THE STORY
Reading for Sunday, September 25 THE STORY, Chapter 1 (Genesis Chapters 1 thru 4, 6 thru 9)
What is wrong with the World?
The serpent . . . asked the woman, "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?"
2 "Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden," the woman replied. 3 "It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.
7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame” Genesis 3:1-7(NLT)
I Am
In this brief passage we learn the core of the world’s problems.
In Genesis 2:17 God placed a test before the first humans. Only one thing was out of bounds - all the rest was to be enjoyed. The snake (a creature, a created being, fully under the control of God, yet given freedom to work against God – Satan and God are NOT two equal separate beings) tempted but did not cause the woman to disobey.
The woman ate, and the man watched. What’s worse, her disobedience or his passivity? And now innocence is lost. Awareness of shame and guilt are born. We hide. We blame. We refuse to take responsibility. Relationship is broken. The unaffected beauty of “self unawareness” and awareness of God is gone, replaced by self focus. The puzzle pieces no longer fit. And in not fitting, humans beings have tried to force fit their pieces at the expense of other pieces. Evil is good having gone wrong and what’s wrong is located in the heart that says (without saying it or realizing it) I must be god.
Prayer
“Lord, I notice that Adam and/or Eve committed the sin of distortion (vs.3) when she added to what God had said in 2:17. Lord, prevent me from embellishing or distorting your simple command to trust you and obey your word. Trust and obey. That’s what I want, Lord, to trust and to obey. Amen”
A couple of interesting facts:
ReplyDelete-Adam was given the command not to eat from the tree BEFORE Eve was formed (Gen 2:15-18). The command was given to Adam, it was 'conveyed' to Eve (we assume by Adam since there is not a conversation reported otherwise) False teaching?
-Eve was deceived. The enticement was "to be like God"
v5 "For God know that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened" (so how can that be wrong, isn't that a worthy endeavor?) Arrogance?
-The embellishment was "Do not touch"
Colossians 2:21 "Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!? These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence" Inability to rely on grace?
TD Jakes noted in one of his books that Eve's disobedience was born out of deception. Adam's disobedience was born from willful decision.
Can this apply today?