Last weeks blog dealt with the forming of man from God's own image and likeness and this week's lesson focuses on man's sin. Pushing forward in time, we find man and woman are taken in sin from the temptation by the serpent. The serpent is that old snake Satan and the human race fell prey to his deceitfulness. In the King James Bible in chapter three (3), we find God's judgment, punishment, and expelling of man & woman from the garden of Eden.
13 And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living (NJKV, Gen. 3).
God is a just, kind and righteous LORD and sin always brings judgment. Sin is what causes issues from the heart. Adam and Eve were tempted in the mind and sinned against God in the heart. The mind in temptation signals the heart into the deceit and then the body is on display of the sin commited. No sin can be hidden and God saw right to the heart of Adam and Eve's sin and judged them beacuse of their disobedience. What follows judgment is the consequences for the actions of sin and God dealt harshly with all involved in sin that day. The serpent's judgment existed before the fall of man and God reminded Satan through Eve's curse. The general revelation was that the woman's seed would bruise Satan's head in the future. That day came when Jesus was born, ministered, was crusified, died and rose from the grave. On that day, Satan's head was bruised and Jesus heel bruised from the weight of his assault. There is no doubt in my mind that God is the authority who rendered punishment justly. The final verses from the Bible we find God expelling man and woman from Eden.
21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (NJKV, Gen. 3).
Some would say, "why do bad things happen to good people", but we should ask ourselves "why do good things happen to bad people?" God provided a way to cover for sin, when He sacrifced and animal and gave covering to Adam and Eve through a blood sacrifice. From that point of their expulsion, Adam knew that a blood sacrfice was required to cover their sin. This sacrificial act occurred until Jesus Christ came and offered himself as the last blood sacrifice, for all mankinds sin. Sinners can be forgiving through the righteous covering that Jesus Christ freely gives when a sinner believes in what he did on the cross and by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior of their life. My final thought is "obedience is better than sacrifice." "Receive Jesus and Live."
Cited Work
NJKV. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
