Alive in Christ a Devotional

Day 2—The Beginning of Man

And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7 NKJV)

For the life of the flesh is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11a NJKV)

God thought about us from the beginning and wanted to give us life because He wanted to have a loving, delightful relationship with us. I imagine God must have thought of different ways to bring us into being from nothing. And decided that He would use the dust of the earth to create the first man, Adam.

Adam came to life when God breathed into him. At that first breath from God, imagine blood started flowing through that clump of dust that God formed, and life began for Adam. God’s heart must have been bursting with love when Adam took his first breath.

When blood was formed, life began. God tells us from way before any scientific discovery that the life of the flesh is in the blood. He knows because He is the One that created life. Medical science caught up in the last century, discovering that red blood cells carry oxygen that is required for the heart and the brain to function. A lot more has been studied and written about blood and stem cells. But the Bible preceded science telling us that life is in the blood.

So Adam himself bore the breath of God. Man represented by Adam came from God and has the essence of God’s breath. Man is delightfully created by one creative stroke of God. And life flowed through Him when blood was formed! In that way we are indelibly connected to God.

Take time to imagine and mull over how God created Adam, how He caused blood to flow within him and life started. How awesome is that! What a wonderful, creative God. And He is our heavenly Father who loves us and gives us life.

Day 3—God Created Man in His Own Image

Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. (Genesis 1:26-27 NKJV)

Not only did Adam bear God’s breath, but God also made him in His own image. Adam was created like God in His essence of love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness and desire for relationship. Adam was supposed to live a delightful life growing into the fullness of God’s essence, and in relationship with Him. Just as He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in relationship with one another. Adam was to become the model for all mankind.

Not only that, God also gave Adam the dominion over all the earth. It meant that Adam had power and authority over everything, every creature that lived. Imagine he could command the lions and tigers and they would have to obey him. He could decree and call forth the plants and trees to flourish and they would obey him. Adam was supposed to influence man and nurture him to look to God as his heavenly Father, in relationship with him, receiving counsel and instructions on how to exercise his dominion on the earth. In doing so, man would mature fully into all that God created him to be.

God did all of that because He longed to have human children, who, through the dominion and authority given him would become fully mature in His essence. He created Adam and gave him a wife, Eve, to enjoy everything that He created. He loves us and His one desire is to grow in relationship with us, walking and talking with us and gifting us with every good thing.

Dear heavenly Father, give me a greater understanding of Your desire to have a relationship with me. Open my eyes and my heart to hear and receive from You that I may know You more. Amen.

Day 4—The First Sin Of Man

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. (Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV)

Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3: 4:5)

God then showed Adam and Eve the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave them one command. They could eat from every tree, except from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If they did that, they would die (spiritual death).

The command not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to ensure that Adam and Eve believed and trusted God wholly. As Creator, God is the source of all that is good, lovely, beautiful, delightful and divine. Outside of Him would be the opposite. It was therefore important that man trusted God alone and only received from Him. His desire was for man to be pure, prefect and untainted to eventually enjoy all the glories and beauty of heaven.

The serpent in Genesis 3 represents the devil who is the enemy of God. The devil is jealous because God loved man and has good plans for him. The serpent would try anything to destroy man’s relationship with God. He challenged Adam and Eve on the very thing that God told them not to do. He told them that God lied to them, and that by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would become like God. See the lie? Adam and Eve were already created in God’s image; they were already like Him. The devil is the big liar.

Unfortunately, Adam and Eve succumbed to the devil’s lies and distrusted God instead. They brought all mankind with them, on a path paved by the devil.

Day 5—All of Mankind Was Born with Adam’s Sin Nature

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. (Genesis 3:7a NLT)

"Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. (Genesis 3:17b NLT)

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth. (Genesis 5:3 NKJV)

Sin is when we refuse God, reject Him, and choose to follow our own ways. By trusting the devil over God, Adam committed the first sin of man. When Adam did that, he allowed the devil to have dominion, have a say, over him. From the beautiful, lovely, joyous, thriving and peace-filled life that God had for him, Adam became cursed to live in sorrow, toil, and sweat, dominated by the devil.

Because the devil now had dominion over Adam, through Adam, he also gained the dominion over the earth that God gave to Adam. The devil was now in a position to wield his influence over the earth as well as over man.

The Bible further tells us in Genesis 5:3, ‘Adam … begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth.’ After Adam’s fall, all mankind—yes, you and I included—were born in his likeness, in his fallen way, separated from God, under the dominion of Satan, where sin, disobedience, pain, sorrow, and sickness thrive.

God’s original plan was for man to walk in love, peace, joy, health, hope, patience, kindness, goodness; the essence of God. But sin; not trusting God, rejecting Him, brings severe consequences. When we do not trust God, and refuse His counsel, we are not receiving from Him. If we are not receiving from Him, then we are receiving from another source, the devil, who now has dominion and influence over the world. He has nothing good for you. He is jealous of you and only has lies to keep you away from God, who is the source of all that is good, lovely, beautiful, delightful, divine and eternal.

Now that the devil has dominion over the world, man has become subject to what the devil brings; pride, ego, greed, lies, cunning, hatred, impatience, shame, condemnation, sickness, stress, fears, anxieties, bondage to what destroys, depression, hopelessness; every bad thing you can think of. Do you now see clearly why the world has all these problems? Have you yourself been subject to some of these? We have all been lied to by the devil at some point in our lives and suffered the consequences but there is good news.

God was neither surprised nor shocked by what Adam did. He knew what the devil was like. God already had a secure, contingent plan to rescue man, and to establish him more securely to Himself. It is a plan in which the devil would be defeated for good, his dominance over man broken. It is a plan where man would be made perfect and holy so that He can continue in eternal relationship with God.

God’s plan was to send His own Beloved Son, Jesus, who is God Himself, perfect, holy, completely obedient to God, and without sin. He would come in the form of man, yet is totally God. His divine blood would be shed for mankind.

At man’s creation, God breathed into Adam, blood formed and man came to life. This time, the Son of God will shed His blood so that all who believe in Him will be born again to a new spiritual life. Christ’s divine blood flows through him giving him eternal life, uniting him with God for eternity. And the devil can’t do anything about that!

Heavenly Father, open my eyes to all Your ways. Open my heart to see and grasp all that took place from Adam’s time to Jesus’s sacrifice. Speak to my heart, and change my heart so I can receive all Your truths. Amen.

Day 6—The First Animal To be Sacrificed for Sin

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves. (Genesis 3:7 NLT)

And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. (Genesis 3:21 NLT)

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were naked. They felt shame and tried to cover up their nakedness with fig leaves. Instead, God used animal skin to cover their nakedness.

The fig leaves were Adam and Eve’s own idea to cover up their shame. This act represents man’s own thinking, works and efforts to placate God. The covering that God made for Adam and Eve was made of animal skin. An animal (that did no wrong) was killed, and its blood was shed.

Sin is serious to God because it leads man away from Him. Not only from Him, but also from the wonderful, joyous life He has for them in this world and the glorious eternity with Him. Because life is in the blood, therefore blood is required to restore life back from sin and death. This first sacrifice of blood in Eden was a precursor for a greater sacrifice for the world.

Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, we see the continued sacrifice of animals and the use of their blood to cover for sin. When God gave Moses the system of sacrifices and offerings for the atonement of sin, He was preparing fallen mankind, pointing them to the time when He would send His only beloved Son as the perfect sacrifice to die the death that was ours because of Adam’s sin.

Heavenly Father, help me to comprehend and trust You and the depth of Your love, grace, mercy, wisdom, and divine ways. Thank You for such a marvellous way to restore us to Yourself. Thank You that throughout the ages, You love me, and Your love for me never wavered. Amen.

Day 7—The Practice of Animal Sacrifice in the Old Testament

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. (Leviticus 17:11 NKJV)

In the Old Testament, God gave Moses a total of 613 ceremonial, moral and religious laws which had to be perfectly kept. Curses would befall anyone who failed to keep any law perfectly. God knew that it was not possible for anyone to fulfil these laws perfectly. So in His mercy to keep them from suffering the curses of breaking the law, God gave a system of sacrifices and offerings to the children of Israel as atonement when they broke any law.

These living sacrifices—an ox, calf, or pigeon—had to be perfect, free of blemishes and diseases. The sinner would lay his hand on the animal, taking on the animal’s purity and perfection while his sins are transferred to the animal. The priest would then kill the animal and the animal’s blood was offered at the tabernacle as atonement for sin. Because the life is in the blood, only the shedding of innocent blood can atone for sin, which leads to death, and bring back life.

God was and is seriously against sin. It took the blood of a pure, unblemished animal to atone for the guilt of sin and return a sinner to innocence and purity. Each sacrifice covered sin for a time — monthly or yearly — and then a new set of offerings had to be made for new sins committed. This sacrificial system given to Moses pointed to the Saviour of the world who would become the perfect Sacrifice, shedding perfect innocent blood, to save mankind from sin and death.

Heavenly Father, You have provided a marvellous way for the forgiveness of my sins. Thank You that You have given me Jesus as the final, perfect sacrifice so that my sins are now forgiven me. Give me more revelation and understanding of Your love for me. Amen.

Day 8—The Precious Blood of Jesus

Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12 NKJV)

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. (1 Peter 1:19 NKJV)

The sacrifices of animals under the Mosaic Law atoned for the sins of the children of Israel. They were really pointing to the perfect sacrifice for all mankind, Jesus Christ. Only the divine blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, can cleanse the whole world’s sins. No human is fit to make this sacrifice because all are born tainted with Adam’s sin nature.

Jesus, God’s own beloved Son, came to earth as a man. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Medical science tells us that an embryo is formed when a sperm meets an egg. At that point, blood develops, and life begins for the embryo. The male element meeting the egg results in blood being formed and life starting. The male element in the conception of Jesus is the Holy Spirit. Medical science also tells us that the mother’s blood does not mix with the blood of the embryo throughout the whole pregnancy. Therefore Jesus’s blood came from the Holy Spirit, the male element. His blood never interacted with His mother’s blood, so although human, He was truly God, divine, perfect and