Year 7, Day 3: Genesis 3

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Genesis 3 is a very intriguing chapter on many levels.  For example, take the actions of the serpent.  Clearly he is an antagonistic deceiver.  He directly contradicts God’s command, doing it in a way that seems pleasing to the woman.  He tempts.  He makes rebellion sound like fun.  He makes rebellion sound like personal gain.  He seeks to ruin our relationship with God while covering his motivation with the ability to focus us on ourselves and our desires.  Such is the role of sin and temptation in our life.  Take any moment of sin in our life and I’m willing to bet that the commentary above applies to it quite well.

And then there is Adam and Eve.  They want to believe the temptation.  They want to exceed what God has set before them.  They think they know what better is.  They think they know the blessing that will come from being able to be like God and distinguish between good and evil.  Don’t get me wrong – it is a good thing to be able to distinguish between good and evil.  But look at what they give up.  They give up eternal life.  They give up a personal face to face relationship with God.  In desiring to be able to distinguish between good and evil on their own, they distance themselves from the being who is the best judge of good and evil!  So often we think we want something good without truly knowing the consequences.  We believe the lie because we want to believe the lie.

And there is the notorious blame game.  When they get caught, nobody accepts their responsibility.  It’s always someone else’s fault.  In our own eyes, we are the victim of circumstance, not the one who choses evil.

Genesis three gives us humanity to its core.  This is who we are.  This is our good side and it is our bad side.  Our curiosity is our great strength.  But it is also our terrific downfall.  The more we are aware of our faults, though, the more we can watch out, repent, and correct ourselves when we make the wrong choice.

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