Some call it a fairy tale or a myth, but I believe it is a
true story of love, failure, and redemption.
It began in the cool of the day as God bent down and formed a man out of
the ground, and then made a wife for Adam out of his rib. Later he gave them responsibility for the
garden and one simple command. It wasn't
meant to be a setup for failure, but an opportunity for obedience. God wanted them to choose Him, but the sad
reality is that they chose something else.
The impact of their disobedience has been earth shattering; everything
has been impacted by it.
Loss of Innocence. In the beginning Adam and Eve were naked and
not ashamed, but that didn't last long.
Sin brought shame, guilt, and grief into their lives, not quite what the
serpent had promised them. Sin always
brings with it a higher price tag than we anticipate, and in this case it cost
them everything.
Loss of Intimacy with
God. Adam and Eve walked and talked
with God in the garden. They saw Him
face to face, but sin changed that. A
Holy God cannot allow mankind’s sin to be in His presence. It has been a barrier between us and our
creator ever since.
Pain in Childbirth. Enough said.
Conflict in Marriage. Eve was formed from the rib of her husband
signifying their unity. That was forever
changed by the choice of self over God.
From that point on their unity would be challenged by the desire to put
self first, and we still struggle with it today. Fights, affairs, and all the other struggles that couples face
share the common thread of selfishness, it is the biggest threat to unity that
a husband and wife will face.
The Ground is Cursed. It no longer produces food without
effort. Every time you fight to get
weeds out and struggle to get flowers or crops to grow it’s because of
sin. The ground is no longer our friend
and will fight against us to the very end.
Death. The final curse will one day claim us
all. This was the crux of the serpent’s
deception, “you will not surely die,” he told them. They bought the lie and we have all suffered
its effects. They did not die
immediately, but they did die and so will we.
It is the constant enemy who seeks to claim us all.
If things ended there it would be tragic, but the God of
love could not allow that to be the case.
In the midst of passing judgment He also tells of the coming hope. There would be One who would come to once and
for all break the curse of sin relieving us from all of these crippling consequences. In His death on the cross Jesus did
that. He set us free from all that
sprang from the serpent’s deception, even death. Three days later as He walked out of the tomb
He guaranteed that we are no longer bound by the curse. Faith in that breaks the curse and sets us
free. That my friend is the Good News.
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