LET’S UNDERSTAND

THE FALL TO SELF-SUFFICIENCY: The Children of God chose to leave the moral umbrella of their Creator. They began believing in a lie, and sin entered our world. But the outcome was not what they were expecting; the grass looks greener on the other side, until you get there.

“Instead of knowing good and evil, the couple now know that they are naked. This is hardly the knowledge for which they bargained. What was formerly understood to be a sign of a healthy relationship between the man and the woman (2:25) has now become something unpleasant and filled with shame. Even the word for “naked” in 2:25 is written a bit differently from the one that is used here [3:7]. The couple’s solution to this new enigma is freighted with folly. Having committed the sin themselves, and now living with its immediate consequences, i.e., the experience of shame, the loss of innocence (they were aware that they were naked), they attempt to alleviate the problem themselves. Rather than driving them back to God, their guilt leads them into a self-atoning, self-protecting procedure: they must cover themselves” (Hamilton, The Book of Genesis [NICOT], p. 191).

Why do you think the couple’s solution was to try to fix it themselves instead of going back to God? Do you think we still do that today?

THE PAIN: Aside from the fear, shame, and blame that resulted from the fall, from now on men and women would experience pain. But the curse was on the serpent:

“God cursed the serpent and the ground. He did not curse the humans but inflicted pain in their efforts to sustain life, bearing children and producing food …. God therefore addressed the serpent, telling it that it was cursed and would crawl on its belly … and eat dust. “Eat dust” is a metaphor for the humiliation of the most exalted animal. From then on there would be enmity between the serpent and the woman, between the offspring of both… .

To the woman God said that he would greatly increase her pains (‘itsabon) in childbearing [3:16]… . Consequently, in working the ground to produce food for life, the man would experience pain (‘itsabon) from his labor. This term for pain is the same as that for bearing children… . Thus God did not hold one more blameworthy than the other” (Hartley, Genesis, pp. 69-70).

Aside from pain, humanity had now become mortal: “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen. 3:19). We are told that all the consequences of the Fall will no longer be present in the New Earth: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer by any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4). What comes to your mind when you read Revelation 21:1-4?

THE PROMISE: Our story would be the saddest and most hopeless story in the universe if the Bible would have ended in Genesis 3:7. But that is not where the Bible ends! It’s where it begins. Because in Genesis 3:15 we receive the first covenant that brings hope; the announcement that Adam and Eve’s sin was not the end:

“A few late Jewish writers and the church fathers found in this verse a fuller meaning that would one day be realized in the Messiah, when a representative of all humans would strike the serpent, the representative of the forces that oppose God, with a fatal blow. That victory would put an end to the enmity between the serpent and humankind. As Scripture unfolds God’s design, it becomes clear that the one to achieve such a major victory is the Messiah” (Hartley, Genesis, p. 69).

This promise is the beginning of what is called “the covenant,” the promise that God made to redeem his children from their mortal fall. The rest of the Bible tells the story of redemption, and I can’t wait to tell you about it! I am so excited! God loved His children SO MUCH that He surprised us all. We were kidnapped, but He surprised us with His indescribable love. He Himself would give up heaven in order to rescue us!

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them … He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:19, 21).

What is the most surprising part of His promise?

LET’S REFLECT

When I was a little girl, my parents took me to a city in Argentina named Córdoba. My father, then a pastor, was attending workers’ meetings in a hotel for a few days. My mother anticipated having a good time in the company of other pastors’ wives, and we, the children, excitedly looked forward to spending every minute of the day playing in the hotel’s swimming pool. I was three and was told in no uncertain terms that I was to stay in the shallow part of the pool at all times—NO EXCEPTIONS! The happy day finally arrived and I found myself in watery bliss. All of a sudden, something unexpected happened to me. I found myself in water at the edge of the forbidden zone, and the bottom of the pool was slippery, VERY SLIPPERY, green and slimy. I started sliding toward the deep end of the pool as if I was in an underwater playground, except that this was no fun. I found myself in the very place where my mother told me not to go. Now I knew, in my young 3 year-old heart, that I would die because I had no way out. But my heart knew something else: If my mother saw me, she would rescue me. Somehow, my young brain understood that my mother’s love for me would motivate her to jump in and save me. The problem was that she couldn’t see me! I gathered all my strength and tried to jump up, pushing my feet against the bottom of the pool. But I was already under water and only my hand briefly appeared above the surface, then disappeared again. I tried again and again, AND MY MOTHER SAW ME! She noticed my little fingers above the water, and that was all she needed. SHE DOVE INTO THE POOL! It didn’t matter what she was wearing and who was watching. All that mattered to her was that her little girl was drowning, and she had to save her. She did save me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LET’S COMPREHEND JESUS IN SCRIPTURE

Read Luke 24:25-49. In this story, Jesus explains how to interpret Scripture as a whole: “And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (verses 25–27). Somehow the disciples’ unbelief had not allowed them to interpret Scripture accurately! There was a plan! Christ HAD to go through this! And the plan was explained from the beginning of the Bible (Moses and all the prophets).

The verb “to explain” (Greek: diermēneuō) contains the root word for hermeneutics, which in English identifies the methodology of interpreting a biblical text. Here, Jesus provides the best biblical rule of interpretation! The Law of Moses and the prophets are all about Him! … They [the two disciples] got so excited that “that very hour” (verse 33) they decided to go back to Jerusalem to tell everyone! They didn’t consider their tired legs, or the distance. They just had to go back. When they got there, Jesus Himself shows up in the room! “Peace be to you” (verse 36). After spending a few moments with them and eating some broiled fish (verses 42, 43), Jesus starts with the same explanation that He had given the two travelers, this time in more detail, repeating the same hermeneutical principle. “Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” (verses 44, 45). “The Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms” is the complete formula for the Jewish Scriptures that we have come to call the Old Testament. His disciples knew their Bible, but they did not understand that it was all about Jesus and the act of God’s salvation through Him. Jesus opened their minds! The Greek verb for “open” had been used by Luke throughout Jesus’ ministry when He opened the eyes of the blind or the ears of the deaf. Now, He opens His disciples’ minds! Why? To understand the Scriptures! It is possible to read the Scriptures and still have closed minds. Our minds become open when we understand that, not just the New Testament, but all the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms are in service to the good news of Jesus Christ.

One of my favorite books, F. F. Bruce’s, New Testament Development of Old Testament Themes, makes the point that the whole Bible is about redemption through Jesus:

“In Jesus the promise is confirmed, the covenant is renewed, the prophecies are fulfilled, the law is vindicated, Salvation is brought near, sacred history has reached its climax, the perfect sacrifice has been offered and accepted, the great priest over the household of God has taken his seat at God’s right hand, the Prophet like Moses has been raised up, the Son of David reigns, the kingdom of God has been inaugurated, the Son of Man has received dominion from the Ancient of Days, the Servant of the Lord, having been smitten to death for his people’s transgression and borne the sin of many, has accomplished the divine purpose, has seen light after the travail of his soul and is now exalted and extolled and made very high”

LET’S RESPOND TO GOD’S AMAZING PROMISE

God is more than faithful to His promises. At the cross, He fulfilled His amazing promise to crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15), and He is coming back to reclaim His children, so that we may once again live with Him; this time for eternity. Take a moment to write down memorable events in your life, in which you believe God fulfilled His promises. Let’s celebrate, like Miriam, (see Ex. 15:20, 21), because God made a way where there was no way. “The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him… . In Your loving kindness You have led the people whom You have redeemed” (Ex. 15:2, 13, emphasis mine). A loving parent does not give up, and neither does God. He announced that this was not the end, that even if He had to die for them, He would not give up! Even though they would be separated temporarily because humans were now mortal and had lost the paradeisos, God would take their death upon Himself, so that they could be together again—forever. He simply refused to go through eternity without His people. Oh, my soul, praise His name! It is true: His love never ends!