Back to our Beginnings

Well, it's certainly been a while since anyone has posted on the blog, but I kinda want to get back into the swing of things... If college apps. and school work allow me. :) But right now I have a few spare minutes, so here it goes...

I started thinking about the beginnings of mankind, our creation, time with God and fall, and decided I wanted to revisit them. So I read Genesis chapter 2 and 3 and am here to write about some of the things I found interesting:

God has always wanted to be in realationship with us. Unlike the other gods of history, like from Greece, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and other places, God's will and intention for humans has always been to have life, eternal life, not to be mortal and controled by death. This intention is shown as Adam and Eve had the freedom to eat from the Tree of Life (vs. 16). God also physically walked in Eden (vs. 8) which shows that the humans were used to being in close contact with them. The truth is that God does not desire for there to be a gap between Him and mankind, unlike what the worldly view of God says to be the case. He gave us the opprotunity right from the beginning to have a relationship with Him. This idea segways into the part where Adam and Eve no longer have access to the Tree of Life. Yes, it is God's decision to kick them out of the Garden, but it was of their doing. Ultimatly, Eve and Adam desired to be independent of God, not relying on Him but to be "like Him," as Satan tells them will happen (vs. 5). The only problem with the logic of Satan is that they were already "like God," as they were blameless and were God's friends. How could they ever have become more like God? However, Adam and Eve (just like the rest of mankind afterwards) decide to believe the words of the snake rather than God, which at that point it should have been obvious who to believe. A snake or God? Hmm... I wonder... God, obviously, and they could have, at any time, realized this and stopped themselves from disbelief and disobeying. So when God sends them from Eden, in effect sending them from His presence and from eternal life, this seperation was something that had already happened within their hearts. They no longer wanted to be close to God, as can be seen when they hide from Him (vs. 8). As a result, God's decision to send them from Himself is in a way granting their wishes, NOT His own desires; they could then be independent of God and did not have to be constantly reminded of their fall by being in His presense. But God has always continued to desire that we be close to Him and does not want seperation from Him to be brought upon any man or woman. However, since He is just and holy He cannot be near sinfulness.

There is another interesting part of chapert 3 where it talks about Adam and Eve trying to make cloths for themselves out of fig leaves (vs. 7). This action gives insight into human nature. When we are ashamed of ourselves, we try to hide the source of our shame from other humans and from God. While other people might be fooled by these attempts, God can see through them to our inmost self. He sees and understands the sources of our shame and only God can cover us so that we are eternally free from guilt. In terms of Eve and Adam, God helps them out in covering their shame: He "made garments of skin for Adam and his wife to wear and clothed them" (vs. 21). These cloths would have been a lot more effective than fig leaves. What can be drawn from this verse is that God, being full of grace, wants to provide for us even when we are far from Him; God still loves us and cares about us.

God proves His continued love for mankind throughout history, as He time and time again trys to draw near to us. Although many times God is met with falling away and disobedieance, He still perseveres to reach out to us. Ultimately, Jesus comeing to earth and taking responsibility for the consequences of our sin, thus offering us the Tree of Life, have reversed the effects of the fall. Jesus provides everyone and anyone with the life and freedom that Adam and Eve chose to take away from humans. We can be confident in this: that we do not have to suffer the consequences of the fall of mankind, but instead can have faith in Jesus and live.