In life, there exists a moral code of personal conduct. If there is a right way to do something, there is a corresponding wrong way to do it. Where there is an up, there is a down. Where there is an east, there is a west. But why were morals established?
Morals were established by God because He wants us to know how best to live so we can remain in agreement with Him (the King) — this is called righteousness. Each and every act of disagreement/rebellion (immorality) against His Kingship is called sin.
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Autonomy is a personal ideology of self-governance based on the egocentric desire to be devoid of external governance. The autonomous person seeks to justify their ideologies and decisions based on a moment-to-moment rationalization of right and wrong-ness within the fluctuating and capricious needs/wants of self. You might just call it selfishness. Autonomy is when we have chosen to be our own king and wear the crown.
“1 In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”
God determined what is moral. We do not possess the ability to do so. Only the person in charge of the legal system has the ability/right to determine what is morally right and wrong (good and evil).
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
Jesus is not merely our Judge, but He is the Law. He is the solitary determinant as to what is right and wrong because He is the One who made everything and knows why He designed everything. Everything has a purpose and we all have a part to play in this life. No matter who we are and where we live and what we believe, we have a purpose — God has blessed us with a purpose and He has designed each of us to fulfill it — with His help.
Father God made us to be in a partnership with Him. He wants to bless us with a divine spiritual connection that will never break, but we have to submit to it. Satan has plans for each and every single one of us, too, but we have to submit to it. Do you see the power in our freedom of choice?
Since God has “plans to prosper us and not harm us and plans to give us hope and a future,” then be assured that Satan has evil planned for us. You might say he has ‘plans to bankrupt us and to harm us and plans to remove all hope and prospects of a successful future,’ because everything he does is to break God’s moral code and try to get us to do the same.
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The devil’s kingdom is founded on many carefully-crafted counterfeits of the Kingdom of God. For example, like a counterfeit $100 bill you might try to spend, the devil (and his demons and human partners) wants to fool you into thinking you have to do things his way to establish a successful life while he is simultaneously fooling you into unbelief in God’s ways as being the best for you. If he can just get you to have enough curiosity that his way is better than God’s, he will have your soul. He does the same thing with morality.
Satan would like nothing more than to fill our minds with a worldview based on advancing his causes and his ideology. His idea of world domination and subjugation of the nations is based on false religions, erroneous scientific conclusions/discoveries, and teaching lies within a nation’s educational system then ends in political and military tyranny. Satan’s plans are for our ultimate harm and his ultimate gain and control.
God desires us to be free from Satan’s system of tyranny. That’s why Jesus came to Earth — to set us free from the bondage of the devil. Why, then, would we ever subscribe to the devil’s agenda? There’s only one reason: they do not trust God. We also call that ‘unbelief.’
Adam and Eve became convinced that they should not trust God’s intentions toward them because of what the devil said. Let’s go back to Genesis 3 and see what changed their minds.
“4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.””
I can just imagine when he lied, their reaction might have been, ‘Wait. You mean we won’t die? Why would God say that?’
Evidently, Adam and Eve had an idea of who was the person behind this talking reptile or there would have been a backlash of some sort. Remember that Adam named the animals, so he would’ve been suspicious of the devil’s statement — unless they already had a decent relationship.
““You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.””
Like a drug dealer standing on a corner, people know why he’s there even if they choose not to buy. You might say Adam and Eve went shopping. God gave them dominion over the Earth and everything in it (aka Oath Covenant), but they surely wondered, ‘Why is God holding out on us? Why not just give us everything? Doesn’t He trust us with that tree? It’s just a tree, for Pete’s sake!’
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Clearly, they weren’t satisfied with 99.9999999% of Creation, they wanted it all and they wanted it now. Any green new deal the devil brought to the table would have to include the tree in the middle of the Garden — the one thing they did not have in their possession — so they could eat from it and satisfy their lust for power and greed. The trouble was, that was God’s tree and He hadn’t given them permission to have it. The tree stipulation was the one covenant condition to the Oath Covenant.
The devil blatantly lied and twisted the words of God to close the deal. He knew their deepest desire was to “be like God” — eternal and all-knowing, so he made it seem that they weren’t created in God’s image and then lied to empower them to break the covenant, thereby opening the door for them to enter into a meal covenant with him through their “civil disobedience” of eating from the tree they still didn’t own! Satan attempted to justify their lust for power and greed. He got them to think how they could see things his way so they would reject God’s sovereignty and live by their own rules. The ruse worked and still does for many people to this day because they formed a Meal Covenant with Satan that day — enabling Satan to rule where mankind used to in the Oath Covenant.
Adam and Eve set off a domino effect of generational sin (iniquity) that will continue to hound us all until the end of the Battle of Armageddon. All because they wanted to establish their own rule — that thing we call autonomy.
Prayer
Father God, You alone are the King and I submit myself to Your Kingship and Your Kingdom. Yours is the everlasting Kingdom and You rule with justice and grace. Thank You for allowing me the honor and privilege to enter Your gates with thanksgiving and Your courts with praise! You alone are worthy of all the honest praise and worship we humans can offer! I apologize for the times where I made myself the king and sat on Your throne — the throne of my heart. Please forgive me for having lived autonomously and help me see and hear Your commands so I can serve You best. Please forgive me for acting like a fool and thinking I’m the one on charge. Help me to right the wrongs and clean up the spills I’ve made over the years. You are the King and I place You on the throne of my heart right now. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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