(Genesis, chapter three)
�Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may east of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou was naked? hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shall thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return. And Adam called his wife�s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now; lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.�
We will not even begin to scratch the surface of all the treasures of illumination which God has placed in these short twenty-four verses. The one thing that I do want to notice, however, is that each and every single individual who has ever, or will ever, lived upon this mortal plane must respond to the Person of God.
One way in which far too many respond to God is by haughtiness and indifference.
This haughtiness manifests itself when the Word of God is ignored. God gave us this Word for a purpose. The purpose is that we might learn the things of His love and care for us. Tied up in this love and care is the concept that God really does know the best way for us to live our lives.
Let me explain this concept. A few days ago I had a flat tire on my van. Now, this van had been sitting for sometime because I was unable to drive due to cataracts on my eye. It seems that rust had set in to an unusual place. At least it was an unusual place to me.
When we tried to loosen the lug nuts on the wheels, the studs on which the lug nuts were secured came off with those lug nuts. I had to go out and buy five new lug nuts and studs. Along with me came the knowledge of what year and edition was my van. Without this information I could not purchase the correct parts.
Apparently I needed more information. I purchased the wrong objects. The neighbor who was doing the work told me that I also needed to mention that the van was an all wheel drive and the parts were for the front wheels.
If the simple action of replacing (O. K.; not all that simple to a complete non-mechanic like me!) the studs and nuts on a wheel can be so exacting, why should we not consider the preciseness which God would require of His message to mankind. Is it even within the realm of possibility that we could consider the Majesty which is the Creator God would lose control of those words at any point in human history? Is it possible to fathom any instance where the power of God would be so overcome as to be able to remove His words from the churches which Jesus founded?
Is not there a need for us to pay a rapt attention to those Words of God in our daily lives? This Word is ignored when men fail to consider those words in our daily lives. This Word is ignored when we fail to consider those words as the final arbitrator of our religious, and our secular, lives.
After the Word has been ignored, or shunted aside, it is a short step to begin to debate the true worth of those words. �Yea, hath God said,� is the question of those who would relegate the preserved Words of God to the trash heap of history as they seek to �redefine� the meaning of �the God story.�
Our religious institutions have begun to debate the very Words which God has given to mankind. Did Adam and Eve really exist? Was the flood real? Are to stories of the Old Testament histories of actual events; or, are they simply myths spun to explain the unexplainable? Are the New Testament events historical; or, are they legends made to explain the effect of the teachings of a mortal Jesus upon the lives of his (low case intended) followers? Do we even have the words which were originally penned? Has the message been so corrupted that the best we have is a �general consensus� of the �general theme� of the �general story� of those first century writings?
What a sad religion, and a complete lack of hope, we must have if we answer any of those questions in the affirmative. Jesus died on a cross for the sins of humanity. You can bank you historical hypothesis on that certainty. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and ascended into Heaven. You can bank your faith on that certainty. The Bible we have today is that which God originally inspired, or reliable a translation of this in our King James Bible. You can bank your soul�s security on that certainty. The God Who created Heaven and earth, and all that is within the vast universe, is the bank that guarantees those deposits. His Word will never fail because He will never fail.
If you don�t believe that, then it is O. K. to follow those religious charlatans who teach a weak God and a flawed Scripture. But, be advised, you will be following them into the depths of a Christless Hell.
The problem with Eve isn�t so much that she didn�t understand, and trust, the God of the Garden. She was just worried that He might need her help a little. Folks, we do not need to �redefine,� nor �reassess,� nor even �update� the Words of God for this new age of a post Christian cultural. I am here to tell you that God can take care of Himself. We need only to use the Word He has given us. That Word will defend Itself as it is imbued with the power of the convicting witness of the Holy Spirit!
It may be true that many will resist those Words of God. But, they do so over the loving conviction sent by that Spirit of God. They do so to the detriment of their own souls.
May we remain, in our own lives and witness, true to that Word. To do less makes us partakers of the attitude of those who would reject the Power, Majesty, and Message of God, Eternal!
Eve, you may notice, also altered that Word of God. She said that God had said not to eat of the tree; she was right. She also said that God had instructed her and Adam to not even touch the tree. That was an addition to the Words of God. That was a lie!
Eve may have felt that she was simply adapting the Word of God to the present situation. To her I would say that God is of eternity. His Words do not need to be adapted for a changing world. His Words are of eternity. He said what He meant; and He meant what He said - for all men and for all eternity! Time may well change the cultures of the world. But, time does not change the timeless and eternal Truth of God.
The bottom line of those who would attempt to change the Words of God, in an attempt to make those Words relevant for a new age, are in reality rejecting those Words and the God Who gave them. Such people are rejecting the very power of God as they attempt to clean up the mess they feel His inspired and preserved Words have made in this day.
The problem with trying to make the Words of God �more relevant to the culture of today,� is that the culture of tomorrow - man centered as it is - will be even more different. This is a path which will pull the Words of God further and further from that single message which He gave. It is a path away from the Words of God, and from God, Himself!
Notice, also, that Adam and even attempted to hide from the presence of God. How silly! That is tantamount to my little grandson hiding his eyes behind his hands and imagining that I can�t see him.
Eve didn�t see God in her conversation with the serpent. She was looking at a God Who had forbidden her full development. She was looking at a God Who would deny her the possibility of a full experience of everything that this mortal life had to offer. She was looking at God Who was so insecure in His Person that He would hide from His created beings the opportunity to even know all about the spiritual realms. This was the faith of Eve at this point.
What Eve should have seen was a God Who gave her, and Adam, freedom of expression. But, with this freedom came a warning about that which might cause them harm. God was not, in reality, a taskmaster who would place limits upon the creature. He was the God Who would lovingly warn, and protect, them from the sin which would cause them great damage.
God had advised Adam and Eve of their true needs, that which would give them the ultimate in their human potential. Eve looked past this and wanted that which would drag her down into the depths of sin.
My son has begun to collect aluminum cans. He washes them out, crushes them, and then - after he�s collected several large bags full, he takes them to a local business that engages in recycling and sells them. It is an easy way to make money off that which would otherwise be trash.
I was babysitting my granddaughter about a week ago. We were sitting in the living room when Shandi announced that she needed to take a short lavatory break. To use her three-year-old�s term, �Grandpa, I�ve got to go potty!�
When she was very slow returning I went to check on her. What I found was not something I cared for. She had taken a kitchen knife to one of her father�s collection of cans. She has sliced open the can and begun to tear is apart.
She had also done a fairly good job of slicing her thumb.
After repairing her hand as well as I could, I began to give a little adult advice to a three-year-old child. I wasn�t trying to restrain her learning about her environment. I wasn�t trying to limit the amount of freedom she enjoyed. I wasn�t trying to �chill� her childish enthusiasm. I was trying to help her understand that she needed to be careful around some things. Other things, at this stage of her life, she should just avoid.
This is what God was doing with Adam and Eve. Where I was trying to make Shandi�s physical life a little less dangerous, God was trying to protect the spiritual life of Adam and Even - while allowing their physical life to bloom in a spirit of freedom and responsibility.
Eve couldn�t see this because she was so enamored of the enticing words of the tempter.
I believe that the sin of Adam was the more excessive. It was willful. While Eve may have been tricked and cajoled, Adam made a conscious choice to disobey the Heavenly Father.
It could be argued that Eve had been deceived. She still sinned; don�t misunderstand. But, there could be a mitigating factor of the serpent�s coercion. A weak argument in light of the need for human accountability. But Adam has no such defense.
The serpent didn�t come to Adam and say, �Yea, hath God said?� Eve came to Adam with the fruit. He knew what it was. He decided to take part in the sin with a cold and calculating mind. Adam made a rational choice to turn his back on God and join Eve in known sin. Eve might not have been able to see God through the fog of seduction (Although I do not consider this a defense. She still knew the Words of the Lord!), but Adam just chose not to see the Lord and His warnings.
I don�t know what the reasons were which influenced Adam to turn His back on the Lord Who created him. I rather suspect that Adam looked at Eve and realized that she had sinned. He may have reasoned that God had given him the woman as a companion. Adam may have then theorized that he would need to join with the woman in sin to remain in that companionship. Whatever his reasons, Adam decided to disobey God.
Adam was soon to learn the enormity of his error. He realized, to his horror, that he had disobeyed the God Who had created him and set him in the Garden. Adam then reasoned that his sin was larger than God�s love. Whereas God had been a guiding influence, sin was now the managing editor of the life of Adam.
Adam attempted to hide from God. He reasoned that God couldn�t condemn what God couldn�t see. The foolishness of Adam. God knew where Adam was at all times. The fact that God called out �Where art thou� to Adam was not a matter of the inability of God. This was a matter of the love of God. He bade Adam to acknowledge his sin and seek forgiveness.
Adam confessed to his sin. But, in doing so he claimed that the entire fault was that of Eve. �Eve forced me to sin,� he seemed to be saying. Eve �passed the buck� and claimed that the serpent was at fault as the seducing agent. Both were willing to admit their sin. Neither was willing to accept responsibility for their sin. They had even gone so far as to make coverings of leaves.
It is still the same today as in those days in the Garden. Adam and Eve tried to hide behind their own theological �religion.� Man continues in that tradition today. He will admit his �shortcomings,� but will not admit his guilt before a Holy God. Man seeks to hide his sins under a covering of decaying vegetation which he has fashioned with the hands of his own works.
Notice, however, how Adam and Eve were able to help themselves. They did this by replacing their own efforts with the sacrifice provided by God. They �helped themselves� by ceasing from trying their own works and accepting the work of God.
The accepted the fact of the results of their sin.
First of all, they accepted the fact that they were no longer to enjoy immortality in this mortal world. The accepted the fact of death. There was the spiritual death which came as the result of their sin. They knew this. There was also the impending physical death which was also the result of their sin.
It is amazing to consider how much the fact of sin limits the human life. Humanity seems to think that God is a restraining influence upon the life of man. Nothing could be further from the truth. Only by accepting the leading of God can one live even his physical life to the fullest. God created the organism and understands, even more completely than do with, what will fulfill - and what will hinder - our physical lives. A life yielded to Him is a life that has the potentiality to live to the fullest of our abilities and happiness.
They understood as well that there would be no more evening walks with God. Sin separates us from the fellowship we were created to enjoy with God. Sin caused more than the ills which befell Adam and Eve. Sin in the perfect environment of the Garden caused great devastation on all of the natural order. �Why does God permit,� is the beginning of many questions among mankind. The fact is not that God permits as much as it is that sin demands. God is love. Sin is death and destruction. God is service and reparation. Sin flies in the face of the remedies which God has provided and can only lead to destruction because love resides in God; this love is rejected when God is rejected. From this simple reality come the evils of wars, hurricanes, drought and more!
When Adam and Eve accepted the prohibitions of God because of their sin, the accepted the fact that they were fallen creatures who did not merit the possibility of being in the presence of the Creator they had followed. They accepted the fact that they no longer had the prospect of eternal life as their birthright from the Father.
But, while they accepted this righteous judgment, they also were allowed to accept the pardon of God.
God said, �Get rid of those old dried up leaves of your own works. I have something that you that I guarantee.�
There are four important things about this gift of the coats of skins from God. First, it should be noted that this required a blood sacrifice of the innocent for the benefit of the guilty. The blood sacrifice meant that this was a complete sacrifice.
Sometimes we feel that we are sacrificing to God when we offer seven hours of prayer, an hour a day for a week, to God. That is good. That is probably the minimum we should offer in conversation with God. But, that isn�t a sacrifice. That is a hobby. A sacrifice involves the total and complete commitment of an individual. That is what Jesus did on the cross. He offered His all for us. We owe Him more than we are generally disposed to offer in return.
Second, the sacrifice came from the Hand of God. Sin had separated Adam and Eve from God. There was nothing that they could offer to Him. Even had they found something they would not have been able to offer to Him. Remember sin separates from God. Adam and Eve were in hiding. They were not looking for God. Sin separates from God.
God did the only act that could have possibly offered salvation for Adam and Eve. He came to them and called them to Himself. He offered them an acceptable sacrifice from His Own Hand. That is just what we need in this day. God has done this in the Person of Jesus Christ at the Cross of Calvary! The only possible acceptable offering to God is the One which came to us from His Own Hand. It is His love, not our works, which carries salvation.
Third, God offered Adam and Eve a permanent solution. The leaves would have rotted away after just a few days. The coats of skins had permanence to them. The covering of the Blood of Jesus Christ is even more permanent. This, alone, is a sacrifice which will save our souls for eternity!
Fourth, the offering which God provided was effective. The leaves of Adam and Eve were not acceptable. God was teaching them, in object lesson form, of the Great Sacrifice which would come in Jesus.
What about you? Are you ready to respond to God? Just now, accept Jesus as your own Savior. He paid the entire price. All you need to do is accept.