How Lucifer loathed Eden’s pair
The origin of man
Shameless, guiltless, they wandered where
Record of Time began
In Eden’s bliss and there it is
He fixed his jealous hate
Bent to destroy the selfless joy
And spoil man’s perfect state
And ruin God, for he could not
Best Heaven’s uttermost
But was cast to the depths of hell
To dwell there with his host
Lowliest and unholiest
Darkness instead of Light
The cunning Schemer could not rest
But set his bestial sight
Upon a way to rue the day
Of I AM’s ‘Let There Be’
He knew the garden of the mind
Was prone to vanity
(Though sin had not yet entered it)
And all was good and fair
The sight of uncontested Love
Was more than hate could bear
And so this Crafter of Deceit
Took shade beneath The Tree
Laden with fruit sumptuous and sweet
But Forbidden, you see
For God put Law into effect
To guard earth’s paradise
“Eat freely of all trees”, He said
To First Man’s honest eyes
“Save one, and if you eat of it
Then you will surely die”
Aha, here satan chose to sit
To tempt them with a lie
…and so he did and they believed
And Eve first took the fruit
Then gave to Adam, both deceived
The Seed of Sin Took Root
And in that fateful bite Death’s curse
Divided and defiled
Cast from The Garden, man must work
And woman bear the child
And for man’s sin a sacrifice
Of shed blood must be met
For death alone for sin atones
For sin alone brings death
How Holy God loved Eden’s pair
The offspring of His Hand
Has fallen; now sin’s vile despair
Wreaks havoc on the land
The blood of lambs, rams, goats and bulls
Can never satisfy
The wrath of God; where animals
Must die and die and die
And God knew they could never be
The life-blood to redeem
Sin and death-cursed humanity
The prey of satan’s scheme
Where the Highest and Holiest
As eras rose and fell
Knew who would put on Lowliest
To save man’s souls from hell
Knew Who would suffer once for all
To restore Adam’s race
Back to a place before the fall
Through Mercy’s saving grace
For God so loved the world He gave
His one and only Son
To save us from hell’s fiery grave
In Eden’s grief begun
And make a way back to The Tree
Of Life; back to The King
Ah, Death where is thy victory
Ah grave, where is thy sting?
So Jesus, fully God did not
Decline Salvation’s Need
But put on flesh and humanness
Redemption’s flood to bleed
For sin, dark, wretched sin must have
A pure and perfect Lamb
Then God, so rich in Mercy gave
Himself, the Great I AM
Love left His throne, the Lord of Heaven
Bore death’s altar, a cross
He died so man may live, forgiven
For mankind’s gain, His loss
Rejected, beaten, mocked and cursed,
He stayed the cruel course
Love, always putting others first
Could not bear sin’s divorce
Faithful to death, death on a cross
He conquered once for all
The curse that spawned death’s albatross
Begun at Adam’s fall…
For death and grave could not enslave
Where God so loved the world
He sent His only Son to brave
All hell’s fury unfurled
Until with three words ‘it is finished’
Death by death became
The fulfillment of Genesis
The name whereby man can be saved
Not by some corpse’s fame
No! Jesus triumph is engraved
In Hands death could not claim
For seals of stone cannot secure
The Glory of The Lord
Where sacred groan did first endure
The gory pierce of sword
But then burst forth in Victory
And Resurrection’s hymn
Evil in its full misery
Could not Love’s Climax dim
Glad tidings of love’s greatest joy
In Bethlehem proclaimed
Drew from the form of baby boy
A Lamb for sinner’s slain
And from this bleeding sacrifice
Salvation for the soul
Where Dying fills flesh-edifice
Until faith makes us whole
And whosoever now believes
Where death’s dark fear loomed grim
Because of Love’s shed blood receives
Eternal life through Him
And this a gift, salvation’s gift
From God, so all may bring
No boast, but with utmost joy lift
All homage to the King
So, though we suffer for His will
The trouble that must be
Tis but the rite of passage till
We share His victory
Who, though equal to God did not
Cling to His Deity
But, for the love of fallen man
Died to set sinner free
Then Bow beneath love’s Holy kiss
Where Mercy’s blood-drops fell
For if we neglect Love like this
How will we escape hell?
© Janet Martin
...how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation?
