Your Faith, not Your Fruit

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Adam and Eve had everything they ever wanted in one place.

And they risked it all... They gave it all away... Over a piece of fruit.

It's crazy. From the beginning of time, the devil has really only had one trick up his sleeve. And we've been falling for it since Genesis. Think about it. He dumbed down their decision, and changed the focus of their instruction from God. But it wasn't really the fruit that caused them to lose paradise.

The devil would have us believe God doesn't want us to have "stuff." Or having boundaries comes from keeping us from "fun." This mentality is what keeps some Christians, and nonbelievers alike, from living their "best life" through Christ. It keeps some of us from tithing, because we believe God/the Church just wants our money. It keeps us from fellowship because, "if I can't interact with people the way I did when I was sinning, I'll just be alone." It keeps the nonbeliever a nonbeliever because, what's the point in becoming a Christian if they feel being a "good person" is "good enough."

Let's go back to Adam and Eve. Genesis 3 is where "the fall" happened; when Eve ate the fruit and Adam then joined her - to become the first act of sin. But Genesis 2, is where we need to receive context. God created paradise. Then He breathed into the dust and made Adam. After Adam was created, God immediately gave him instructions. "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 from it you will certainly die.” - Genesis 2:16-17. Right after this, God created a helpmate for Adam.

There are a few things here where we should focus first. God created Adam needing nothing. The paradise was already there. He could have easily created Adam first, then allowed him to watch the creation of the world around him. Maybe that order would have instilled appreciation in Adam; to watch the work of God in action. After this, Adam was seen to need company. God saw it "was not good" for Adam to be alone. But hold up.

God is God. Omnipotent. Omnipresent. Omniscient. That means he is all-powerful, every where at the same time, and all-knowing. Think about this. He saw Adam and thought, "This guy by himself is not good - alone. While simultaneously knowing the woman He was about to create was going to help this man sin. And still, He created Eve - knowing what was to come - and said "this is good."

Look at your life and think of the times God gave you something, knowing you would mess it up, and still He blessed you with it. This is not the point of my story, but God - isn't that amazing?!

Back to the point - God created Adam with the understanding that he could have anything around him except for one thing - to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That's it. Everything else was his, to later share with Eve - without boundaries or limitation. Just don't eat from that one tree. But... we know how that went. Don't we?

Some perceive the fault of the first sin, and attribute it to her being alone when the devil was speaking to her. Honestly, the Bible shows the serpent talking to Eve, but it does not specify that she was alone in every translation. It only shows that she was the one engaged vocally in the conversation. Even in the King James Version, I do not see her alone. As soon as she ate the fruit, Adam had some as well. Regardless of how you choose to see it, Eve was well-informed of what not to do. With all her (their) understanding, she still allowed herself to be tripped up by the context of God's Word.

"You won't die." Genesis 3:4. The serpent took the worst case scenario and minimized it. Which made the sin seem worth it. "You will be like God." If I may empathize with Eve for a second, this makes total sense! So, snake - you're telling me I won't die, and I'll be like my Creator?

Sign. Me. Up.

But herein lies the problem. Being "like" God. Know what God knows. Have His wisdom.

It all sounds good. But who really wants that? To know everything all at once, about everybody, around the world. True, in Genesis, this only applied to a population of two. But in today's world, we claim it as something we want. Christians complain to God about this all the time. We beg Him for "understanding" when the test only requires faith.

FAITH. (We'll get to this in few) :)

Adam and Eve were surrounded by everything they could ever want, in exchange for not touching one tree. God never told them "why." Only what would happen if they decided to do the opposite of what they were told. He didn't need to say "why." So a reason was not provided. But a "why" from the devil sufficed enough to sacrifice everything. Have you ever done this? Allowed the devil to give you a reason because you weren't satisfied with the mere instruction from God? You have! I have! It happens. But here's the thing.

We only need a "why" when we don't trust the "who."

It's that simple.

The devil will shape your sin from the cause of creating a necessity. A necessity driven from selfishness. He (the devil) knows when it comes down to it, and the right pressure is applied, we will chose loving ourselves before loving God.

Eve and Adam probably never even thought about wanting to be "like God" or knowing what He knows, until it was presented as a gain. They literally had no reason to need that type of knowledge. They weren't in competition with anyone. They weren't even in a world with other living beings. What point would it prove to know what God knows in a world where you 1 - already have everything you need supplied for you, and 2 - you already have a relationship with the one other person on the earth. This wasn't a situation of being in a desert and having no other food choices besides the one tree they couldn't touch. God already set them up for success and needing nothing.

SPOILER ALERT: God didn't want them to not eat the fruit from that tree because He gave them enough around them, that they shouldn't have wanted it anyway. They should have been okay with what they already had. Even more than that. Beyond having "other trees" they had a Sole Provider. They had a Proven Nurturer. God had provided so much to Adam and Eve they should have had the (ding. ding. ding. ding. ding. ding) THE FAITH that anything they wanted or needed would have been provided to them by God. The serpent knew this. The devil KNOWS God. Better than we do, to be honest! He is fully-aware that anything we need from God will only come by way of faith, by leaning on God.

But the devil created a need out of selfishness, putting a gap between what they could trust God for and what they wanted in the moment. And here's the kicker, the first thing they gained "knowledge" about was the very thing they hated about themselves. Genesis 2 ended with a powerful statement, that is often understated. Something beautiful and innocent became something awful and shameful, immediately. Adam and Even went from "And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed or embarrassed." (Genesis 2:25) to "they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings." (Genesis 3:6c-7). Something they were already living in, day in and day out - in the presence of God, became something they were humiliated by.

Funny thing is, they ate a piece of fruit "seeking the wisdom of God" and instantly started making dumb decisions. They started making clothing to hide what God had already seen since they were created. Then they hid from God. You know. God!!! The all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God. Not only did they hide from the Being who could see them (and is with them) no matter what, they told Him they were hiding.

What's the point in hiding, if you are going to make it clear that you are HIDING? (face palm)

We can laugh at this looking in Genesis, but we do this every time we sin. We sin from impatience, because we don't have the "time" to wait on God. We create/perpetuate generational curses because we would rather listen to a snake than our own Creator.

Who do we really think we are hiding from? Even more so, what are we hiding?

As a matter of fact. Let's rewind again. God created them, knowing they would sin and still called them "good"! And the funny thing is, He is still a forgiving God. I'll be honest, God handles this way better than I would have. After Adam and Eve gave their excuses, God allows them to blame the devil for their actions. He actually chastises the devil (Genesis 3:14-16).

But don't let this fool you, the devil didn't "make" them do anything!

Look at how great God gets after this....

He replaces the figs and leaves Adam and Eve made for themselves with better garments. "The Lord God made tunics of [animal] skins for Adam and his wife and clothed them." - Genesis 3:21. Come on somebody, we can all testify to this. We make a mess of something by our own decision to sin, and then God turns around and takes care of you better than you could have taken care of yourself?!

They were put out of paradise, removed from where they had it all. Genesis 3 ends with them being casted out of Eden and sent to "till and cultivate" (Genesis 3:23). Meaning, they were made to do for themselves what God was already doing for them. All because they allowed themselves to be tricked by a serpent who, like they became, was also cast from the presence of God.

"But did you die?" The sentence that started it all. No. They did not "die" but were separated from the hand of God.

Which is worse?