In
the first two chapters of Genesis, we have the generation of all things. God creates the heavens and the earth, and
all that is in the earth including the pinnacle of His creation—Adam and
Eve. We find that they are created for
hope—a hope that rests in their CONFORMING to the image of God, as they were
made in His likeness. Their hope also
resided in their CONTROLLING, as they were commanded to exert dominion over
God’s creation. Hope was found in their
CONNECTING—the man and woman designed to connect in a love relationship with
their Maker and their mate. Humans were
created for hope in CREATING, by bringing new life into the world.
But,
the hope that was given in the first two chapters was spurned in chapter
three. Generation turned to
degeneration. In the sad story we read is
found the cause of all the sorrow and suffering in the world—a huge three
letter word—sin.
There
was A DEADLY DETOUR. Discontented to
bear the likeness of God, they wanted to be as God (Gen.3:3 ). It was choosing this path that first turned
the beautiful angel, Lucifer, into the malevolent devil, Satan, and the cunning
proposal that would cause human beings who were generated to bear God’s image,
to degenerate into more resembling the spawn of Satan than sons of God. God had a great destiny intended for Adam and
Eve, but they decided to take a detour, beguiled by the devil. It sounded so appealing, however, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but
its end is the way of death.” (Prov.14:12 )
Degeneration also brought A DETHRONED AUTHORITY. Man forfeited his dominion. He failed in his stewardship and all creation
came under the curse.
Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of
your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You
shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall
eat of it All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat
the herb of the field. In the sweat of
your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you
were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Gen.3:17-19 )
Adam was generated from the dust, and would—because of
sin—degenerate back to dust.
Degeneration would also be displayed in A DISRUPTED
RELATIONSHIP. Immediately there was a
disruption in the relationship of man and his Maker. Where there had been an unbroken
fellowship—as man walked with God intimately and joyfully, at peace as they
traveled the same direction, all would be turned on its head through Adam and
Eve’s rebellion. Peace would yield to
fear. Transparency would be supplanted
by a cover-up.
“And
they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the
day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among
the trees of the garden. Then the LORD
God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your
voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” (Gen.3:8-10 ).
But the disruption would not only come between the man and
his Maker, but the man and his mate.
“Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew
that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
coverings…. To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your
conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for
your husband, And he shall rule over you.”
(Gen.3:7 , 16 )
The battle of the sexes begins—male chauvinism and radical
feminism—rooted in sinful self-interest for manipulation and domination.
Degeneration would further be marked by A DIFFICULT
CHILDBIRTH. The productivity of
childbirth would bring the pain of childbirth.
Every woman who has gone through labor can attest to that.
But, sin causes pain from children beyond birth. Imagine the ache in the hearts of Adam and
Eve as they stood over the first grave, belonging to their son, Abel. I have been with parents in hospitals as they
held a stillborn infant in their arms and have witnessed that little form christened
with their tears. I have made the
journey to a cemetery with grief-stricken parents whose child’s lifeless form
would be encased in the sod.
Another son, Cain, would not attend that first funeral. Adam and Eve watched him walk away. His rebellion against God that led to such
brutality was judged with banishment.
Unlike the father in the story of the Prodigal Son who would see his
lost boy come home, insofar as we know, Adam would go to his grave with his son
still estranged from him. What woe! This is the disruption from the degeneration
of sin.
We see it all around us.
We have tasted the tantalizing fruit and found it toxic. Ours appears to be a hopeless world,
degenerating rapidly. Paradise
has been lost.
Can paradise be regained?
Stay tuned. There is more to the
story.
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