1 JOHN AND THE STORY OF THE GARDEN OF EDEN

John speaks of antichrists as serpents that seek to tempt us and turn us away from God's life and out of the garden.
 

1Joh 2:18  Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

The reason he addresses little children so much is that little children are serpent bait. He said the young men are they who know the word and overcome the wicked one. that implies the younger set of little children are not quote overcomers yet.  But John is teaching them that they may overcome.  If they believe Jesus is the Son of God, and the only Adam of God's new creation they will stick to this Adam and never fail him.  They will overcome the world.  The world's temptations will not dissuade them.  John said he wrote these things to little children that they sin not -- that they remain in the Garden.
 

1Joh 2:19  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would [no doubt] have continued with us: but [they went out], that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

He said many were here in the Garden, but they left the Garden.  They did not belong here.

But John said the little children are different.
 

1Joh 2:20  But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

You have the fruit of life in you.  You have unction in you.  Unction means ANOINTING in the Greek.  It is smeared on material, or UNGUENT or OINTMENT.
 

1Joh 2:21-22  I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

John reiterates the need for us all to see that there is no hope for us to leave the old humanity and enter the new and remain in the new unless we are convinced that Jesus is the Son of God.  He is the Head of the new creation.  If we think there is another way to God outside Jesus Christ, we are deceived.  And we will be destroyed with the rest of the world that passes away.  These antichrists are sons of the serpent, as much as we are sons of God.  The serpent has multiplied by having children also.
 

John 8:44  Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

There is the kingdom of the devil acquired through the serpent multiplying his "seed".

To the serpent, God said:
 

Gene 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

The devil has a seed.  It is not a literal sexual act the devil committed with Eve as some erring people believe, but it is the lies of Satan that people believe -- the seed of his word.  The woman believed the serpents word and therefore the seed of the serpent impregnated her.  It is a spiritual seed of evil, and not a literal male seed. (Oh, how we must not commit the error of the Serpent-Seed people who followed William Branham in this carnalized view of Genesis).

There are Christians and antichrists.  Christians are anointed ones, because Christ means Anointed one.  Antichrists are against that anointing, and that is why John said the little children have an unction, or anointing, while the antichrists have been revealed and made manifest to not be of us, nor of the same anointing.

The world is antichrist.  John said all that is in the world is not of the Father.  That which is begotten of the Father is Christ and Christians.

When we receive the Spirit of God in the form of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we as it were receive the fruit of Life into our beings.  That is the anointing. The oil that anointed the kings typifies the Holy Ghost life of God.  We HAVE that anointing.  We HAVE that unction.  It is in us.
 

1Joh 2:22  Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

The serpent lied to the woman and said God was wrong and she would not die if she ate the fruit.  And the serpent's seed lies like he does.  He is the father of lies.  The serpent is antichrist and all who are of him are antichrists.
 

1Joh 2:23  Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [(but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also].

We must acknowledge Jesus Christ is the Son of God -- the Last Adam.  There was not another like Him since Adam, and Adam fell from his position.  And there will be no other like Him again in the sense of being Head of the only creation God will sustain for eternity.
 

1Joh 2:24-26  Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, [even] eternal life. These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

Remain in the fellowship with the Father and with the Son by keeping that old commandment from the beginning.  This passage is another confirmation that the section we have just discussed deals with the first commandment and the one given to Adam.  In this section so far, from 1 John 2:15 to verse 24, we have seen parallel words of those in reference to the woman and the forbidden fruit, and those of the inference in the fruit of Life and its "anointing."  And John sums it up by telling us to keep that commandment, that old one, which you heard from the beginning.
 

1Joh 2:25  And this is the promise that he hath promised us, [even] eternal life.

This first commandment to not eat of the forbidden tree lest we die and to eat the fruit of life is again confirmed by John's reference to eternal life.  If we keep his commandment we will not die, but we will have the opposite of death: eternal life.
 

1Joh 2:26  These [things] have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

John warned us of serpents as did Paul.  The serpent beguiled Eve, or seduced her.
 

2Cor 11:3  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

1Joh 2:27-28  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Jesus said he is the vine and we are the branches (John 15).  He is the Head of the new creation.  All are born of His Spirit and emanate from Him.  The family tree goes back to Him.  We are the multiplication of Him.  We are His branches.  Stick to the Last Adam and remain as children of God.  The anointing is "in" us.  We have eaten the fruit of life.  Abide in Him means to REMAIN IN HIM.  Stay connected to Him.  Dwell in Him through reliance upon Him.  Abiding in Him means ever remaining in and living a life of conscious obedience to His Word and truth.

The anointing is the LIFE or SPIRIT that flows from the VINE into the BRANCHES.  We are born of the Spirit of God and abide in Christ because He is our Head.  He is the Last Adam.  All those born of God have that anointing IN them.

Adam would have provided Cain and Abel with the fruit of Life had Adam not fallen.  Christ today is our means of receiving eternal life.  Christ GIVES eternal life to us.

Speaking to His Father, fellowshipping with Him in the Garden Jesus said:
 

John 10:28  And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.

John 17:2  As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.

Jesus gave the fruit of Life to all who are born again.  And we must remain in this state.  Continue to receive Life from Jesus.
 

In the Lord's Prayer we read these words:
 

Matt 6:9-11  After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as [it is] in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread.

We are seeing a Garden scenario again here.  Our FATHER is in the Kingdom of Heaven.  We are here to do His will of bringing the things of the Kingdom into the earth.  We are created to fill the earth with glory.  And we therefore require to daily partake of the fruit of life, or the daily bread.
 

John 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

If it is "bread of Life", then we are to recognize it as identical to the inference in the "fruit of life".

We can only do the will of God if we continue to refuse the fruit and bread of death, and eat the daily bread of the fruit of life.  We must abide in Him, because He is our bread of Life.
 

1Joh 2:28  And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

When He returns, we must be in the state of abiding in Him and relying upon Him and His salvation.  We must not have been removed from that Garden of fellowship with Him and the Father.  We must refuse every lie from an antichrist serpent and be convinced He is the Last Adam.  He is the only Christ.  Outside His salvation there is not eternal life for He heads up the only new creation God will preserve into eternity.  His Kingdom alone will remain.
 

Hebr 12:27-28  And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

From this point on down through chapter Three of the epistle, John mentions the children of the devil and the children of the Lord.  This correlates with the two seeds mentioned in Genesis 3.
 

1Joh 3:9-10  Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.

We know this refers to willfully sinning and not making the mistake of sinning because John already told the little children in chapter 2:1 that we are not to sin, but if we sin we have an advocate with the Father.  In other words children of God may sin erringly.  But John said the nature of the world is to purposely sin.  To will to sin.
 

The second commandment of Jesus, which is part of the old one concerns loving our brother, and seems to be the topic of discussion from 1 John 2:29 onward.  Therefore the first part was discussed from 1 John 2:15 through to 1John 2:28.

John speaks of doing righteously.  And he involves our brothers.
 

1Joh 3:10-15  In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, [who] was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not [his] brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

Here John distinctly connects us with Genesis.  He mentions Cain.  We are in Cain's position, had Cain been born in the garden under an Adam that had not sinned.  Jesus is Adam's counterpart, and we are Adam's children, or Cain's and Abel's counterpart.  And we must not sin as Cain did.
 

1Joh 3:24  And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Christ's spirit is a spirit of love.  Christ laid down his life for others.
 

1Joh 3:15-16  Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.

We know the love of others is the love of God because he laid down his life for others.  That is love of the brethren.  This is His Spirit.
 

1Joh 4:1  Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

John reverts to warning us about serpents again.  They are liars.  They are found out by their spirit.
 

1Joh 4:2-5  Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that [spirit] of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

The antichrists are of the world.  They indulge in the things of the world.  What did John say were the things of the world?  What do these antichrists speak of?
 

1Joh 2:16  For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

And This is parallel to the things of the fruit of death in Eden (Gen 3:6).  Here is how we can tell who is of God and who is not.  What do they speak about?  Who likes to hear them speak?  If they speak of these three things, the world likes to hear them.  All of them are of the world.  Their spirit is of the world.  They do not resist these things in the world, but indulge in the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  Only true children of God who believe Jesus is Son of God will resist these things, because God told us that if we eat of these things we will die.

Notice that those who were multiplied from Adam were not alive when God gave the commandment to Adam.
 

Gene 2:17-18  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the LORD God said, [It is] not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

His wife was not made yet.  So when she told the serpent these words, she must have received them from Adam.

Now, Adam was the Anointed one and the King under God over the earth.  So the woman had to trust his word and thereby accept his authority that she was not to eat of the forbidden fruit.  Likewise, Jesus is the Son of God.  And those who do not accept that will not receive His words concerning the sin of indulging the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.  And this is how we recognize the children of darkness.  This is how we know the spirit of antichrist.  The spirit of antichrist is the spirit which speaks about and indulges into the things of the world.  The only ones who like the hear them speak of such things are those of the world.

When we confess Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, we are confessing that that man was indeed the Last Adam and the Lord from Heaven, and what He said against the world is true.
 

1Joh 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

This is how we know the serpents.  This is how we will remain in fellowship with the Son and the Father in the Garden of the Kingdom of His dear Son.

Keeping Eden's story in mind throughout this epistle is certainly shedding insight to John's message.  It all dovetails together.

Jesus likewise warned us about the discerning the good fruit from the evil fruit.
 

Matt 7:15-20  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither [can] a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

The evil ones have eaten of the evil fruit and indulge in all that is in the world.  They relish in the three areas of the world which the woman saw in the fruit of evil.  their fruit is speech about the world.  By their fruit you know them.  By their lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes and their pride of life you know them.
 

1Joh 4:7-9  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

If we love God we will love our brethren.  Pride of life, however, causes us to envy and to be above our brethren.  The world hates.  But the children of God have the nature to love.  So they fulfill both commandments to love God and love people as themselves.
 

1Joh 4:12-13  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

1Joh 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

We know that we are of God if we have the Spirit that urges us to love all people.  If we lack that love, then we must recognize through these words that we are not born of God.  Perhaps we were saved, but have eaten of the evil fruit.
 

1Joh 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

God told Adam to subdue the earth.  Adam was son of God.
 

1Joh 5:4-5  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Adam failed and Jesus is now Son of God.  He will not fail either.  He is the last ADAM.  And we overcome and subdue the world and its lusts and pride because we believe Jesus is the only Adam and the head of New Creation and thus obey His words.  We have God's life in us, and that Spirit causes us to love one another.  We will do what God ordained Adam to do but failed to do.  We will multiply and fill the earth and give glory to God throughout all the world.
 

1Joh 5:5-6  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

The water and blood flowed from His side on the cross and from that material the church was made, as the woman was made from Adam's inward bodily material.  And we are of Christ.  And born of God.  We are of his bone and flesh.  And those born of God will subdue the world and overcome it.

The fact that John mentions He that came by water and blood, pointing to Christ's death and the flowing of water and blood from his side, connects us very clearly to Genesis and Adam's wife made from materials from his side.

John mentions the witness of water blood and Spirit.  This is said in conjunction with the thought that we are born of God.  This thought is picked up by Paul, as follows:
 

Roma 8:16-17  The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with [him], that we may be also glorified together.

Paul and John both refer to our births as children of God when they mention the witness of the Spirit.

How does the Spirit bear witness with our spirits that we are the children of God? Easy.  The love of God for others and the desire to do good for them is the Spirit of God.  And if we possess that same love in a real and genuine manner, then it is that SPIRIT that bears witness that we are indeed born of God and able to overcome the world.
 

1Joh 5:11-13  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

Jesus is in the Garden of the kingdom and Heads up the new humanity.  We receive eternal life from Him.  He is our Adam.  We died to the old Adam and were born of God and are now in Christ.
 

1Cor 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

All in Adam are in the world -- and they speak of the things of the world:  the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.  That betrays their hearts.  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  Their hearts are worldly.  Our hearts must be godly.

All these scriptures come alive and make so much more sense when we consider the story of Adam and the Garden of Eden while reading 1 John.
 

John finishes his letter by speaking of a very important subject which has to do with our brothers in the Garden of the Kingdom, and the temptation of the serpent to eat the evil fruit.

He prepares us for it with these words.
 

1Joh 5:14-15  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.

If we pray for something that is His will to be done, then we can say we have the prayer answered, even though it take time to manifest as answered.  So long as it is His will for that thing to be done, when we pray for it to be done we know and can have confidence that it will be done.  With that in mind, John stops, and this beloved disciples shares a heartfelt burden which is evidence that he was right when He said he fellowshipped with God.  John was born of God!  He shows us how much love he has for the brethren in the next few lines.  He builds us up concerning praying for the will of God to be done.  he explains how we have our prayers as good as answered when he then says:
 

1Joh 5:16-17  If any man see his brother sin a sin [which is] not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.

If your brother sins a sin not unto death, you must ask God in prayer for that prayer to be delivered.  He just said if we pray anything that is God's will that God will hear us.  We have that kind of confidence.  And then he asks us to ask God about a brother who is in sin, but not unto death.

What does it mean to commit a sin that is not unto death?

Simply recall God's words to Adam.
 

Gene 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

When the serpent was lying to the woman, she had not yet eaten of the fruit and died.  But she was already sinning since she doubted God's word.  She already believed the devil.  Eating the fruit was only the outcome of her sin.

So John is saying that if a brother has not stood on the words of this epistle and has not resisted them that seduce him, and is still being lied to and is doubting God, he can be rescued.  If he still has not eaten the fruit of death and sinned unto death, he can be saved.  Ask for him, and it will be as good as giving him life -- fruit of life -- that he be saved and remain in the Garden of the Fellowship of God's Kingdom.
 

1Joh 5:18-21  We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. [And] we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.

Keep yourselves from idols.  Keep the Garden.  Stay out of the world and in the Garden Kingdom.  This battle still rages and there is seed against seed.  The war has been won, and the territory is simply being claimed by God's Kingdom now, and possessed.  Recall that God gave the land of Canaan to Israel, but they had to go in and possess it.  Jesus Christ conquered all on the cross.  Now we go and possess the world.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and the Father and the KINGDOM is alive and well.
 

Reve 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become [the kingdoms] of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

He will fill the earth with that Kingdom.  We must stick with Him who never failed and reign with Him.