Expulsion of Adam and Eve from The Garden of Eden Fresco by Masaccio, Brancacci Chapel, Florence
The Tripartite Structure of Human Personality - Spirit, Soul & Body
Just as God is One God in the Three Persons of the Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - so human beings consist of three indivisible parts :
Born with Three Crucial Needs
God designed us to find three crucial needs to be met in an intimate relationship with him, as Adam and Eve had enjoyed before they rebelled. These needs are for -
• SECURITY in the form of unconditional LOVE
• SELF WORTH in the form of JOY at being valued as me
• SIGNIFICANCE in terms of PEACE at knowing my life has meaning and a purpose
The problems arise when I try to meet these needs by digging my own wells - something God complains about in Jeremiah 2:13
The Disastrous Results of Adam & Eve's Disobedience
The results of Adam and Eve's disobedience by succumbing to Satan's temptation were disastrous, not just for Adam and Eve but for the whole human race descended from them.
• SIN in the form of rebellion against God and a desire to be God
• SICKNESS & SUFFERING in the form of diseases and including pain in childbirth and hard labour
• SEPARATION FROM GOD & OTHERS by DEATH both physical and spiritual
Born Rebels Looking for Love in the Wrong Direction
The problem is the Bible says we were born rebels who want nothing to do with God. As Scripture says:
"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God."(Romans 3:10-11)
Where Adam and Eve were made in God's image, his children were born in Adam's image the Bible says (Genesis 5:3), while retaining the vestiges of our divine Creator. The result is we try to find the love lost by Adam and Eve's banishment from intimate communion with God by going our own way and looking for love in other directions.
Outline of History from Creation to Entry to the Promised Land