The plan of Redemption

Once the decision has been made by the Father, God’s Son Michael hurries down to earth to tell Adam and Eve the good news.

They are waiting in the garden, but not with the joy they once had for their time of worship. In heaven’s imagination the children can again see the earth and the Garden of Eden.

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It is now the cool of the day, the time Adam and Eve meet with their Creator. No one is there to greet Him.

‘Adam,’ calls God’s Son.

Only the singing of the birds and the rustling of the leaves can be heard.

He calls again, ‘Adam, where are you?’

Slowly Adam ventures out into the open, covered in fig leaves. Eve hides behind him.

Adam says quietly, ‘I heard your voice and was afraid because I am naked.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ asks the Son.

Adam looks at the ground and says nothing. He is embarrassed and feels dreadfully guilty.

The Creator then asks him straight out, ‘Have you eaten of the forbidden tree?’

Adam replies, ‘The woman You gave me – she gave me the fruit and I ate.’ ‘Eve’, He asks, ‘What have you done?’

‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate it’, admits the woman.

The Creator then turns to the serpent hiding in the bushes, and says, ‘Because you have done this, you are cursed above every beast of the field. Instead of flying in the air, you will crawl on the ground and eat dust for the rest of your life.’

He then speaks to Lucifer who is cringing in the shadows.

‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; and it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’

Then to the woman, ‘In pain you will bring forth children, and your husband will rule over you.’

And to Adam, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, the ground is cursed for your sake. It will bear thorns and thistles, making your labour hard. You must work the soil for your food by the sweat of your face for the rest of your life, until you return to the dust.’

Adam and Eve listen in silence. They know they deserve their punishment and have nothing to say.

The Creator then tells them, ‘You will both turn to the dust, for dust you are and dust you will become.’

He then asks Adam to bring a lamb.

As they kneel beside the young animal, the man and the woman wonder what will happen.

The Son then explains that Adam must take the life of the animal with a knife. ‘Kill it?’ cries Adam.

‘Yes my son, this perfect and innocent lamb represents the death of God’s Son.’

‘God’s Son!’ Adam is horrified. ‘But You are God’s Son!’

‘Yes my dear’, He explains. ‘God’s Son will take your penalty for sin so that you can live.’

‘Oh, no my father’, cries Eve. ‘We deserve to die, not You.’

‘It is true you deserve to die, but My Father has given you a second chance. This can only happen if innocent blood is shed. Every sacrifice will remind you of the cost of disobeying God’s Law in the sacrifice of God’s Son.’

‘My father, I am so sorry I disobeyed’, confesses Adam.

‘And father, I am sorry too’, adds Eve. Will you forgive me for taking the fruit and giving it to Adam?’

‘Dear children’, He says, ‘when the blood is shed, you will be forgiven.’

Adam takes the knife in his hand and slays the innocent lamb. His eyes well up with tears.

Eve cries openly. She cannot watch the sacrifice and turns away.

The Son of God then makes coats for Adam and Eve from the wool of the lamb. Taking the fig leaves from their bodies, He puts the pure woollen coats upon them.

‘Dear ones, this coat represent the perfection of the Lamb of God. It is called the ‘robe of righteousness’ and is the Son’s goodness given to you when you don’t deserve it. Do you understand my children?’

Adam volunteers. ‘My father, is this right? When I asked you to forgive me, I had to believe You will pay for my sin with Your own life. When I am sorry and believe, You can forgive me, and give me your goodness.’

‘Yes, that is right. I am your Saviour.’

The Son then explains, ‘If you always remember that I am your Saviour and love Me, you will want to keep My Law.’

‘Oh, we don’t want to break it’, cries Adam. ‘We will never eat the fruit of the forbidden tree again.’

The Saviour stands to His feet and says, ‘My children, you must follow Me out of the garden.’

‘Where are we going?’ asks Adam.

Knowing it will be very sad for the couple, He says the words gently, ‘You must leave the garden.’

‘Leave the garden, for good?’ questions Eve.

Sadly the Son answers, ‘Yes my child. I am sorry, but you cannot go back in the garden.

‘But why?’ asks Eve. ‘Why must we leave?’

He explains that the Garden of Eden is now out of bounds. ‘You cannot eat from the tree of life until you are redeemed.’

At the edge of the garden the Son of God commissions two cherub angels to guard the way to the tree of life. No one can pass the glittering sword that flashes as fire at the entrance. No human being can enter the garden. No evil angels.

Adam asks a question, ‘Father, what does redeemed mean?’

‘My children’, He explains, ‘God’s Son will come to this earth as a baby. He will live the life of a child and grow to be a man, but will never sin. Only in this way can He be a perfect sacrifice.’

‘Like the little lamb’, says Eve.

‘Yes Eve. God’s Son will be the Lamb of God.’

Adam and Eve listen carefully as Jesus begins to explain the plan of redemption.

‘My death will redeem you from the enemy.’

‘What does redeem mean?’ asks Adam.

‘It means to buy back. I will explain it to you with a story. It is like a little boy who made a boat. He is very proud of his boat, in fact, he loves his boat. He takes it to the lake to sail, but a strong wind blows the boat far away, too far for him to get it back. His boat is lost. One day, as he passes a shop he sees his boat in the window. It has a price of $10.00 on it. How he longs for that boat, but it is a lot of money for a young boy. He saves hard and one day he is able to put $10.00 on the counter of the shop.

‘I want to buy my boat back’, he says. With his boat in his hands the boy says, ‘You are mine twice. First I made you, then I bought you.’

‘Oh that’s a lovely story’, says Eve.

‘It is the story of redemption. First I made you dear children, but you were lost. One day I will buy you back at great cost.’

Adam nods, ‘Oh, now I understand.’

‘My father, are you going to buy us back from Lucifer?’ asks Eve.

‘Oh no, my dear’, answers the Son.

‘We owe nothing to Lucifer. You see, you broke the Law of God, and the Law says you must pay a penalty of death.’

‘Oh I am glad we don’t owe anything to Lucifer.’

Summer asks Jesus, ‘It must have been sad for Adam and Eve to leave their home.’

‘Yes, it was’, He responds.

The children have many questions.

Kevin asks his first. ‘Why could they not eat fruit from the tree of life any more?’

‘Yes, why?’ adds Jeannette. Jesus explains.

‘It would make sinners live for ever, and there could be no end to the great controversy. The only ones to receive the promises are those who love God and obey Him, not those who keep sinning.’

Jeannette comments, ‘Lucifer keeps sinning doesn’t he?’

‘Yes’, says Jesus. ‘Those who follow Lucifer – let’s call him Satan now -- will die and become the dust of the ground.’

‘What about those who love You and obey?’ asks Kevin.

‘They will become dust too, but one day God will create them again and take them to the tree of life at the river in heaven.’

'Ooooh, I want to be one of them’, say all the children.

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Meanwhile Satan is sitting alone and thinking deeply about God’s words to the fallen couple.

He had watched the Son meet with Adam and Eve. He saw the lamb slain. He watched as coats were made and placed upon the couple.

‘What did it all mean’, he wonders.

He thinks about the enmity between himself and the woman and between her seed and his seed.

All he can figure out is that he will bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman, but the Seed of the woman would bruise his head. It didn’t sound good.

Satan did not want his head bruised. ‘More likely crushed’, he says to himself.

What does it all mean?

The more he thinks, the less he understands. It’s too confusing.

He says out loud, ‘It has something to do with the sacrifices. Somehow God will bless humans through the sacrifices. But how?’

Suddenly a voice disturbs his thoughts.

‘Lucifer, Lucifer’, calls one of the evil angels, ‘The Son has put cherub guards at the gate of the garden. No one can go in there.’

Satan jumps up.

‘What?’ he shrieks.

‘Yes, look. See it glittering.’

‘Oh no. Now we can’t eat from the tree of life and live forever’, he says. ‘But we can still take up residence can’t we?’ asks Yami.

‘Of course we can stupid’, grunts Lucifer.

‘So what does it mean?’ he asks.

Lucifer is angry and spits out the words, ‘It means that one day we will die.’

‘At least we can take lots of others down with us’, calls one of the devils.

They watch as God’s Son leaves Adam and Eve at the gate of the garden. ‘Look’, says Togo, ‘The Son has left Adam and Eve. Does that mean we can go down there?’

‘It’s enough for me you rebels’, screams Satan. ‘Let’s go and make life difficult for the humans.’

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