In review, the scheming
serpent questioned Eve by asking, “Do I
understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?” 1
Eve responded. “Not at all. We can eat
from the trees in the garden. It’s only about the tree in the middle of the
garden that God said, ‘Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die.’” 2
The devil retorted
Eve’s explanation about eating from the Tree with a bold-faced lie, “You won’t
die.” 3
Eve’s decision to disobey the Creator’s only boundary ushered in the end of the
innocent utopia of the Garden of Eden. Her Machiavellian miscalculation would
impact her world in ways she never dreamed or imagined.
“When the Woman saw that the tree looked
like good eating and realized what she would get out of it — she’d know everything! — she took and
ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate." 4 Eve was tricked. She decided to defy God’s
command and instead act upon the appealing words of the devil. Inexplicably,
without any hesitation, Adam took the fruit from Eve and violated the Creator’s
command as well.
Then, “Immediately the two of them did ‘see
what’s really going on’ — saw themselves naked! They sewed some fig leaves
together as makeshift clothing for themselves” in an attempt to cover the nakedness.
Genesis 3:7 (msg) Paradise was
lost. The days of being naked, transparent, carefree, spontaneous, and
unguarded were over. Now they would need to cover up, pretend, hide from each
other, worry about appearances, and pretend. Innocence was tossed aside and
lost. It was replaced by shame, guilt, fear, disgrace, embarrassment, and
remorse.
“There is an
important principle to be seen here: God desires from us the obedience of
faith. Such obedience is not based upon our understanding of why we are to act
as God requires, but simply because it is God who requires it. The obedience of
faith is based on our faith in God, not on our understanding of why God calls
one thing good and another evil. Parents teach their children to obey on the
same basis. You cannot explain to a young child why an electrical outlet is
dangerous. You can only forbid them to touch it, because you said so, and
because they trust your word.” 6
This is the sixth part of some thoughts I wrote in the fall of 2012 in an
attempt to capture the incredible power, glory, splendor, radiance, and majesty
of God speaking in the creation as well as the rebellion of Lucifer and his fallen angels. I'd enjoy any feedback you might have:
L2G.Forum@gmail.com. ~ Rusty Rustenbach © 2012
FOOTNOTES
No comments:
Post a Comment