The Fall Day 1

You will need your Bible today.

I am so excited about this week's lesson. That might sound a little bit morbid considering we are going to be talking about The Fall, which is absolutely tragic and painful, but the fact that 3 chapters into Genesis I get to talk about Salvation makes me giddy! I wasn't there when Adam and Eve first bit into that deadly fruit. Other then what is described in Scripture I don't really know what life was like before The Fall. I know it was wonderful, that Adam and Eve got to walk and talk with God, that He provided for their every need, and to me that sounds amazing, but I have never experienced it, none of us have. We only know the reality of life after sin entered the world. We know pain, frustration, hard work, and hard relationships. We know what it is to desire to know God, to walk with Him and hear His voice, but what we have is separation. Or should I say that's what we have apart from Jesus. In Jesus we have the restoration of the relationship that was lost when Adam and Eve sinned. Jesus is the answer, the way. He is life, full and abundant, in Him we get all of what was lost. Maybe not all of Eden today but the most important part, a relationship with God, and the rest is coming! God promised. But before we can get to Jesus we must address the problem, sin.
Genesis chapter 3 is where we see why we need Jesus. From this chapter we learn why the world is the way it is and we are given a glimpse of God's ridiculous love and mercy. His grace is all over this chapter, but before we get to it, we need to back up just a bit. In the midst of God creating Adam in Genesis 2, the Bible tells us that God placed two special trees in the Garden along with all the others. One of the trees provided the basis for the one rule that God gave to Adam.
"And the LORD God had made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground- trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'" Genesis 2:9, 16 & 17.
Now please read Genesis 3:1-7.
God gave Adam one simple rule, "Don't eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." God warned him of the consequence, death, and then graciously provided him with all the fruit trees he could ever want to eat from. It was not a trap, it was choice.
Sin is always a choice. It is always an option that we have been warned about, we are aware of the consequences (though we might think they won't apply to us) and God has always provided a better alternative. Most often the temptation starts subtly, a friendly invitation, a glance at something (someone) beautiful, a new opportunity. The serpent simply asked Eve a question, "Did God really say?" Of course his question was a thinly veiled challenge to God's one rule. That's the reality of all temptation though. God gave us one rule, love Him with all our hearts mind, soul and body. He promised us a full and abundant life, a relationship with Him, and best of all eternity in His presence. What more could we ask for? But then we see something that appears to be better. We are invited to try something that seems to feel better, or we are given an opportunity to try to become better. Whatever the temptation, its a challenge to God's best for us by offering us something that seems in the moment, in the flesh, in our human finite minds, better. The serpent accused God of holding out, of keeping something back from Eve that would make her wise, make her special, make her like Him. The snake encouraged her to take a second look at the forbidden fruit, to question God's motivation, to decide for herself what was good to eat.
It's amazing to me that this is the exact same temptation that continues to wreak havoc. King David was well aware that adultery was a sin. He knew there were consequences, but when his eyes fell on Bathsheba he questioned God's rule and chose for himself to eat the forbidden fruit. The consequences almost destroyed his family.* Solomon might have learned from his father's mistake, he knew that God forbid the collecting of many wives. God warned him that they would turn his heart away from Him toward their pagan gods, yet he reasoned that God's rule was for the weak. Solomon was, after all, the wisest man that ever lived. He chose the forbidden fruit and eventually began to worship foreign gods exactly as he had been warned. Because of his sin, the nation of Israel was split in two.**
Every time you or I allow a thought, a person, or even an experience to challenge God in our lives we are taking sides with the serpent. We are declaring that we would like to choose for ourselves what is good for us, that God may not be trustworthy. Never mind the fact that God is all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal and loving, that He sought us out. He sent His Son to die so that we could live, and He desires to bless us, to give us more then we can imagine, still we think we know better. We want to decide for ourselves.
Eve took the second. Even though she knew what it was to have a face to face relationship with God, she chose to believe that He was holding out on her. She took the fruit and ate it, then as the serpent slithered off snickering she offered the fruit to Adam.
When I was young I used to get so mad at Adam and Eve. I remember saying that when I got to Heaven I was going to have words with them. When she ate that fruit everything changed. Because of I never got to see the world perfect and pure, never got to walk and talk with God, but with maturity comes perspective. Every time I sin I show my solidarity with Adam and Eve. Had it been me in the Garden I absolutely would have messed it up to, we all would have and God knew it. That's why His love letter is all about Jesus. Revelation 13:8 tells us that the Lamb (Jesus) was slain from the creation of the world. Before God spoke into the darkness creating the light, He knew it would cost Him His Son.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

* 2 Samuel 11
** 1 Kings 11 & 12