“ ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was
afraid…and I hid myself…’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you have to be with me,
she gave me the fruit…’" -Genesis 3:8-12
Let us imagine what life was life before partaking in the fruit
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. I imagine not just peace, not just
innocence, but also no sin?
The tree itself is knowledge, yes? Specifically, knowledge
of evil. If you know not evil, how can you commit evil? I correlate this to the
realization of the power of the covenant brought on by the blood of Jesus.
Paul constantly writes in the New Testament that we are no
longer bound by the law, for in the law is sin, because the law reveals sin (Romans 3:19-20, 1 Corinthians 9:20)
Before the
bite, there was nothing in affect to reveal sin, until sin was revealed after
eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Now, why is this important? Why is this worth blogging? I
believe it is worth blogging to further dissect the comprehension of the new
covenant of which all Christians are bound to and many of us and non-Christians
don’t understand (no, I’m not posing as if I understand, hence why I’m just
thinking of this 2 decades into my life).
Many Christians and “Christians” believe in false grace. I can do anything I want because I’m covered
by the blood of Jesus. Essentially saying, thinking, believing, they don’t
have to abide by the Ten Commandments, or the Law, because Jesus died on the
cross for all of their sins (past, present and future) (Romans 6:14). So, being
obedient or striving to live under the commandments, the Law, is unnecessary, it
no longer applies, and it is legalistic. Why does this thought and lifestyle
continue though it is constantly written that Jesus did not come to abolish the
law but to uphold it (Matthew 5:17)? I don’t know.
What I
would like to discuss are the symptoms or effects of after eating the fruit
from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and essentially not being “fully
covered” by the blood of Jesus.
Genesis 1:27 or Genesis 2:7 details the creation of man and
Gd’s relationship with Him. Yes, there was relationship. In this relationship
we see a conversation, Gd giving more than enough subsistence, luxury,
authority and blessings; and man accepting, enjoying it all. Man and Gd walk in
the garden, Man and Gd talk in the garden. They hangout, they chill, just cause
that how they roll.
After
eating the fruit, man is afraid of the sound of Gd. “ ‘I heard the sound of you
in the garden, and I was afraid..." (Genesis 3:8)
Why is man
suddenly afraid? Were we made to be afraid of Gd? I’m not debating the 1st
commandment nor the wisdom of Solomon, I’m suggesting, implying that truthfully
fear is not of Gd, SO MUCH SO that it’s not even how he created us, It's not
part of our initial DNA! From the beginning,
He did not create us to be afraid.
When under
the old covenant, the Israelites were terrified of sin. Everytime they sinned,
someone was stoned, an entire family was destroyed; they had to be destroyed.
People would suddenly be afflicted with tumors or leprosy. At the temple, there
were daily and constant blood sacrifices of doves, pigeons and bulls. People
had to be removed from the camp; sin emitted terror!
Yet, once Jesus, the ultimate (final) sacrifice and new
covenant is made, Paul writes we can now “walk boldly to throne of grace with
confidence…” (Hebrews 4:16).
Walk boldly? To the throne? With confidence?!?!?!
(See image to right as depiction of this throne we're supposed to be walking boldly to-->)
It is not Gd that emits fear or causes fear, but sin.
Adam hides when Gd comes through the garden.
Does Adam hide because he is naked and doesn’t want Gd to
see, or does Adam hide because he is afraid?
It is the fear of sin that causes our withdrawal from Gd.
The fear of, what if I do something wrong, what if He sees,
what if He finds out, what if He knows, what if He...
Side Note: Dude, He knows, He’s Gd,
need reaffirmation that He knows, check out Psalm 139.
It is not written that Gd came in stomping through the
garden, Gd came angrily into the garden, or the Gd came shouting through the
garden. Where did we get this image of "Gd
the condemner"? Where did we get this image of "Gd the angry never happy ready to strike you down with lightening"?
You know what, it doesn’t matter where it came from, just
know that it is a lie.
It is a lie.
It is a lie. It is
a lie.
It is the sin of fear that confuses the mind, distorts
the truth and makes us like animals.
Genesis
2:23 The man said, “At last!...” bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh,"
WOMAN! Adam
is ecstatic. He get’s a lady, AND
without having to compete with some other dude for her. Adam not only get’s a
lady, but he gets a perfect match for him, and untouched, untainted by any
other being. It says then, that man clings to his wife. He doesn’t just claim
her, Adam clings to Eve. Not out of jealousy, but out of utter adoration, utter
joy to have an equal, to have a partner, yes, I said partner (Genesis 2:20).
Adam not only get’s a lady, but he gets a perfect match for him, and untouched, untainted by any other being. It says then, that man clings to his wife. He doesn’t just claim her, Adam clings to Eve. Not out of jealousy, but out of utter adoration, utter joy to have an equal, to have a partner, yes, I said partner (Genesis 2:20).
After
eating the fruit. Adam not only disclaims his own flesh, his own kind, his own
partner, his own wife, but then blames Gd for it.
“The woman
whom you gave me…”
Question:
Didn’t Adam just eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil? Yet,
he didn’t have enough knowledge to um… not point his finger at Gd? Oh right,
because it’s not necessarily knowledge, but wisdom in which you fear Gd; they
so obviously ate from the wrong tree.
How can it be that Adam rejects his own kind (human)? How
can it be that Adam abandons his own flesh (family)? How can it be that Adam
renounces his own beloved wife (partner/friend)? And blames Gd.
It is the sin called fear. People say love can make a person
do crazy things, I think fear makes people do deranged things.
Brothers, Sisters, I believe it is this sin, this sin called
fear, that will cause mass destruction upon humanity. It will break down families, it will break
down the ones who are watching themselves be abandoned/rejected/disclaimed
before their very own eyes, it will break down the relationship between us and love
(our Father, Gd).
Is it not fear that causes or helps a person to choose to
have an abortion? Is it not fear that causes or helps a person to choose to
support their family through prostitution or selling their child into human
trafficking? Is it also not fear that prolongs our confession, that prolongs our
return home, that prolongs our coming to the throne of grace, prolongs our
acceptance of the truth of the unconditional love of Gd?
In fear arises panic and in a panic just like a herd of
sheep or herd of horses we too, humans become animals and run (like a chicken
with it’s head cut off, my mother would say).
How many times have you heard of a
fire or an emergency in a building full of people and people getting injured
not from the actual fire or emergency, but actually from other people who are
just running, pushing, shoving, stepping, throwing?
It is fear that causes the utter disgrace, the degrading of
man who was made in the image of Gd (Genesis 1:26), which gives room for
wickedness to grow and foolishness to make home.
In times of tribulation, I would not be afraid of Gd, but
rather wary of the sin of fear commandeering the man like a marionette.
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