A Watchman's Warning for the End Times

The True Story Behind Every Human Crisis and God's Final Solution

I am a nobody.

My name is Craig Rogers. I'm nobody special—just a Christian husband, father, and grandfather who loves Jesus Christ and His Kingdom above all else. I have no influence, no following, no platform, and no earthly power to spread any message. But sometimes God chooses the nobodies of this world to deliver the most important truths, and I believe He has shown me something that could change the course of America and awaken the church before it's too late.

As an investigative reporter doing a deep dive on "Christian Nationalism," I uncovered something far more profound than political movements or social trends. I discovered that the story of the Garden of Eden—that simple children's tale most Christians learned in Sunday school and never revisited—actually contains the master key to understanding every single human problem, crisis, war, and disaster throughout all of history. More importantly, it reveals the solution to our current desperate situation as we stand on the precipice of World War III, societal collapse, and the fulfillment of biblical prophecy.

What I'm about to share isn't based on biblical scholarship, commentary, or human wisdom. This comes directly from the pages of Scripture itself—the inerrant Word of God that reveals Jesus Christ and His plan of redemption. After 6,000 years of human history, we now have enough evidence and experience to finally understand what really happened in Eden and why it matters more today than ever before.

The end times are upon us. Jesus is coming back to gather His Bride, the Great Tribulation and Jacob's trouble are approaching rapidly, and everything prophesied by our Lord in the Garden of Eden is about to be fulfilled. Time is running out.

The Real Story of Eden

Most Christians think the Garden of Eden is about a talking snake, an apple, and the first sin that separated humanity from God. But that's like looking at the tip of an iceberg and thinking you've seen the whole thing. The story of Eden reveals the fundamental spiritual architecture underlying all human existence—the cosmic battle between two kingdoms, two forms of governance, and two trees that represent mutually exclusive ways of living.

Let me show you what the Hebrew text actually reveals.

The tree that Satan deceived Adam and Eve into eating from was called (etz hada'at tov v'ra)—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The word (da'at) comes from (yada), which doesn't just mean intellectual knowledge but experiential knowledge, intimate knowledge, the kind of knowing that comes from personal experience.

When the serpent tempted Eve in Genesis 3:4-5, he said: "Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that when ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Notice what Satan promised: autonomous divine-like authority and judgment. He was offering them the ability to govern themselves, to make their own moral decisions independent of God.

And here's the crucial point that most people miss: God confirmed that Satan's promise was partially true. In Genesis 3:22, God said: "Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." They did gain the capacity for independent moral judgment. They did become "like gods" in their ability to determine right and wrong for themselves.

But Satan lied about the consequences. This independence didn't lead to life—it led to death, exactly as God had warned.

The Two Trees, Two Kingdoms

Scripture makes it absolutely clear that humanity cannot eat from both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These represent two completely incompatible systems of existence:

The Tree of Life represents divine governance—living under God's grace through Jesus Christ, receiving everything we need as a gift from our heavenly Father, operating with the Mind of Christ, and allowing God to supply every need through His perfect love and provision.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents self-governance—living independently from God, trusting in our own ability to determine right and wrong, providing for ourselves through our own strength and wisdom, and establishing our own righteousness apart from God's grace.

When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, they weren't just breaking a rule—they were choosing an entirely different form of government. They were rejecting God's gracious provision and perfect governance in favor of autonomous self-rule. They were trading dependence on the source of all life for independence that could only lead to death.

The immediate consequences prove this interpretation. Genesis 3:7 shows them immediately beginning to make independent decisions—covering themselves and hiding from God. The curses in Genesis 3:16-19 all focus on self-effort, struggle, and independence from divine provision: working ground that resists, painful labor, ruling over one another, and ultimately death.

This is why God had to prevent them from eating from the Tree of Life (Genesis 3:22-24). You cannot live in both systems simultaneously. You cannot be governed by grace and self-governance at the same time. You cannot trust in Christ's provision and your own provision simultaneously.

The Mind of Christ vs. The Mind of Satan

Here's where this gets deeply personal for every human being: We either have the Mind of Christ or the mind of Satan. There is no middle ground.

When we choose self-governance—the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—we are choosing the mind of Satan. Satan is the ultimate expression of SELF: prideful, lustful, never satisfied, unable to work with others, eventually stealing, killing, and destroying everything to get what he wants when he wants it. Satan is SELF personified, and every human who chooses self-governance becomes a slave to this evil taskmaster.

This is why Romans 8:5-8 is so crucial: "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

The carnal mind IS the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—it's self-governance, independent moral reasoning, trusting in our own understanding rather than God's wisdom. And Scripture says this mind is literally "enmity against God" and "cannot please God."

On the other hand, 1 Corinthians 2:16 tells us: "We have the mind of Christ." This is the Tree of Life—living in complete dependence on Jesus Christ, receiving His thoughts, His wisdom, His provision, His governance over every aspect of our lives.

The choice is absolute: Mind of Christ or mind of Satan. Tree of Life or tree of knowledge of good and evil. Divine governance or self-governance.

Self-Governance as Spiritual Cancer

Let me use an analogy that makes this crystal clear. SELF and SIN are like cancer in the body. God is both the surgeon and the oncologist. When cancer is detected, there's a terminal diagnosis unless the cancer is completely removed.

In the same way, SELF has been detected in humanity, and there's a terminal spiritual diagnosis. The only cure is Jesus Christ. As our surgeon, Jesus must remove ALL the cancer—every form of SELF, every trace of self-governance, every attempt at self-righteousness.

This is why Jesus said in Luke 9:23: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." The "self" that must be denied is not just bad behavior—it's the entire system of self-governance that began in Eden.

Paul understood this when he wrote in Galatians 2:20: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."

Notice the progression: "I am crucified" (self-governance dies), "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me" (divine governance takes over), "I live by the faith of the Son of God" (complete dependence on Christ's provision and governance).

Cancer and SELF cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. There can be no self-governance in God's Kingdom because God's Kingdom operates on an entirely different system—grace, love, and divine provision through Jesus Christ alone.

The Deception of Christian Nationalism

Now we come to the shocking discovery that led me to write this. As I investigated "Christian Nationalism," I realized I was looking at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil operating within Christianity itself.

Christian Nationalism, at its core, is believers attempting to establish God's kingdom through human governance, political power, and self-effort rather than through Christ's spiritual kingdom. It's eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil while claiming to serve the Tree of Life.

Remember what Satan offered Jesus in Matthew 4:8-10: "All the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them... All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me." This is the same temptation he offers believers today—the promise that we can establish God's kingdom through earthly political power and human governance.

But Jesus rejected this completely: "Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

Later, when confronted by Pilate, Jesus made His position absolutely clear in John 18:36: "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."

Christian Nationalism attempts to build God's kingdom using Satan's methods—political power, human governance, forcing righteousness through law rather than transformation through grace. It's the tree of knowledge of good and evil with a Christian label.

The real battle isn't Republican vs. Democrat, Conservative vs. Liberal, Right vs. Left. The real battle is the ancient war between the two trees: divine governance vs. self-governance, the Kingdom of God vs. the kingdom of self.

The Pattern Throughout Scripture

Once you understand the Eden revelation, you see this same pattern throughout the entire Bible. Every crisis, every fall, every judgment comes down to the same choice: Will you trust in God's governance or establish your own?

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 presents the choice clearly: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days."

The book of Judges shows the consequences of self-governance: "In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (Judges 17:6; 21:25). When people govern themselves according to their own understanding of right and wrong, chaos and destruction follow.

Proverbs repeatedly warns about this: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12). Human reasoning, independent moral judgment, self-governance—it always leads to death, no matter how righteous it appears.

Isaiah 55:8-9 reminds us: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

This is why Isaiah 64:6 tells us that "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Any righteousness we attempt to establish through self-governance, no matter how well-intentioned, is contaminated by the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Jesus as the Tree of Life

Jesus Christ IS the Tree of Life. This isn't symbolic or metaphorical—it's spiritual reality.

John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

John 15:5 "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

John 6:35 "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

When we choose Jesus as Lord, Savior, and King, we're choosing His governance over our lives for all eternity. We're choosing to eat from the Tree of Life instead of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

We're choosing divine provision and grace over self-effort and self-governance.

The new birth described in John 3:3—"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God"—is literally being transferred from the tree of knowledge of good and evil to the Tree of Life. It's moving from self-governance to divine governance.

2 Corinthians 5:17 describes this transformation: "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

What are the "old things" that pass away? Self-governance, self-righteousness, self-provision, self-protection—the entire system of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What are the "new things"? Life in Christ, divine governance, righteousness as a gift, provision through grace—the Tree of Life.

The Impossibility of Serving Two Masters

Jesus made it absolutely clear that you cannot operate in both systems simultaneously: "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).

This principle applies to the two trees. You cannot eat from both the Tree of Life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. You cannot live under divine governance and self-governance at the same time. You cannot trust in Christ's provision while also trusting in your own provision.

Many Christians try to have it both ways. They want Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. They want eternal life but also want to maintain control over their earthly lives. They want God's blessings while continuing to operate in self-governance. But Scripture makes it clear this is impossible.

Romans 6:16 explains: "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?"

Every moment of every day, we're choosing which tree to eat from. Every decision is either based on the Mind of Christ (Tree of Life) or our own understanding (tree of knowledge of good

The Current Crisis and Prophetic Urgency

As I write this in 2025, the world stands on the brink of collapse. World War III could literally start today, triggering global nuclear war. The Middle East is a war zone. Ukraine, Russia, and Europe are engulfed in conflict. Society is crumbling before our eyes as every foundation built on self-governance reveals its inevitable failure.

But this isn't random chaos—it's the prophetic fulfillment of everything God warned about when humanity first chose self-governance in Eden.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes our current moment perfectly: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

Notice that list begins with "lovers of their own selves"—the tree of knowledge of good and evil, self-governance taken to its logical extreme. This is where 6,000 years of human self-governance has led us.

Even more concerning, Paul warns about those "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." This describes much of American Christianity today—maintaining religious appearances while operating in self-governance, trying to establish God's kingdom through political power and human wisdom rather than through surrender to Christ's governance.

The church has been deceived into building earthly kingdoms instead of seeking first God's Kingdom. We've been eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil while claiming to serve the Tree of Life.

The Great Deception Revealed

The greatest deception of our time isn't coming from secular culture—it's infiltrating the church. Satan has convinced believers that we can establish God's kingdom through the same methods he offered to Jesus: political power, human governance, and self-effort.

But Jesus rejected Satan's offer completely. He chose the cross over the crown, suffering over political power, divine governance over human governance. His kingdom was established through surrender, sacrifice, and submission to the Father's will—the complete opposite of self-governance.

The tragedy is that many sincere believers have fallen for this deception. They genuinely want to serve God, but they're using Satan's methods to do it. They're eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil while believing they're serving the Tree of Life.

This is why Jesus warned in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

These people were doing religious works, even supernatural works, "in His name." But they were operating in self-governance rather than divine governance. They were working iniquity (lawlessness) because they were not submitted to God's governance—they were establishing their own kingdoms with religious labels.

The Solution—Return to the Tree of Life

The solution to America's crisis, the church's deception, and humanity's desperate situation is simple but costly: Return to the Tree of Life. Abandon all forms of self-governance and submit completely to Christ's governance.

2 Chronicles 7:14 provides the blueprint: "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Notice this promise is specifically for "my people, which are called by my name"—God's people, Christians, the church. The solution doesn't start with the world changing—it starts with the church repenting of self-governance and returning to divine governance.

The steps are clear:

Humble themselves—abandoning the pride of self-governance and acknowledging our complete dependence on God

Pray—communication with God that demonstrates our submission to His governance

Seek my face—pursuing relationship with God rather than using God for our own agendas

Turn from their wicked ways—repenting of self-governance in all its forms, including Christian nationalism, self-righteousness, and attempts to establish God's kingdom through human methods

The promise is that when God's people do this, He will "heal their land." The healing doesn't come through political victories or cultural transformation—it comes through the church returning to the Tree of Life.

The Final Choice

We are living in the final moments before Jesus returns to gather His Bride and pour out His wrath on a rebellious world that has chosen self-governance over divine governance. The choice that began in Eden is about to reach its ultimate conclusion.

Revelation 22:1-2 describes the restoration: "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."

The Tree of Life will be restored. Divine governance will be fully established. Jesus Christ will reign for 1,000 years upon the earth, and every knee will bow to His authority.

But before that glorious kingdom comes, there will be judgment. Revelation 22:14-15 makes the final division clear: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

The question for every person reading this is simple: Which tree are you eating from today? Are you living under Christ's governance or your own governance? Are you trusting in His provision or your own provision? Are you operating with the Mind of Christ or the mind of self?

A Nobody's Final Warning

I am nobody special. I have no platform, no influence, no earthly power to change anything. But I know that God often chooses the nobodies of this world to deliver the most important messages.

The message is urgent: Time is running out. Jesus is coming back soon. The Great Tribulation is approaching. Everything prophesied in Eden is about to be fulfilled.

The church must wake up and repent of self-governance in all its forms. We must abandon Christian nationalism, political salvation, and every attempt to establish God's kingdom through human methods. We must return to the Tree of Life—complete dependence on Jesus Christ for everything.

The world must understand that there are only two choices: Submit to Christ's governance and live, or continue in self-governance and face eternal judgment. There is no middle ground, no compromise, no third option.

America stands at the crossroads. The church stands at the crossroads. Every individual stands at the crossroads. The choice is the same one that was presented in Eden: Tree of Life or tree of knowledge of good and evil. Divine governance or self-governance. Christ's kingdom or self-made kingdoms.

I trust God to get this message to every heart that needs to hear it, whether through my writing or through His sovereign work in human hearts. The truth of Eden will be revealed, the deception will be exposed, and every person will make their final choice.

The 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ upon the earth is coming. His Kingdom will be established. His governance will be supreme. The question is: Will you be part of His Kingdom, or will you remain in rebellion through self-governance?

Choose this day whom you will serve. Choose the Tree of Life. Choose Jesus Christ as your Lord, Savior, and King. Choose His governance over your life for all eternity.

Time is running out. The end of days is upon us. The final choice must be made.

Choose Christ. Choose His Kingdom. Choose the Tree of Life.

Everything else is death.

"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." - Revelation 22:17

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