GOD TESTING ADAM. January Rian Cilliers.

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1 GOD TESTING ADAM January 2019 Rian Cilliers

2 GOD TESTING ADAM CONTENT Page no PREFACE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 1. God s testing of man s free will choice 2 2. Details of the tree of life 6 3. Adam s age when tested by Satan 9 4. Satan used for the test Satan s history Satan s fleshly goals, targets & strategies Satan s approach to attack man s spirit Satan targeting the weakest point Satan s approach to a person s soul Deficiencies in the woman s armour identified The stage set for the fall of man First sense to Christ before acting 41 42

3 GOD TESTING ADAM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Volume highlights that initially Adam operated in a priority order of spirit first, soul second and body last. Man s spirit is man s most important component of man s being, as God, who is spirit, interacts through man s spirit. Man s soul was totally grounded every second of the day in Christ, the tree of life, and in the Holy Spirit through his spirit. This volume highlights that God tests man s soul regularly, just as He tested Adam by allowing Adam s wife to interact with Satan. Satan s strategies and goals with man is highlighted, as well as the way he approaches man to attack man s soul and conclude that the spiritual armour of man is not properly in place. The breakdown in intimacy with God is first and foremost within man s being itself through shifts in the priority order of God first, man s spirit second, soul third and body last. This is primarily what happened with Adam s wife. The ruling soul question God s Word, Christ, and consider operating in its own will, initiate and generate own soulish thoughts, and operates in own strengths and abilities. Man s fallen soul end up as a slave of Satan. The fall is the lowering of the elevated position of the spirit above the soul, to a lower position than the soul. The soul chooses out of its own will to elevate itself above the spirit. The soul dethrones the spirit. The flesh rules man s being instead of the triune God.

4 2 1. GOD S TESTING OF MAN S FREE WILL CHOICE This chapter focuses on God testing the free will of man s soul as to whether it will eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or whether it will eat from Christ, the tree of life. This is true from the first Adam into eternity. INTRODUCTION The breakdown of the intimacy relationship between man and God is recorded in the Book of Genesis, one of the books Moses wrote. The book of Genesis originated in God, not man s own thinking passed on as folklore. The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend (Gen 33:11). All those contributing to the content of the book of Genesis are subject to the Holy Spirit s guidance provided face to face to Moses. Genesis is a spiritual book and can therefore not be evaluated by the own thoughts generated by the mind of man s soul. God s thoughts are much higher than man s thoughts (Isa 55:9). God s thoughts are foolishness for man and he (man) is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor 2:14), while man s own thoughts and the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God (1 Cor 3:19). Both parties consider each other s thoughts as foolish. Only the omnipresent Holy Spirit, through man s spirit, is able to reveal the truths recorded in Genesis, as He was there when it occurred. GOD ALLOWS TIMES OF TESTING Scripture indicates that Adam and his wife was tested by God. This truth is an eternal truth. God tests man regularly. God s purpose for man has never shifted. Man has to present an image of God in the realm of dust and for that to happen, man has to be tested regularly on what he has learned, just as children and young adults have to be tested in primary school, secondary school and tertiary school levels. Man has to be tested whether he will continue to abide in Christ and the Holy Spirit and be dependent on Christ and the Holy Spirit. Man s obedience is tested in the area of operating inside or outside of the will of God. To operate outside of the will of God is to operate in the knowledge of good and evil. Free will choice has to be tested. This was the test which Adam and his wife had to take regularly from God. The reality of the existence of the two trees has to be tested, and the inclination of man s soul to eat from these two trees. Man has to be tested whether he will incrementally move deeper into the healthy priority order of God first, man s spirit second, soul third, body last, or whether man will choose to distort this priority order and turn it incrementally more into chaos. God tests the relationship between spirit, soul and body, in order to ensure that the free will choice of man comes into the mode of continually making the right choices.

5 3 Both male and female have to be tested, because man, the image of God, consists of both male and female parts. God observes the choices of both male and female. God will not intervene after either the woman, or the male part of man, falls, in order to protect the other partner from falling as well. That is what free will choice is all about. Man has free will to choose that the soul operates mainly through his spirit to Christ, the spiritual tree of life, and the Holy Spirit, both of which leads to eternal life, or mainly through the body, generating own activities and indulging in own ideas of good and evil that leads to death. Man s free will has to be trained to operate in the right choices. Maturity in spiritual matters does not automatically imply also maturity in knowledge of good and evil. It is one thing to be taught the academic principles of keeping your balance when walking a tightrope; it is another matter to be exposed to the tightrope and actually walk it. Knowing about the existence of God s enemy and of good and evil that leads to death is not sufficient to protect man when man is eventually directly exposed to activities of a good and evil nature. If after a test, man s being move towards eating incrementally more of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man s being will obtain more experience of God s enemies, being imprisoned by them, and also moves incrementally further away from Christ and the Holy Spirit. GOD S DESIRED OUTCOME OF HIS TESTING God does not test man in order to put man down. Testing is a mark of God s favor. God tests man because He wants to establish man s value. My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience [endurance]. But let patience [endurance] have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (James 1:2-4). God allows testing so that man can become even stronger in Him. Every test will expose weaknesses in the various areas of man s personality. Whatever the area of weakness may be, it will be exposed when we are confronted with the challenge. Testing leads to self-control, which lead to endurance. Success in tests also leads to eternal life. Blessed is the man who endures temptation [testing]; for when he has been proved [approved], he will receive the crown of life (James 1:12). Success in these tests ensures that the priority order of spirit first, soul second and body last within man s being are strengthened incrementally. Man s being moves incrementally closer to Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is the only way of learning truths of Christ, the character of God, and how God s righteousness works. It is God s way of revealing Himself to man incrementally all the more. God becomes more real than ever, if allowed to rule during a test period. The ultimate goal always remains to move closer to God. Tests are God s method to attract man even more into a personal intimate relationship with God, if man s choices are healthy and in God s will. God reveals Himself more to those who abide in Him.

6 4 Obedience to Christ s voice within a test situation is the strongest obedience possible. It also results in more life flowing from God through man. It will result in man moving even closer to God, that is, in a more intimate personal relationship with Him than what man had been experiencing up till that moment. God is able to trust man s soul incrementally more. Therefore, obedience to God results in getting to know God better. This also results in absorbing God, the Source of Life, because eternal life is a shared commodity you don t get eternal life once and now you can do whatever you want with your life. Man has to learn to digest and absorb continually that which originates from the eternally living God, from Christ, the tree of life. Many of God s truths and character traits can only be discovered and fully appreciated on the battle field, during a test. The battle comes in numerous intensities. There are a billion of intensities of spiritual battles to be fought. The revelations presented by Christ during tests bring man even closer to God. King David, the warrior of God, experienced this many centuries later. Christ, the last Adam, also proclaimed My (spiritual) food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work (John 4:34). Failure in tests implies that man will again be exposed to similar tests dealing with the same spiritual territory in order to train man to make the right choices. Only good can come out of a test situation. TESTING APPLIES FOR MANKIND INTO ETERNITY God s tests apply to human beings today as well. This includes the descendants of the last Adam, Christ, in the spirit, that is, true followers of Christ: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (James 1:2, 3). This is a spirit word, eternally true every second of the day. God still use fallen angels in His tests today. When your soul experiences a trial or a tribulation, the way your soul deals with it and manages it determines whether your spirit and soul eat from the Christ, the tree of life, or eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that produces death. When your soul gives the situation immediately over to Christ in heavenly places and your mind pursues hearing Christ s voice through your spirit on what to say and do before acting anything out through the body, then you eat from the tree of life, Christ. The first Adam was able to continuously eat from the spiritual tree of life, Christ. However, when your soul tries to deal with the problem(s) in own strengths and abilities using the soul s own initiatives, then you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which produces death. When your soul eventually realises the death it has created, the soul would be able to learn from its mistakes (if the soul is not too pride to admit the mistakes it makes). However, it may take many decades for a person to eventually find the true solution to trials and tribulations, namely to give it over to Christ and hear from Him what to say and do. Man s soul has to learn how to hear Christ s voice speaking through man s spirit. Organised Christian church structures, including Charismatic churches, do not teach man how to do this.

7 5 The one solution has it source, or origin, in God through man s spirit. The other solution has its source, or origin, man s own soul. The one solution is to operate in the Spirit; the other solution is to operate in the flesh, with ruling soul and ruling body. God tests whether you will make the right decision of choosing to first to Christ in heavenly places to sense first from Him what to say and do before acting out anything through your body. THE STRUCTURE OF GOD S TESTS The structure of God s tests is simple. Man is faced with a difficult situation in which his soul has to choose to operate through his body of dust without consulting God, or to choose to consult God first. If man s soul chooses to continue without obtaining God s input first, man fails the test. Tests tend to lure and entice the soul to make own decisions, or to allow the body of dust to rule. In both cases, the danger exists that the soul could start suppressing the spirit. Man has to choose whether he wants to solve the difficult situation in his own strength, or depend on Christ and the Holy Spirit to solve it. Waiting on God first implies that the soul chooses that Christ and the Holy Spirit through man s spirit rules. Thus, man s spirit rules. Man is usually tested in trying and difficult circumstances. These tests can occur at any stage. Man has therefore to be prepared, walking continually in Christ and the Holy Spirit, to ensure that when the test comes, man continues to abide in Christ and the Holy Spirit. Even any person that has a personal intimate relationship with God will be exposed to these tests. There is always space for man to move closer to God, the Father.

8 6 2. DETAILS OF THE TREE OF LIFE This chapter briefly focuses on presenting more details of the spiritual tree of life. MORE DETAILS OF THE SPIRITUAL TREE OF LIFE Speaking of the tree of life is a spirit word, and should be spiritually discerned. It has already been stated in the previous chapter that Christ is the tree of life. John 15 confirms that Christ is the tree of life. Christ declared: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). Here, the vine is the tree of life. And Christ confirms that He is that tree of life. When Christ walked the earth eventually after about 4000 years, Christ declared: Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58). This implies that before Abraham existed, Christ already existed. Thus, the tree of life existed before Abraham existed. The truth is that the tree of life, Christ, existed already from the time of the first Adam. God s intention is that the first Adam should represent an image of God in the realm of dust. God said: Let us make man in our image, in our likeness (Gen 1:26). Here, Christ, the tree of life, which the first Adam could see through his spiritual eyes was the genuine original in the triune God, while man, the male and female parts of man, was made as an image, a likeness of the genuine original, Christ. The Last Adam was the genuine original; the first Adam was the image of God, of Christ. The first Adam could see the Last Adam, the tree of life. The first Adam could sense Christ in the spiritual realm and observe his own end destiny, to become like Christ. The first Adam realized that he still has a long way to go to become like Christ. He was still operating in a physical body. He still had to learn much of death of his flesh. However, the first Adam could rest in the last Adam. He could rest in Christ, the tree of life, giving him truths, packaged as nourishment for his spirit, also consisting of Christ s truths, to set him all the more free, free from the restrictions in the physical realm of space, time, directions, mass, gravity, and temperature. According to God s righteousness, there must be an image of the spiritual tree of life in the physical realm as well, according to Christ s simple prayer: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). The genuine original in the spiritual realm had to have an image in the physical realm as well. That image in the physical realm was not a physical tree of life, although man would assume a physical vine would be just fine. The image of the tree of life was the first Adam himself. That is also why the spiritual tree of life was presented to the first Adam and had to be right in the middle, in the centre, the place of importance, of the first Adam s spiritual part of the Garden of Eden. And if the first Adam was indeed the physical image of the tree of life, then the last Adam, Christ, was indeed the genuine original in the spiritual realm. WHAT THE TREE IS ALL ABOUT

9 7 Christ is also the Word of God. This implies that a word from God can be planted inside of the soil of man s spirit and soul, and it can grow, by meditating on the Word. The Word eventually spreads inside of man s spirit and soul in various directions as it grows, just as a tree develops branches spreading in various directions. The truth spreads inside of man s spirit and soul in the way a tree grows, and in the way yeast will spread in the piece of dough as well. The trees of life and death are images of the directions in which the thoughts of man s mind can expand, just as a tree and its branches expand, or stretch out, or reach new expanded territories. It is the mind of man s soul, the thoughts that man s soul harbour and brood upon, which determine man s destiny either moving closer to God, or further away from God. The battle in the spiritual realm takes place in the thoughts of man s mind. It is stated: For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. (Prov 23:7). Expanding in thoughts originating from Christ, the tree of life, leads to man s being moving in the direction of becoming a tree of life, in the thoughts of man s mind as well. Man becomes like Christ and that depends on what goes on in man s mind. Expanding in own generated thoughts of man s ruling soul builds the tree of death. The Word in the mind of man s thoughts eventually matures, leading to the bearing of fruit, the fruit of the Holy Spirit, as it is stated: the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth (Eph 5:9), This happens when the Word eventually manifest itself through the body of man into the physical realm. In this way, the tree has matured inside of man s spirit and soul, and has fruit to bear. All images work together to present a picture of Christ. Christ wants to become all in all in man s life. Therefore, to know God s righteousness, a major element of God s kingdom of heaven, you have to know how all the images in the physical realm fit together and into each other, how they are all linked at a specific moment in time. These revelations come to man s mind over time. This is similar to continually eating from the tree of life, Christ. God starts with the mind, the direction in which the thoughts of man s mind ought to explore and move and walk. This is the core place to start. It is here where man must first be made a proper image of God as God desires the rest follows automatically. The thoughts of man s mind are all linked. They have an original starting point, the tree trunk, and from that trunk, several thoughts branch off and expand into several directions. Even the revelations in these volumes were not received all at once. Even the revelations in once volume were not received all at once. I had to start writing, and regularly revisit what was already written down in order to add. This is how a spiritual tree also grows. IN THE SPIRITUAL MIDDLE OF THE SPIRITUAL GARDEN The spirit realm is not restricted by space and dimensions and directions. When it is stated in scripture that the tree of life was in the middle of the garden of the first Adam, it should be spiritually discerned.

10 8 The phrase: in the middle implies in the centre, or in the place of vital importance. The tree of life was the core of the spiritual part of the Garden of the first Adam. The first Adam could turn his physical body in various directions, and turn his physical head in any direction he wished to do, but the Christ, the tree of life, would always be visible through his spiritual eyes, no matter what his physical body does. Adam s thought-life was filled with Christ, the Word of God, the tree of life, continually giving him life-giving input. That is what the spiritual middle actually means. Should Adam s physical body move 100 kilometres outside of the physical part of the Garden of Eden, Christ, the tree of life in the spiritual realm, would still be visible for Adam through his spiritual eyes, and the spiritual tree would still be seen by Adam as in the middle of his spiritual garden, because Adam would still be the most important to Adam s soul. This spiritual truth would remain in place even after the fall of Adam. The only difference is that Christ, the tree of life, would be surrounded by special angels, cherubim, to guard Him against any fleshly activities from Adam, and Satan operating through the flesh of fallen man. However, man would still have access to the tree of life provided that they do not continually operate in the flesh, but approach Christ in spirit and in truth. NOT A STATIC TREE In the first Adam s spiritual sight, the spiritual tree of life, Christ, was not a static tree. If it was a vision always of a static tree, then how would the image of the tree of life, the first Adam, converge to become like God, like Christ, the tree of life! There are numerous evidence of the first Adam been just as dynamic, filled with vibrant life, as Christ, the tree of life. The numerous things which the first Adam already went through on his first day of creation has already been stated in a previous volume, and confirms the vibrant life in the first Adam. The fist Adam had Christ, the tree of life, as his example to look up to. It was Christ, the tree of life, of whom it is stated: they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day (Gen 3:8). Christ is here the Lord God. Scriptures makes it clear that no one has ever seen God the Father except Christ, who is part of the triune God. If someone wants to assume it was God the Father walking in the garden, then Christ is also the Father, as the prophet Isaiah declared that Christ will be called Everlasting Father (Isa 9:6). It is Satan who propagates the numerous lies that after the fall of man, Adam and his wife were sent out of a physical Garden of Eden, where a physical tree of life (Lie no 1) was right in the middle (Lie no 2) of this physical garden (Lie no 3), and therefore, the tree of life was lost forever (Lie no 4) for fallen man, because the tree of life remained static, stationary (Lie no 5) in the middle of the physical garden.

11 9 3. ADAM S AGE WHEN TESTED BY SATAN This chapter briefly focuses on the time Adam was ready to go through a test at a much higher intensity, sensing the genuine original enemy, Satan. GOD S TESTS INVOLVING SATAN ONLY AFTER SOME YEARS God s time of allowing Satan to test Adam and his wife only occurred after a couple of years from the day that they were created. This does not imply that Adam and his wife were never tested before that time. The intensity of testing merely increased each year until the test came to be confront by God s genuine enemy, Satan himself. Before that time, tests were at lower intensities and lower glory levels, and involved recognising images of the genuine, built into the physical realm, as well as in visions, or picture, presented by Christ and the Holy Spirit in the spiritual realm. The testing of Adam s soul increased in intensity, starting with Adam s soul discovering that no suitable partner for him could be found among the animals representing fleshly beings or beings, whether fallen angels or human beings, operating in the flesh. The intensity of testing Adam s soul gradually increased until they met the genuine enemy, Satan, a couple of years later. Testing of Adam s soul occurred regularly each year. Adam was not tested for the first time when Satan came to them. Several indicators reveal that Satan approached the woman only after a couple of years. THE CHILDREN S BODIES MATURED INTO ADULTHOOD Firstly, when the time arrived of been tested by the genuine original enemy, Satan, their bodies have already grown from childhood to full maturity. For example, pubic hair formed on the bodies of both the male and female, each representing a garden whose trees have matured, have grown to full maturity. They would not have been ashamed of been naked after the fall, if they were still small children. Yet, in the case of Adam and his wife, the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves (Gen 3:7). Young children, even in their sinfulness, do not mind to be naked. However, grown-ups are more self-conscious of their fully matured naked bodies. THE FIRST ADAM ABOUT 30 YEARS OF AGE WHEN TESTED BY SATAN Secondly, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, was only tested by Satan when He was about thirty years old. It is stated: Now Jesus Himself began His ministry at about thirty years of age. (Luk 3:23). It was then that it is stated: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matt 4:1).

12 10 God would not give the accuser, Satan, any grounds to accuse Him of favouring the last Adam, Christ, more than the first Adam before allowing him to be tested. Therefore, the first Adam was tested by Satan at more or less the same age as the last Adam, namely when Adam was thirty years old. The ages of the first and last Adams ought to correlate more or less. The first Adam was 30 years old when he was tested Satan, just as the last Adam, Jesus Christ, was 30 years old when He was tested by Satan. God will not allow the last Adam to be older than the first Adam before testing Him by Satan would have occurred, owing to the accuser Satan, who will accuse God of favouritism. THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NUMBER 30 The number 30 is a spiritual number as well. The 3 signifies that whatever happens is God ordained, for 3 is God s number. The 30 years is an image of the period going through all the billions of intensities and glory levels which man s soul is able to go through in order to experience the genuine original in the spiritual realm, in this case, the enemy, Satan. The number 30 is associated with a starting of a season, or a commencing of a season, using small intensities through images, etc, and moving towards the climax, the end of a season. For example, seasons of 30 days have been established in nature from the start. The moon, representing the second Adam, Jesus Christ, takes 30 days to revolve around the earth, where the earth represents the Holy Spirit. The cycle, or the full season, of the moon is 30 days. Christ had 30 years to perceive the Holy Spirit from all angles, just as the moon has 30 days to perceive the earth from all angles. Since Adam became 930 years old, Adam was lived and operated for 30 years having access in and out of the Garden of Eden, and a full 900 years without having access to the Garden of Eden. The menstruation cycle in the female is 30 days, or monthly, and it ends with a clear intensity warning that man has to die of the flesh inside of him, represented by the loss of blood, because the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:11). Furthermore, since this cycle in all of females on the earth occurs every second of the day (because not all women menstruate at the same time), the 30 day period is an eternal period, true every second of the day. The spiritual realm is not restricted by time. AN INFORMATION GAP Genesis chapter 3 with the introduction of the serpent on the scene in the Garden occurred about 30 years later than the last verse of Genesis Chapter 2, which states that from the beginning of the stay of Adam and his wife in the Garden of Eden, the man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame. (Gen 2:25). This is similar to the history of the last Adam, Christ, as well, of which extremely little information has been recorded by the Holy Spirit of the first 30 years of the last Adam on earth. Only that which is of spiritual significance is recorded in Scripture, as Scripture focuses on the spiritual realm. This signifies that even though spiritual activity took place in the first and the last Adam during the 30 years, they are not of significance in God s pursuit to created images of God. Those are the days when man is still exposed to spiritual Egypt. It was only when the last Adam was 30 years old, that His soul moved during a period of 40 days and 40 nights through the spiritual wilderness from the spiritual land of Egypt right into

13 11 the land of spiritual Israel, as it is stated:.he was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts. (Mark 1:13). It takes 40 days and 40 nights to walk straight from the land of Egypt right into the land of Israel. This is true in the spiritual realm as well as in the physical realm, according to Christ s prayer: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10). Christ showed this also to His own image, Moses, when Moses was 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain, long before God ordained that the Israelites will remain in the wilderness for 40 years. At the age of 30 years, Adam and his wife had already been fully grounded in God s righteousness and the similarities between the spirit realm and the physical realm. Above all, Adam and his wife had been trained to be fully dependent on God in all circumstances. God enjoyed his creation for 3 decades. Out of the input that God gave to Adam and his wife, something pleasing emerged. Adam and his wife enjoyed what their spirits were growing into and the spiritual fruit it produced, just as the trees were pleasing to the eye and good for food. (Gen 2:9). Yet, the immature areas in Adam and his wife were not sufficient to represent God properly as an image in a test situation. God never waits until man is spiritually mature before testing man s free will choice. God would not intervene when man fell, knowing the ultimate goal of man, namely in the long run to become a better image of Himself in the realm of dust. SUFFICIENT PRIOR WARNINGS FOR THE WOMAN God has given the woman sufficient warnings, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, of the influence of God s enemy in the continual war in the spirit realm. Her observations of the nature of animals, not having a spirit to interact with God, was an indication of the way God s enemy operated, and where she will end up if she does not remain obedient to God. Her experience and observations of the existence of thorns and thistles outside of the Garden of Eden were indications of the stumbling blocks that God s enemy would impose on her when she would listen to God s enemy, and it is the same way that she would become a stumbling block for others if she would listen to God s enemy. GOD IN CONTROL OF THE TIME AND CONTENT OF A TEST God, not Satan, decides on the time and content of a test. It is God that gives power to the enemy for certain deceptive and destructive activities. The book of Revelations is riddled with examples where power was given to an enemy force (Rev 13:5, 7, 14, 15) Satan and his fallen angels have every fiber of their existence to be thankful towards God. The spirits of fallen angels are just as dependent on the omnipresent Holy Spirit as the body of dust of man is dependent on the omnipresence of oxygen in the air of the earth, which represents the Holy Spirit. Fallen angels are not able to do anything unless God allows it. If it depended only on Satan, Satan would have deceived Adam and his wife relatively early after they were created. Satan would not have waited long before he launched his attack. The body instinct of Adam and his wife was not yet developed to maturity. Satan knew that success in his attack would be less likely once both of them have developed fixed body instincts imbedded in customs, cultures and traditions that underpins God s righteousness,

14 12 that is, been synchronised with the genuine original in the spirit realm, namely God s will in the spirit realm. Yet, God Himself decides when the time of testing has arrived. Satan is unable to catch God off guard. God is omnipresent. Fallen angels and mankind are unable to make any move unless Christ and the Holy Spirit are aware of each action in detail. Satan can do nothing without God knowing the details. Nothing is hidden from God. God decides on the time, the intensity and the duration of the test. Yet, God will never test you above what you would be able to bear: No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13). God decided on the time to allow Satan to infiltrate the Garden of Eden Satan s timing remains subject to God s approval and God s bigger plan with man.

15 13 4. SATAN USED FOR THE TEST This chapter focuses on God using Satan to assist in testing Adam. THE IMAGE OF GOD, MAN, HAS TO RULE OVER DEMONS A part of man s mission is clear, namely to have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth (Gen 1:28). Fallen angels are also living creatures that roam the earth, that is, the earthly, the fleshly, operating without first sensing to God, to Christ, the tree of life. They operate like the animals on the earth, with suppressed spirit, unable to interact directly with God. They are enemies of God. If man s soul moves incrementally closer to Christ, then Christ, the tree of life, will impart spiritual truths of the enemies so that man s being will move towards incrementally ruling over these fallen angels. God is too strong and mighty for Satan and his fallen angels. God knows it. Satan knows it. Creation has to deal with creation. Creature has to deal with creature. Therefore, man has to deal with fallen angels. God ordained that man, the image of God, should take care of fallen angels and rule over their lies, evil and unrighteousness. From the start, the spirits of Adam and his wife had to have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth (Gen 1:28). God s purpose of man still remains to represent Him in full in the realm of dust, which include ruling over fallen angels. Some of these fallen angels have wings. However, they do not have to descend to the earth and move on the ground when they wish to interact with man. They are not restricted by space, which can be seen in the case of Christ delivering a person from demons, where legio, or hundreds of demons operated from within one physical body. Whether a fallen angel has wings or no wings, they are part of the earth, that is, the earthly, the fleshly. They initiate own activities in own strengths and own abilities without asking God first. The word earth noted in scripture above has to be spiritually discerned. It does not refer to the physical earth of dust. These angels can be seen in vision to having wings, which is an image that their actions are done speedily, quickly. The domain of power and authority given to fallen angels by God, regardless as to whether the fallen angels have wings or not, is man s ruling soul and ruling body. This spiritual territory is man s flesh, which increases when man s soul eats of the wrong tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which produces death. Adam and his wife had to eventually exposed to Satan and his fallen angels in order to have dominion (Gen 1:28) over them, or to learn to have dominion (Gen 1:28) over them. Adam and his wife had been initially trained to operate against God s enemies by using images built into the realm of dust. They were taught how God s righteousness works. God has warned Adam in several ways of the dangers that God s enemy, Satan, poses for Adam and the intimate relationship between God and Adam. Yet, Adam and his wife eventually had to face the genuine enemy and to be exposed to the enemy. It is the only way of learning about God s enemies. When Adam and his wife were created they had not yet immediately started ruling over fallen angels. They had to be taught about such matters. Therefore, contact and interaction between fallen angels and Adam and his wife were inevitable. It was just a matter of time when God would allow that to happen.

16 14 The last Adam, Christ, while he was on earth, destroyed the destructive work of the fallen angels, just as the first Adam had to rule over the works of the fallen angels. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isa 61:1). Christ drove the evil spirits who imprisoned fallen man, out of fallen man. Through Christ s death, Christ ruled even more over the fallen angels, as victory over their allies, sin and death, have been achieved. The flesh in Christ died completely, so that there was no more any spiritual territory left in Christ which the enemy could try and operate in. At lower intensity levels, Adam and his wife had to continually guard the Garden from the wild beasts of the field, and the birds in the air. At greater intensity levels later on, Adam and his wife as images of God had to learn to protect God s heavenly places from God s first enemy, Satan and the fallen angels. If Adam and his wife would be successful in their test, then the protection would hold, and Satan has to go. This also happened with the last Adam, Christ. After Christ was tested, Christ ordered Satan to go, and Satan had no other option than to go. It is stated: Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan!..Then the devil left Him.. (Matt 4:10, 11). The protection hold. GOD USING SATAN TO TEST IS AN ETERNAL REALITY Christ can use demonic forces in tests whenever He wishes to use them. Christ does not need to use them in each and every test. The demonic forces operates through man s fleshly activities, because that is their spiritual domain, their spiritual territory. There are a billion of intensities which Christ can choose for these fallen angels to operate inside of man s flesh. Thus, at a higher intensity level it will become clear that within the free will choice of man s soul during a test, the one solution is to operate in the Spirit; the other solution is to operate in the flesh, with ruling soul and ruling body, fuelled and backed by fallen angels operating in the spiritual territory designated to them. Interaction with God s enemies will bring man in the long run even closer to God, whether man fails tests or not. When man s flesh dies because of sensing Christ s voice, Satan and his fallen angels know immediately of it, because the fleshly territory is their domain they will immediately know when they have lost a spiritual battle. If you as a Christian had never experience a spiritual battle with fallen angels, then you have to accept the reality that the fallen angels have no reason to quarrel with you, because you are already so imprisoned by their lies and half-truths that there is no need for them to bother about you ant further.

17 15 5. SATAN S HISTORY This chapter briefly focuses on Satan s history, and God s reason for using Satan in His tests. SATAN S HISTORY Satan is a cherubim (Eze 28:14), a special type of angel with wings. Satan is a spirit being, having a spiritual body. God made Satan. God made Satan perfect from the start. You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created. (Eze 28:12 15). Satan s soul had a free will choice. Satan became full of pride. You said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. (Isa 14:12 14). Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour (Eze 28:17). Satan desires to sit on God s throne in the spirit realm. Satan became a fallen angel by choice. God considered Satan s thoughts in his heart as wickedness You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. (Eze 28: 15). Satan was the first to operate in the flesh, with ruling soul and ruling body. Satan s character will remain forever. It is an eternal truth. The reason is that Satan has been, before his fall, always in the presence of God, seeing God s glory in full. Yet he decided to go his own way and rebel. Satan is the father of lies and half-truths, as Christ as stated: He (Satan, the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it (John 8:44). That is the reason why God uses Satan in the free will choice tests in each human being. The father of the flesh, of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, will pose as the opposite party in the decision making, in the maturing of man on his way to be a proper image of God. Satan found out he could not implement what he intended in his heart. He could not do anything to God. God s righteousness requires casting Satan away from His Presence. Satan, who has seen God s splendour up close, and still chose to challenge God and get rid of God, has much less mercy coming His way than those who have not yet seen God s splendour. Only after Satan sinned (Eze 28:16), Satan was thrown out of the kingdom of heaven. So I (God) threw you (Satan) to the earth (Eze 28:17). How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth... (Isa 14: 12). The lustre Satan once had when serving the holy God is gone. The pleasures ordained for him by God s side have vanished.

18 16 SATAN NOT IMPRESSED WITH GOD S GARDEN OF EDEN ON EARTH The original Garden of Eden is in spiritual heaven, which refers to the healthy situation of Adam s spirit, soul and body and the healthy relationship among these components. Satan has already seen and experienced the spiritual Garden of Eden in the created angelic realm before Satan s fall You (Satan) were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl.you were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones... (Eze 28:12 14). The Garden of Eden, the range of precious stones and the fiery stones on God s holy mount are all in the spiritual domain, the domain of the angelic realm, as part of the spiritual kingdom of heaven of God. Satan was therefore not impressed with God s Garden of Eden created in the realm of dust. Satan has already seen and experienced the genuine original in the spirit realm. Satan perceived God s action of creating a Garden of Eden on earth merely as the beginning of God s takeover of the territory on which he was entitled to, as God has thrown Satan after his fall onto the earth, that is, the earthly, the fleshly, filled with images. Satan saw God s action of creating an earthly Garden of Eden as an act of provocation, to which he was entitled to retaliate, not realising that even the depth of darkness belongs to God and God is entitled to do with it as he desires. Satan was therefore more than ready to destroy whatever God had planned. SATAN S UNDERLYING MOTIVES Satan s quest is to prove that he is more powerful than God. Satan chose to be driven by hate towards God. Satan has turned his attention to God s creation. Satan is mad about mankind, because man reminds him of God. Man was made in the image of God. Satan intends to take with him the majority of spirit beings in God s creation. Satan s path of destruction is already evident in God s creation. Satan has already taken a third of the angelic species. (However the number 3 in a third indicates a precise number which God Himself had ordained.) These include angels that have constantly been in the presence of God, knowing God intimately, just as Satan was quite close to God. However, these fallen angels were also thrown out of heaven onto earth. Satan still intends to out-manoeuvre God and reign supreme.

19 17 6. SATAN S FLESHLY GOALS, TARGETS & STRATEGIES This chapter focuses on Satan s fleshly goals targets and strategies in the war against God. SATAN S GOAL TO REIGN Satan entered the Garden of Eden with a specific goal. That goal remains the same throughout all the ages in Satan s dealing with man on earth, and the spiritual garden which God has created exclusively for each individual. His goal is to rule over the images of the triune God in the physical realm. All aims are to lord over that which God has made. Satan s desire is that God would lose all that He has created. If Satan can rule over God s creation, Satan thinks that God would have to acknowledge that Satan is stronger than God. Then God has to retreat and Satan has accomplished to remove from His presence that which God has created. SATAN S TARGETS One of the main images which Satan targets is man, who is an image of God. Satan s goal is to lord over man s being. This is an eternal truth, which will remain true every second of the day into eternity. This truth is not restricted by time. The ultimate victory prize is to rule in his own way the image that God created of Himself in the physical world: man. Fallen angels intend to rule this image of God. It is worthy of all their efforts. Satan s current target still remains man. Satan tries to corrupt, dispossess, kill and destroy man, in order to add them to his ranks. Beware.the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [ in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. (1 Pet 5:8). The second victory prize is to rule in his own way the rest of God s creation as well, which highlights the glory of God. Initially, in the beginning years of man, the existence of the earth is an image that Satan would target. Satan s goal is to rule the earth supreme in the physical realm, which represents an image of the Holy Spirit. SATAN FIRST TARGETS THE CORE Satan targets the core. Satan knows that by targeting man s being and the Garden of Eden, the earth as image of the Holy Spirit will come under his rule, because all the other images can only be destroyed if man is deceived and destroyed. Satan intends to rule the earth through fallen man. Therefore, he targets man first. All the other images around man in the realm of dust can only be destroyed by operating through fallen man. Therefore, if man is deceived and destroyed, then strategies for destroying other images around man will automatically follows.

20 18 Therefore, the focus of fallen angels is first of all: attack man, the image of God. This goal is a strong powerful motivation in the eyes of the fallen angels. Through fallen man, the image of God, Satan aims to rule the earth, the image of the Holy Spirit. Satan s overall strategy to reach the earth is through targeting man first. By ruling man, fallen angels will achieve the breakdown of God s righteousness that requires that images in the physical realm should line up with the genuine original in the spirit realm, and which is only to be found in God Himself. SATAN S FLESHLY THINKING Satan intends to out-manoeuvre God and reign supreme. Satan s method of ruling the earth is to create and institute activities that are against the will of God, and would therefore enhance chaos and disorder. The more Satan can ensure that man operates out of the will of God and the more chaos fallen man as a slave of Satan creates on earth, the more God is compelled to distance Himself from the chaos inside of man and on earth as a result of His holiness. This strategy will counteract the simple prayer of Jesus, the last Adam:.Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:9, 10). Satan seriously but foolishly thinks that if he can turn all of God s creation against Him, then he, Satan, will be ruling God s creation and God will lose all that He has made. Satan thinks that if God is a just God, then God eventually has to admit that He has lost the battle on earth. According to Satan, God will then have to admit that He is not as powerful as Satan. Satan thinks that his strategies of using force and to overpower are much better than God s strategy to be humble and gentle. When Satan eventually rules the earth, then he rules the image of the Holy Spirit in the physical realm. Satan will then rule the image of God, namely man, as well as the image of the Holy Spirit, namely the earth. SATAN S STRATEGY TO RULE MAN To rule over man implies ruling man s spirit, which is that part that initially originated from the Holy Spirit. According to Satan, since Christ and the Holy Spirit serves man s spirit, it would imply that the Christ and the Holy Spirit would be serving Satan. Ruling man s spirit implies ruling that part of man s being that is able to engage in intimacy with God, who is spirit as well. Ruling man s spirit will prevent spiritual intimacy to occur. Satan will do its utmost so that the soul and body in man rule man s spirit. Man s ruling soul and ruling body is man s flesh. Therefore, man s flesh must rule man s spirit. The desire of Satan and his fallen angels is that the soul and body inside of man s being should rule. They want these two to be first priority in man s life, rejecting the continuous guidance of Christ and the Holy Spirit and man s spirit. In this manner Satan and the fallen

21 19 angels will be able to support and contribute further in the rule of the soul and body, thus putting man s spirit to death. The soul must reign in man. In the process, man s spirit will be deadened, suppressed to death, thus resulting in the death of man s body of dust as well. God s desire is exactly the opposite, namely man s spirit must rule and be alive and vibrant so that the body of dust can also be alive and vibrant into perpetuity. If the soul and body inside of man rule, then the flesh rules inside of man. When the own generated activities in the soul, combined with the own urges of the body of dust, rule the spirit, Satan will achieve his fleshly goals for man. Man must operate in his own strength without consulting God. Then man operates like Satan operates. Then man becomes a slave of sin and Satan. When the soul and body rules man s being, chaos has already been introduced within man, because neither the soul, nor the body was created by the Creator to rule man s being. These two do not have the ability to rule man s being, and will never learn on their own to obtain the ability to rule man s being properly. AREAS OF DESTRUCTION If Satan can destroy man and the earth of dust, then he has proved to be able to control the image of God and the images of Christ and the Holy Spirit that God created, thus signalling that he is stronger than the genuine original, God Himself. Satan s rule is marked by destroying both images. Once both images are destroyed, it will signal that Satan is the winner of the battle in the spiritual realm between God and Satan. The last Adam, Christ, spoke of Satan as follows: "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. (John 10:10). Firstly, Satan aims to break down the interaction between man and God, and ensures that this separation is maintained. Continuous interaction between man and God is a characteristic of the kingdom of God. This is accomplished by cutting man s spirit off from Christ and the Holy Spirit and changing the healthy priority order of God first, man s spirit second, man s soul third, man s body last, to a chaotic and distorted priority order where the soul and/or the body rule, and the spirit takes last place. Secondly, he aims to destroy all images that God has built into the realm of dust that shows the way to God s truths, God s goodness and God s righteousness. For example, He knew he would have achieved this goal when Adam and his wife had to leave the Garden of Eden, which shows the way to God s truths, God s goodness and God s righteousness, even before the arrival of any off-spring. By ruling, Satan will achieve the breakdown of God s righteousness that requires that images in the physical realm should line up with the genuine original in the spirit realm, and which is only to be found in God Himself. If man no longer knows what God s righteousness is all about, then Satan and his fallen angels can continuously accuse man before God for not operating in the will of God, that is, God s righteousness. Satan can claim sinful man for himself. Satan demands justice from God.