In yesterday’s post I challenged you to look for beauty in your world. And I also challenged you to impart some beauty and creativity into the world. But it doesn’t take much looking around to notice that not all of our world is beautiful. There is a lot of pain and suffering and heartache in our world, too. If God created our world as good and beautiful, how did all this suffering enter into it?
I’ve heard some pretty interesting answers to this question over the years. But I will show you what the Bible says about this in Genesis 2.
Genesis 2:15-17 (NIV)
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 from it you will certainly die.”
God created Adam and Eve with the ability to choose. They could chose to obey God or not. They could chose to worship Him or not. The only way they could offer authentic worship or love was if they were free to chose to do so. So God gave them the choice.
So far they had no reason to doubt God’s goodness or truthfulness. Everything they saw in their new world spoke of a good God. Until one day a voice of doubt spoke to them.
Genesis 3:1-5 (NIV)
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The serpent, who is later identified as Satan, plants seeds of doubt about God’s goodness into Eve’s mind. “God’s withholding something good from you,” he tells her. “He just doesn’t want you to be like Him. You want to be a god, don’t you? Go ahead. Take it. Eat it.” He lies and says there will be no consequences, just good, positive results from this indulgence. And Eve makes her choice.
Genesis 3:6 (NIV)
“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.”
And so they made their choice. And sin entered into our world. This is called the Fall of Man. And contrary to what the serpent said, there were indeed consequences. You can read about them in Genesis chapter 3, where God pronounces the judgements on the serpent and on Adam and on Eve.
Much of them you know. There would be pain in childbirth. Husbands and wives would have friction in their relationships (v.16). The beautiful world that God created would now experience decay and death. Adam’s work and occupation would now be difficult and laborious (V.17-19). And the first death occurred when, instead of Adam and Eve dying for their sin, an animal is slain and it’s skin covers their shame (v. 21).
But, before God pronounces any of these judgements on Adam and Eve, He curses the serpent.
Genesis 3:15 (NIV)
And I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
The offspring of the woman referred to here is Jesus Christ Himself, born of a woman. This offspring, Jesus, would be in a great struggle with Satan one day. Though Satan would wound Him in a non-fatal way, Jesus would have the victory by defeating Satan and death itself. This is the first prophecy of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
What I find so remarkable here is that, before any judgements are proclaimed over Adam and Eve, God defines what the Fall of Man will mean to Himself. From the very first sin of history, God determined that He would pay the price for sin. He will defeat the foe, Satan. And He will substitute His own life for sinful man’s. Because He is life and no sin is in Him, He will overcome death and have the victory.
His plan is a merciful and loving plan of Redemption and Restoration. It will come at great cost to Himself. And so was set in motion the great mystery that the Creator would become the Savior of His creation!
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