Without loyalty, there can be no true devotion worthy of worship. The story of humanity cannot be told honestly without confronting its estrangement from God. In technology, effectiveness depends on the precise application of formulas; even a slight deviation produces unintended outcomes. Precision is essential, and this very precision reflects the order embedded in God’s creation. Yet a troubling question emerges: if humanity was made with such precision, how did evil find its entrance?
Human beings are unique among all creatures in their entanglement with evil, despite being formed in the image of a God who embodies no sin. The narrative begins in the Garden of Eden, where the woman encountered something that seemed “desirable for food.” Her perception, however, was tragically misguided. Human experience teaches us that evil often arrives wrapped in elements that promise survival, while secretly mingled with what destroys it. What appeared pleasing to the eye ultimately led to disloyalty toward the Creator and the very opposite of survival.
“The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” (Genesis 3:2-6)
The woman disregarded the one source God had explicitly commanded them to avoid. She also failed to accurately replicate God’s words; His instruction said nothing about touching the fruit. Apart from having heard the word “death,” she did not fully grasp its meaning. Here lies a profound communication tragedy: when words are altered or misunderstood, genuine understanding evaporates, no matter how sincere the intent to listen.
She may have recognized God as the source of her existence. Yet why did she not challenge the tempter about the origin of his information? Did another god predate the God who created Adam and Eve? The woman remained unclear on this critical technicality. From this, we can conclude that although humanity was created in His image, God deliberately placed human will in a state of genuine moral freedom—a condition where loyalty and disloyalty both remained possible.
Being made in God’s image means humanity is designed to choose between the path of godliness and the pull of worldliness. Adam, the first human placed in the Garden, appeared unable to make that choice correctly on his own. It was after the woman, designated as his helper, arrived that he was led to eat from the tree that had first attracted her, seduced by the serpent’s cunning. By directly disobeying God’s instruction, the couple demonstrated their disloyalty. Still, they did not sever communication with Him. When confronted, they acknowledged God as the source of their existence. Adam did not openly rebel.
Before they ate the forbidden fruit, the name “Eve” did not yet exist, because the man and the woman were essentially one, though appearing as two distinct beings. Their fall plunged them into a condemned state, yet this was encompassed within God’s sovereign design—a design that required humanity ultimately to develop a character aligned with godliness, even from a place of compromised loyalty. God remains sovereign and able to transform evil into righteousness.
The serpent that persuaded them to eat represented a negative principle bent on humanity’s ruin. Symbolizing the devil, its presence in Eden served a specific purpose in God’s guidance of humanity toward true godliness. God designed everything with precision, leaving no room for error—except that He deliberately permitted confusion and deception to coexist with humanity. Thus, the first couple found themselves suspended between truth and falsehood.
We inhabit a world sustained by two opposing forces, a principle that science itself confirms. The universe operates on dichotomous laws, reflected in the positive and negative poles of an electrical circuit. When connected, these opposite currents must never merge directly; they remain in strict opposition. Electricians understand the danger of violating this principle—it results in explosive sparks.
In His infallible word, God told Adam that death would come on the day he ate from the forbidden tree. God spoke from perfect knowledge of the consequences of mixing positive and negative spiritual laws. No physical explosion occurred at the moment of Adam’s transgression, but a spiritual one did—an explosion imperceptible to the physical realm. Adam died spiritually the instant he consumed the fruit, exactly as God had warned. The couple was expelled into a spiritual wilderness, diminished to a state resembling the animal kingdom despite their divine origins.
Only God’s mercies devised a rescue plan. At that moment, the couple became physically recognized as two distinct individuals when the woman was named “Eve.” Yet fundamentally, they remained the same. Their physical existence would now be finite rather than eternal. Life became fraught with struggle, as observed even among other species. Diseases, accidents, and violence would become commonplace.
The first murder—Cain killing his brother Abel—exemplified the worldly principle seen in the animal kingdom. Abel refrained from retaliation because he did not identify with that violent nature. Hard labor now became part of humanity’s existence, guiding everyone back toward the earth from which they came. Crucially, dust is not what was created in God’s image. When God told Adam he was made from dust, He was not referring to that which bore His divine likeness.
“To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, “You must not eat from it,” cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’” (Genesis 3:17-19)
Abel’s death at the hands of his brother was the consequence of a godly man coexisting with a worldly brother, for the two are fundamentally opposed. Some interpret “by the sweat of your brow” to mean the original design, but hard work was never God’s original design for humanity. Adam had been reduced to dust—stripped of his spiritual dominion and sentenced to mortality. The physical aspect of humanity is a direct result of the death God spoke of.
Sadly, the effects of Adam’s choice in Eden would ripple through his offspring, though their characters would not necessarily mirror his own. Every child born into this world still carries a seed of godliness, yet that seed always coexists with worldliness. The power of choice remains freely granted. Women would now bear children through the same biological processes as animals, but those children would still possess a godly character coexisting with worldly attractions. Among them would be those choosing to align with godliness rather than worldliness, according to what appeals to them.
Just as Cain and Abel—brothers with opposite inclinations—dwelled together, all humanity carries similar divergent traits to this day. Yet within every human born of a woman lies a measure of hope, a hope that culminates in the eventual birth of Jesus.
“The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.’ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” (Genesis 3:21-23)
The preparation of garments from animal skin to clothe Adam and Eve paints a vivid picture of God’s mercy. Rather than condemning them utterly for the catastrophe they brought upon themselves, God chose to cover their shame, revealing that He saw potential in them despite their failure. His enduring love is unmistakable, including His decision to bar them from the tree of life. Allowing them to eat from it would have condemned them to an eternity of sin, attracting the same condemnation as Satan.
In His wisdom, God banished them from that tree—an event designed to remain until the birth of the Messiah, whose rejection would carry dire consequences. In His mercy, God also ensured that the true identity of Jesus would remain hidden from those locked in a sinful condition. Humanity can readily observe the Son of Man in Jesus, but not the Son of the living God—something profound must occur before that recognition becomes possible.
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.” (Matthew 16:13-20)
Throughout history, the broader world has recognized Jesus only as the Son of Man. Peter’s confession reveals that the disciples perceived something the rest of humanity could not. In verse 20, Jesus strictly commanded them not to disclose His identity as the Messiah. This secrecy was part of God’s merciful design, keeping Jesus’ true nature hidden. The failure of the masses to comprehend what the disciples understood was intentional.
Not everyone was meant to recognize Jesus in that way, for such recognition hinges on individual experience and the deliberate choices we make from our diverse backgrounds and God’s timing. Just as negative and positive electric currents must not touch, God prevents those dwelling in a sinful state from accessing the tree of life before they fully weigh the consequences of their actions. This principle of hidden identity extends to all generations.
As humans, we habitually see one another merely as sons and daughters of men, yet within every person lies the latent potential to be a child of God. The Son of Man was not secretive in His works—His openness ultimately led to His crucifixion. Remarkably, God permitted this, for He was pleased to allow the crucifixion of His Son, who was disguised as the Son of Man. The world’s ignorance served a divine purpose: it kept them from the tree of life until they could acknowledge Christ as the only perfect Son of the living God.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:15-18)
This was a veiled communication, directed specifically to the disciples. The world cannot receive the Spirit because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. Only those with a clear connection to God can truly understand the meaning of the gospel.
“Large crowds were travelling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: ‘If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
‘Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, “This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.”
‘Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.’” (Luke 14:25-33)
These words may not resonate with worldly minds, but they speak deeply to those who identify with godliness. Christ never intended for the multitudes to accept His Messiahship casually. The remnants of humanity, still carrying the violated loyalty from Eden, persist to this day. They should be left undisturbed until a transformative experience reshapes their hearts. This is not meant to discourage those who have received the gospel from sharing it generously, in the hope that others may come to grasp God’s mercies.
Yet ultimately, God allows those who prefer to indulge in corruption to do so, rather than compelling them to embrace Jesus without genuine faith. The disloyalty modeled by Adam cannot be tolerated after accessing the tree of life through Christ’s sacrifice, even though redemption remains an ongoing process for the rest of humanity.
“And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.” (Matthew 12:31-32)
We must understand that sharing the gospel is not like chasing likes and followers on social media. The gospel is sacredly sensitive, and embracing its terms demands careful consideration. Accepting it is a solemn commitment that requires counting the cost. The confusion so often visible within Christianity may lead worldly-minded people to dismiss the gospel as unworthy. God does not consider that dismissal unfortunate; He prefers honest rejection to blind acceptance without weighing the cost.
For worldly individuals, Jesus often does not reveal Himself as the Son of God. When He returns in the clouds with hosts of angels, the world will see Him as the Son of Man, not as the Son of the living God, who may remain unknown to many. Even in that climactic moment, there is still a grave risk for ordinary humanity to confront the Son of the living God unprepared.
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)
I recognize that this perspective may not resonate with everyone, even among believers, but these are Jesus’ own words. The one coming to take the throne of David will be identified as the Son of Man, not the Son of the living God, from the world’s viewpoint. True believers, meanwhile, have always been in communion with the Son of the living God, sharing His presence day and night. The appeal to recognize the Son of Man, as recorded in Scripture, is primarily directed at ordinary humans.
Choosing to accept Jesus as Savior is never a trivial decision; it demands the same meticulous care a technician applies to sensitive components. The children of the living God were never meant to indulge in earthly pleasures but to be about their Father’s business, just as their elder brother, Jesus Christ, modeled. It begins with recognizing the error that brought death through Adam’s sin. Understanding what it means to be a child of God involves a form of dying, for it is impossible to blend worldliness with godliness, without consequences.
Although ignorant humanity may appear content in sin despite overwhelming troubles, accepting Jesus requires a genuine miracle. The deception that fueled Adam’s disloyalty still prevails today. That is why Jesus intervenes at just the right moment to redeem a repentant people and bring them into God’s Kingdom. There is no need to mourn or lament to be accepted. Instead, true acceptance requires surrendering everything, counting the cost, and then following the steps toward godliness. After that, Christ grants the gift of the Holy Spirit.
This writing does not aim to persuade anyone to embrace Christianity. It simply presents the truth for those who seek understanding according to their own will. Jesus established the principle that worldly people should not access godliness without first counting the cost. The author will not necessarily be disappointed by those who choose not to engage with these words. The betrayal of loyalty in Eden unleashed malevolence upon the world, but God’s redemptive plan ensures that those who count the cost and surrender in renewed loyalty find restoration.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilisation, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from the current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, relieving those who have witnessed the strings of unworkable solutions, leading to the current economic and social decay. Most Zimbabweans should find the book to be a long-awaited providential oasis of hope, in a simple conversational tone.
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