Original sin

In the beginning, God saw the beauty and harmony in heaven. But He also saw the void below. It was empty and darkness covered the abyss. It was a mass of utter chaos and confusion. In his infinite wisdom, God decided to bring order out of chaos. He would create Earth — another world. He assembled the multitude of the angelic hosts and explained His divine plan. He made it known that in addition to creating a new world, He would also create man. He would be lower in status than the angels, but created in His image and likeness. He made it abundantly clear to the angels that even though man would be created on a lower level, they would still be commanded to treat him as an equal and honor him. Man would not be created to be trampled upon by superior forces, to be crushed under the conqueror’s heels, to be enslaved and robbed of his possessions. He reminded the angelic hosts they were not created to rule the lesser beings.

Lucifer did not think it was a great idea or even a divine plan. He was the “Bearer of Light,” the “Shining Star of Dawn,” the “Son of the Morning.” He was of dazzling brightness and awesome beauty. He was the most magnificent of the angelic hosts. It seemed that God was planning to create a new world order, place in it a creature far below him and commanding him to pay homage to this inferior being. He had always lovingly acknowledged the supremacy and majesty of God and had served him loyally. He was also loved and respected by his fellow angels. Now it seemed that instead of creating order out of chaos below, He was creating confusion and disharmony in Heaven above.

Lucifer vowed he would never bow down to this miserable creature  called “man” and who would be made from dust. He could not possibly imagine anyone more glorious than he. He was too proud and that cardinal sin prevented him from perceiving the divine image of God that would be placed in man. That sin of pride prevented him from understanding that his love for God would be reflected in his love for someone not his equal.

Calling all the angels together, Lucifer held a full council. Like a coach before an important game, he explained the situation. With head held high and his eyes blazing, he made it clear that they had to be strong and decisive and to do nothing was not an option. After all the faithful service the angels had rendered, it seemed very clear they were mere slaves and God had now turned his back on them. He assured them  he would not bow to man. He was far superior and felt convinced it should be man who ought to pay him homage. It was such a terrible injustice not only to him but to the other angels as well.They should feel free to claim their rights and not be deluded slaves. Other proud angels who shared Lucifer’s thoughts, ambitions and visions cheered him on. Lucifer felt greatly encouraged by the fact a third of the angelic hosts sided with him. He felt invincible and made the fatal decision to challenge the majesty, the power and the glory of God. Michael, the Archangel, supreme commander of the angelic hosts and defender of heaven, engaged him in that incredible battle for Heaven. As they met face to face, Michael felt a tinge of sadness for Lucifer. Here was once, the most magnificent of the angelic hosts, but before him now stood a sorry figure, defeated and humiliated. With one last battle cry, Michael and his heavenly hosts pushed Lucifer and his minions over the edge into the dark and empty void below.

Lucifer, now Satan — an adversary of God and man, tumbled down and down into the deep, dark and frightening abyss. It seemed to take forever. He was shocked and bewildered and he finally crashed into a sea of flames. Recovering slowly, he realized he was not alone. The third of the angels who had joined him in the rebellion against God were also down with him in that horrid place of wrath and fury. He was doomed to be away from the presence of a loving and merciful God.  By the flickering light, he observed the other angels were glaring at him with open contempt for having chosen to oppose an omnipotent God and had ended up totally defeated and impotent. Like any good commander, he knew he should never show any sign of fear or cowardice. Putting on a brave face, he assured them that vengeance would be his. In a torrent of wrath, anger and fury He planned revenge. His pride blinded him and instead of seeking forgiveness, he sought vengeance.

Satan still had all his powers and could even appear as an angel of light. Disguised as a serpent, Satan usually coiled up in his favorite tree in the Garden of Eden. He observed Adam and Eve going about their daily routine.She took care of the shrubs and plants with their beautiful and colorful flowers. He attended to the animals. He could not help but notice how kind, loving and devoted they were to each other and this irked him even more. In the afternoon when it was hot, they would rest under the tree and this gave him an opportunity to eavesdrop on their conversations.

He learned there was a tree known as the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.” There was something mysterious about it.  God had forbidden them to eat the fruit of that tree, warning them on the day they ate of that fruit they would die. He also learned there was another tree and it was called “The Tree of Life.” It was right smack in the middle of the Garden and if they ate the fruit of that tree they would live forever. Satan thought this was an awful contradiction. One fruit would make them die and the other would make them live forever. God had given them a free will and they were free to choose between mortality and immortality. Satan was aware that he was powerless to destroy man but it didn’t take him long to gleefully plan which fruit they would choose to eat.

Satan observed Eve was free to wander alone in the garden and one day he noticed her near the forbidden tree. He saw her curiously glance at tree, admiring its fruit. He told her that God was not so mean that he would deny her that delicious fruit. He assured her if she ate of that fruit she would not die but would have infinite knowledge and be endowed with great powers and even become divine like God. She was confused. She hesitated. She looked up at the tree and she saw the heavens but quickly directed her gaze back to the fruit. After what seemed an eternity, she reached out and plucked the fruit from the tree. Satan with a very convincing smile, nodded his full approval. Eve bit into the fruit.

Adam realized Eve had been away longer than usual and went looking for her. He stopped dead in his tracks when he beheld Eve by the tree with the half eaten fruit in her hand. In his anguish he was certain the whole earth had felt that grievous wound. He was speechless. A sword had pierced his heart. He realized Eve would one day die.She would also be all alone. He loved her very much and could not live without her. In the greatest act of love, he took the fruit from her hand and bit into it.

For centuries, Christianity has taught us that this sin of disobedience was the Original Sin. This just couldn’t be. The Serpent (Satan/Evil) was there in the Garden of Eden. Who was he and how did he get there.? Surely he did not materialize from the thin air and sneaked in when God was not looking. Obviously there must be a story about that serpent and we logically conclude that the Original Sin was the sin of pride when Lucifer refused to pay homage to a person not his equal. It also makes sense that since the dawn of time, PRIDE, the cardinal sin, has been the downfall of mankind with all its sorrow and suffering it inflicted on mankind. It is not difficult to understand this when we think of the British who were convinced they were born to rule the lesser breeds and the Nazis who firmly believed they were the master race, resulting in the intolerance, discrimination, persecution, expulsions and the extermination of the so-called “inferior” races.

We can also safely conclude that Genesis should not be the first book in the Bible.