Monday, March 17, 2008

Adam and Chelle' (Bump)

I was looking through previous posts this morning and came across this one. I deemed it Bump-worthy (particularly after Saturday's silly post) so I'm pushing it back to the top. Enjoy.

Sinless, perfect, in His image... God created man. Adam and Eve- and put them in paradise. The Garden of Eden. He then told them one thing... gave them one guideline...

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16, 17, NIV).

The serpent enticed Eve, who pursuaded Adam who ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Immediately they were separated from God. Immediately they were made aware of themselves. Immediately the perfect union with their creator was severed.

When God comes to the Garden they hide. They are more aware of their nakedness than the intimacy and presence of the Lord. God asks them if they ate from the tree... Adam blames Eve- Eve blames the serpent.

Because of their disobedience- holiness, innocence, union with God were lost... suffering and death were gained. AUTONOMY became a priority. When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he clearly stated his LACK of a need for God and His provisions. BLAME became a necessity. Adam pushing responsibility to Eve and Eve diverting attention to the serpent. SELF-AWARENESS took precidence over intimacy with God. They hid from God as he entered the garden- covering themselves because they were aware of their nakedness.

Adam and Eve were accountable to the Lord for choosing to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil... just as we today are accountable for choosing things not of the Lord (Rom. 3:22–25). Because God is holy and just- all sin requires punishment. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ahhh for the gift of God. His son.

So... here's the thing. Pastor Jay referenced Adam and Eve eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and how that very moment seperates us all from union with Him... and for a split second- an arrogance, ignorance, sweeps over me. WHY am I being punished for something someone else did? Why am I even in a position by where I have to accept Christ in the first place? Did I eat from the tree? Did I disobey God? Did I listen to the serpent?

And then it hit me. YES!!! Yes, Yes, and Yes. If they didn't... I CERTAINLY WOULD HAVE. And on a regular basis... I do! As Paul says, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. . . . I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. . . . For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do." Romans 7:15, 18b & 19 For Pete's sake... did I explain how they ATE from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The truth of the matter is that I have an OK shot at resisting evil in forms of fornication, drunkenness, theft, etc... but EATING... cast me out of the garden now. I'll be the first to admit that were I to have been in that garden... your Bible would read- Adam and Chelle'.

8 comments:

Rebekah said...

As I read your post {...why am I being punished for something someone else did...} I thought of my own little life. I had an incident last year where my name got dumped in the mud and I didn't even do anything. I was very upset over the whole thing and my reaction was the same as yours, "I was hurt for something I had nothing to do with"

As I wallowed in my self-pity one night I was smacked in the face with "Jesus Christ took a huge amount of abuse, humiliation and even death... And he was absolutly blamless" This realization put a new perspective on my petty issues.

Mari said...

Good post Chelle'. I have thought in the past that it isn't fair that we are all punished for Adam and Eve's sin, but you are so right. I would have done it to - and I continue to do wrong. Thanks for a great reminder!

Beth Cotell said...

Great post Chelle! Definitely bump worthy!

Anonymous said...

Chelle,
Your website is so good. Love the music that is ALWAYS there the moment I tune in. It just sets the tone and sweeps me in. I enjoy all your posts. I prayed for you recently in regards to your health issues. I don't know how you find the time to keep this site current and so enjoyable.
God Bless You.

Joanne@ Blessed... said...

Chelle,

Double bump worthy!

I loved this post Chelle....

The one part of the story of Adam and Eve that always touches my heart is when God sends them out of the garden and posts the guard at the entrance so they cannot come back in. I always thought that seemed so harsh, so sad. Then I heard a teaching once that shared, one of the reasons that Adam and Eve were banished was that if while now in their sin, they ate of the tree of eternal life, they would forever be in their sin. No hope of redemption. God sent them out so that there was hope in saving them.

I just loved that.

Love you! Joanne

A Stone Gatherer said...

Ouch, the truth does hurt doesn't it!!! Thanks for reminding me that it wasn't all about their sin, but my as well!

Unknown said...

Another guilty one here!!! Such a good bump worthy post, especially now at Easter time..Thank you Chelle

Christy said...

I'm behind on your, so sorry, but you know so well how busy life gets! This is a GREAT post, humbling.

God Bless