Crime and Punishment

We know the crime! What then is the punishment. Whereas, Adam and Eve had been immortal now they were sentenced to die! However, today I want to focus on their punishment while they're yet living, and our punishment because of their crime:

Genesis 3:16 "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. 17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Does the punishment fit the crime? God thinks so and he is just! Most people think God was unfair, but it's because we too are criminals and we deserve punishment! Do young children have sin? Of course they do because they carry the genes of Adam. Do they deserve punishment? As humans they are cursed to die. That's now part of existence, but in God's eye, death is not a curse! It's an opportunity to get our reward:

 1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

Salvation is our reward. It's the time when all men die and our destiny is rewarded. For some it's eternal damnation and  for others eternal life!

John 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

It's imperative that all people know that hell truly exists and is a place of torment; that those who follow Satan and disparage God shall "perish". They shall suffer "the second death" which is eternal damnation. We can't be saved from the enemy unless we know who is the enemy! This is important to "salvation" because this is what Christians are "saved from". How can a person be saved if they are not bound for eternal death? However, my point today is not about salvation, but about life here on earth!

 Eve sinned because she was under the "wrong tree", had no business being there, and because she was where she was not to be, she usurped Adam's role as dominant over all creation. Eve "put the pants on", so to speak, and Adam the "skirt".  God spoke to Adam the command, not Eve, but yet Eve stood in front of the serpent and listened to his lies. She even misquoted what God had said, and God had not told her anything! It was Adam to whom God spoke the command.

Adam's sin was that he listened to his wife. It wasn't her place to "pick which tree to stand beneath" and speak with the author of the tree. It was Adam's! As Adam listened to Eve, it was Eve who should be asking Adam!

1 Corinthians 14:34 "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.  35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church."

Nothing has changed!  Woman was always intended to submit to their male counterparts.

Genesis 3:16b " thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

It is imperative, not optional, that women, even in the church to fulfill their assigned roles.  By assuming authority in the church they have the same sin which Eve had. Eve was the first feminist and feminism is evil in the sight of the Lord. We turn our heads too much because of political correctness, but who are we to obey; God or men?

Before they sinned, Adam and Eve lived in paradise. All the trees provided for all their needs, it was watered by mist and water from the ground. The sun was tempered by the mist and the garden was basically a lush greenhouse! Adam's job, his work, was merely to tend to the garden. Since there were no thistles nor weeds, tending to the garden was little more than harvesting what they ate and the biggest part of it was thanking God. Adam's role was to tend the garden and "The Tree of Life" was the most important tree in the garden. Adam was to tend to God. He failed to do that! He picked of the forbidden fruit and by tending to the wrong tree, he tended to the wrong god!

Now, with the curse, things changed. Rather than coming easy, Adam must work for his sustenance. He still had the same job, tending the garden, but his cushy job became burdensome!

Genesis 17b "cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;  ... 19a In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread..."

The husband is cursed to work and provide, not only for himself, but his wife and children. If one examines New Testament scripture, he is also to provide for his household, old widows and orphans!  Men have great responsibility and if we fail to do them, we become "losers" being "any person whose stage in life should be to prepare for or provide for their own existence and their households, but fail to do so."  Men must groom themselves, be motivated and then provide for his household! Men who fail to be men, are losers, and right now, we are a nation of "losers". It's not God's will that men should be apathetic and unmotivated, but yet they are! Drugs lead as the cause of the malaise and drugs are the way the serpent is still deceiving!

Society grooms men for apathy and laziness! The government emasculates manhood from what once were men. Rather than requiring work of those under the umbrella of entitlements, the government plays surrogate husband. Even our "equal rights" protections for gender opportunities emasculate men. It's the man's job to provide and oftentimes women do that because the men won't! Men don't provide because they are castrated by society and the government and the serpent provides the scalpel. It's Satan's desire that women and men are at war. It's a way to put asunder what God has joined together!

Since Eve was the first feminist, Adam was the first loser and a "wus". He was priest and failed to do his job. He allowed for gender equality, and Eve stepped in and became priest. She was out of place because God had placed her, and it was not to dominate!

Men should and must work. Work is no longer limited to leisurely selecting a good apple from a bountiful tree. It's tilling the ground, planting the seed, hoeing the weeds and harvesting the crop. However, a bountiful crop is no longer guaranteed. God provides to those who are faithful. Because we continue to disobey, our vocations become strenuous work. That's right! Providing for our own sustenance is "work"! Those who fail to work are sluggards: God describes laziness::

Proverbs 20:4 "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing."

A sluggard is one who is habitually lazy. This brings to mind Timothy and Anthony, the trouble-making two youngsters I mentored one day. Anthony said "Timothy is lazy!" Timothy replied "I'm not lazy! I just don't like to work!". This tells it all! Adults think that way as well. They rationalize their lack of motivation by not doing what's distasteful. Men just don't like to work! I give most women credit: they seem to work harder than most men, but the man's role is to do that! Women should be partners,  not slaves!

One of the major problems with society today is that men don't provide and gender roles have been reversed. Children are raised in homes where unmotivated men don't work "in the sweat of thy face" to provide for their families, and women are relegated to the workforce. As a consequence, women aren't home to accomplish their god-given task of nurturing their children and being partners for their husbands.  America is not being destroyed by our enemies, it's being destroyed by THE ENEMY! We are doing what Satan deceives us into doing and Satan smiles.

Satan works hardest against the church from within the church. Women are no longer remaining silent, but are stealing the authority God delegated to men. We have women preachers and women lording it over men. As women lead the church, other heresy's creep in. Being emotional, they propagate things ungodly, not because they are evil, but because they have been deceived. Numerous cults are of women  leadership! In others women take active roles.

In modernistic churches led by women, it's plain that progressive thought has sneaked in. The same-sex marriage issue and social justice doctrine runs rampant in women dominated churches. Churches are being run by feminists and the first feminist was punished severely. As with Adam, men are allowing women to dominate, and they are sinful as well. They become lazy and let women do their god-ordained functions. Men are losers. They just won't provide for their household nor their God!