And Now the Drama Begins…

When our last meeting ended, we were left waiting, poised for the drama of the ages that was about to unfold before us.   Today, this is how we find the stage set before us:  the first Man and Woman have been created, they are living in a garden paradise which has been prepared especially for them, in an idyllic state of innocence, and they have been entrusted with a specific word of instruction from God concerning the tree that was growing in the center of their garden.

As we learned last time, Man was created for the express purpose of becoming a Son–a Child of God–however, before that could happen, he would have to be found righteous, or holy, just like God His Father. Of course, that means that before Man could attain righteousness in the eyes of God, he would have to be tested and maintain his innocence during that testing. In so doing, he would demonstrate that he could be trusted with the awesome responsibilities of Sonship, the chief of which is the carrying out the God’s Will on the earth.  And by trusting the God’s Word enough to obey it, he would prove that he was responsible enough to exercise that Word to overcome any future temptation presented to him by the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Let’s pause and consider the real situation here.  For the first Man and Woman, there were no parents, grandparents, in-laws, children, bosses, or co-workers; no government authorities, bureaucracies, taxes, traffic jams, or irritating friends or nosy neighbors to deal with or to blame.  They were living in ideal circumstances—in perfect health, the perfect home, the perfect neighborhood, and working at the perfect job—they wanted for nothing.  And best of all, they were living in the very presence of God, meeting and conversing with Him daily—Wow, what a treat that must have been!  Every physical, emotional, and spiritual need was being met.  There was nothing, absolutely nothing, hindering their relationship with God and with one another, until…

 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.   He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?'”  

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'”  

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die.  For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  

So 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 to bedesired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.  Genesis 3: 1-7 (ESV)

At this point, all action ceases for the moment so that we can analyze what has just happened in these few but epic moments in human history.  In case you missed it:

The Serpent (or as we are told in Revelation 20:2, “…that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan”) has come in the guise of a serpent and presented himself to the woman.

That is, the Tempter has come masquerading as a creature from the lowest level of authority in an effort to entice the one in authority over him to disobey the Word of God in order overthrow God’s established authority structure.

He does this by causing her to…

– doubt God’s Word…“Has God said…?”
– question God’s goodness…God is withholding important information from you…
– accept a lie for the truth…“You will not die…”…, and
– believe that they could become gods themselves through their own efforts…“You will be like God…”.

In this brief interchange, the Tempter has launched a full-scale attack on the woman’s body, soul, and spirit, and she didn’t even see it coming.  So…

…when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (body), and that it was a delight to the eyes (soul), and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (spirit), she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Please note the order here–the Animal goes to the Woman, the Woman goes to the Man, but the Man does not go to God.  Instead, he ignores the Word of God and acts in response to the circumstances at hand, according to his own reasoning and desires.  It’s at this moment…we hear the colossal cosmic cymbals crash!

For, in this moment, God’s established order has been turned upside down, Man’s spirit has died and with its death, sin, sickness, and physical death have gained entrance into the world. Man has lost his opportunity for Sonship with God, enslaved himself and all of his descendants to sin and Satan, and his right to rule over the earth has now been usurped by Satan.

What a cosmic catastrophe!  It is absolutely mind-boggling to think that the actions of just two people, living on such a small piece of real estate in some unidentified area of the world, could so radically alter their own destinies and the destinies of every single person who would ever live on this planet.  And yet, that is exactly what happened; and all because two people who had everything doubted God’s Word, questioned God’s goodness, exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and believed—and tried unsuccessfully—to become God through their own works.  Have you ever wondered if you were given the same set of circumstances, would you have done anything differently?   Have you ever wondered how different things would be today if only they had obeyed the Word of God—or considered how different things might be for us if only we would obey the God’s Word?  

 

 

 

“Word of God Speak” by Kutless