Genesis Chapters 1-3
It’s maybe the most asked theological question ever, right? If God loves us so much, why does He let such horrible things take place in the world? We’re living in some very trying times these days and as Christians one of the greatest dangers we face with that being so is getting the sense that God has left us high and dry. For me personally, the calls I’m responding to for counsel these days are so heavy. Dark and tragic and heartbreaking. From serious illnesses in children to relapses and broken marriages it would be so easy for me to start feeling somewhat spiritually parched.
This week, I’ve given thought to the past 5 or 6 years of my life. In that time, I’ve been blessed with good health and a thriving ministry. I have an amazing job at an amazing church. But interspersed in that same period are many seasons when it felt like God had checked out. My wife battled cancer. (And won!) Jeff Rudd, one of my closest friends, a true brother in Christ and collaborator on the putting together the One Step Ministry developed cancer and Jesus called him home. We’ve lost a number of men and women who we loved deeply to overdose and suicide. Three years ago, I went through the anguish of having to leave a divided church where I was serving.
But I can follow all that up with this. God’s faithfulness throughout has been unwavering. And for every setback there’s been a blessing. And for every time I’ve been compelled to ask God, “What the heck are you doing?” He has somehow managed to give me peace.
Every time.
The quick answer to why bad things happen is this. Sin. In the Book of Genesis, we see God setting about creating creation and the Word tells us that He sees that His work is good. But there’s something missing. God has this tremendous capacity for love. In fact, He is love. So, He out of that abundance of love He turns out His greatest creation, man. He loves man so much that He actually creates him in His image. Drink that in for a minute. No matter what you see when you look in your mirror, you are gloriously made in the image of God. That should dispel some self-esteem issues for all of us!
God creates Adam. He then determines that Adam should not be alone, so He pulls a rib from Adam and creates Eve. And there in this place we call Eden, resides perfection. Man and woman joined together. God intention is for them never to know aging, pain, sickness or heartache. God sees to their every need. God is there with them; they have a degree of communion with Him that hasn’t existed since. It is, for all intents and purposes Heaven on earth. And then God gives them a somewhat unexpected gift. Free will. Why would He do that? Why would God give man the chance to potentially turn away from Him? The reason is love. In order for love to be what love is meant to be; we need to determine that nothing in the world can pull us away from what we love.
God places in the center of the garden the tree of the knowledge or good and evil. And He shows this tree to Adam and he tells “If you love me, you’ll stay away from that tree. Everything else that I’ve created you hold dominion over. But if you eat from that tree, all bets are off.”
Then Eve comes along, and she’s made aware of this condition as well. We all know what happens next. The serpent appears to Eve one day in the garden. He sells her on the lie that he continues to peddle to each of us every day. That God is all about oppressing you and holding you back and robbing you of any and all enjoyment in life. And he holds out that piece of forbidden fruit and we forsake the God who loves us and provides for us so that we can be our own god. Eve takes a bite and convinces Adam to do the same. And scripture tells us that their eyes were opened. They became aware that they were naked and sought to cover themselves. And they start throwing together fig leaves and loincloths, convinced that they can hide their sin from God.
And that approach never ends well.
Because God is love, He spares Adam and Eve, but he changes the plan. Eden is taken away, but His love is never pulled back. For Adam and Eve and all of us to follow there will now be pain and hunger and sickness and tragedy. God tells Adam that now for all mankind there will come a day when they will return to the dirt they were created from. Death is born in the light of a bad choice. And so it is to this day. But God…
Adam and Eve beget a bloodline that, although loaded down with all manner of sinner still leads to a Savior. Because God is love. Jesus comes into the world the one piece of redemptive fruit on an otherwise rotten tree. Because God is love. God created and saved man for His glory and to show us for all time the immeasurable depth of His love. And He did that so that even after we fall to sin and so blatantly reject Him, He still makes a way for us to share in His love and His glory. Through the blood of His Son, one day the ultimate redemption will come to all of us who believe. And this time when God places His creation before Him in Paradise, there will be no serpents. No deceptions. No sin. Just an eternity of limitless, joyful worship that we can’t even imagine.
Until that day, now is the time for all of us to take to heart God’s promise that He will never leave us or forsake us. Not ever, no matter what. To experience that, the requirement we must meet is pretty simple. Shut out the whispers of the serpent and embrace the clear, loving call of Jesus, your Lord and Savior. Using free will, reject compromising on His love and instead live in His will. That way, when that day comes and Heaven returns to earth, you’ll be invested not in the lies of a snake but in the love of Jesus Himself.