08.25
God created the world and humans and set it up to be a good place with good people. Then it went to the crappe r. Well, maybe not all, but a lot of it. How? God had left Adam and Eve with one clear instruction. The thing is, we normally think of God’s rules as fun-killers when in fact, they’re things that are good for us. Then the devil came and they broke that rule. They disobeyed God.
I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an apple that they ate as we see in so many pictures, but I do have other questions about this time. How old were Adam and Eve? 5? 55? Did the devil look like a snake or a lizard? Why didn’t Eve think it strange that a serpent was talking? Did all the animals talk? Was that part of the temptation, that if a serpent talks, he couldn’t be wrong, right? But anyway, I digress.
The consequences of what happened set the stage for everyone on, including us. We see the effects of this disobedience [sin] in ourselves and the world around us. The thing is, God isn’t leaving it – or us – to suck it up and live through it. In the book of Genesis, chapter 3, verse 15, God says that Jesus wins. See, the solution for sin isn’t ignoring it, or trying to pretend it doesn’t exist, or saying that’s not really bad at all, or embracing it, or doing enough good to cover it up. The solution is forgiveness. It’s acknowledging the reality of it, but then also having it not count against us. When Jesus died, and Jesus was in effect even from the beginning of humanity’s sin, God put the punishment for our sins on him. If we believe this, then our sins do not count against us. We have forgiveness and have a new life, one in obedience to God, doing our best to follow his rules, those things that are good for us.
The devil tricked Eve into believing that what was bad was good. Adam also fell for it and was God said was good, they thought of it as bad. Let’s not all into the same trap. Jesus is good and a life following him, cuz he followed God perfectly, is good. Won’t you follow?
