"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 to her husband with her; and he did eat" (Genesis 3:6).
Genesis 3:14-19
Part 1
Today: Adam’s Sin and God’s Amazing Grace
Is there anyone on this planet who sincerely believes that “life here is easy?” When we see the morning newspaper headlines about our latest pandemic, we know that life is not easy. If we glance at our personal bankbook balances, most of us will agree that life is not easy. If we work for an unkind boss who doesn’t care about our struggles with our bills, our children, or our mortgage, we know that life is difficult at best!
Job’s friend, Eliphaz, was correct when he told Job, “Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). But why? Why is life hard? Why are their thorns on roses, and termites that eat our homes, and illnesses that run rampant and will kill us if they catch us? The thinking person says, “There must be a reason for it all!” And there is. Otherwise, we will all become fatalistic in our world view and despair of life! Let’s go to the scriptures to see how mankind has inherited a hard life from our father, Adam.
God, the Creator, is kind and loving. He desired fellowship with man. So He created the universe and a world with everything that a man will need to provide and care for his family (Genesis 1:1-2:3). Once the world was prepared, God made a specific place for that man to live. It was called Eden, a beautiful garden with an incredible variety of plant life for a man to enjoy and eat (Genesis 2:4-6). After that, God made the man by His unique creation and then made the woman from the man (Genesis 2:7-25).
Before God turned Adam loose in the garden, He laid the ground rules for him. Adam could eat from any of the trees except for one. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was out of bounds for him (Genesis 2:16-17). God said the penalty for eating from that tree is “thou shalt surely die.”
After Adam named the animals in the garden, God put him to sleep and made Eve from one of his ribs. God provided for Adam a “helper like him.” A perfect couple, God made them for each other. Life in the garden was good until Eve had a conversation that changed her life and Adam’s. A “serpent” showed up that started a chat with Eve. A talking serpent should have been a tip-off to Eve that something was not right. She seemed neither surprised nor scared and talked with the snake. In no time, the serpent had Eve convinced that God was not good or fair, and she decided to disobey God’s rule (Genesis 3:1-5).
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,”
All the trees in the garden were good for food. Eve had a great variety to choose from. Only this one tree was off limits! She forgot about the forest and focused on the fruit of only one tree that she could not have.
“And that it was pleasant to the eyes,”
It was a beautiful tree, with gorgeous fruit! It had eye-appeal, and don’t we “eat with our eyes first?”
“And a tree to be desired to make one wise.”
No one wants to be a fool! Wisdom is needed by every man and woman. To be as wise as God would be a great benefit to her. These wrong “reasons” to eat the fruit remind us of the “lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life” that we learn about from John (1 John 2:15-17).
Poor Eve, she listened to the serpent and not her husband! And she made the wrong choice!
“She took of the fruit thereof and did eat.”
Disobedience came easy for her. No doubt the fruit was delicious too.
“And gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat.”
Adam, listening to his wife and not his God, easily disobeyed and ate the fruit with her. As far as he could tell, there were no immediate changes. Adam did not die, whatever death is… or did he?
Why didn’t God just kill Adam and Eve and be done with it? He could have easily and effortlessly started over with a new man and woman! But no, it was God’s love for them, along with His deep mercy and His great grace, that is evident throughout Adam’s story!
Immediately Adam realized he was naked and tried to cover himself, as did Eve (Genesis 3:7). They tried to hide from God, but of course, He “found them.” Like being in a trap, Adam and Eve were caught in their sin.
Over the next few days, we will look at the consequences of Adam’s sin and how these penalties God gave each of the players in this sad story affected them and us. At the end of these devotions, I pray that we can all see God’s good hand moving behind the scenes, all to the praise of His glory! Tomorrow we will look at God’s penalty to the serpent. See you then!
Quote: “We’ve fallen for the devil’s lie. His most basic strategy, the same one he employed with Adam and Eve, is to make us believe that sin brings fulfillment. However, in reality, sin robs us of fulfillment. Sin doesn’t make life interesting; it makes life empty. Sin doesn’t create adventure; it blunts it. Sin doesn’t expand life; it shrinks it. Sin’s emptiness inevitably leads to boredom. When there’s fulfillment when there’s beauty, when we see God as he truly is — an endless reservoir of fascination — boredom becomes impossible”[1] (Randy Alcorn).
[1] Alcorn’s quote was Downloaded: Monday, March 8, 2021. From: http://www.morefamousquotes.com/topics/adam-and-eve-sin-quotes/.