Back to the Garden

They say history is cyclical.

If so, we must be nearing the end of a cycle.

The first drama from the Book of Genesis featured a hero (God) a villain (Satan) and the human objects of their attentions, Adam and Eve.

The only sin in the Garden was eating fruit from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Notice the temptation. It was knowledge of both good and evil. Hidden information. The promise of the snake was too alluring. Man could become like God.

You know the rest of the story. Both of God’s prototypical people ate the fruit, spiritually died and then physically perished

In the process, they were also cast away from God’s presence.

Fast forward some six thousand years.

Today, we see the story preparing to play itself out for a second time.

The prophet John in the Book of the Revelation warned people not to take the "Mark of the Beast," in their right hand or forehead. It would produce eternal damnation.

Yet, this week, two stories, incredibly prove we are heading toward a literal fulfillment of that prediction and the inevitable, irrevocable choice that must be made by every man, woman, boy and girl on the face of the earth.

Would you take a computer chip that could promise you access to all known information in the universe and, in effect, become like a "little god?"

Or will you resist the temptation and become a fool in the eyes of this world with an IQ comparable to a turnip?

According to a British professor who appeared on the Art Bell radio show, this week, that precise choice awaits mankind within the next 20 years. He has volunteered to become the first willing laboratory rat in this grotesque experiment. Within the next month he plans to allow doctors to implant a computer chip directly into his central nervous system.

Once signed onto the Internet, the professor will observe whether his thoughts and emotions can be controlled by a computer from across the Atlantic Ocean.

This is not some weird science fiction script. It is happening in our time.

Another story from the ABC News Internet website verified that a Florida-based high tech company has done the predicted flip-flop and decided to go ahead with plans to begin implanting computer chips under the skin of willing subjects. The chips would be used for tracking purposes but they could ultimately be upgraded to allow "advancements" including medical monitoring and electronic commerce.

And what is commerce?

Buying and selling.

The Bible further predicted that in the last days before the return of Christ no man would be able to buy or sell without that "mark."

Let’s take things to the obvious, logical conclusion. One day in the not-too-distant future, a world leader will offer every human being access to the wisdom of the ages and a financial system not subject to tax evasion, theft or human error.

It’s all wrapped up in the chip.

That leader is the False Prophet…a human representative of Satan on earth. Every Adam and Eve alive will have to make a choice of their own…to remain faithful to the God of their Fathers, or to fall away eternally from His grace and willingly leave the Garden for a second time.

As Satan’s rebellion and ultimate destruction prove…

You can be "like God" or you can be "with God."

You can’t do both.

Those who prefer to follow in Satan’s tortured footsteps and be "like God" will find themselves ruling over a kingdom of darkness, consumed forever by their self-seeking rebellion.

Those who prefer to walk the "narrow path" allowing Jesus to carry them home into His kingdom of light will be shielded eternally from the darkness and any further knowledge of evil by the radiant Love of God.

And so…history repeats itself. Alpha and Omega. Beginning and ending...in perfect harmony.

What amazes me is the strength of man’s rebellion…that when confronted with the clarity and reality of the eternal choice, anyone would follow, for a second time, the path leading to his certain destruction.

This is not blindness. It is madness. And I, for one, refuse to participate.

So help me, God… (a prayer)

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