Love is Powerful

A few weeks ago I heard a message from a visiting speaker about how through one man’s sin, Adam, all humanity has been separated from God and has come under condemnation, but how through the sacrificial death of one man, Jesus Christ (the second Adam) all can be restored to fellowship with God and given eternal life. This was a great message not unlike what many of you have heard. However, his theme verse was 1 Timothy 2:14 which says, “And Adam was not deceived, but the women being deceived was in the transgression.”

He went on to explain how Adam’s choice brought God’s curse upon all of creation and mankind. He told us, that no matter how good or bad a person we are, that because of this one act of Adam’s we all have been condemned to die. "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die,” Genesis 2:17. Although I agree with everything that was said, in the message Adam became the “bad guy.”

But Adam was not deceived.

For days now I have been thinking, “Adam was not deceived” and I’ve been asking God to help me understand. In fact, I have been begging God for years to help me know Him better.

Now, the Bible also says, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and old men shall dream dreams:” Acts 2:14.

Well folks, I am an old man, and I believe God has given me a dream, a dream I am going to call, “Love is Powerful.” This dream was one I did not want to wake out of, one that gave a peace and a feeling of being “complete.” In the dream I said, “I’ve got to write this down when I awake.” Yet before getting dressed, I could only remember the “feeling.” Yet in this dream, in this feeling, God has helped me to understand.

Now listen, what I am about to share is not up for debate. It’s not in the Bible, nor can we judge it to be right or wrong. This is not even my opinion, but a dream. While talking with my son I remembered the dream and I feel compelled to share it with you. I feel it’s my responsibility to share this message. In writing this, I ask that you just ponder the thought and allow God to use it as He delights. So, as Jimmy DeYoung would say, “Think about this with me…”.

Before “The Fall” did Adam ever have a wrong thought, did he ever make a mistake? He walked with God in the garden daily and named all the animals and more. He talked with God freely and everything that was created, everything that God brought before Adam he named and it was good. In fact, God called it “very good.” Adam was a very wise man and knew his love for God and God’s love for him as the “perfect” man. Then God said, “It is not good for man the be alone” and caused a deep sleep over Adam and took a rib and created Eve, and brought Eve unto Adam. And Adam, with this perfect knowledge, upon seeing Eve said, “Wow!!!, now this is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh and she shall be called Woman.” And unlike everything else that God had brought before Adam, Eve caused Adam’s perfect knowledge of love to skyrocket. Now Adam and Eve walked and talked with God in the garden and this love grew even more. Genesis 2:18-23.

Now wake up folks, I want you to take one minute to think about the prettiest place on earth, then close your eyes and think about your greatest love… Are you there? … Do you see it? … Can you feel it?  Go ahead and close your eyes…

…Now I want you to understand that everything you have just seen and thought were thought and seen through sinful eyes and with a sinful heart. Adam had a much different perspective, for his love and his eyes were pure. “Adam was not deceived.”

So what happen on that dreadful day when Eve was deceived?

Adam and Eve did not eat together, but Eve ate first and then “gave also unto her husband (Adam),” Genesis 3:6.  What was Adam thinking?  Was he about to make a mistake? Remember Adam was not deceived, nor did he become deceived, but with all knowledge chose to eat.

But… WHY?

Adam, you knew what God had said, you knew that God could not lie, you knew and understood the cost, the sacrifice.  So why did you eat?

He said, “Because of my love for Eve.” “Was I supposed to abandon her for her to suffer and die alone? Was I to throw away the life in Eve and not do as God commanded? Yes, I knew the cost and what would be lost, but my love caused me to sacrifice in order to sustain life, even to give you life. You see, my love drove me to sacrifice.”

And then I thought, neither was God deceived.  He knew before the foundations of the Earth that this was all part of His plan. God knew that love is a choice, and that the truest form of love is selflessness. Love is not what I can get, but what I can give.

So just like Adam, God knew the cost and gave up the glories of Heaven for a time to become a man, the second Adam. God came to be mocked, spit upon, beaten, and then hung on a tree to die.  And somehow God paid the ultimate price, an eternity in hell, to set us free.   You see, the second curse was far worse than the first, but it is this same love that drove Jesus to sacrifice in order to give you eternal life… again!

So yes. Love is powerful, Love is a choice, and it’s our turn to choose.