“God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1 ESV) When Eve believed the lies of the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit, her decision brought sin into the world, and she condemned generation to generation to separation from God. But God was not content with such tragedy befalling his children eternally. Although Eve's experiment in living of not trusting and disobeying God led to horrible consequences, God met this mistake with grace that such a mistake could not ask for, and, under this grace, justice as would be required.
Such a sin as Adam and Eve committed – distrusting God and desiring to be like him (in a bad way) – deserved, as God ordained, death. And, eventually, they would taste it. Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden forever, and could no longer walk with God. They could not eat of the fruit of the tree of life, to which they had access before their sin. Outside of the garden they experienced pain (for Adam, in working the ground, and, for Eve, in bearing children). And sin was allowed to continue on earth, making similes of the words “consequences” and “punishment.” But Adam and Eve were not the only ones worthy of punishment. Matthew 18:6 says “whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” The serpent who lied to and tempted Eve was most definitely guilty of this. When God divvies out punishments (Genesis 3:14-19), the serpent was not forgotten. “Because you have done this,” said God, “cursed are you above all livestock” (Genesis 3:14). But that is not all. In verse 15 of this chapter, a promise is made. A promise we would do well to recognize. It is a promise of for us - and judgement for the serpent. Not only did God promise grace, but immediately displayed it to Adam and Eve. First of all, He didn’t smite them where they stood. He probably wanted to, as he wanted to in the case of the flood (and did, save for Noah’s family) and the case of Moses and the golden calf (and didn’t). But, as in both of these cases, He showed mercy. To Adam and Eve he gave clothes to cover themselves with. And, when Cain murdered Abel, God gave Adam and Eve another son, Seth, to take Abel’s place. And this ties into a much larger dealing of grace. What was the promise in verse 15 of chapter 3 that we ought to recognize? In this verse God rebukes the serpent and says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). Many theologians take the term “her offspring” to mean Jesus, whose lineage is traced back to Seth, Abel’s replacement. This is the promise; though we messed up horribly, God provided for us the atonement we could not hope for on our own. God met Adam and Eve’s experiment in living with not only justice, but exceptional grace. Though Eve’s choice to disobey God, made in pride and an attitude of rebellion, introduced evil into the world, God would not abandon us, his chosen, to death, even if it was a consequence of our actions. Our God loves us far too much for that.
2 Comments
EBA
10/12/2017 08:12:27 am
I like this quote, “And sin was allowed to continue on earth, making similes of the words “consequences” and “punishment.””
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