This book is a must read. It offers great insight and revelation of the Garden of Eden and indeed functions to spread the good news. I break it down to some of the major pointers I found to be profound and ultimately life changing.

Different perspective about Eve

Eve is not a just villain, but a source of humanity and its salvation. She is the bearer of God’s plan through her seed. Her obedience to God is seen when she chooses to procreate regardless of her mistakes. We should all see ourselves through the eyes of Eve. After disobeying God, she must have felt alone, guilty, and withdrawn but by obeying God to procreate she changed her course from death to life. She chose to evolve from her failure to victory

The Forbidden Fruit

The forbidden fruit are all things that devalue our identity as children of God. Any character, thought, idea, action, or person who causes you to deviate from God is the forbidden fruit. What leads us to taking the forbidden fruit? Doubt, doubting God’s plans, doubting our identity, questioning who is God, doubting our potential. When we question our identity we make poor choices or brought to a point of indecision.

Doubting/Questioning results in fear which can be only be conquered through faith. Fear leads to insecurity or inadequacy. Having or experiencing the unknown is okay. God is mysterious and so are His ways. Leaping and trusting Him through faith is crucial as a believer. We don’t need all the answers because the one who has them is in us and guides us accordingly. Believe in God’s certainty and uncertainty.

We can choose whether to bear good or bad fruit. Humanity is in a state of production and we decide the direction of the fruit we bear. With God we bear good fruits of love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness etc. With the world or sin we bear the fruits of death, jealousy, hate, greed, pride etc.

Environment

Our environment – mind, heart, body, soul, work, relationships etc – affect our actions. The garden of Eden was a good environment for humanity. However, after sin, it became hostile. External forces (the serpent) and internal forces (Eve’s doubt) in the garden led to sin. However, the internal factors-  thoughts or perception – are the primary point through which our environment created by God is affected. The serpent led Eve to question her environment and its goodness which ultimately led to her fall. Eve chose to believe in the serpent which was the source of humanity’s disobedience to God. We are response-able for our thoughts and actions, therefore we should nurture and protect our environment at all costs for God to work through us. “Above all else, watch over your heart, diligently guard it because from a sincere and pure heart come the good and noble things of life,” and indeed blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.  Protecting our minds, heart, soul and body by being in Christ through such actions as prayer (“pray that you might not fall into temptation”), worship, doing good, meditation etc steers us away from sin.

The Curse

The consequence of eating the forbidden fruit was death. Death spiritually, for both man and woman as God had created us to not see our vulnerability –good and evil. Death arose as a result of not trusting God with the good and the evil. We should know that God is in full control of both the good and evil and all things in the world work in good for those who trust in Him.

The curse is a rematch. An opportunity presented to us by God to overthrow the devil and all evil in the world. Why? Because God has so much faith in us that we can do it; that we can overcome evil. Through his Son darkness does not have the final say for He overcame death and sin. Interestingly, Jesus said that if we dared believe we could do much more than Him. The curse is not the end for us but for the devil, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” It is a chance to battle again where our victory is already assured through Christ.

Overcome the Curse

How do we overcome death spiritually and physically? By obeying and trusting God because for whosoever believes in Him will have eternal life. Obedience leads means submitting in totality without question (remember questioning resulted in sin) to the uncertain and certain there is in God.

Take control. Make intentional steps by partnering with God in daily life. Create discipline in your thoughts and actions every day. Moreover, be keen and attentive on what you subject yourself to that can make you vulnerable to sin. Consider replacing bad habits with good ones a step at a time. Change our perspective not to see through our eyes but through God’s lens. When Eve saw through her eyes she failed but when we choose to believe in God’s promises and truth then we become more than conquerors, children of God, a Holy nation and much more.

The Power of the Seed

God’s plans from the beginning was set in the woman- through her seed. The seed embodies procreation of not just multiplication of people, but of God’s plan throughout the world. God has trusted you with a seed – could be an idea, an opportunity, a person, talent, gift, a vision, or dream etc. After sin, Eve chose to stick with God’s plan of procreation and fulfilling her duty. From her seed, humanity gained salvation through Christ. It is important to know that finding our purpose might result in failures here and there. However, failure does not mean we should stop seeking for God’s purpose in our lives, “seek and ye shall find.” Failure provides a path for us to redefine and be molded to what God wants us to be. Take this, if Eve did not fail in the Garden, there would be no need for Jesus to come. Thus, Eve provided a purpose for God himself to come on earth, thus, through her seed God became. God gave the Eve the power – to be the mother of all living things; note that He didn’t take away that power because she sinned instead He clothed her. Therefore, the seed God has given you is not meant for anybody else but you – He created it to be specific and authentic for you.

Multiply and the Fill the Earth by Partnering with God

After being saved and knowing our true potential as children of God we become the salt and the light of the world. Working with God hand in hand in everything that we do is the foundation of eternal life. Trust and allow God to multiply what we have by letting him in to take away the darkness of doubt, insecurity, inadequacy, and fear. Adam and Eve hid from God because they knew they were naked (vulnerable), do you know what God did? Yes, he clothed them. God does not want us to be perfect but to let him in on our imperfections or vulnerabilities and slowly He can renew and transform our mind towards being his sons and daughters as we were in the beginning; withholding nothing from Him and walking with Garden with Him as we did before. The miracle of the boy and the five loaves and two fish is the greatest example. The boy chose to be vulnerable and give his food to strangers from which more than 5,000 people were fed. Little is enough for God to multiply as God needed only one son from Abraham, Isaac to bless him with descendants as many as the stars. When we work with God we shift from the natural to the supernatural and thus we are no longer under the law but governed by grace which Christ has made sufficient that God’s power is made perfect in weakness, and therefore we should boast gladly over our weakness as His power rests over us.