28. April 2011 by admin.

See Genesis 3:1-7

There are many questions and doctrines that can be seen in the Genesis account of the Fall.  One question that many ask is “Why did God allow it?”  Why not just make man and woman in such a state that they were not able to sin.  It is not the purpose of this blog to delve into that but I will quote Joe Morecraft “Adam and Eve were created perfectly holy yet capable of choosing evil. (Joseph C. Morecraft, p. 652)”  “The fall was included in God’s plan so that we would gain far more in Christ than we ever lost in Adam. (p. 651)” See Romans 5:17, 20.  I will just leave it with the fact that it was in God’s perfect will, and that we have a more secure salvation in Christ than we would ever have had in Adam.

Satan used the disguise of a serpent to approach Eve and raise questions in her mind about God that would eventually lead her to disobedience. It is not totally clear in the Genesis account whether Eve was actually with Adam when God gave him the command (2:16, 17), but she was aware of the consequences of disobedience, “You will die.” 

Satan subtly raised doubts in Eve’s mind “you surely will not die!”  He made it seem like God did not want what was best for them because He was withholding the means to be like God.  “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. (v5)” He got Eve to use her own reason to prove or disprove God’s intent, “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delight to the eyes.” She turned to her own empirical reason to evaluate and weigh the pros and cons of the command.  Rather than obeying God’s instructions and rejecting Satan’s suggestions to question and doubt, she listened to his tempting words, and she evaluated God’s command in light of them.  She looks at the tree and likes what she sees and takes that fatal step of disobedience “she took from its fruit and ate”.

Is this not the danger women face today (not just women but all of mankind fits here as well) to try and make decisions and judgments on our own without first seeking God’s word and what He has said? We look to other sources for advice and counsel, when the word of God is right there for us to consult and obey.  I wonder if the act of Eve’s rebellion was not only the actual eating of the fruit, but also the questioning of God’s ordained authority over her.  After all, she was created to be a helper for Adam, and placed under his authority.  But in this instance she is stepping out on her own and making a dreadful decision that would doom her and all mankind when Adam ate as well.  His guilt spread to the entire human race because the Bible says that he was the representative head (Romans 5:12-14).

The last part of that verse raises the age old question of where was Adam during this entire exchange?  “And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.”   Was he right there with her and did not step in to remind her of God’s law?  Or was he maybe some distance away, but close enough she could offer him the fruit.  I don’t know, but what is clear is that he did eat and with their act of rebellion against God all of creation suffers.  Instead of being the God honoring stewards of a perfect world God created, Adam’s action plunged all of creation into sin and misery. Consequently all of creation yearns for redemption.

Several questions come to my mind as I meditate on these few passages.  Do I look to God first before I make decisions?  Or do I plunge ahead on my own reasoning and later beg Him to get me out of the mess I created?  Why don’t we spend as much time in reading and meditating on the Word of God as we do in other pursuits?  If we don’t stay close to God’s standard, are we not opening ourselves up to be tempted as Eve.

Do we look to our spouse as our spiritual head?  Wow, that is a big one, after all, in today’s world don’t we hear all the time about how our religious beliefs are personal?  But in the perfect order God created, man was the spiritual head and woman was his support and help meet.  Do we seek to be the wife God ordained us to be? Or do we seek our own pleasures and pursuits?  I do believe we need to remember what happened to Eve when she listened to other voices rather than her God.

Next we will see the consequences of the fall, immediate and long range for Adam and Eve and for all of mankind.

 Cited:

Joseph C. Morecraft, III. (2009). Authentic Christianity (Vol. 1). Powder Springs, GA: The American Vision, Inc.

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9. April 2011 by admin.

Genesis 2:18 – 25:  ¹⁸Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”  ¹⁹ Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name.  ²⁰The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.  ²¹So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place.  ²²The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.

 ²³The man said,
“This is now bone of my bones,
And flesh of my flesh;
She shall be called Woman,
Because she was taken out of Man.”

 ²⁴For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.  ²⁵And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

As we have already discussed, God had the creation of woman in His plan from the beginning (see blog on “Image of God”).  But why did He not just create man and woman at one time, both out of the ground?  I think it was to show woman’s dependency on man, not only as his helper, but as her head and leader.  Man was created first and given his marching orders, so to speak.  It is interesting that God created man and put him in the garden and told him he could eat of all, but one (see Vs 16 and 17).  Then he brings the beasts and birds to be named by man.  So man was already about his divinely appointed tasks, when God caused him to sleep and took a rib to create the helper “suitable” for him. 

When man first sees Eve, he has complete understanding of who she is and where she came from – “bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.”  She was united with man in physical nature as well as spiritual nature, equal if you like.  But she was given the place of being his helper and companion, so in the government of creation she is below Adam.  It has been said, there can only be one head, or you have a two headed monster.  The same could be said for mankind, there is to be one head, Adam (man).  But woman is a necessary support because Adam realized he was completed with Eve.

Adam recognized himself in his wife, Eve and Eve willingly submitted to her husband, Adam.  And the first marriage was performed.  Marriage is the most sacred union in human society, and the first given by God.  From strong marriages, strong families grow.  Strong families lead to strong communities, and on and on.  It is not the individual that makes society; it is the union between man and woman.  Without that union, man is alone.  Though his fellowship with God was not to be denied as sweet, but God realized that the perfect condition for man was in the married state.

Now, I fully understand that with the fall, this perfect state no longer exists, but it still is the way God ordained it.  One man with one woman, united by God working together to have dominion over the earth.  It is easy to see why Jesus speaks against divorce as an option (Matthew 9:8), because His desire for His body (the church) is to return to what God originally planned.  It is only through the strength and spirit of Christ that fallen man can achieve this.  For some more verses on the relationship of wives and husbands in the married state see: Ephesians 5:22-29, Colossians 3:17-20, I Peter 3:1-3 and I Peter 3:6-7.  I will be going into these in more detail when I get to them.  But do take a few extra minutes to remind yourself of the order God has established between wives and husbands.

I will stop with this and look forward to comments and interaction with my readers.  Next week I will look at the temptation of Eve and the results of the fall that have affected women and marriage as well.

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