Going back to the book of Genesis, we discover that Adam followed Eve's example and lead. He responded to satan's temptation by partaking of the forbidden fruit, with the result that he sold out the whole of the as yet unborn race to satan. By this act Adam not only proved guilty of unbelief, disobedience and pride, but before God he was guilty of crass folly also. Greedily reaching out after and stealing the promise of certainty of knowledge, this man revealed that he was either too ignorant to distinguish the difference between wisdom and knowledge, or else that he deemed knowledge to be greater than wisdom; as may be expected the result was that he became an absolute fool.
At that time Adam was the head of all creation, the wise man of the earth who God had placed over all other creatures, but in order to gain forbidden knowledge he forsook his wisdom and deliberately chose to disobey God. Whatever vain thoughts or fond imaginings went through his mind then, all were folly, for by his act he revealed his willingness, if not his eagerness, to abandon all wisdom for the attainment of knowledge, and in doing so became vain. The trespass he committed was not just an act whereby he temporarily reversed the order of wisdom and knowledge, making knowledge to be first and wisdom second; he rejected wisdom altogether.
What Adam really did was to declare that, by increasing his knowledge in forbidden spheres, man becomes wiser, which is an absolute lie. By His act Adam deliberately rejected the truth and denied the fact that man's wisdom is revealed only by obedience to God in order to grow in knowledge of his Creator and Lord. Adam's wisdom was to know God, and by refusing to acknowledge what real wisdom is, he ceased to know God.. Worse than that, he set in motion the foolish train of human ideas upon which Paul later makes certain comments, such as 'the world by wisdom knew not God', 'God hath made foolish the wisdom of this world'. By these, and many other like sentences, all designed to set forth the wickedness of Adam's act and its consequences, the apostle showed that all 'the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God', for all is derived from carnal knowledge.
The deadliness of this original act of dethronement of true wisdom lay in its predestinating power to bring man to total degeneracy — instanced for us historically by Moses when he reveals the prevailing condition of all flesh just preceding the flood. But so great was the effect of Adam's sin that it outlasted the flood, persisting in Noah's family, and despite God's grace, causing all spirit(ual) manifestation which followed thereafter to be evil of origin. By the first man's sin, knowledge became nothing but natural intimate knowledge of evil, operating solely upon human levels unto soulish ends.
Just as inevitably all the other powers mentioned or unmentioned in this list of gifts also fell; without exception they all became carnal effusions, which, although they at first sight or hearing or feeling may seem right and good and beneficial, are in reality evil both in beginning and ending. Mankind, having become fallen, sinful and evil in nature, powers and works, had no hope apart from intervention by God; there was no possibility of him retrieving his lost estate or regaining his original position. This God undertook to do by sending His Son to restore the situation by the cross.
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G.W. North (1913 - 2003)
G. W. North was born in London England in 1913. As a young man he became aware that the Lord was calling him into the work of the ministry. At timely stages the Lord placed folk in his path who were able to direct him into the truth of heart purity and a more expansive understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He held pastorates in Kent and Bradford. By the late 1960s, following a significant period of ministry in Liverpool, he began a more itinerant ministry. This led him to many parts of the world, and occupied him until well into his eighties. His powerful preaching and the unique sense of the Lord's presence, which seemed to brood over his meetings, were always intensely challenging.The true secret of his remarkable ministry stemmed from his personal communion with the Lord Jesus. To him, 'entering the holiest' was not merely a theological concept; it was a distinct spiritual reality - and the central feature of his spiritual life. It was here, in the place of worship, that his revelatory ministry found its source. He preached from understanding and conviction. He was never the echo of another, nor did he take on board the ebb and flow of various contemporary emphases. He was not a man of 'books'; he soaked himself in Scripture and allowed it to saturate his heart and mind. Truly, this is a man who has lifted up a standard for the people. Mr North went to be with the Lord on 29th April 2003, shortly after his ninetieth birthday.