heard the voice of God coming, they probably would have run out to meet Him in a humble, joyous welcome for His gracious visits.

But now, God had become a terror to them. They hid from God because their intimate fellowship with Him was broken. Shame leads to fear and alienation. They wanted the knowledge of good and evil, which they were inclined to believe would make them divine. They got that knowledge they sought but they lost the power to do right. The knowledge of evil made them sad and the knowledge of good made them terrified. Before the fall, Adam and Eve had uninterrupted fellowship with God, but the relationship was vastly changed after they sinned.

When Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was supposed to subdue the earth. This would mean warfare; it means to tread down and subjugate. This implied existence of an enemy that Adam was to conquer. The only enemy around at that time and still with us today was Lucifer, also known as Satan, the devil. Conquering Satan would have made the whole world like a part of the Garden of Eden.

Hope in Jesus

Adam lost his rights to the dominion of this world. That is why Jesus being God had to come down and reclaim the rights that Adam had lost.The only way that we could reconcile with God is through the spirit. When Jesus died on the cross, he reclaimed the rights that Adam had lost. We have the choice to turn away from sin and turn to God.

We can't do anything to earn our way into heaven, but the good news is that we don't have to. God sent Jesus into the world, and He lived the way we were always meant to live. Jesus came to provide the only way by which we could be reunited with God. His innocent death took the punishment we deserve because of our rejection of God.

Because Jesus has paid the price for us, he offers us salvation and eternal life. Make a decision to accept Jesus into your lives and to share eternity with him. Adam's sin hindered us from receiving all that God has for us, but Jesus made it possible for us to get back paradise and to have God's original plan for our lives. His original plan was for us to enjoy our life on earth and enjoy personal communion and fellowship with Him. His original desire to bless us has never changed.Jesus taught that there is a real heaven and a real hell.

Every person is either bound for heaven or hell. Every person is headed for a destination that is permanent and eternal. Where a person will spend eternity depends on whether that person receives Jesus Christ or rejects Him. Once a person dies, his eternal destiny remains unchanged. As Christians, we must remember that we live by faith and every word that proceeds from our Father. Who are we to question how, where, or when things were done? We know that Adam sinned, and mankind became sinners ruled by Satan, the prince of this world. The only way man could be reconciled back to God would be if he were bought back with a price. The debt was paid. Jesus paid our debt with the shedding of His blood on the cross.

Everybody has a choice to use their free will to either follow God’s purpose or his own purpose. The big picture is that man, in his own strengths, cannot follow the commandments of God. We need help because we are weak, and our desires take us away from God. With His infinite mercies, God provided that help through his Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life so that we can be reconciled to God if we so choose.

Contrary to different beliefs, there is only one road that leads to God: Jesus Christ. Satan does not want to allow us to walk that road. He will do whatever it takes to convince you that you are wasting your time and there is no God. Satan hates God and will use us to hurt God. We must remember that Satan has already been defeated, and the only power he has over us is what we allow him to have. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world."

Christianity is not like other religions; it is based on the death of Jesus Christ, whereas all other religions base their claim to greatness on the life and teaching of those who founded them. The Gospel of Jesus Christ centers on the person of Jesus Christ, especially his death at Calvary. Because of his death, the price was paid for our redemption. Through the death of the Son of God himself, Jesus Christ, we have forgiveness for our sins and the promise of eternal life.

The devil comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan is not your friend, but he pretends that he is, and he will do whatever it takes to keep you from God. We once were of this world and a friend to the devil. But now, we belong to God and are friends of God. The devil does not like losing his own and will try every trick he knows to turn you away from God. That's where spiritual warfare comes in. Satan will do whatever it takes to keep this world in darkness. He is totally against anything that God has planned for us. He is a great imitator.

Fortunately, through Christ we have a better destiny, that of Eden restored. We hope our destiny is to be with God in heaven like Adam and Eve were in the garden. After the fall, man’s destination became certain; we are all marching to the grave! The funeral homes and the cemeteries prove this statement. All men are headed for that final day of death. However, if we choose Christ, we can go to the grave with the hope of eternal life when he, Jesus, comes to save his own from death and the grave.

Evangelist Henry Miranda earned a Bachelor of Christian Ministry degree @ Christian Leadership University. Evangelist Henry Miranda is a Bible Teacher, Author, and Guest Speaker and, with the help of the Holy Spirit, has written ten books. You can reach @  //www.evangelize-for-jesus-ministries.co