Adam and Eve

In this series we will be going through the Bible, beginning to end, studying relationships from the real-life examples we are given. The problems they face are very real and relevant to today. The lessons that we can learn are invaluable. My goal is to bridge the gap from thousands of years ago to today so that we can relate to these people. The first relationship is, of course, Adam and Eve.

God created everything and he saw that it was good. Really, He was dang proud of it. Think about everything in creation: molecules and cells, sunsets, planets, stars, galaxies, whales, dinosaurs, dogs…it’s an awesome universe. So, God sees all of this and he says to himself (deep, British accent) “This is awesome. Someone needs to check this out, because I am awesome, I am. I’ll make someone that can live here, that can understand and appreciate beauty and can take care of it, I am.”

Then God made a man from the dust of the ground and breathed life into him. He put the man into the Garden of Eden to work the garden and take care of it. He told the man, “Adam, you can eat anything that grows here, but do not eat from that tree there. You’ll die. I’m sure of that, I am.”

So Adam went to work. Now, we believe that the earth, at this time, was what we call, the “greenhouse earth.” At one time, the earth was constantly covered in a thin cloud. It filtered out UV and people lived longer, and it allowed for more oxygen, therefore larger animals and plant life. It also would have made for in, Mesopotamia, where we think the Garden was, a sort of perpetual springtime.

It was also Adam’s job to name all of the animals. I don’t know how much you know about animals and springtime, but if you’ve ever seen the film Bambi, you might know that animals tend to get “twitter-pated” in the spring. So Adam spent, we don’t know how long, maybe hundreds of years alone with twitter-pated animals.

Now clothes weren’t worn ‘til after the Fall, which we’ll get to, but I’ve seen pictures. Adam is always wearing an animal-skin kilt. He was obviously Scottish. Probably more the highlander than the James Bond type, but clearly Scottish, nonetheless.

So can imagine that during one of their daily walks, Adam may have said to God, (Scottish Accent) “You know Lord, I’ve seen for years now that these animals tend to pair up. I know what they do when they pair up and what happens there, it’s a beautiful thing and who doesn’t like baby animals, but I don’t really have anyone for me. Now you clearly blessed me with right equipment, and glory to you, obviously, but do you think I might, you know, use it. To your glory, of course.”

So God says, “Oh, it is not good for this guy to be alone. I’m going to make him a suitable helper, I am.”

God took a piece of Adam’s side, traditionally his rib, though the Bible is unclear about this, and then he created Eve. This picture of being of one flesh becomes the symbol of marriage for the future. They felt no shame.

Everything about this, so far, is just beautiful. It’s like a dream. These two people walk in the Garden of Eden, with God, every day. God brings them animals every day to name. They work the garden together. It is pure, unadulterated communion with God all the time.

But what happened?

There came a time, again we don’t know how long they were in the Garden, when Adam and Even came upon the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that God told them they must not eat of. And the snake appeared.

Snake: (creeper/dealer voice) “Wha’s up, girl? You look a little hungry. Why don’t you come take bite of this fruit over here? I’s good!”

Eve: (trans-Atlantic feminine voice) “Oh, I shan’t take of that tree. I couldn’t possibly. You know I’d certainly die.”

Snake: “You won’t certainly die, girl. I’s good! It goin’ make you stronger. Make you powerful. You’ll know the secrets of God. You’ll be just like him. Don’t worry, big boy, I know she’ll share with you.”

Eve: “Well perhaps, just a small taste couldn’t hurt.”

Snake: “Oh yeah, girl. Let’s not get crazy. It’s just a bite. It’s good!”

She took a bite.

Eve: “Adam, try this.”

Adam: “Well, I suppose if you have.”

(Mimic taking a bite) Imagine that bite, the juice, like blood, dripping from his face. Then, his eyes were opened and the world darkened a little.

Adam: “What are you doing naked?! Great Eden, I’m naked too!”

God: “Adam?”

Adam: “We’ve got to hide. He can’t find us naked.”

God let them hide; then He called to them again.

God: “Adam? I’m looking for you, I am.”

Adam: “I’m here, Lord.”

God: “Why were you hiding?”

Adam: “Well, we were embarrassed of being naked.”

God: “Who told you, you were naked?”

Adam wiped his hand across his mouth.

God: “What have you done?”

Adam: “Well, it was this woman you gave me. They’re nothing but trouble, these.”

God: “Why have you done this, Eve?”

Eve: “I..I can’t…It was that snake. He deceived me.”

God: “You, snake, will be cursed among all the animals, and will crawl on your belly forever. I’m making sure of that, I am. And you, Eve. Because you gave birth to this disobedience, your childbirth will not be like those of the animals you care for. You will not sleep through it, like the bear, nor will you stand and dance as the elephant. You will cry out in the worst pain you will ever feel, the pain you have caused me today. I’m making sure of that, I am. And you, Adam, because you stood by and did nothing to stop her, I’m making sure you will never rest again, I am. The ground will be cursed, and you will have to work it, just to survive. Nature, my creation, will turn against you. You will work, not to enjoy the world, but to survive it. Why, Adam, why didn’t you love me enough? Why was I, all of this, not enough? I am beyond pain, I am. But, I am still in love with you, I am.”

Then God said to himself, “We can’t let them eat also of the Tree of Life. These bodies, they’re stained now. They’ll live forever, and we won’t be able to save the souls inside. I’ll never be able to hold them to me again. I am going to spare them that separation, I am.

“Adam, get out of my Garden. Take your wife. I will protect you. Here, use these animals’ skins as clothes. I will not stop looking for you. I am going to bring you back home, I am.”

So they left. They lived out their days toiling. They had children who had more children and they filled the earth. Their children, like them, were prideful, and they killed each other. But they told their story to the generations, so that we could know what living in love was like.

So what can we take away form Adam and Eve?

Paradise is:

1.     Having fellowship with God daily.

2.     Working alongside the person you love with a common purpose.

3.     Freedom from shame.

4.     Submission to God’s will.

The Fall brought:

1.     Separation from God.

2.     Animosity with nature and disunion with other people.

3.     Guilt and the pain of knowing we have fallen short of our purpose.

4.     Pride and contempt for God’s authority.

Adam and Eve part2: Christ and the Church

Last time, we looked at the relationship of Adam and Eve. What I want to do is look at another example in the Bible that shows the opposite reaction: Christ and his Church.

 Understand that we, the Church, are the bride of Christ. The Church is referred to as the Bride of the Lamb in Revelation, but also in Ephesians 5, Paul uses the analogy of a husband and his wife in reference to Christ and the Church.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.

(Romans 5:6, 17-19)

Obedience is not doing what you feel is right; it is doing what you have been called to do. Look at the last prayer of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.

“Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’” (Matthew 26:39,42)

It is possible for us to allow God’s obedience to live through us. Christ told Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

C.S. Lewis, in Mere Christianity, put it this way:

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.” 

Paul relates to our spiritual struggle against sin.

            We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:14-15,18-19)

In his Confession, St. Patrick puts the struggle with following a call the best:

I certainly don’t plan on sinning, but I don’t trust myself as long as I am a mere human being. The tempter who every day tries to turn me from faith in God and the true religion is very strong—but I have dedicated myself to serve Christ my master to the bitter end. Human desires, however, are always dragging us toward death—to act out our sinful wishes. Heaven knows I have not led a perfect life (as some of you undoubtedly have), but I have made my peace with God and am not ashamed to stand before him. This I declare—from the time I was a young man, the love of God and respect for him has grown in me. Now I can say, as an old man, that with the help of God I have been faithful.

“If only you had obeyed my commandments, prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:18)

Obedience is:

1. Answering the call placed on your life

2. Stewardship of your time and resources

3. Relinquishing control to God

4. Placing God’s will above your own

Obedience is not:

1. Perfect compliance- we don’t give up when we fail

2. Contingent on your resources

3. Relying on your own strength

4. Doing what you feel is right

Trust

The basis of all lies is in fear: the fear of judgment, the fear of discovery, the fear rejection, or the fear of loss. In contradiction to this, each act of confession is done out of the realization that anything built on a lie is fake and that anything fake is not worth investing in.  Forgiveness, honesty, and trust are all parts of a relationship.

The secular world tells us that without trust a relationship ceases to be a relationship. This is a lie. People fail us. It is simply human nature to look out for our own interests. It is our response to those people when they fail that defines our relationship with them. A relationship is not founded in mutual trust. It’s security lies in our trust in God. If this is not present in a relationship, it will falter at the first test.

There was a husband who, for 40 years, told his wife not to worry about the dishes, he’d do them in the morning. Every morning, his wife would get up and wash the dishes that he’d inevitably forget about as he rushed off to work. Sometimes he’d remember and send an apology text. Sometimes he’d do it that night. Mostly, though, he just never did the dishes for his wife. His wife never lost faith in her husband. She never doubted when he said he would do the dishes, but she was never disappointed when he didn’t.

This may seem like a tame example, but this behavior causes marriages today to fail. We are a petty nation. But to show you how strong this example really is, let me tell you something else about this couple. Nearly 30 years into their marriage, the husband had cheated on his wife. He repented and came clean before he was found out. She forgave him and they moved forward with an even stronger marriage. Trust, however never factored in to the security of their marriage.

We are, however, instructed to be trustworthy. People should be able to confide in us: “A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.” (Proverbs 11:13)

 People should also be able to trust our judgment. The Bible admonishes the trustworthy wife: “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” (Proverbs 31:11)

Take careful notice, however, that we are never instructed to trust each other.

More than just be trustworthy, however, our actions are to back us up. We are to be reliable: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

With our actions backing up what we say, we should be people that can be taken at their word: “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” (Matthew 5:33-37)

The only time that we are called to trust, is when we are commanded to trust in God: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6)

This is a foundational trust that is to be the source of our security: "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me.” (John 14:1)

God is the only person we can trust, because he is the only person who will never let us down: “God is not a human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?” (Numbers 23:19)

Now I understand that telling you that you’re called to be trustworthy not trusting is not the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard. It should, though, give you even more hope for your relationships. This is one of the fundamental truths we can take from the Bible in order to better display a love that never fails. We are told that: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7)

God understands our desire for love in the midst of our need to trust: “What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.” (Proverbs 19:22)

So, while we are practicing being trustworthy, and while we may not trust the person we are in a relationship with fully, we can display unfailing love because of the trust we have in God.

There will be times when that person hurts you. There will be times when you hurt them. Never lose sight, though, of the love you live in together: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.” (Proverbs 27:6)

We can overcome everything in love, and in love even the pain we cause each other is trustworthy because of the security we have in that love: the security we have in God.

Do not lose sight, though, that we are not called to trust each other:

“Do not trust a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Even with the woman who lies in your embrace guard the words of your lips.” (Micah 7:5)

“Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostrils. Why hold them in esteem?” (Isaiah 3:8)

Our security comes from God alone:

“But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.” (Micah 7:7)

We are called to be reliable and trustworthy. Never are we called to trust other people, not even our spouses. Clearly, though, we must always believe in them. We have to trust in them as our partners. Never, though, should we fully rely on them.

To put it another way, we are to put faith and belief into each other. We are never to expect each other not to fail. We should always be trustworthy, but never expect it of each other. If someone breaks our trust, it must not defeat us. Our security is always in God. Without this, there simply is not security in a relationship. No matter our intentions, we will always let each other down. Only God will never fail. His is the love that we are to demonstrate to each other, and His is a love that never expects or relies on us.

To sum it up, I leave you with this verse:

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” (Psalm 118:8-9)

In a relationship we are called to:

Be trustworthy (Proverbs 11:13, Proverbs 31:11)

Be reliable (1 Timothy 5:8, Matthew 5:33-37)

Trust in God (Proverbs 3:5-6, John 14:1, Numbers 23:19)

Never give up on love (1 Corinthians 13:7, Proverbs 19:22)

We are not called to:

Trust each other (Micah 7:5)

Rely on each other (Isaiah 3:8)

Expect anything of each other (Psalm 118:8-9)