The Creation of Grace

I’ve always struggled with the story of Adam and Eve. When I would read it, I could never quite wrap my mind around why Eve would listen to the enemy, why God cast them out of the Garden and why they weren’t allowed to eat the forbidden fruit. My whole life I perceived the original sin of man as a story of failure, but now I realize it’s the story of when grace was born.

Until the other day I disregarded the story of Adam and Eve because I couldn’t ever really connect with it like I do with the people and stories of Jesus in the New Testament. But after what god revealed to me through the living word, Genesis and the creation of man is now one of my favorites in the bible. The message, seemingly so simple at first, spoke volumes to me about how the enemy entangles us into sin and lies. The first ever sin is not some archaic wives tale that simply teaches Christians “what not to do”, but it reveals how easy it is to give audience to the enemies’ lies, how destructive abundant pride is, and how even when we completely defy God, He still finds a way to care for and protect us out of unfailing love. Hence the creation of grace.

Before Eve took the fruit from the tree of knowledge, life for the first man and woman was simple. Trust god, obey god, enjoy the plentiful blessings he has provided, and don’t eat from the tree of knowledge. Literally that was God’s only rule. He told them “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden-except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die”.

Once again this is another part of the story I always kind of glossed over.

“Yah yeah…don’t eat the fruit…because god said…oh look she ate the fruit…dang girl why didn’t you listen…the end”

I never understood WHY they weren’t allowed to eat from that tree. Then I realized that before Eve took that bite, her and her husband had no concept of evil. They only knew good. No, not meaning that they were just optimists and tried to look on the bright side…they literally had no definition for evil because that didn’t exist to them yet. Hence why eating the fruit that opened their eyes to what evil made them “like God, knowing both good and evil” (Genesis 3:4). God wanted to shield them from evil. He only wanted them to experience love, peace, and pure joy. THAT’S why He warned them from eating the fruit of the tree. Not Because He is a vindictive, egotistical, and power hungry ruler who gets a kick out of telling them what they cant have, but because His priority was to protect and love his amazing creation.

So now it seems simple right? Okay well since this is for their own good, there’s no way that they could possibly doubt God and His plan for their best interest? Right?

Yeah no.

But Eve’s sin wasn’t that simple either. She didn’t decide to eat the fruit out of direct defiance towards God. Her intentions weren’t malicious or cunning, they were manipulated by the enemy.

The enemy got Eve to sin by questioning why god forbid the fruit of the tree of knowledge. He got her to doubt God’s true intentions even though god had already made them known to her. He made her think it was her idea. He didn’t say “Hey Eve, you should eat that piece of fruit even though you know it’s wrong and bad, do it anyways”.

Because guess what…when the enemy first asked Eve “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the tress in the garden?”

Eve obediently and confidently responded with the truth “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden! It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die”’

So in response the serpent told her “You won’t die! God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

Yes.

When they ate the fruit, their eyes opened, and they knew good and evil… But guess what came of it? Shame, isolation, loneliness, and sin.

See how the enemy takes God’s beautiful, perfect, and resolute truth, and only slightly alters it or presents it to you in a different package so it’s still attractive enough to tell ourselves its acceptable but in the process we’re catering to our own destruction?

Eve didn’t hesitate in telling the serpent the truth when she blindly trusted God! She knew that God was protecting her and Adam from the tree because he told them it would harm them. She knew God’s truths, but because she gave an audience to the enemy’s lies cloaked as authentic information and justification, she committed the first sin.

The enemy doesn’t give disclaimers when he’s luring you into his trap. It’s not going to FEEL bad. Its not going to FEEL scary. More than likely its going to feel good. But that’s why god tells us not to rely on our feelings but rather rely on his truths because in this world of messy and confusing right or wrong, it’s hard to discern what is Godly when we listen to our flesh.

Temporary strength and discernment for enduring peace is well worth it. That’s what he’s counting on. He’s relying that it’s going to be so tempting in that moment that you “don’t think…just do”. Because that’s all he needs. He only needs you long enough to get you to fall because he knows his temptations won’t last as long as God’s enduring peace. And then once he’s done with you and he’s won, he leaves you with loneliness, shame, and guilt.

After the enemy made her question God’s warning of the fruit, it immediately says

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and it’s fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.” Genesis 3:6

Do you notice how as Eve is justifying in her mind why she should eat the fruit (Because it was beautiful and delicious and she wanted it’s wisdom…all superficial and materialistic reasons)…she didn’t consider God’s reason WHY NOT. She ignored God’s voice completely in the pursuit of what she wanted most in that moment. And if she would have considered what God’s voice would have said, she would have immediately remembered His warnings.

How often do WE do that…How often do we justify our own actions, choices, and decisions because we know that God wouldn’t approve. But we WANT it. So we justify it so we can feel somewhat satisfactory about being on a middle ground of God’s approval and our flesh’s approval.

But as we know this story’s plot, Adam and Eve were only met with the consequences of that knowledge. Eve pursed this knowledge out of this lie that the devil told her that if she knew both good and evil, her life would be enhanced. But instead, their first experience with true knowledge was one of pure shame.

“At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.” Genesis 3:7

In a single moment, Adam and Eve went from being incapable of experiencing any type of evil within themselves to feeling so vulnerable, exposed, and embarrassed. Whereas before, their nakedness wasn’t even mentionable because it wasn’t absurd or shameful for them. It was normal, it was beautiful, it was God. And the second that evil came into the picture they were no longer completely content in the form God that gave them but instead cowering away…looking for anything to cover up their vulnerability, ashamed at what was once God’s beautiful and perfect masterpiece.

And so when God came looking for them in the Garden, Adam and Eve hid from God. “They were afraid because they were naked” Genesis 3:10 . They defied the one rule that God gave them and if I was them, I would be expecting a pretty angry God. But when Adam came out of the bushes and told God what happened …the first thing God said to them was

“who told you that you were naked?”

As in “who told you that you needed to cover your body?” “Who lied to you and said you needed to feel shame?” “Who told you that you needed to be afraid of me?”

Not “how dare you…you defied me…you messed up really bad”

But rather “where did you receive and believe these lies when all I’ve done is love you? Because they couldn’t have possibly come from me.”

And this my friends is when grace was born. Even after his creation defied him and hid from him, God still loved them with the same love before their sin. It wasn’t tainted nor did God protect his best interest because we betrayed his trust. Even though Adam and Eve felt shame at their nakedness as a result of sin, God still provided them with what they needed. “And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife” Genesis 3:21. God wasn’t salty about making those clothes for them either. He did it because he loved them and that’s the beautiful thing about his grace folks. He finds ways to maneuver around our mistakes and flaws and still provide us with love, guidance, and peace. Even when we’ve done nothing to deserve it. Grace couldn’t have existed without sin. But this story is not one of flaws and mistakes but one of love, forgiveness and beauty. God still continued to protect them when he cast them out of the garden because he knew they would be tempted to eat from the tree of life, giving them eternal life. Life where sin is in the picture and we would never be relieved of it. He didn’t want that for them either. He wanted them to come home one day, after their time on earth, and live the life they were designed to live, sin free! And until that day came, He loved them every day, guided them every moment, and protected them at every turn. Never once leaving them alone to fight the battles of sin without him. From the moment Eve experienced the first sin and the weight it cast on her, God has continued to bless us, provide for us, protect us and love us unconditionally when we’ve done nothing to deserve that magnitude of love. Even when we were still not quite getting it, he came down to earth, in the form of a man and then died a criminal’s death to show us how much he was willing to give up for us. He doesn’t abandon us in our sin, but rather He makes himself more accessible so we can reach for Him and break those chains weighing us down.

You will never hear of a more committed, dedicated, or limitless love story than the one God has with each one of us. The true character of God has been so consistent and it has prevailed from the beginning of it all when He conquered the initial sin with unfailing grace.