Unbroken Story of God Pt 2: The Fall
Devastation and Separation
(Problem of Pain/Evil)
As I mentioned in Part 1 of the Unbroken Story of God, there is a stubborn longing within all of us for this pristine, unhindered peace and “rightness” to be our reality. This longing for perfection is in all of us whether we admit it or not. The problem is that we have to admit that our current reality is different than the way it was intended to be. WHY? As illogical as it might sound, the first two humans (Adam and Eve) severed the connection with God and it was a travesty. All of us now suffer because of their choice, but unfortunately it is the same choice we would have made if we were in their same position. There is no way around this scourge. We are prone to wander away from the very thing that brings us life because of our inner-crookedness.
How it all went down
The story of the first humans is both beautiful and devastating. We read about how God created, how he rested in its perfection, how humanity was established, the joy of all things, but also the way this was destroyed.
The Characters:
God – The Creator: Let us make male and female in our image.
Plurality in the godhead: We see the essence of God.
Desire for humanity to exist: We see the character of God
The Crafty Serpent: Is the obvious villain in the story.
This primordial creature was more than just a snake. According to the book of revelation, he is the devil himself.
The dragon, the ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan... (Rev. 20:2).
Adam and Eve
The crown of creation is made in the image of God.
The issue of trust. They didn’t trust God. They thought they could make this decision without it affecting their relationship with God. In fact, they believed the serpent that they would be able to become like God in knowing good from evil. Instead of relying on God to define good from evil, Adam and Eve put themselves in the place of God to define it for themselves and apart from relationship with God. The umbrella term the bible uses to describe going against God’s ways and truth is SIN. Sin is defined as disobedience, lack of trust. This separated them from God.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve did not recognize the deception they were falling into when this creature said to the woman: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but 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.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths (Gen 3:2-7).
Separated from God
The fundamental issue is that we think we know better than God, which causes us to reject his design and walk in our own direction. When humanity was separated from God, it caused enormous pain to the heart of God. We looked at God and said, “I don’t want you.” We cannot fully comprehend the effects of the choice that Adam and Eve made. The devastation of sin is only fully understood when contrasted to the perfection of the garden and to the unhindered relationship Adam and Eve experienced with God in Eden. Sin caused a painful break in relationship, which is similar to a breach experienced among close companions. The tearing between God and man was beyond comprehensive. The resulting consequences devastated creation. Death, decay, pain, and sicknesses became part of the human experience even though it was not part of God’s original design in Eden. All of creation has been affected by sin and the eternal separation between God and man.
We don’t fully realize how far we fell from glory.
It is very important that we hold the two paradigms in constant tension with one another. One paradigm is the issue of sin and the depravity of the human heart. The other side of the coin is the incredible kindness and overwhelming mercy of God and his great power to deliver us from our sin. We often hear of the power of God to deliver us from our sins, which is very good and true, but we cannot experience the depth of his mercy unless we understand what he is delivering us from. The glory of God’s power is shown when we truly understand the true condition of the human spirit and how far we fell.
The apostle Paul said he was chief among sinners (1 Tim. 1:15). Although he had committed terrible acts against the church prior to his salvation, the primary reason I believe Paul was able to make this statement is because he had the greatest revelation of his need for salvation and for mercy. All have fallen from the glory of God; therefore, one person’s sin is not greater than another person’s sin, rather the distinction is in understanding how far we fell from glory (Rom 3:23).
In fact, Adam and Eve’s sin was underwhelming at a casual glance. They ate a piece of fruit that God had commanded them not to eat. Yet, when we take a closer look, the magnitude of this singular act is revealed, and the lasting devastation of their actions is evident on creation. As sin entered into the world, death and darkness took hold of the created order, and this seemingly insignificant act allowed sin to enter into the generational lines of humanity from this point forward. Humanity by itself has been unable to birth life into the world apart from God, everyone born has been born into sin. Yet those who are born of God have been born into life.
Paul’s response stands in contrast to the heart posture of the Pharisees who rejected the idea that they needed a savior to deliver them from their sin. They were righteous in their own eyes.
The appropriate response to sin
is to take responsibility for our actions
He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Gen 3:11-13)
When God confronted Adam and Eve with their sin, both responded by shifting blame to another one. Instead of taking responsibility for their own actions, they blamed their circumstances, the devil, and the people in their life. However, the appropriate response that the Lord was after was for Adam and Eve to both take responsibility for their sin.
Similarly, the Lord holds each person personally accountable for the condition and state of our own hearts. When we stand before the Lord one day, we will not be able to shift blame to our circumstances or to the people in our lives or even to the devil but he will ask us “How did you live your life?”
God has a plan for redemption.
The good news of the gospel is that the Lord was not derailed in his plan for redemption because of humanity’s failures or by their sin. He was not caught off-guard. God had a plan to redeem and restore humanity back to their original position of honor as his family, his bride, and the place in whom he will dwell. In other words, no one can rob God of his purpose for creating us all. He will woo us and conquer us with love. The Lord is confident of his ability to orchestrate all of human history towards his ultimate purpose of reestablishing his dwelling place on earth just as it was in Eden.
Immediately following the breach of trust and the cosmic betrayal, the greatest injustice of all, the Lord gives Eve a promise of hope and redemption when he said, “You will bear a son who will crush the head of the serpent” (Gen 3:15). All is not lost.
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 (Gen 3:15.)
When Adam and Eve received this promise, they did not receive all of the details as to how the promise would unfold. But, as we will find, God continues to bring greater clarity to his plan for redemption throughout the story. All creation groans for the sons of God to arise.
For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Rom. 8:19-22).
Spiritual Warfare
The solution to the break in relationship is a Promised Child. Although Adam and Eve do not receive the full picture of God’s plan for redemption in entirety right at this point in the narrative, they knew a child would be born who would crush the head of the serpent and restore what had been lost. After the fall, humanity entered into a season of war that gave the serpent a foothold to torment us. Because of our choice to agree with Satan, he now has the power to oppress us with all sorts of evil and darkness.
CONCLUSION
Our pain has now become part of the normal human experience. In the midst of pain, we are faced with answering the challenging question of “Who is God?” Will we trust God and trust that his intentions are good or will we choose to believe the serpent’s lie and go our own way? In the next article, I will introduce Abraham, an incredibly important figure in the plan of God, who believed God in spite of obstacles and the unlikeliness of promises being fulfilled. In the unknown of what lied ahead, he chose to believe in God.
