Chapter 1: Why Every Human Being Needs To Be Born Again

Let me say this clearly: Every person in the world needs to be born again. It doesn’t matter your race, background, gender, wealth, education, or religion. Whether you are black or white, rich or poor, man or woman, king or servant, educated or not, Catholic or Protestant, Pentecostal or Charismatic, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Shintoist, atheist, animist, or anyone else, if you are human, born of a woman into this world, then you must be born again.

Why am I making such a strong statement? Because I can prove it. What does “prove” mean? According to Longman’s Active Study Dictionary, to prove means to show that something is true. “Proof” is a way of confirming something as fact. It can be scientific, historical, or based on experience.

For instance, you don’t need a science lab to prove that Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of Ghana. That kind of proof is based on historical evidence. In the same way, the Bible provides strong historical and experiential evidence that shows all people need to be born again.

Some might say, “But I don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God.” Even if that’s your view, let’s look at what the Bible says, and judge the message on its own merit.

The Bible was written by about 40 different authors over more than 1,000 years, across three continents, Africa, Asia, and Europe. These writers came from many walks of life.

Some were fishermen, like Peter and John (Mark 1:16–20).

One was a medical doctor, Luke, who also wrote detailed historical records in the books of Luke and Acts (Colossians 4:14). His accuracy has been praised by historians like Sir William Ramsay.

David, Israel’s second king, wrote many Psalms, songs and prayers full of personal and national history.

Solomon, his son, was a king known for wisdom. He wrote Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, offering insights into life, justice, and purpose (Proverbs 1:1).

Moses was raised and educated in Pharaoh’s palace and trained in “all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). He recorded creation, laws, genealogies, and Israel’s early journey in the first five books of the Bible.

Ezra was a priest and skilled scribe (Ezra 7:6), who carefully documented Israel’s return from exile.

Nehemiah served as a government official and later as governor. His book provides a first-person record of Jerusalem’s rebuilding.

Daniel was a young exile trained in Babylonian scholarship and government. His writings combine prophecy, prayer, and detailed historical context.

Jeremiah came from a priestly family and recorded Israel’s final days before exile with remarkable precision (Jeremiah 1:1).

Paul, a scholar of Jewish law trained by the great teacher Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), wrote much of the New Testament, offering legal and theological clarity with spiritual depth.

When such a wide range of people, kings, priests, prophets, doctors, fishermen, lawyers, scribes, and scholars, write consistently over centuries about the same spiritual truth, we must pay attention.

Let’s now examine what this Book says:

“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” – Romans 3:23

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” – Romans 5:12

No other book explains the origin of sin and death like the Bible does. It says that sin entered the world through one man. Death came with it. Before that, there was no sin and no death. Because of that one man’s actions, all human beings now sin, and all die.

Death’s Dominion

Let’s ask: Is this true? Has death taken over the whole world?

Look around the world. Every day people die, rich or poor, male or female, leaders or labourers, educated or not. Death affects every human being. And whether a person is primitive or highly educated, we all hate death and see it as an enemy.

If you’re not sure, go to any Ghanaian town on a Friday or Saturday. You’ll find a funeral happening somewhere. Look at how the bereaved mourn. Why do the children cry when their father dies? Why does the widow weep when her husband is gone?

Now, go and tell her that death is a friend and not an enemy. She may slap you. That’s because deep inside, every human being knows death is not how it was meant to be. We were made to live, not die. But because of sin, we all face death.

People cry at funerals because they know something is wrong. Sin and death are not natural to how we were created. They came in through one man’s disobedience. That’s why everyone now dies.

So yes, death rules over all people, and the Bible was right about that.

Sin’s Power Over The World

Now let’s look at the second part. Has sin truly conquered the world?

To find out, you don’t even need to read the Bible. Just open a newspaper or listen to the news on TV or radio. You’ll hear things like:

“President assassinated”
“Airline hijacked”
“Bomb explodes on plane; all passengers killed”
“Son kills father”
“Father rapes daughter”
“Police shoot peaceful protesters”
“Armed robbery in broad daylight”
“Bank officials arrested for embezzlement”
“Ritual murder case in court”
“Headless body found”

The list goes on and on.

Everywhere you look, there is sin. Every day, we hear of people lying, stealing, killing, or hurting others. It’s clear: the Bible was right again, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

The Problem Of Sin

Even though much of the news around the world is filled with violence, corruption, and immorality, we do hear some good news from time to time. But let’s be honest, if you were to read all the newspapers in the world or listen to all the radio and TV stations, the common pattern would still be the same. Strange, painful, and shocking stories dominate the headlines, whether in rich nations full of skyscrapers or in poor countries struggling with hunger.

And as for social media? The less said, the better. Just take a step back and ask yourself: why is it like this? Why hasn’t education or technology fixed these problems?

There’s one book that gives us a direct answer: the Bible. That’s why it makes sense to read this book carefully before dismissing it. The Bible says that sin entered the world through one man, and that every human being, African or European, educated or not, has sinned.

The problem of sin is not a political problem or an economic one. The sin problem is a human nature problem. That’s why the solution cannot be found in education, technology, science, or even religion. And the solution is not in our own hands. No man or woman can solve it on their own. I will explain this more as we go along.

If sin and death rule the world, and the Bible alone shows the way out, then maybe the opening statement of this chapter, that every human must be born again, is not so hard to accept.

But before we talk about how to be born again, we first need to understand how God created human beings, how we were meant to live, what went wrong, and how sin entered the world. Only then can we understand the way out of this problem. So come with me, and let’s study this together.

Since the Bible is the only book that tells us about the origin of sin and death, it is also the only book that shows us the solution. If humans could solve the problem of sin and death on their own, we would have seen progress by now. But the truth is, as mankind advances in science and technology, the world’s moral and spiritual state is often getting worse.

This isn’t hard to understand. Have you ever seen a broken-down car repair itself? Of course not. And in the same way, a broken human cannot fix himself. Even with Artificial Intelligence, self-repair systems have to be designed by their creators. So how can man repair himself without his own Creator?

Adam – God’s Original Creation

Whether or not you believe the Bible is the Word of God, we’ve already seen that it made a statement about the condition of the world that remains true, both in the past and today. Now let’s go back to what the Bible says about how God created humanity in the beginning.

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it…”
Genesis 1:26–28, KJV

“Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands.”
Hebrews 2:7, KJV

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
Genesis 2:7, KJV

In these verses, we see something powerful: God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit made a decision together to create man in their image. The Hebrew word for “image” is selem, which means “copy” or “counterpart.” The word translated as “likeness” is demut, which refers to a resemblance, not an exact one, but a reflection of someone’s nature and purpose.

Together, these words tell us that God created human beings, male and female, not just to look like Him in a spiritual or moral sense, but to represent Him on earth. We were designed to resemble God in nature and to reflect His will in action. That is what it means to be made in His image and likeness.

Humanity As God’s Copy

We all know what a photocopy is. When you make one and compare it side by side with the original, you’ll see that all the features are present. However, you can still tell the difference between the original and the copy.

That’s exactly how God made Adam. He copied Himself and imprinted His godly nature into Adam. Of course, Adam was not God, but he was a true copy of God, just like a son may strongly resemble his father, even though he is not the father himself. The son carries the father’s likeness but remains a distinct person. In the same way, Adam was made in the image and likeness of God. All the original attributes of God were placed in him.

The Bible says:

"God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
John 4:24, KJV

Since God is Spirit, and He made Adam in His image, we understand that Adam was essentially a spirit being. This is explained clearly in Genesis 2:7

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
Genesis 2:7, KJV

This shows us that God created Adam as a three-part being, spirit, soul, and body, just as God Himself exists as a Trinity.

The body was formed from the dust.
The spirit came from God’s own breath.
The soul was the result: a living being, conscious and complete.

Each part of humans had a purpose:
The spirit was meant to relate to God (this is vertical communication).
The soul was meant to relate to other people (horizontal communication).
The body was meant to interact with the physical world.

The Physical Body And God’s Original Design

Science today confirms that the human body is made up of about 67% water, and the rest includes minerals like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, carbon, and others, elements that are also found in the earth. So, when the body eats or drinks, it’s simply taking in what it is already made of.

In God’s original plan, this process of bodily renewal, replacing nutrients through food and water, was designed to go on without aging or decay, as long as humanity remained in perfect fellowship with God. The body was built for continuous replenishment. And because the elements God created were perfect, Adam and Eve’s bodies were not supposed to age or deteriorate.

Their food was entirely plant-based. The Bible describes it this way:
"Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat... And to every beast... I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
Genesis 1:29–30, KJV

This plant-based diet provided everything, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, their body needed to live in perfect condition.

But when sin entered the world, things changed. The ground itself was cursed, and their diet was no longer what it used to be:
"Cursed is the ground for thy sake… thou shalt eat the herb of the field… In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground…"
Genesis 3:17–19, KJV

This was not God’s original plan. It was sin that brought this curse upon the earth, and in the physical body of humans. That’s why death reigns over all people today.

The Human: A Spirit With A Soul In A Body

A human being is first and foremost a spirit being. The physical body is not the real person, it is only a temporary house. The person you greet on the street is just the outer shell. The real person, the spirit man, lives inside.

The Bible calls this person:
The inward man (Romans 7:22)
The inner man (Ephesians 3:16)
The hidden man of the heart (1 Peter 3:4)
The heart (Ezekiel 36:26; Deuteronomy 6:6)

This spirit man carries the divine nature and is the true self. Humans have a soul and live in a body. The soul is where the mind, emotions, and will are found. The body houses the five physical senses, sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch.

These five senses are like servants of the soul. They gather information from the world and feed it to the brain. That’s how we learn in school, through what we see, hear, read, or touch. The brain is physical, but the mind is spiritual. The mind acts like a bridge, transmitting messages from the spirit man to the body through the five senses.

Paul said: "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind."
Ephesians 4:23, KJV

This shows us that the mind is directly connected to the spirit and the soul. It is also through these same five senses that Satan tempts us or attacks the mind. But God did not create the senses to lead us, they are not meant to be in charge. The senses are only tools that the inner man should use to live wisely.

The brain cannot function without the five senses. A person born without any of them would not be able to interact with the world in a meaningful way, even if their brain was physically healthy. This is how God created Adam and Eve. And when God looked at His creation, He said: "It was very good."

The Spirit-Led Life Of Adam

Because Adam was created as a spirit being, it was his spirit that led him, not his five senses or his emotions. His spirit was in complete control over his soul and body.

For example, if Adam were traveling from Accra to Takoradi and approaching a bridge that had been destroyed by a flood, he wouldn’t need headlights or good eyesight to know what was ahead. His spirit would simply tell him, “The bridge at mile 40 has been washed away.” Or if he were fixing an electrical appliance and there was a live wire nearby, he wouldn’t need to touch it to get a shock. His spirit would alert him: “That red cable is live.”

Why was this possible? Because God designed man’s spirit to be in direct connection with Himself. This vertical relationship with God allowed Adam to fulfill the purpose of his creation. He was designed to live in full dependence on God’s guidance.

Though his spirit was meant to lead, Adam still had a will and could choose to obey or disobey.

Three Super Gifts From God

When God made people as spirit, soul, and body, He also gave them three unique gifts:
Communication – both vertical (with God) and horizontal (with people)
Will or Choice – the ability to make decisions
Power of Dominion – authority to rule the earth

Communication And Reason

Since people were made in the image of God, it’s no surprise that only human beings can truly speak. The one who speaks is actually the spirit within the person, using the soul and body to express thought. No other living creature has this ability. Apes, monkeys, and animals can make sounds, but they cannot form words or use language meaningfully as humans do. Speech is a divine gift, one that reflects God’s own nature.

You might say, “But robots like Sophia can talk.” Yes, but remember that even such machines are created by humans, who themselves were made in the image of God. These machines can mimic speech, but they do not possess true understanding, thought, or will.

Along with speech, God gave humans the ability to understand. This is not just a brain function, it is a spiritual gift. From birth, even a baby begins to grow in comprehension. A newborn may start with babbling sounds, but before long, those sounds begin to carry meaning. A child learns to recognize faces, respond to words, and connect actions to consequences. This deep and growing understanding goes beyond simple reaction. It reveals a God-given ability to process meaning, ask questions, learn language, and respond to truth.

It is remarkable that within a few years, a child moves from making random sounds to forming full sentences, expressing emotion, asking questions, and engaging in learning. This ability to grow from babbling to understanding, from hearing a word to knowing what it means and how to use it, cannot be explained by biology alone. It is the breath of God at work in the human spirit. Language, when used with understanding, becomes a gateway to thinking, relationships, and knowledge.

No animal has this same depth of comprehension. Animals may learn patterns, but they do not build language or understanding in the way a human child does. This ability to learn, reason, and understand meaning is evidence of the spirit-man inside us, designed by God to reflect His wisdom and grow in knowledge.

The Will

The second gift is will, the ability to choose. Animals live by instinct, not morality. But humans can make moral decisions. This ability is part of what makes us different. Our sense of right and wrong is tied to our will. Only humans have a moral compass and are held accountable for their choices.

Dominion

The third super gift is the power of dominion. In Genesis 1:26, God said:
"Let them have dominion over all the earth…”

To have dominion means to rule, manage, and take ownership, to be in charge. God made Adam and Eve the rulers and caretakers of the earth. He told them to subdue it, to use its resources, like gold, iron, timber, and other elements, to serve human needs.

This ability to create and invent is unique to mankind. No animal, even the most intelligent, has ever invented anything, not even a simple tool like a toy. But man has developed machines, cities, medicines, and technology. Even in his fallen state, man reflects the creative power of God.

And yet, in the confusion caused by sin, some people prefer to trace human origins to animals rather than to their Creator.

Creation Obeys Its Boundaries

There is something beautiful and consistent in the creation story. God set boundaries for all He made. And every created thing has kept to its purpose since the beginning.

The sun, moon, and stars were created to give light and to mark days, seasons, and years (Genesis 1:14–18). For thousands of years, they have remained on this course. Why don’t they do something else? Because they cannot, not unless God instructs them. One day, they will do something different. The Bible says:
"The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood…"
Joel 2:31, NIV

The same goes for animals. In Genesis 1:20–25, God commanded every living creature to reproduce after its kind. And they have obeyed this design ever since. Monkeys reproduce monkeys. Fish produce fish. They don’t invent. They don’t create. They live according to the purpose God gave them.

Humanity’s Higher Calling.

When God made people, He told them to reproduce after their kind. Since they were made in God’s image, their kind was meant to fill the world with God-like people.

Malachi 2:15 says that God was seeking “godly offspring.” Alongside that, God gave people dominion, to rule the earth as His representative.

So, of all creation, only man was given the ability to:

• talk

• understand

• choose right from wrong

• and create

A Note on Psalm 8 and Hebrews 2
Before we move on to what went wrong in this beautiful design, let’s reflect on a verse that adds to this picture.

Hebrews 2:7 says: "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour and didst set him over the works of thy hands."
Hebrews 2:7, KJV

This is a direct quote from Psalm 8:4–6. But in the original Hebrew, the word translated “angels” is Elohim, which is a name for God Himself.

So the verse could also be read:
"You made him [Adam] a little lower than God, and crowned him with glory and honour..."

This may seem like a contradiction, but it’s not. It is actually a complementary truth.

Genesis tells us that Adam was made as a copy of God, a counterpart. Psalm 8 tells us he was made a little lower than God. Both are saying the same thing in different ways: man was created in the highest position of all God’s earthly creation, just below God Himself.

A Copy of God, But a Little Lower

God made Adam a copy of Himself, but a little lower than Himself. Let me explain.

God is Spirit, and He possesses what we call the omni-qualities:
Omnipotence – He is all-powerful
Omniscience – He is all-knowing
Omnipresence – He is present everywhere at once

God’s plan was to place Adam and his descendants in charge of planet Earth. But Adam’s physical body introduced a limitation. While the spirit-man Adam fully reflected God’s nature, his human body made him subject to space and time. He could only be in one place at a time. This is why Adam is said to have been made “a little lower than God.” He was still in God’s image, but not equal in capacity.

Adam needed to depend completely on God to carry out his divine assignment. As we will see shortly, this is the very area where Adam failed. But when Jesus came, the second Adam, He was made with the same spiritual design. Yet unlike the first Adam, Jesus fully surrendered His will to the Father and lived in perfect dependence. As a result, He succeeded in fulfilling the mission God gave Him.

Hebrews 2:7 says God crowned Adam with glory and honour. The Greek word for “glory” is doxa, which means what God is, what God has, and what God does. This confirms Genesis 1:26, where we’re told God made man in His image. God did not hold back anything from Adam. He was what God made him to be.

Adam was love, light, and spirit, just like God. He had what God had: faith, will, responsibility, and the freedom to choose. He was able to do what God wanted done. When the second Adam came, Jesus, He lived exactly like this, but without failure. Where the first Adam failed to fully submit, the second Adam did, and He succeeded.

Why are we taking time to explain all of this? Because it is important to lay a strong foundation before dealing with later truths. And more importantly, every person must understand their true nature, how God created them, and what they were made for, so they can discover God’s purpose for their life.

So far we learned that:
God created Adam and Eve in His image, as copies of Himself
He crowned them with glory and honour
He gave them the ability to communicate (with God and with others)
He gave them free will, moral responsibility and choice
He gave them the ability to create using what He had already made

In other words, humans were placed in God’s class of being. He was made to be like God in nature and in purpose. Because God is Spirit, humans also had to be a spirit being in order to receive God's nature. If humanity were only physical or mental, he could not connect with God. He had to be spiritual, created to live forever in communion with God.

Man was not just a servant, he was designed to be God’s companion and associate. God gave Adam and Eve the ability to fill the earth with His glory, that is, with people like themselves, godly and Spirit-led. But sadly, this divine plan was interrupted.

Instead of a world filled with God-like people, we have a world today that is broken and far from what God intended. It is a world under the weight of sorrow, sin, and death.

The beautiful cities we admire today are only faint shadows of the glory God had in mind. The impressive technological advances we celebrate are still like drops in the ocean compared to what was possible in a world governed by God’s Spirit.

Even our political systems, capitalism, socialism, democracy, have all fallen short. None of them have brought true peace or justice. Why? Because sin, selfishness, pride, and cruelty have taken over the world that Adam was meant to rule in righteousness.

Is there hope? Yes, there is. And it is captured in just two words: born again.

If Adam’s descendants will become born again and grow into the likeness of Christ, the world will become a different place. Not because systems change, but because hearts change.

The failure of human systems is no secret. Many of them start with good intentions, but they often end in selfishness, oppression, or exploitation.

This shouldn’t surprise us. Fallen man is naturally selfish. But that was not how God originally made him. This corrupt nature was inherited during the fall. It came from separation from God, and, ultimately, from the influence of Satan.

So, the solution to the world’s problems does not lie in economic reform or better political structures. The solution is spiritual. Man’s nature, not just his systems, must change.

Man must once again receive God’s nature. And this is what being born again is all about.

The Fall Of The Human Race

Why should the whole world be born again? Because SIN and DEATH have overtaken the human race. The master architect of SIN and DEATH is Satan. You may be wondering, who exactly is Satan?

Satan was originally called Lucifer. He was an angel of God, created by God. Christian tradition, drawing from Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14, describes Lucifer as an exalted being, full of beauty, wisdom, and possibly associated with worship and music in heaven (Ezekiel 28:13, KJV).

He held a privileged position and was referred to as the “morning star,” a title that in another context is used by Jesus Himself in Revelation 22:16. While the phrase is the same, the context and meaning are entirely different, Lucifer’s “morning star” refers to his exalted position before his fall, whereas Jesus’ “morning star” reflects His divine glory and eternal kingship.

Because of Lucifer’s exalted position, pride and self-exaltation crept into his heart. He imagined that it would be possible to overthrow God. So, he led the first rebellion in the universe, persuading one-third of the angels to join him in his coup against heaven. He failed, and was cast out of heaven in judgment (Isaiah 14:12–15; Ezekiel 28:12–17).

When God created the beautiful planet Earth for Adam and his descendants, Satan was already in active rebellion, now God’s enemy and arch-rival. Satan knew that Adam had been created with a will, the power to choose. Just as pride had caused his own fall, Satan understood that if he could influence Adam and Eve to rebel against God, they too would be separated from God’s presence. If he could succeed in transferring his own rebellious nature to Adam, then he would gain control over the whole human race, and, with it, the earth.

To accomplish this, Satan devised a strategic plan. As a spirit being, he sought to influence Eve, a fellow spirit being, not through physical force, but by inserting subtle suggestions and thoughts into her thinking. His method was to influence the spiritual faculties of her mind, planting doubts and false ideas until she exercised her will in disobedience. Once she fell, Satan knew she could persuade Adam to do the same.

Let’s examine how Satan carried this out. He approached Eve and said, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Genesis 3:1). Here, Satan cleverly introduced doubt about God’s Word. He twisted the command that God had given to suggest that God was withholding something good from them.

But earlier in Genesis 2:9, 16–17, we read:
“And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil... And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (KJV).

Eve responded, but she began to slightly distort God’s instruction, saying they were not even to “touch” the tree. This shows the beginning of uncertainty and mental vulnerability. Satan took full advantage and assured her,

“Ye shall not surely die.” With that bold lie, he directly contradicted God’s warning and added a seductive twist: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”
Genesis 3:4–5

This was the turning point. Satan attacked God’s character, suggesting He was withholding something powerful and divine from them. Eve believed the lie, and in that moment, sin entered her heart. She ate the fruit and gave it to Adam, who also ate. With that act of rebellion, the nature of man changed, God’s Spirit departed, and a sinful nature was born in its place.

Now, why didn’t Satan persuade Eve to eat from the Tree of Life, which could have strengthened their immortality, but instead planted thoughts in her mind to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which would lead to death? The answer is simple: Satan majors in the negative, while God majors in the positive. God had already given them permission to eat from every tree, including the Tree of Life (positive), but Satan turned their attention to the one tree that was off-limits (negative).

This is how Satan works. He sows seeds of negativity and rebellion. So, whenever a negative thought arises in your mind, be alert, it may be Satan's suggestion. While some thoughts come from our own memory or experiences, others are spiritual in origin. God inspires what is good, true, and life-giving. Satan influences what is deceptive, prideful, or destructive. Discernment is key.

In Eve’s case, Satan began by planting a seed of doubt. Then he quickly followed up with a direct lie:
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil”
Genesis 3:4–5, KJV

Jesus later described Satan as a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44). Lying is his native language. Satan knew full well that Eve would die if she ate from the forbidden tree, but that was exactly what he was aiming for. He also knew that Adam and Eve were already made in the image of God. As God's image-bearers, they had been given many divine-like attributes: love, light, reason, choice, responsibility, and the capacity for relationship. They were godlike, but not gods.

What was the only thing God withheld? The omni-qualities: Omnipotence (all power), Omniscience (all knowledge), and Omnipresence (present everywhere). These qualities belong to God alone. But Satan, in his cunning, implied that God had cheated them, that there was more they deserved, and that God was holding it back. He stirred in Eve a longing for independence, control, and wisdom on her own terms.

Through this spiritual influence, this inner persuasion, Satan began to transfer his own rebellious nature into Eve: pride and self-exaltation. And tragically, it worked.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat”
Genesis 3:6, KJV

Eve was deceived, but Adam disobeyed knowingly. And with that single act of rebellion, sin entered the human race. God’s Spirit departed from them, and their inner nature was changed. They had received a foreign spirit, one that stood in opposition to God. They were still spirit, soul and body but fallen beings.

The Consequences Of The Fall

The moment Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, something drastic happened, not just on the outside, but deep within them. Immediately, the Spirit of God, which gave them communion with the Divine, departed from their inner being. What remained was a soulish and bodily man, alive physically, but spiritually dead. This is what God meant when He said,
“...in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17, KJV). The death that took place was not physical at first, but spiritual.

They didn’t fall down dead the moment they ate the fruit, but they became separated from the life of God. They were like a lightbulb unplugged, still visible, still existing, but no longer connected to the source of power. Their spirit became darkened, and now the soul and body, led by the five senses, took over. Man became a self-governed being, independent of God, no longer led by his spirit, but by his own reasoning, cravings, and desires.

This condition was passed down to every child born from Adam’s lineage. Every human being inherits a spirit that is disconnected from God, a nature alienated from the Creator. This is what the Bible means when it says:
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so, death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” Romans 5:12, KJV

This is the tragedy of the Fall. Through Adam’s disobedience, we all became spiritually dead, separated from the life of God, prone to sin, and under the power of death. This is why every human being, no matter how educated, religious, noble, or moral, needs to be born again.

Self-Exaltation And The Reversal Of God’s Order

“What is self-exaltation?” you may ask. Self-exaltation is lifting oneself beyond the role or limits set by God. You see, even though God made man like Himself, man was not equal to God. It is God who makes the rules. It is He who determines what is good and what is evil. The choice between good and evil was not for man to make. That is precisely what God instructed Adam not to do.

Adam and his race were meant to walk in the knowledge of good alone. But Satan deceived them into overstepping their boundaries. Since the Fall, man has continually reversed God's standards, calling evil good and good evil. The tragedy is that evil always leads to death.

This is why, today, many justify and normalize behaviors that God has defined as sinful, such as sexual immorality, violence, and spiritual rebellion. Man’s inability to accept God’s judgment and perfect will began with Adam and has since led humanity to create countless man-made systems of reaching God, systems we now call religion. Instead of surrendering to God’s path, The Way, man continues to devise alternatives. This misalignment is at the heart of humanity’s confusion. From this perspective, the moral redefinitions of today, whether in cultural, sexual, or spiritual matters, are part of the same ancient deception. And Satan remains behind it.

You will notice that in Eve’s temptation, all five senses were engaged. First, she heard Satan and then engaged him in conversation instead of rejecting his words. When Satan throws an evil thought into your mind, you must rebuke it immediately, just as Jesus did when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness (Luke 4:1–13). Once you begin to entertain it, as Eve did, you’ve already begun the descent.

Then she saw the fruit and was emotionally stirred, for the Bible says she desired it. She took it in her hand, tasted it, and perhaps even smelled it. But before her body acted, her will had already surrendered. The moment her will gave in, the message traveled from her soul to her body, and her body merely obeyed.

As we have already seen, God made man spirit, soul, and body. He was designed to be led by his spirit, which would control the soul, which in turn would instruct the body. But Satan reversed this divine order: man became body-led, then soul-driven, and finally, spirit-suppressed. From that moment, God’s design for man was disrupted. The devil had executed his revenge.

Now, with man’s spirit dethroned, God could no longer lead him as originally intended. Human beings became dependent on their soul and five senses to navigate life. The servant, man’s senses, became the master.

The Root Of Sin

What, then, is SIN? It is the refusal of God’s right to rule. It is a declaration of independence from the Creator. And this rebellious condition affects most of the world. Scripture makes it plain: by one man’s sin, death entered the world and passed upon all men (Romans 5:12). But here's the good news: the new birth, being born again, is the reversal of this fallen state. It restores the divine order: spirit, soul, and body.

Those who are born again are no longer led by their senses but by their spirit. As Paul said,
“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). This is the original design restored.

Remember: sin is not just doing bad things. It is resisting God’s control. Many people are religious, very religious, but few surrender their will fully to God. Most people live by what they can see, touch, hear, taste, or feel. “Seeing is believing,” the world says. But Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).

Sin is rebellion. Sin is saying, “God, I’ve got this. I don’t need You.” But God did not create man with a sinful nature. He made man in His image. It was Adam’s decision, his choice, to follow Satan that opened the door to sin. Satan transferred his corrupted nature to Adam, and Adam passed it on to every child after him.

That is why you don’t need to teach a child how to lie or disobey, it comes naturally. But you do need to teach a child what is good. The Adamic nature is inherited, and it is why every human being, no matter their nationality, ethnicity, or background, must be born again.

No religion can grant you the new birth. The new birth is in Christ, and Christ alone.

What a bold claim! It may sound fanatical. I agree, it is bold. But don’t put this book down just yet. Come with me to the next chapter for a pleasant discovery. Walk with me and make the discovery yourself.

Summary

This chapter explains why every human being needs to be born again. It begins by showing that sin and death affect all people, regardless of race, background, education, religion, wealth, or social position. The chapter uses the Bible to explain that sin entered the world through Adam, and that death came as a result of sin. Since every human being is affected by sin and death, every human being needs God’s solution.

The chapter also explains how God originally created man. Man was made in the image and likeness of God, as a spirit being with a soul living in a body. His spirit was designed to relate to God, his soul to relate to people, and his body to interact with the physical world. God gave man the ability to communicate, make moral choices, and exercise dominion over the earth. Adam was created to live in fellowship with God, to be led by his spirit, and to rule the earth under God’s authority.

The chapter then shows how sin entered the human race through the fall of Adam and Eve. Satan deceived Eve by questioning God’s Word and suggesting that God was withholding something good from them. Eve believed the lie, and Adam also disobeyed God. Through this act of rebellion, man became separated from God. The spirit of man was no longer in its rightful place, and the soul and body began to rule instead.

Finally, the chapter explains that sin is more than wrong behaviour. Sin is the refusal of God’s right of rule. It is man choosing independence from the Creator. This fallen nature has been passed down to all people through Adam, which is why no religion, education, political system, or human effort can solve the problem of sin. The only true solution is the new birth in Christ. To be born again is to have God’s original order restored, so that the spirit, soul, and body can once again function under the leadership of God.