week of 09/21/11 1st recorded HighQuest Genesis 3:1-13

The passage I read was Genesis 3:1-13

You can find that passage here:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+3%3A1-13&version=NIV

The verse that most stood out to me:

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.

As I reflect:

There was nothing wrong in the garden until Satan threw a wrench into the plan. Adam and Eve were not tempted by the fruit of the forbidden tree when God said to Adam and Adam relayed the message later to Eve that they were not to eat of it. It was not in their nature to question God and they had not done so to this point. God said something, and they obeyed. This was a working order to things and was part of the working relationship man had with God when they could walk and talk together side by side. Satan’s wrench was the tool of doubt. By this wrench a great deal of sin still occurs today. God said… Satan caused doubt… Humans sin. I see this in the formula today still as people question the authority of the Bible, it’s translated history, and the current meaning of its’ text down to the very existence of God. This is a direct result of Satan throwing the wrench of doubt into the worlds thinking when it comes to the perfect intended message from God.

From that point forward, it is easy to see why so many turn from or refuse to turn to God’s truths as communicated in the Bible. It is unfortunate that the human race is so easily led astray by a simple doubt in text rather than as quickly doubting the message against the text and doing the proper research on their own. But this is a human trait as we see also in Adam who then follows Eve’s stray trail of sin in verse 6. One man hears from a whisper that the Bible was mistranslated and therefore couldn’t be accurate. That man tells another who in turn tells another and doubt is soon spread like a virus working its’ way into all points of civilization. This seed of doubt was far too easily spread from Eve to Adam after she partook of self satisfaction. Today, it is the same. We see and hear what we want and easily succumb to the flesh’s desire by doubting and ignoring the truth that our conscience screams. We then show another and the cycle begins.

An interesting and often unexpected side effect of sin is noted in verse 7 as their eyes are opened. They then become ashamed. I think the greatest reason this shame following sin doesn’t as widely occur today is simply that sin is practiced so greatly that it calloused the conscience.

For example: First lie as a child and we surely have nervousness and even perhaps an expectation of punishment… But who told us it was a lie? Or who told us that we stole something and that it wasn’t right to do that? This is our conscience and we have to overcome that conscience (placed in us by God) to self satisfy at some point making the choice that our own satisfaction in possessions or status was more important than the feeling pressed upon us by our conscience. Satan is one to lend a hand in this process helping the human race to turn their back on the conscience until it has been so ignored to the point of having near no influence at all anymore. If you train yourself to sin continually throughout your life, then it will in fact come easier to you and your love of sin will even cause you to defend your actions at all cost so that you may keep the things you have come to desire more than a clear conscience. You may even come to a point where you not only convince others, but you have convinced yourself that the immoral things that you do which are against God aren’t even immoral. As a matter of fact, you find yourself at a point where you believe that if God was real, then He would want you to have everything you desire and therefore there is no way that the Bible could be true… All those restrictions and rules in there. Or that if God was real then there would be no suffering in the world. Wait a minute….Does this sound familiar? Kinda like a serpent in a certain garden that asked Eve, “Is that really what God said?” Is that really what He meant?

Following shame, the very next thing I noted was in verse 12 as the man passed blame to the woman. In verse 13, the woman passes blame to the serpent. What an interesting dynamic. Shame as a weight on one’s soul can cause yet another sin. In the general example above, that may look like something was stolen and when confronted the thief says, “well if you hadn’t charged such an unreasonable price, I’d have bought it”, or “if you don’t want something stolen, you shouldn’t advertise it so closely to the exit making it so tempting.” In society today, this has become a normal occurrence. A person knows right from wrong but is given cause to doubt and then they sin. When confronted, often someone else will get blamed. But just as in the garden, the cost for sin remains to this day. There is a separation from God that (without salvation) will become eternal.

By the model given to us in Genesis and as seen around us today I can see a couple things:

1-Sin often starts with doubting what God said

2- Sin doesn’t just effect person 1. Sin spreads to and infects others surrounding person 1.

3-Because we have a conscience, sin (when realized) causes shame. (and ultimately death and eternal separation from God for the unsaved)

If you are reading this and faced with your own sin, I implore you, do not hide from God. Turn to Him. Turn from your sin. Trust in God and be saved today.

My response to the Lord:

My Father in Heaven, I recognize some of these symptoms of sin in my own life (both past when I lived in them and present as I struggle against them). I have no pride left in me, for I recognize and see clearly how wretched and vile I am. Surely your love is beyond my comprehension to send your own Son to pay my price when I am so undeserving. Your mercy and grace leave me in awe of you God. That you have provided a bridge from my eternal separation from you so that I can instead be united with my Savior in Heaven shows that you truly are Lord of lords and King of kings. I look forward to kneeling before your glory when I come home. Until then may you be glorified in me Abba. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray.