As many of us begin to think about Valentine’s Day and our hearts turn toward the idea of “love,” I wanted to present a series of five articles spotlighting the almost unimaginable love that God has poured out on you. This is the second article in that series.
After God wrought Adam and Eve, everything in creation was very good. We know this because God pronounced it so (Genesis 1:31). Our first parents were busily engaged in taking care of God’s creation, yet taking time to walk with Him in the cool of the day.
We saw in the previous article that God gave Adam a Cultural Mandate; that mandate contained only one prohibition. Let’s take a look:
The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
(Genesis 2:15-17)
Man had authority and dominion over all things in the Garden . . . except God. That was the whole point of this one prohibition. There was nothing “bad” or wrong with the tree itself; the tree and its fruit were part of God’s good creation and had been pronounced “good” by God. The tree was simply a test. In essence, God was saying, “You can come this far, but no farther.”
Would Adam and Eve trust God? Would they submit to His ultimate authority? The moment of testing came, and . . .
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
(Genesis 3:6-10)
I remember Dr. Sproul telling us in seminary, “The word ‘fall’ is one way to describe what happened in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve disobeyed God. But I think a better word is PLUNGE!” I agree. Think about going from walking with God in the cool of the day to hiding from Him in the brush. Think about a wonderful relationship between God and man, one marked by love and trust, now replaced by fear. “Plunge” really does seem like a much better word to describe the fall, don’t you think?
But notice what is unfolding in this narrative. God came after those two rebels who were running away from Him. God’s love SOUGHT Adam and Eve. He refused to leave them in their shame and their sin.
Think about this for a moment: the Creator sought out the creature, two sinners who had just chosen to disobey God and follow the way of the serpent. And yet in spite of their awful revolt, God made a promise that will lead us to the next aspect of His love: CAUGHT!
More on Friday.
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 