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3:2 Beloved, we know that we are children of God to begin with, which means that there can be no future surprises; his manifest likeness is already mirrored in us. Our sameness cannot be compromised or contradicted; our gaze will confirm exactly who he is - and who we are. (See Philippians 2:15 Your flawless innocence radiates life’s contrast as beacons of light in the midst of a people who have forgotten their true sonship and whose lives have become distorted and perverse. [In this verse Paul quotes Deuteronomy 32:5 from the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew text, with reference to Deuteronomy 32:4,5 &18. In context, God’s perfect workmanship as Father of mankind is forgotten; people have become “crooked and perverse” twisted and distorted out of their true pattern of sonship. Deuteronomy 32:18 says, you have forgotten the Rock that begat you and have gotten out of step with the God who danced with you. Hebrew, חוּל khul, also means to dance, as in Jdg. 21:21.])

3:2 Возлюбленные! мы теперь дети Божии; но еще не открылось, что́ будем. Знаем только, что, когда откроется, будем подобны Ему, потому что увидим Его как Он есть.

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3:3 And every individual in whom this expectation echoes, also determines to realize their own flawless innocence mirrored in him, whose image they bear. (The word echo, to hold, to echo, to resonate. John discovered the same “in him” unveiling that Paul walked in. See John 14:20, "In that day you will know that we are in seamless union with one another. I am in my Father, you are in me and I am in you." Also 1 John 5:20 This is what has become distinctly clear to us: the coming of the Son of God is God’s mission accomplished. He is the incarnate Christ. The moment all of Scripture pointed to has arrived. The Son is present. In him God has given us the greatest gift, a mind whereby we may know him who is true; and in the same knowing, to find ourselves there in him who is true. Mankind is fully included and located in him, in his Son Jesus Christ; this means that whatever Jesus is as son, we are. This is the true God; this is the life of the ages. 1 John 5:21 This defeats every image of our imagination that could possibly compete with the authentic likeness of our design. Darling children, distance  yourselves from every substitute image, which is what idolatry is all about.  Col. 2:9,10.)

3:3 И всякий, имеющий сию надежду на Него, очищает себя так, как Он чист.

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3:4 1Distorted behavior is the result of a warped self-image. A 1lost sense of identity is the basis of all sin. (The word sin, is the word 1hamartia, from ha, negative or without and meros, portion or form, thus to be without your allotted portion or without form, pointing to a disorientated, distorted, bankrupt identity; the word meros, derives from morphe, as in 2 Corinthians 3:18 the word metamorphe, with form, which is the opposite of hamartia - without form. Sin is to live out of context with the blueprint of one’s design; to behave out of tune with God’s original harmony. It is to be out of step with our true sonship. See Deuteronomy 32:18. Sin is not something we do or don't do, it is missing out on sonship. Hear the father pleading with the other "lost" brother in Luke 15, "My son, you've always been with me and all that I have is yours." See 1 John 3:9. The root of sin is to believe a lie about yourself, which is the fruit of the ‘I am-not Tree’. This was also the essence of Israel’s unbelief that kept them trapped in a grasshopper-mindset for 40 years. The word often translated, lawlessness, 2anomia, from a, without, and onoma, name - thus without a name, anonymous. In my opinion there exists an etymological link between the words onoma and anomos.)

3:4 И всякий, имеющий сию надежду на Него, очищает себя так, как Он чист.

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3:5 We have witnessed with our own eyes how, in the unveiling of the prophetic word, when he was lifted up upon the cross as the Lamb of God, he 1lifted up our sins and disengaged its dominion and rule over us. (John 1:29  “Behold, the Lamb of God, who 1takes away [airo] the sin of the world. The word 1airo means to lift up.)

3:5 И вы знаете, что Он явился для того, чтобы взять грехи наши, и что в Нем нет греха.

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3:6 To 1abide in him in uniterupted seamless oneness, is to live free from sin. Whoever continues in sin has obviously not perceived how free they are in him; they clearly do not really know him. (The word, 1meno suggests an uninterrupted abiding; a seamless oneness.) 

3:6 Всякий, пребывающий в Нем, не согрешает; всякий согрешающий не видел Его и не познал Его.

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3:7 Little children, do not be led astray by any other opinion; his righteousness mirrors our righteousness and is the source of our actions.

3:7 Дети! да не обольщает вас никто. Кто делает правду, тот праведен, подобно как Он праведен.

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3:8 Sin’s source is a 1fallen mindset, from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed. His mission was to undo the works of the Devil. (The word, diabolos, from dia, because of and ballo, to cast down.)

3:8 Кто делает грех, тот от диавола, потому что сначала диавол согрешил. Для сего‐то и явился Сын Божий, чтобы разрушить дела диавола.

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3:9 To discover one’s authentic sonship in God, is to discover true freedom from sin. We are born of him and his seed remains in us; this is the only possible reference to sober up the mind from the intoxicating influence of deception. (The incorruptible seed of our Father carries the exact pattern of the authentic life of our design. Jesus calls the Devil, the father of lies. 

John 8:31 Jesus then said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, John 8:32  and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:36  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. John 8:44  You are of your father the Devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks from his own distorted opinion; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 

His intention was to kill mankind’s awareness of their god-identity. 

John 8:56  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; he saw it and was glad.” John 8:57  The Jews then said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” John 8:58  Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Two chapters later Jesus addresses the same audience again: John 10:30  I and the Father are one.” John 10:31  The Jews took up stones again to stone him. John 10:32  Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of these do you stone me?” John 10:33  The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we stone you but for blasphemy; because you, being a man, make yourself God.” John 10:34  Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’? John 10:35  If he called them gods to whom the word of God came [and Scripture cannot be broken], John 10:36  do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 

Here Jesus quotes from Psa 82:6  I say, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you. What does it mean to build your house upon the rock? “Son of man, I say you are Rock; you’re a chip of the old block - the son of man is the son of God.” Dig deep - Gaze deeply, intently into the mirror likeness of the face of your birth. Luke 6:48; James 1:18,23-25; Isaiah 51:1; Deuteronomy 32:18 Living your life from who you are in Christ [Grace] beats living your life from who you are in Adam [law of works] by far. Plus it is storm-proof.)

3:9 Всякий, рожденный от Бога, не делает греха, потому что семя Его пребывает в нем; и он не может грешить, потому что рожден от Бога.

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3:10 There is a very visible and vast difference between living one’s live from your God identity, or from a fallen mindset; the 1diabolos-fruit has nothing in common with 2righteousness; neither does it know anything about brotherly love. (The children of the Devil; here translated the 1diabolos-fruit; the typical fruit that the fallen mindset bears. Righteousness, 2diakaiosune, from dike, two parties finding likeness in each other.)

3:10 Дети Божии и дети диавола узнаю́тся так: всякий, не делающий правды, не есть от Бога, равно и не любящий брата своего.

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3:11 Our love for one another was the topic of conversation from the start. God had nothing less in mind than a loving family.

3:11 Ибо таково благовествование, которое вы слышали от начала, чтобы мы любили друг друга,

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3:12 Cain’s 1killing of his brother Abel, is in such contrast to this. His motivation was clearly 2sourced in the 3poneros tree-system; his idea of Divine 4favor was to count on his own works as being superior to his brother’s faith righteousness.  (Immediately after the fall, [Gen 3:20] Adam named the woman Elohim gave him, Eve, [in Hebrew חוּה Chawah, Life. In the LXX Septuagint in Greek, Zoe.] He thus co-echoes and reinforces the prophetic word that Elohim gave him: Life in the face of death. “The seed of the woman, shall crush the deceiver’s head.” The fallen mindset shall be destroyed. So here, in their two sons, we have the first generation of fallen mankind confronted with their personal pursuit of a lost identity and a lost sense of value and favor. Cain’s motivation was clearly sourced [2ek, out of, origin]  in the diabolos [cast down], which is so typical of the 3poneros tree-system. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil [poneros] represents mankind’s lost sense of identity and righteousness, where the global pursuit of mankind would now be their constant effort to achieve righteousness by means of their own works. This inevitably leads to disappointment where shame replaces innocence, and union and fellowship are lost. The word evil, poneros, suggests being full of hardships, labors and annoyances. Gen 3:19;  “In the sweat of your face shall you eat your bread.” The sacrifice of Cain is exactly that. It represents his trust in the fruit of his own toil to gain him a 4favorable [charin] standing with God.

We have the prophetic picture of a scapegoat repeated here in Genesis 4. Not only in the sacrifice that Abel brought; but also in him being murdered by his brother. Just like we would one day murder our brother Jesus. In Genesis 3, Elohim did not clothe Adam with the skin of an animal because of a divine need to be appeased, but because of their unconditional love for Adam; they spoke the language of Adam’s own judgment: Adam, not Elohim, was embarrassed about his nakedness. The clothing was not to make Elohim look at Adam differently, but to make Adam feel better about himself. And ultimately it was to prepare Adam for the unveiling of the mystery of mankind’s redemption in the incarnation. Here Deity would clothe themselves in human skin in a Son, and the Lion of Judah would become the Lamb of God in order to free our minds to re discover his image and likeness in our skin. Revelation 5:5,6.

Only John uses the word, 1sphatzo, which speaks of a slaying. Four times in the book of Revelation he employs this word in the context of the slain Lamb of God. 

See also Hebrews 11:4, “It was faith that made the difference between the sacrifices of Abel and Cain and confirmed Abel’s righteousness. God bore witness to righteousness as a gift rather than a reward. Even though he was murdered, his faith still has a voice today.”  

Philo a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher says, that in the dispute between Cain and Abel, Abel attributed all things to God, and Cain ascribed everything to himself; so that the controversy was about grace and works. [Philo lived c. 25 BCE – c. 50 CE] 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents a fallen identity; the thought that likeness with God could be earned through good intentions, rather than realizing the gift of life that already defines his image and likeness in us.)

Thoughts on, “Why the other tree and why the temptation in the Garden?”

I think the picture that we are presented with in the garden of Sabbath abundance, and of the 2 trees and the temptation, present us inevitably with the full scope of our design. We are not robots who are to simply respond to our Maker in remote control fashion. 

To give ultimate context to the setting of paradise beauty, we were presented with the opportunity to consciously and spontaneously fellowship with our invisible Maker and to explore the dynamics of our own being there; and from that place of knowing that we are known we would reflect what we discover in fellowship union and intimacy in Elohim and in one another. We were designed to explore the limitless dimensions of our being as referenced in our Source. 

The temptation was to follow the suggestion of an alternative idea that maybe we are not perfect by design; maybe, we thought, even Elohim knew that we are not really what they had in mind, and would therefore feel threatened by our knowledge of good and evil; maybe that is the reason they didn’t want us to eat of the fruit of the “other” tree, we reasoned. 

The alternative tree gives us the opportunity to engage an alternative system, whereby we have to now prove to ourselves, and to one another, as well as to our own ideas of deity (religion) that we can manage and possibly master our own being and destiny, independent of our Source. 

The quest to prove my I-am-ness would now become my constant drive; instead of finding and celebrating me in fellowship with my Maker and my fellow human being, and also in my harmonious coexistence with paradise nature, I have to now strive for it in the fruit of my own efforts to become something I already am by design, perfect and esteemed. 

And so, we have exchanged Elohim’s perfect approval of us, based on their perfect knowledge of us, for our imperfect knowledge of ourselves and of one another, proved by the inevitable evidence in our disappointment with ourselves and with one another.

The “I am not-tree-system” would continually be reinforced by feelings of shame, guilt, inferiority and competing, which sadly brings with it every shade of hostility and frustration and the corruption that our history and societies have borne such horrid witness to.

The law expresses and confirms the existence of these systems and their dominance in societies and philosophies for many centuries.

The love of God, the Engineer of our being, demonstrated in the unveiling of our inclusion in the death, descent into hell, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, reveals that we are rescued from the lies that we have believed about ourselves, about our Maker and about one another. We are presented with a brand-new beginning. The old things have passed away. Behold, everything has become new. 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.

See also 1 Peter 1:18,19 It is clear to see that you were ransomed from the futile, fallen mindset that you inherited from your fathers, not by the currency of your own labor, represented by the fluctuating values of gold and silver, and the economy of your religious efforts; but you were redeemed with the priceless blood of Christ; he is the ultimate sacrifice; spotless and without blemish. He completes the prophetic picture. [In him God speaks the most radical scapegoat language of the law of judgment and brings final closure to a dead and redundant system. In Psalm 40:6,7, it is clearly stated that God does not require sacrifices or offerings. Jesus is the Lamb of God. He collides victoriously with the futile sacrificial system whereby offerings are constantly made to the pseudo, moody, monster gods of our imagination. This is the scandal of the cross. God does not demand a sacrifice that would change the way he thinks about mankind; he provides the sacrifice of himself in Christ in order to forever eradicate sin-consciousness from our minds and radically change the way we think about our Maker, one another and ourselves. [Sin-consciousness is in essence a works-based consciousness.]

Now immediately engage your thoughts with the reality of your co-seatedness in Christ in the highest dominion of life and discover the bliss of your redeemed innocence and your eternal oneness. Colossians 3:1-4)

3:12 не так, как Каин, который был от лукавого и убил брата своего. А за что убил его? За то, что дела его были злы, а дела брата его праведны.

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3:13 It is no wonder then, that the performance-based religious systems of this world loathe you and detest what you stand for. A works-based society finds its leverage in both boasting and condemnation. (See Romans 3:27.)

3:13 Не дивитесь, братия мои, если мир ненавидит вас.

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3:14 It is clear that we have relocated from a system of dead works into the dynamic of authentic life in the way we love the family. Love is life; not to love is death. 

3:14 Мы знаем, что мы перешли из смерти в жизнь, потому что любим братьев; не любящий брата пребывает в смерти.

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3:15  To hate a brother, is to murder human life; the life of the ages does not echo any resonance in a murderer. It is only in the constant, seamless resonance of life that agape is realized. (Agapao, from agoo, to lead, and pao, to rest.)

3:15 Всякий, ненавидящий брата своего, есть человекоубийца; а вы знаете, что никакой человекоубийца не имеет жизни вечной, в нем пребывающей.

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3:16 Love is known in its other-centeredness; just as Jesus laid down his life for us to free his love within us for others.

3:16 Любовь познали мы в том, что Он положил за нас душу Свою: и мы должны полагать души свои за братьев.

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3:17  The indwelling love of God compels one to live sensitively aware of people around us, and not to exclude those in need.

3:17 А кто имеет достаток в мире, но, видя брата своего в нужде, затворяет от него сердце свое, — как пребывает в том любовь Божия?

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3:18 My darling children, lets not deceive ourselves by paying lip service to love while we can truly live the dynamic of love in our practical daily doing.

3:18 Дети мои! станем любить не словом или языком, но делом и истиною.

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3:19 In this we know that our beingness is sourced in that which is really true about us; our doing good is not phoney or make-belief; this is who we are in God’s sight.

3:19 И вот по чему узнаём, что мы от истины, и успокаиваем пред Ним сердца наши;

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3:20 So, even if our own hearts would 1accuse us of not really being true to ourselves, God is greater than our hearts and he has the full picture. His knowledge of us is not compromised. (This word, 1kataginosko is only used three times in the NT, translated, to blame, or condemn. From kata, down and ginosko, to know; thus to know from below; from a fallen mindset perspective. See also Colossians 3:9.)

3:20 ибо если сердце наше осуждает нас, то кольми паче Бог, потому что Бог больше сердца нашего и знает всё.

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3:21 Beloved when we know what God knows to be true about us, then instead of condemning us, our hearts will endorse our innocence and 1free our conversation before God. (The word  1parresia, from para, a Preposition indicating close proximity, and rheo, to pour forth; to flow freely, suggesting an unreservedness in speech; bold utterance.)

3:21 Возлюбленные! если сердце наше не осуждает нас, то мы имеем дерзновение к Богу,

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3:22 Now, instead of begging God, we 1speak with confident liberty as sons. We also 2treasure the 3conclusion of his prophetic purpose [in redeeming our sonship] and 4fully accommodate ourselves to his desires and pleasure. Knowing the warmth in his 5eyes inspire 6poetic freedom in our every expression. (The word 1aiteo, to ask with great liberty and humble confidence; knowing both the desire as well as the ability of the Father to grant us our requests. The word 2tereo, means to attend to carefully; take care of; to guard; to treasure something with great affection; 3entole is often translated commandment or precept; this word has two components: en, in and telos, from tello, to set out for a definite point or goal; properly the point aimed at as a limit, that is, by implication, the conclusion of an act or state, the result; the ultimate or prophetic purpose. Strong’s 5056. The word 4arestos from aresko, means to please; to accommodate one’s self to the opinions desires and interests of others. The words 5enopion autou, means in his sight; face to face. The English word poetry derives from 6poiema, to make or do.) 

3:22 и, чего ни попросим, получим от Него, потому что соблюдаем заповеди Его и делаем благоугодное пред Ним.

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3:23 And this is the ultimate conclusion of his intention and desire [entole] that we 1would be fully persuaded concerning the name of Jesus Christ who has successfully accomplished his mission as the Son of God to rescue mankind’s authentic sonship. Our love for one another completes his joy. (The word 1pisteusomen is an Aorist Passive in the Subjunctive mode, expressing the hypothetical, expected result of the completed action; from pisteuo, to believe.) 

3:23 А заповедь Его та, чтобы мы веровали во имя Сына Его Иисуса Христа и любили друг друга, как Он заповедал нам.

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3:24 Everyone who treasures this final conclusion of God’s dream, abides unhindered in seamless oneness in him and he in them. His gift of the Spirit is to endorse our awareness of his abiding within us. (See John 14:20  "In that day you will know that we are in seamless union with one another. I am in my Father, you are in me and I am in you." Also 1 John 4:13.)

3:24 И кто сохраняет заповеди Его, тот пребывает в Нем, и Он в том. А что Он пребывает в нас, узнаём по духу, который Он дал нам.

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