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Daniel Ellis

The Sleep of Adam

This teaching is part 2 of teaching number 84, The Fall and Rise of Adam.


In the last teaching, we learned that Adam, who entered a spiritual death, reproduced himself in his generations and caused everyone who came after him to be born into sin and death. Fortunately, he was redeemed of his failures when Jesus Christ entered his seed line and rescued everyone after him. Jesus forgave his sins, saved him, and resurrected him from the dead. This is a big deal because we are of Adam, which means we are rescued with Adam and born into the new seed line of Jesus Christ by the Spirit. Our new family is now everyone in the kingdom of God.


In this teaching, I want to continue that thought and add a slightly different perception. Another description of what happened to Adam is the discernment of being asleep versus awake. After God gave Adam a commandment in Genesis 2, He put him into a deep sleep. He remained asleep until Jesus came and woke him up. This is the same idea as being dead and experiencing a resurrection. The deep sleep God put Adam into was a way to reveal the revelation of good and evil to him through the spirit.


Most never consider that when God put Adam to sleep in Genesis 2, he didn’t wake up until Jesus came. This detail is overlooked because the Bible doesn’t say it outright in Genesis 2. But when you follow the Scriptures from beginning to end, it’s witnessed that sleep is the fallen state of Adam. Adam committed his disobedience and entered into death while he was in a deep sleep. This important detail must not be overlooked in our lives today. The parallel between Adam’s life and ours cannot be overstated. Many today still sleep the sleep of Adam. (Speaking spiritually, of course.)


Adam was put to sleep.


When the Bible says that in Adam, all die, it must be considered that the death of Adam represents a plurality of things, not least the nature of sin and death. But it’s also the sleep of death, where you’re alive but dead. That’s why the example of Adam being asleep can be used as one who is still alive yet spiritually dead.


The sleep of death is to live in darkness with no light for the eyes. It knows that sin and death are present but cannot stop them because there is no understanding to discern between good and evil. This description may seem like it describes a person who is a sinner and doesn’t follow God, but it’s talking about the saints of God who are still in the sleep of Adam.


In the beginning, we see Adam’s division begin to form as he learns about the creation of heaven and earth. He learned the divisions of the earth as he was given dominion over every living thing. As he named the animals, it became clear that something in him was unfinished. He wasn’t able to have full dominion over the earth quite yet; there was more to learn. The real division needed to come from within. It began when God put Adam into a deep sleep, and a rib was taken from him to form a woman. In sleep, Adam was divided into male and female and began to learn the different parts of the soul. (It was the beginning of the five parts of the soul seen in Deuteronomy 13:6, son, wife, brother, daughter, and friend).


When Adam was put to sleep, most would assume he woke up and continued his life, but that is not the case. He did continue his life, but he continued being asleep. Sleep must be considered a spiritual trance state, different from the action we take when we nap or go to bed. To be asleep is to be in darkness, death, and unaware of what is happening, yet you are still living your life.


In sleep or a trance state, God could manifest all the good and evil things in Adam. His generations would continue in sleep, manifesting good and evil without understanding it until Jesus Christ awed him. (Remember, as a rule, when I speak of Adam, I speak of all of his generations of the earth, the same way as I speak of Jesus Christ as representing all the generations of the kingdom of God. In Adam, all are of the earth, earthly, but in Christ, all are of heaven, dwelling above the earth). (Genesis 2:21-22, 1 Corinthians 15:20-23)

Two things happened to Adam. First, he was put into a deep sleep so that he could begin to see the things that were within him. This is why dreams, visions, trances, and daydreams are so valuable to your life because they reveal the true state of the heart within you. At the same time, they can work to deceive you as a false prophet would. (Deuteronomy 13) To clearly understand what’s happening, you need the light of Christ to shine on you and tell you what is happening within you.

Secondly, in disobedience against God, he ate from the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil and immediately died. He wasn’t ready to handle good and evil yet, so death overtook him. This is representative of God’s commandment that told Adam in the day you eat, you will die. It wasn’t if you eat; it was when you eat. God knew he would. (Genesis 2:16-17)

Both of these things set the stage for the revelation of Jesus. But because Adam did not understand the revelation of good and evil, his desire, revealed in his sleep through Eve, turned to sin and manifested in his death. Adam had to endure many generations of living in the sleep of death until Jesus came to wake him.


Adam was the first sleepwalker on the earth.

As stated in the last teaching, the first Adam and the last are very different people. The first being the natural and the second being the spiritual. One reason for this difference is that the first Adam was asleep, and the last was awake. Both are needful in the story because having both reveals the true revelation of Jesus Christ. One without the other limits the revelation of who God is and why we need Him.


The Bible teaches us precisely about the life we live in Adam versus the life we live in Jesus. We do live two different lives learning to choose one over the other. The difference between the two comes down to the simple point that one is asleep and one is not. Being asleep allows the enemy to break into your house and steal from you, which happened to Adam when the serpent deceived his wife.


Sleep is important because it is a trance state, a spiritual place where you can learn about the things that work within you, both good and evil. It’s a place in the Spirit where God can show you the hidden things in the heart. Seeing these things allows you to learn what’s within you and helps you understand God’s purpose for you. This happened to Adam when he was put to sleep, and God divided him and began to reveal the weakness in him that would allow him to be deceived (through Eve) and sin against God.


There are different examples of sleeping in the Bible, but in one specific example, we see that sleep is the existence of darkness. We see this clearly when Paul says, “At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,” and then he continues to call all those who sleep to “Awaken from sleep and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” (Ephesians 5:8-14) Not only is Paul calling for Adam to awaken, but he is also calling for us to wake up.


Being asleep or awake is the difference between living in (the mind of) death and being alive in God’s Spirit. Both are equally needful to assist the other, yet we must all come to our awakened state of mind to enter Christ’s fullness.


Being asleep means you don’t understand the things of God because you are living out your fears and condemnation. In this state of mind, you hide from God because you cannot discern what evil is; therefore, you call God evil too, and when He shows up to talk to you, you hide from Him because you don’t know what to trust. (Genesis 3)


On the other hand, being awake means you understand both good and evil; therefore, you will not allow your enemy into your house to bring harm and destruction. Your discernment of evil protects you from its power to hurt you. The secret is to learn the mysteries of light and darkness; without this understanding, you cannot rule in the kingdom of God.


Today we have the opportunity to receive Jesus, be awakened by the Spirit, and learn the revelation of Jesus without the condemnation of sin. As a son of God, you can trust God and allow Him to continually reveal the revelation of evil to you without falling into the sin of it. If you remain in the sleep of Adam, you will continue to experience a life of sin and its condemning parables. The power of darkness will lord over you, and living for God will remain a struggle. But to be awakened by Christ frees us from the sleep of Adam and puts us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.


To be continued…

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