Independent and Ruined

I have seen the American flag in some awesome places. Surrounding the Washington monument, flapping in the breeze, on the back of a fire engine following 9/11.  I have seen it draped across the coffin of members of my family.  I am a patriotic American who has participated in and partaken of the American spirit and independence.  Yet while it is great to be independent I don’t need to be independent of everything.  I do not wish to be independent from my wife, or from my children.  I do not wish to be independent from the rule of law, and I certainly do not want to be independent from God.

As we celebrate our independence we need to be reminded that this desire to be independent is not always a good thing. In fact this independent spirit caused all the heartbreak and suffering that is in the world.  What am I talking about?  It was this desire to be independent of God’s rules that caused the fall of man.  True freedom comes not when we are free from all rules and responsibilities but when we submit to God’s perfect rule.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, ‘‘Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 ‘‘You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman.  5 ‘‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.     Genesis 3:1-7

I want you to consider with the me the incredible beauty of the Garden on Eden. Think of the most perfectly manicured park you have ever been in.  Think of the beauty of the Augusta National Country Club when the Master’s Golf tournament is played and then increase by a power of x.  That is Adam and Eve’s backyard.

They will be given a choice between death and independence or dependence and submission to a benevolent, perfect, holy, loving, and all mighty God, and as impossible as it seems they will choose to be independent. God had not placed a single tree in the garden as these few verses suggest, but if you read the entire context you discover that there are two trees placed in the center of this garden from which mankind might choose. The tree of life or the tree of knowledge.

Should mankind choose the tree of life, he would know immortality and communion with God.  Just as an aside can you imagine how much the fruit of the Tree of Life would be worth today.  Can you imagine walking through the produce section at Kroger and being able to purchase a pound of Fruit of Life. Choose God and live forever in communion with Him.

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  16 And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;  17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”     Genesis 2:15

The problem is not that they ate the fruit but what is so bad about the choice Adam and Eve make standing before the Tree of Knowledge is that in so doing they disobeyed the direct and clear command of God. How does someone make such a poor choice?  How did Satan get Adam and Eve to choose death over life?  He did so using the same method he still uses today.  I want you to carefully notice what happened from each participant’s point of view.  First notice Satan’s perspective.

“Has God really said?” or  Did God really say?  In Genesis 3:1b Satan begins by casting doubt on the Word of God.

God left no room for doubt, He said “you will surely die!”

“ . . .you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”     Genesis 2:17

You say but they did not die, so Satan must have been right.  No! They did not die because God is merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving.

So we learn from Genesis 3:1 that the first part of Satan ‘s modus operandi is to cast doubt on the Word of God.

Next, Satan cast doubt on the God’s goodness of God. when He assigns a motivation for God’s commandment for Eve to consider.

‘‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5

So we learn from Genesis 3:5 that the second part of Satan ‘s modus operandi is to cast doubt on the goodness of God.

Now consider Eve’s point of view which is revealed in her answer to the serpent.

2 The woman said to the serpent, ‘‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you (may) will die.’” Genesis 3:2-3

From eve’s answer to Satan’s accusation we learn that she views God’s commandment as overly severe. This is evident because she makes the commandment of God appear more rigid than it is. Next, Eve makes the punishment of God appear less than God’s Word stated.  In the Original Hebrew you could translate her reply to be “you may die.” So you could translate Eve’s words as  “we might die.”

I propose that the process by which Eve yield’s to temptation is the very same process by which each of us fall to temptation today.  Are there not times when we see how luscious the fruit appears and although we know God’s Word says NO!  In our attempt to rationalize our sin we say “How do we know what God said?”  Then when our conscious reminds us of the consequence of sin, punishment, we downplay it.  This is the motivation behind pop culture’s denial and romanticism of hell.  All too often it seems Satan wins again. God’s Word says NO! And just like Eve we say “Why?” We rationalize “Everybody sins, what’s the big deal.”

What Satan is all to willing for us to forget is that God’s hates and abhors sin.  It repulses him. We might be repulsed by a particular sin, pedophila, or child abuse. We forget, however, that God has those reactions toward all of our sin.  God hates all sin.  He does not pick and choose as we do.

Next consider Adam’s point of view regarding this incident in the garden. A careful reading of Eve’s reply to the serpent make it extremely clear that Adam did not perform his duty.  He is the one who heard the command from God, and when he heard Eve misquote it and misapply it he was silent. Sin flourishes when those who know the truth keep silent. Then when God’s judgement falls Adam blames Eve and then blames God “the woman you gave me” and finally the serpent. In other words Adam is not going to take responsibility for his actions unless God makes him. He is not a positive model for Godly manhood.

Finally consider God’s point of view. (Let me qualify this discussion. God is an infinite being who transcends all of our understanding and no one can ever presume to understand Him with our limited finite minds. So while we cannot ever have absolute understanding of God this does not preclude us from having adequate understanding, especially about those things which God has chosen to reveal to us in His Word as in this passage from Genesis.) Notice what God does Not do.

If God were to have exercised his divine prerogative to judge sin solely,
verse 8 would read “And God killed them dead.” and verse 9 would read “The End” and the Bible would be a very short book indeed and there would be no one around to read it.

Instead God knows what has occurred and who is at fault before He asks a single question. What we see revealed is His nature to root out and forgive sin. Notice God’s activity as revealed in this text.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man, ‘‘Where are you?” 10 He answered, ‘‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

Even though their sin causes Adam and Eve to feel fear of God, and hide from Him, God is merciful and loving and good. This is clearly demonstrated by God’s redemptive acts.

21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 

Their nakedness is the symbol of their sin and God covers their shame but not without consequence. Sin brought disunity, blame and shame. God had to shed blood to cover sin.
This is the beginning of God’s Salvation plan.

While we in America celebrate our independence today each of us need to remember that independence has limits and freedom has a cost which comes with many responsibilities. While “freedom is not free” and “the tree of liberty has to be feed from time to time with the blood of patriots” the greatest debt each of us owe is not to the fathers of our nation nor the brave men and women who defend our liberties today. As great as their sacrifices are and as much as we are in their debt their is a much greater debt we bear and one whose sacrifice surpasses them all.God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ are those who deserve our greatest thanks and deepest devotion on independence day and everyday.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart Lord, Take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.