Original sin, our sin. pass the buck or take responsibility.

Genesis 3-4:26

The Fall of Man

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” ² The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” ⁴ The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! ⁵ For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ⁶ When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

⁸ They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰ He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” ¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” ¹⁴ The Lord God said to the serpent,

¹⁷ Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

²⁰ Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. ²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— ²³ therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴ So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

This text, from today's reading in the One Year Bible, is a very familiar account of the fall of man. It is foundational for us to believe and understand what happened in this account, because as I mentioned yesterday the rest of the Bible and all of history is really about God's plan and provision to restore what was lost through Adam and Eve's disobedience, the redemption of man and the restoration of creation.

What I want to focus on today are a few things we can see from this text that are repeated tendencies, either human tendencies toward temptation, sin and guilt or satan's tendencies of deception. We see that the temptation begins with a conversation and a question in particular. This is similar to the temptations we face regularly. We will not be tempted in the things in which we are well grounded in truth. If however, satan can cause us to question God's word, twisting the words to change the meaning or if satan can find areas in our lives about which we are unsure of God's word on the matter we are open to temptation in these things. We need to recognize that temptation and sin are not the same. We all are tempted in many things throughout each day. The battlefield for this temptation begins in our  minds, in our thoughts. 2 Corithians 10:5 offers this instruction regarding this battle in our minds.

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

Jesus Himself was tempted. His response to the temptation of satan was to answer with the truth of God's word. The earlier in the temptation process that we respond to the temptation with truth, the less effect there will be in and on our lives. Satan will constantly test and try us, looking for areas where we are vulnerable. The truth of God's word is our best defense and sure way out.

In verses 8 and 9 we see another human tendency displayed. Our human tendency to guilt is to try to hide from God. We tend to keep our sin in darkness. While we may hide our sin from people for a time, there is no hiding from God. Just as He did with Adam and Eve in the garden, God continues to persue a relationship with us. The seperation caused by sin comes from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Sin opens our eyes to the evil in us and we tend to run from God. In Christ Jesus we have complete forgiveness for our sin.

Romans 8:1 says: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 

1 John 1:9 says:  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Our response then when we feel the guilt that comes from the knowledge of the evil that has affected us through sin should be to run to God rather than hide from Him. There is no condemnation, just cleansing when we come to the presence of God in Christ.

The final tendency we see in this text is in the following verses. ¹¹ And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” ¹² The man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.” ¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”  There is a natural and normal tendency to shift blame rather than accept responsibilty. This human tendency is played on,  magnified, manipulated and used by pyschologists and counselors in most non-Christian forums today. Rather than acknowledging and taking responsibility for our actions and their consequences, people today are encouraged to find someone or something else to blame. Evil and amoral actions are justified in psychology  by placing responsibility on some third party or uncontrollable event. Modern psychology tends to justify every action based on this same tendency we see in the garden. The truth is that regardless of what happened to us previously at the hands of others or by "fate", we need to take responsibility for our own actions. Many times the only way we can successfully achieve that is through the act of forgiving those who have hurt us. We can choose to hold onto those hurts and continue to live with them and all the consequences of the improper decisions we make, or we can choose to take responsibility for our actions, forgive the hurts and move forward into what God has for us. If we will do that we will see the truth of Romans 8:28-29 played out in our lives.

²⁸ And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;   

God did not cause the things that have hurt us deeply. But if we will forgive, as Christ forgave even on the cross, when He said of His accusers, mockers and crucifiers,  “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing"(Luke 23:34), if we will fogive, God will cause even those things to work together, with His love for us and His redemption and restoration of us. We will become more like Christ. 

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit thank You that as Your word says You never change. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. I can count on you to be faithful to Your promises and Your response when I come to You. Thank You that while You never change, Your mercies are new every morning. That as I commit and submit to You and Your will, You will bring about Your plans and Your will for my life. Thank You for the redemption and restoration of the cross.    Amen