THE SCANDALOUS REJECTION- BY PASTOR GREG ELKAN.

We cannot talk about Adam and not talk about his original ‘glory’. As the progenitor and representative of the human race, Adam was king of the world – in the literal sense of the word. The Bible says God blessed him and said to him _“Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”_

Note, however, that when we read these words, we read it with the _assumption_ that Adam accepted them. God’s blessings are not automatic, they are only offered as propositions and gestures of His love. For them to be effective, they have to be accepted and _RECEIVED_ by the beneficiary; which we cannot absolutely and confidently affirm that Adam did.

For starters, the fact that we had an unruly serpent with destructive intent roaming free in the Garden (Gen 3) says something about just how much ‘authority’ Adam was exercising. Secondly, we do know that Adam was _offered_ every good thing in the Garden – including the Tree of Life at the very centre of it (Gen 2:9) which he didn’t partake of (choosing rather to eat from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of good and evil instead (Gen 3:6).

This is rather scandalous, and difficult to comprehend. Why on earth would anyone reject something as positive and enriching as dominion, authority, and blessings? Why would _anyone_ reject LIFE? To answer that question, we need to look no further than to Adam’s descendants – all human beings, that is. We stand here today, being offered (again!) Eternal Life by the same God that offered same to Adam in the Garden, and we see humanity replaying the same drama over again by rejecting God’s unbelievably gracious offer.

In case you missed it, Moses in Dt 30:19 concisely outlines the offer to us again; _“I call heaven and earth as witness this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.”_

Scandalously, as simple as this is, many today still reject it.

And this is the witness, that God has given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. – 1Jn 5:11.

AMEN.

More Blessings await you today; you’ll not miss them in Jesus’ Name.

PASTOR GREG ELKAN.