In an earlier post we looked at the two kingdoms and the struggle between them that we as humans are caught up in. A common question people have when considering evil is, “If God is good, why does he allow evil to exist in the world?” That is a really good question. I believe we find the answer when we think about God’s decision about what kind of creatures he would make when he created us.
He could have created people who were unable to choose to do things against his instructions. There would be no sin or evil in the world because everyone would always be doing the right thing. Of course, since we wouldn’t have a choice in how we did things, we really wouldn’t be free and God really wouldn’t receive the glory that he receives when we freely choose to follow his instructions. In this scenario we would have basically been moral robots.
On the other hand, God could create people as free moral agents who actually had the capacity to choose whether to follow God’s instructions, or not. If we did follow him, he would be pleased and would receive the respect he deserves as our creator. However, if we decided to rebel against his instructions, we would dishonor him and ourselves and end up hurting each other. But in this scenario, as free moral agents, our obedience is a choice of our freedom and not programmed into us. True freedom, with the responsibility that accompanies it, gives true dignity to the creature.
So God created humans in his own image (Gen 1:26-27) and commissioned them to reign over or manage all of nature (Gen 1:26-30). Being created in God’s image is a big topic, but at the very least it means true freedom to choose what is best along with creativity and the ability to rule and accomplish many things for good.
In order for the man and woman to have the freedom to choose to obey him (or not obey him) he gave them one instruction:
The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:15–17 (NLT)
Everything was good in God’s creation. The man and the woman had fellowship with God until one very tragic day for all of us.
Genesis 3:1–7 (NLT): The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” 2 “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’ ” 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” 6 The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Notice how Satan, who appeared to the humans as a serpent, talks them into rebelling against God. I say he appeared to both of them because the text clearly says that even though Satan addressed the woman, the man was there the entire time (v.6).
First, he sows doubt about God’s instructions. “Did God really say . . .” He is always sowing doubt in our minds if God’s instructions really apply to us or to our situation. And we are very good at finding reasons why his instructions shouldn’t apply to us!
Second, Satan twists God’s instructions: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” See how he perverted the rule by saying God forbade them from eating from any of the trees in the garden. Satan is always telling us that God’s rules are unreasonable and should therefore be ignored. Have you ever thought God’s instructions about some activity were unreasonable?
Third, the devil denies that you will suffer any consequences of your actions and in fact, he tells you how wonderful things will be if you go ahead and choose what God’s directions forbid. Boy, I think we all can identify with this! The forbidden activity looks like so much fun and it would bring us excitement and happiness and it wouldn’t be THAT bad, - would it??
So we end up falling for the lies and almost immediately we regret our decision, but it’s too late.
We see the exact same thing play out as Adam and Eve fall for Satan’s lies, rebel against God and plunge us all into a world where evil is not only a possibility, but has become a malignant reality.
Evil entered our world that day. And we have been hurting ourselves and each other ever since.
Consequences of the plunge
Genesis 3:8–24 (NLT): When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Hiding from God. When Adam and Eve knew they were in trouble, they no longer looked forward to spending time with God in the cool evenings, but they hid from him. Our sin separates us from God.
(check out: Why Isn’t God More Obvious?)
Guilt and shame were felt for the first time. Guilt is knowing you have done wrong and shame is the awareness that you don’t measure up to the standard. When we break God’s instructions we are aware that we are exposed to God’s sight and we seek to hide our sin. We can hide it from others but we cannot hide it from God who sees our hearts.
We refuse to take responsibility for our failings. Let’s pause and consider this one for a moment:
Shifting the blame
the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
What did the man say? Did he accept the responsibility of his actions? Nope. He tried to shift the blame. “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” It wasn’t my fault! It was that woman’s fault. She gave me the fruit and I ate it. Notice the man also included God as partly responsible for his rebellion. “It was the woman you gave me. If you hadn’t given me that woman I wouldn’t be in trouble. See. It’s kinda your fault, God!
Doesn’t this sound just like us? It’s always somebody else’s fault when we mess up! And we are not even shy about blaming God for our failures. If he hadn’t put me in that situation I wouldn’t have done it!
So God turns to the woman: the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.” It’s not my fault! It’s that serpent! At least she stopped there and didn’t blame God. That serpent deceived me! He tricked me. I can’t be held accountable for doing what I knew was wrong when there is this deceiver going around tricking people. How many times have we said, “The devil made me do it?”
After all the attempts at shifting blame, Adam and Eve were unsuccessful and had to suffer the consequences of their rebellion:19 By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
That brings us back to the consequences we were listing before . Here is consequence number 4:
Death for all mankind entered the world. Adam and Eve died, and their children died (Able was murdered by his brother, Cain). Decay and death became our end.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Romans 5:12 (NLT)
Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment
20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
That is not the end of the story
Since that day God has been working to bring reconciliation to all of us who were separated from him by the plunge that Adam took. We are separated not only by Adam’s sin but also by the sins that we have chosen ourselves. He has been working to bring to us the gift of life with him in his kingdom along with the pardon of our rebellion!
But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:15–17 (NLT)
Do you remember in the Scriptures we read at Christmas, how the angel appeared to Joseph and said of Mary, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”(check out this link)