BIBLE TEACHINGS MADE PLAIN, part 9
They made the wrong choice.
Lesson 8 was about Man, where we come from, why we are here and man’s destiny. We have found that man (male/female) is the product of God’s creation. He has made us for the purpose of showing reverence to God, because He created us, to give glory to God for what He has given to us, and to worship Him and God alone, because He is the only living one, all other gods are idols and man-made. Then we discussed man’s destiny and found we are made to live for ever and ever, our first parents Adam/Eve received conditional immortality, eternal life.
In this lesson we raise the question,’ what went wrong and why?’ We are now subject to death, we lost conditional immortality. The plan of God for mankind has been severely distorted. God started to give man a perfect life in a perfect dwelling place the Garden of Eden and they had the freedom of choice to follow God or their own mind and desire. But is it all lost? The answer is NO; God still has a plan, John 3:16
Again mankind has been given the choice to perish or have eternal life.
But let’s turn to our question ‘what went wrong and why?’ To answer this question, again we have to go to the beginning as we have done before. The beginning answers many questions which may come up later in the Bible. And if the world would have accepted the beginning we would not have so many opinions and religious institutions as we have today.
We read in Genesis 2 additional information regarding the creation of man, male/female, Adam and Eve. In Gen 2:15 we read that Man (Adam) received from God the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep. It was a gift of God. Then we read in Gen.2:16 that the Lord told Adam what he could eat, from every tree in the garden, but in verse 17 is added that of one tree he should not eat. If they would decide to eat from that forbidden tree they would die, loose life. It is called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Eating from it would be evil and would give them knowledge of evil and its result. We learn about this when we follow Genesis 3 step by step.
After Adam was created or made by God and received the breath of life from God, God asked him to name the animals, Gen.2:19. Adam did and found that the animals were in pairs, male and female and he was alone. The Lord decided to make or built from Adam a help meet. Adam was put to deep sleep and God made a woman out of one of his ribs, 2:21. When Adam woke up and saw what God had done he called her ‘woman’ and later gave her the name Eve, 2:23; 3:20 We learn from 2:25 that both were naked, not in need of clothes as we are today and not in need of ornaments, jewellery, cheap or expensive, and no body painting or tattoos to beautify their bodies as was done later, and is today.
They lived in a state of innocence, not ashamed of each other and surrounded by the glory of God, which disappeared once they sinned as we will learn later.
But we must stay with our story in the beginning. Adam received the Garden of Eden from God, was told what to eat and not to eat, but we do not read that God told Eve directly, we must conclude that Adam told Eve what he was told by God. He must have informed Eve about what God had told him. May be he took her through the garden showed all the beauty and trees they could eat from and pointed to that one tree from which they should not eat. He may have told her stay away from it. So they started their garden life. I like to add that this was not cohabitation as we have it today. They were brought together by God Himself, 2:22. Marriage is an institution of God from the creation. So it should be honoured today and male and female should make their vows before God and recognise Him in their wedlock. God was deeply involved with this first couple and so it should be today.
In Genesis 3 we get the answer about what went wrong. The woman is found in the vicinity of the tree, Gen 3:1.Under disguise of a serpent an intruder has entered the garden and is hidden in the forbidden tree. In the next lesson we will find who this intruder was. While looking at the tree Eve hears the serpent speaking. Let’s stop here for a moment. The first mistake Eve made was getting near the tree. However God had not forbidden them to come near the tree or touch its fruit. The law was “do not eat from it”. Touching a cigarette or alcohol will not give us cancer or make us drunk, or touching any other forbidden thing, but the use or practice of it makes it a sin. The safest way is to stay away as far as possible from what we know is wrong or harmful or sinful, don’t come near it.
The serpent starts with a misleading question, Gen.3:1, asking if God had said ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden. It’s a foolish question, how could God forbid not to eat of any tree? But the question was designed to open Eve’s mind and get her talking with the serpent. Here is another lesson we have to learn, never get into dialogue with the evil one, run away from it. Eve answers, 3:2, 3, we may eat of every tree but not from the tree in the midst of the garden, neither touch it. God had said not to eat, but touching it was not mentioned. Eve also adds that if they would eat they would die, loose life. So she knew the consequences.
Now the serpent steps in with a blatant lie to challenge her mind. The serpent states Ye shall surely not die,3:4, 5, and then he puts God in the wrong picture in the mind of Eve which is aimed to make Eve to think what to do and whom she should believe. The serpent adds God has forbidden to eat of it because He knows that when you eat, you will be as gods (or like God) knowing good and evil. In other words God is holding something from you; you should be and know, God is not honest with you.
We have learned from a previous lesson that God has created us with the freedom of choice, choosing to put faith and obedience towards God or away from God. Eve being in that position now has to choose. Remain loyal to God, her Creator or put faith in the serpent and believe what he has said. The decision has to be made. She looks at the tree and its fruit and the desire or lust comes up. Gen.3:6. The fruit looks good and is even pleasant to the eye, so she takes and eats. I like to stop here and turn to James 1:14, 15 where it is explained how sin develops. It starts with lust or a desire, and then follows the temptation to act and when we give in to the temptation it brings forth sin. The lust or desire or the temptation is not sin as yet. Having a desire towards smoking or drinking alcohol or use of drugs, as long as you stay away from it, it is not yet sin. But there is an exception and that is what Jesus mentions in Matth, 5:28. This is so severe that in this case the lust is equal to the act.
So Eve takes and eats the fruit and goes to Adam and gives it to him as well, Gen.3:6 she may be saying, look I have eaten and I am still alive. Adam for one reason or another, we are not told, takes the fruit and eats it as well. Both use their inborn natural freedom of choice and do choose the wrong way.
What the serpent has done is to put the wrong picture about God in Eve’s mind. The serpent is used by an evil one who has an argument with God, is in controversy with God of which we will learn more in our next lesson.
The first result Adam and Eve experience is that they see each other as they have not before they ate from the fruit.3:7. They see that they are naked. What has happened? The glory of God has left them, read Rom.3:23 all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Also turn to Isa.59:2 and Isa.64:7 sin separates us from God, sin is transgression of God’s law, 1John 3:4, that’s what Adam and Eve had done, and they sinned and separated themselves from God and placed themselves outside God’s glory. Even today we must be very careful what choices we make. We must ask for the mind of Christ to guide us, Phil.2:5, and Rom.12:1, 2. If we follow these scriptural counsels we will be safe.
There is another thing we must mention. When Adam and Eve saw they were naked they try to cover up and made skirts or aprons of fig leaves. When the sinner discovers what he has done wrong he or she tries to cover up but that doesn’t work. We cannot and never will be able to cover our sins and trespasses in our own way, something else and better is needed. We need a proper coverage provided by God.
What did God do? God comes down and looks for them, Where art thou? Gen.3:9 Adam answers, we are hiding ourselves because we are naked and are ashamed or afraid, 3:10. Is it possible to hide away from God? Read Psalm 139:1-14 David recognised that there is no place anywhere to hide away from God. God seeks us even today He is calling for us to turn to Him, like a shepherd looks for his lost sheep, Luke 15:4-7.
God comes down to investigate the situation. Does He not know? Yes He does because He is omniscient; He knows the end from the beginning, Isa.46:10. There is another thing at stake here. Paul writes in 1Cor.4:9 that we are a spectacle or theatre and being watched. God knows this so He is careful not to be put in the wrong picture in regards to His actions. One day God will be vindicated that in all and everything He did the right thing, Rev.16:7 also read Phil.2:9-11
When God starts to ask questions, Gen.3:11, Adam and Eve do what in most cases still happens today, they put the blame on someone else. Adam blames Eve, the woman God gave him, indirectly blaming God. Eve blames the serpent. At that point God turns to the serpent and condemns him for his part in the deception. Then in Gen.3:15 a promise is made, the first one of this nature. There will be enmity between the two parties, serpent and woman, but the serpent will be crushed to death and the other party will be hurt at the heel. This is the announcement or revelation of the Great Controversy of which we learn more in the next lesson.
Also God does not enter into a dialogue with Adam and Eve defending Himself or reasoning. He also does not execute them immediately for what they have done, He is a God of love, 1John 4:8 but at the same time God cannot avoid to let Adam and Eve know what the consequences are of what they have done. God loves us even when we have sinned and will accept us back, but the consequences of our sins are not always removed. The list of consequences is as follows, Gen.3:16-20, 22-24:
1. The serpent is condemned, 3:14
2. A promise is made about the future, first messianic prophecy
3. The woman would suffer in child bearing and nature would be disrupted and changed.
4. They would be separated from the Garden of Eden to prevent them from eating from the tree of life and thus perpetuating sin and its result.
5. Next what God does in Gen.3:21 is an act of love and atonement. He takes away their own made covering for their naked bodies. He covers them with coats of skin which is made by God Himself. Skins come from animals and most likely two animals must have died. It gives us a preview by this action of the plan of salvation. God knows we cannot atone for ourselves or cover up our own sins. Atonement means to cover. Someone dies in our place, is our substitute. We have to accept the coverage God has provided and that is the Lamb Jesus Christ, John 1:29; Rev.13:8 and read also Isa. 53. Jesus is our cover, our atonement. Accepting Him as our Saviour and Lord will forgive and cleanse us, not in our sin, but from our sin, 1John 1:9 and Matth.1:21. We are challenged and strongly invited today to accept this divine gift of God, which is a love-gift, John 3:16. There is no other, Acts 4:12
Next lesson we will learn more about the serpent, his actions and end.
Commitment: Dear reader do you realise that you’re a sinner, for what you have done wrong and that you are in need of a Saviour? Are you willing to commit yourself in accepting Jesus as your personal Savour, saving you from your wrongdoings and promising you eternal life in glory?
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