Focal Passages: Genesis
3:1-6, 16-19, 24; Romans 5:12-14
After the meal, Lance and my
husband Jack went upstairs to the computer. Before long, Lance reentered the
kitchen. Exhibiting disdain, he said, “I want you to know that when I have a
need, I look within myself! I need no one but myself!” With that, he left me
wondering what had inspired his rage.
Later, Jack explained:
“Lance went online to show me photographs of his art show. I expressed
admiration and added, ‘Lance, I’m sure you thank God for the way He’s gifted
you.’ Suddenly, he stiffened, and raced downstairs to confront you.”
Studying Genesis 3, I recall
how Lance behaved as though he were his own god, and how Eve believed Satan’s
lie — that eating the forbidden fruit was no big deal; on the contrary, she
would be wise like God (v. 4).
But by eating from the tree,
Eve turned God’s creation, including endless life, upside down, and with sin
came mortality and death. Genesis 3 is hauntingly familiar.
The passage doesn’t read
right except in first person. Adam’s story is my story.
Yes, Adam poisoned the
headwaters, but the stream has touched the shores of my life.
Without Genesis 3, the rest
of the Bible cannot be understood, for there we find the elements of sin as we
all experience them.
As Satan approaches Eve,
we’re struck by his manner. He sounds pious and quotes scripture. Without
contradicting God, he only raises a question: “Did God really say, ‘You can’t
eat the fruit from the trees in the garden?’”
At first, Eve leaps to God’s
defense. Considering God’s wondrous provision — the sky, sun, plants, animals —
how marvelous it is! She answers, “We may eat the fruit of the trees in the
garden. But concerning the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God
said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’”
“No!
You will not die,” the serpent said. “Instead, God knows that when you eat it
your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Eve is thrown off balance.
She no longer focuses on God’s provision, but on the one thing denied her.
Satan tempts her through her
physical senses. She looks at the fruit (sight), she listens to Satan (sound),
she takes the fruit (touch), and she eats (smell and taste). And in that moment
sin is born, and mankind needs a Savior. Because sin IS a big deal.