We Are All Daughters Of Eve

                                                                                                                                        - "Forbidden Fruit" by Akiane Kramarik

"One morning I woke up earlier than usual and right away I decided to paint, but I could not find any canvas in my studio. My family was still asleep, so quietly, still in my pajamas, I searched my art closets and found one small canvas that I'd worked on a few years ago, but later gessoed it in black. 

After my prayer, I began painting a young woman's portrait next to a branch of fruit.

Suddenly, I felt God say,

"Blend all the races, because this is Eve, the mother of all mankind."

Akiane, now a teenager, with her Master and Masterpiece, Jesus, "The Prince of Peace."

Right then  and there I understood the meaning: 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is full of forbidden fruit : red for the knowledge of evil, green for the knowledge of good. It was created to be tempting, fragrant, and easy to be picked. Although the fruit resembles grapes, it is not.

At first, Eve thinks that she will gain wisdom by biting into the fruit of knowledge but unexpectedly finds the deception as the red blood of suffering drips from the the green fruit. The knowledge of good and evil is simply too much to understand and experience for a human, and now Eve is looking up to God for forgiveness and help..." -- Akiane Kramarik, child prodigy, artist and poet on her masterpiece, "FORBIDDEN FRUIT." 

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Fresh from my hangover of watching 'Heaven is For Real', I just had to Google this amazing young lady, Akiane Kramarik, who claimed to have seen Jesus with his very kind"sapphire eyes" that were just so full of LOVE. Hers was the portrait that the young Colton Burpo deemed as depictive of the Jesus Christ he himself had seen in heaven. All the pictures that his pastor father, Todd, showed him on Jesus just didn't look like Him, except for Akiane's "The Prince of Peace" portrait. That was spot on! 

Greg Kinnear playing Pastor Todd Burpo, with Connor Corum playing his son, Colton
in the true-to-life story-made-into-a-film -- 'Heaven is For Real'

I checked out Akiane's Gallery to view the Jesus portrait, as well as her other creations, and I found myself blown away with this girl's God-given talent. WOW!!! Simply amazing!!!! My jaw was agape the whole time that I was browsing through her creations.  To borrow Oprah's line, "You obviously are gifted!" 

Oprah told her, "You obviously are gifted!"

Though all her masterpieces were breathtaking (She painted the "Prince of Peace", the above painting, at age 8! I am still into stick figures at age 38!!!), the "Forbidden Fruit" painting "called out" to me.  When I read her recollection on how and why she painted Eve, I felt God telling me to write about it, and so here I am writing about Eve.

Akiane says, God told her to: "Blend all the races, because this is Eve, the mother of all mankind." If you look closely at her painting, her depiction of Eve looked Asian/Caucasian/Middle Eastern, etc... One cannot just categorize her into one race. She is a mixture of all races. Eve is, after all, the mother of all mankind.

Let's do a quick recollection of what happened in Genesis.

Genesis 2:15-25

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, 

“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

18 The Lord God said, 

“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[g] and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib[h] he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

Akiane's masterpiece at 15 years old -  "The First"

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

    and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called ‘woman,’

    for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

25 Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

* * * * * * * * *

In the Genesis story, we see that:

1) God gave Adam the full authority and responsibility to:

a. work in the Garden and 

b. take care of it.

2) God gave Adam very clear and specific instructions to NOT eat of the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil or else he would experience certain death (particularly spiritual death and separation/independence from God).

3) God gave Adam authority over and responsibility to name all the animals. (What a chore!)

'The Power of Prayer' by Akiane at age 10

'The Hourglass' by Akiane also at age 10

 And finding no suitable helper from among the hundreds of animals...

4) God made Adam sleep, took a rib from him and made a woman from that rib, and then brought her to him.

5) Woman means "bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh... taken out of man."

6) This was the FIRST MARRIAGE -- "Adam and his wife" -- the ideal marriage. "This is the reason a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become ONE FLESH." (Though Adam and Eve obviously, of course, did not have earthly parents. :)

7) God's Design for Marriage is between Man and Woman, and the two shall become ONE.

           8) Man and Woman were naked but they felt no shame. They were both in their birthday suits!

                                                                          * * * * * * *

So, we now know that Adam was IN CHARGE of the Garden. 

We also know that it was his duty to protect the Garden and everything that was in it, including his new helper -- his wife, Eve.

 The series of events that led to the Fall of Man could be credited to the devil's cunningness and Adam's inability to protect and lead his wife. (At this time, she still didn't have a name, just "Woman"). The Fall of Man could also be credited to the Woman's selfish desire to move independently of her husband who was tasked to be her protector and head.

What happened?

Let's continue with the Bible verses...

GENESIS 3:3-13

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6 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. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

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So we now know that:

The serpent/devil went straight to the Woman. It did not go to Adam but to his wife, with whom it spewed out questions and statements of  deceptions and lies, which the Woman, by nature of her vulnerability, easily lapped up.

Question number 1: (A Trick Question/Deceiving Question)

 “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Eve answered it correctly though when she said,

“We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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.’”

Statement number 1: (A Flat-Out Lie!!!)

4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

And how did the Woman respond?

She was tempted by the promise of eye-opening knowledge, that would make her like God because the fruit of the tree was:

a. good for food 

b. pleasing to the eye, and 

c. desirable for gaining wisdom...

So... she bit into the forbidden fruit. 
She bit into satan's bait! 
And she was not content biting into it alone; she involved her husband as well!

Now, I do not know where Adam was the whole time, but I am assuming he was not present while the whole conversation with the serpent was going on. However, when his wife offered him a bite, without questioning her or her wrong decision, he bit into it too! Yikes.

Knowing what we know that:

1) Adam was in charge of the Garden -- to work in it and to protect it.

2) He was the one given instructions by God Himself regarding that forbidden tree.

3) Woman was made from his own rib to be his helper, and he had the responsibility to tell her about God's Rules, and yet...

4) He followed Woman and defied God...

'Tomorrow' by Akiane at age 17

They were both in deep trouble.

They were disobedient! :(

They had ALL the fruits their tummies could eat, and yet they still chose to eat of that one fruit that was NOT ALLOWED, and so, by way of Command Responsibility, God asked Adam first (even if it was the Woman who sinned first) --

...the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

And when Adam gave God the "we're naked" reason, God knew that they had disobeyed His Commandment! Adam quickly put the blame on the Woman:

12 “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Footsteps of Eternity by Akiane at age 13

Only then did the Lord God address the Woman:

 13 “What is this you have done?”

The Woman's answer?

“The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

We do not hear of God asking the serpent why it did what it did, because it was the devil's nature to lie just as Jesus Christ said in the New Testament: 

"Spiritual Flow" by Akiane at age 16

John 8:44
44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

The murder Jesus was referring to was the murder of Abel in the hands of Cain -- Adam and Eve's first children. Their sin of disobedience and pride gave birth to other sins. But that's getting ahead of the story and just an aside...

* * * * * *

After the Woman gave her excuse on why she ate of the fruit, the Holy and Almighty God proceeded with His Curses/Punishments for all involved:

1) THE SERPENT'S CURSE

Genesis 3:14-15

14 “Because you have done this,

“Cursed are you above all livestock

and all wild animals!

You will crawl on your belly

and you will eat dust

all the days of your life.15 

And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

2) THE WOMAN'S CURSE

'Separation' by Akiane at age 11

Genesis 3:16

“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;

with painful labor you will give birth to children.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

3) ADAM'S CURSE 

"Divine Knowledge" by Akiane at age 11

Genesis 3:17-19

17 “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.  18 

It will produce thorns and thistles for you,

and you will eat the plants of the field.  19 

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.”

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We are all still living under these curses. :(

Men/Husbands have to:

1) Work/Toil in order to live or make a living

(because he listened to his wife (!) and ate the fruit he was commanded by God not to eat!)

Women/Wives have:

1) Pain in labor/childbirth

2) A desire to control their husbands but the husbands will still rule over them.

(because she did not follow her husband and went out of his protection/leadership -- it was implied that Adam told the Woman about the Forbidden Fruit being the "manager" of the whole Garden)

But we do not have to live under the curse, my sisters in Christ!

With Jesus, there is no condemnation! :)

Akiane's most famous Masterpiece, 'The Prince of Peace' - age 8

John 8:44

So that now, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, Jesus, 

who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

Biblical Submission frees us from the Curse.

Jesus submitted fully to the Father all the way to His Death on the Cross.

We are called to follow His Example and submit ourselves fully too to the Will of the Father. We were not designed to live independently of God, but because our First Parents disobeyed God, we all were born spiritually dead. 

But, we don't have to live like zombies or the walking dead!

When we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior 

(Him Who died for us in our place, in order that we may have eternal life), we become spiritually alive again!

"I AM" by Akiane at age 17

Galatians 2:20 

 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

When we submit to God fully and die to ourselves, paradoxically, we become fully alive!

Col 3:3

For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

                                                                   

                                                                 * * * * * * * * * * * *

CURSES can turn into BLESSINGS, once we accept with all humility that without God, we are NOTHING -- but with Christ, we can do all things! (Phil 4:13)

TURNING CURSES INTO BLESSINGS:

1) Man's Curse: 

'The Right Turn' by Akiane at age 17

CURSE:  toiling the land or working hard in order to support oneself/one's family 

BLESSING: a sense of fulfillment as PROVIDER/PROTECTOR.

1 Timothy 5:8 

But those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.

2) Woman's Curse: 

'Mother's Love' - a painting of Mama Mary with the Child Jesus,
by Akiane at age 11

CURSE: pain in labor and childbirth 

BLESSING: a sense of fulfillment as NURTURER.

1 Timothy 2:15

Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

3) Man and Woman's or

Husband and Wife's Curse:

'The Code' by Akiane at age 16

The curse of the power struggle or the quest for control is abated once we accept Jesus and follow His Commandments to us (husbands and) wives.

CURSE: Woman wants to domineer Man. 

But the curse can be 'broken' if both (Man and )Woman follow Jesus' Commandments!

TO THE MAN/HUSBAND:

1 Peter 3:7

...you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

TO THE WOMAN/WIFE:

Ephesians 5:22-24

22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

'Love is Never Alone' by Akiane at age 13

I believe this is the only 'CURSE' that has no fulfillment in and of itself, unless we go against our accursed natures, let go of the desire to CONTROL our husbands, acquiesce to their headship, and let God's Rules rule in our homes. 

It was God's Design all along -- that Woman be the helper/supporter/helpmeet of Man, and that Man would be the provider/protector/leader of Woman. Man was really designed to "rule" over his wife -- not as a tyrant (!) but as a selfless servant-leader who treasures God's gift to him, the one created to be his helpmeet... his wife.

Man should never dominate or force a Woman into submission. He should be as Christ was to His Church -- loving and willing to die for his beloved. Only then could a marriage reflect the true mystery of a covenantal marriage. 

Once the wife accepts joyfully her God-given roles as supporter, helper, nurturer and encourager AND submits to her husband, the BLESSING is a peaceful, joyful and godly marriage (and family life). 

This is NOT an Akiane painting. Haha!
The Alejars - January 2014

In ending....

Genesis 3:20-21 

20 Adam named his wife Eve,  because she would become the mother of all the living.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

We are all DAUGHTERS OF EVE.

Though our First Mother fell into sin, we need not stay in Sin. 

All we need to do is to follow the New Adam -- Jesus Christ.

'Father, Forgive Them' by Akiane at age 9

Romans 5:17-18

17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.

And just as the Lord God covered our First Parents in their humiliating nakedness with garments of skin, so too shall our Loving Father also cover us in this valley of tears, with His Son's Most Precious Blood. With Jesus, there is no condemnation. With Jesus, there is only love and acceptance.

Accept Jesus' Call today!

'Dreams' by Akiane at age 10

You, my dear sister, are not just the daughter of Eve... 

You are the daughter of a King --
The King of Kings!!! :)

2 Corinthians 6:18

18 

“And I will be a father to you,

And you shall be (sons and) daughters to Me,”

Says the Lord Almighty.

Akiane at age 12, painting 'Inspiration'.
I hope all her paintings here inspired you, as they have inspired me. :)

  May we all be richly blessed! :)