The Fall

The Fall

(Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7; Romans 5:12-15)

Sun, March 9, 2014, Windsor UBC, J G White

The video we viewed earlier asks us what it would be like, entering a Church fellowship, to be known by our sin, judged.  

The Bible chapter called Genesis 3 is know by the Sin of humanity: Eve, the serpent, the forbidden fruit, Adam...  As an event it gets called The Fall.  It illustrates the way every human being of history falls down, away from what the good and perfect potential was.  

So much has been said about this story, Genesis 3.  I remember learning from Windsor Baptist, in 1995, that the problem in the Garden in Eden was not the apple on the tree; it was the pair on the ground. (Ruth Daniels)  It is a holy story, a word from the Lord, about humanity, about us.  

In the Garden the humans have three things, as illustrated in 2:15-17. One: they have a purpose, a vocation.  Two: they have a permit.  Three, they have a prohibition (parameters).  

A Purpose. The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. (2:15)

A Permit, a permission, a privilege.  So much is permitted.  

And the Lord God commanded the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; (2:16)

A Prohibition, a limit.  ...but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."  (2:17)

But next, in the scene commonly called “The Fall” the humans have those three things changed.  Genesis chapter 3.  

It is interesting what happens during a week to prepare one for Sunday and the scripture God has for us.  On Wednesday I visited the home of a quilter: made quilts with a rattlesnake image on it!  She thought they were attractive.  On Friday I visited a friend who has several pets, two being serpents: lovely snakes with orange and brown scales in beautiful patterns.  :)

In the scene with Eve, the serpent, and Adam, it is not the snake that looks attractive, but the forbidden fruit.  And the rest is history: our story!

The Purpose gets altered for people.  They had a ‘vocation,’ to keep and tend the garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve get expelled from the garden, and their farming is more difficult, forever.  

And to the man he said ...cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken… (3:17-19)

He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. (3:24)

Their Permit gets limited.  The primary man and woman lose some of the freedom and joys they had in the garden.  The whole of human life now is busied with the challenges and disasters of our own making.  From the hardships of daily life to the disasters we learn of in the news media, we know well the limitations of life now.  

Their Prohibitions, broken, take terrible effect.  

To the woman the Lord God said, among other things: your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you. (3:16)  Has this not often be so?  And in the poetic curses listed here are various challenges that result from how our relationships are broken.  John Bartol, in his book “What Means This Longing”, reminds us that Chapters 3-11 of Genesis point out the following alienations...

A person from self.  (Nakedness)

A person from God (Hiding)

A person from nature (Curse on the ground)

A person from others (Cain’s violence against Abel)

Nation from nation (Tower of Babel story)

We come together, as Christian believers, because of the action of God for us.  In Christ Jesus, God does what God wanted for us from The Beginning.  

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man's trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. (Romans 5:15)

We are called back into the Purpose in our lives.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.  For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life. (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We are called into a place of permission - new freedom in Christ. Renewal of potential.

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.  (Galatians 5:1)

We are called within parameters, with limits, with prohibitions.  We are what we are, and we don’t have to be God.  This is good!

Some have read the novel, “The Shack,” There is a chapter in it where the main character, Mackenzie, is given a glimpse of having God’s role of judging others: it’s totally overwhelming and impossible!  Mack is a Christian man, with a family, including five children.  He has faced great tragedy in his life: the brutal abuse and murder of one of his child, a daughter.  

So Mack has a visionary experience, with God and various messengers from the Lord.  At one point, he is led to a chair by a woman, who tells him he is here for judgment.  

“I don’t have any ability to judge.” Mack protests.

“Oh, that is not true,” returned the quick reply, [tinged now with a hint of sarcasm.] “You have already proven yourself very capable, even in our short time together. And besides, you have judged many throughout your life. You have judged the actions and even the motivations of others, as if you somehow knew what those were in truth. You have judged the color of skin and body language and body odor. You have judged history and relationships. You have even judged the value of a person’s life by the quality of your concept of beauty. By all accounts, you are quite well-practiced in the activity.”

And she said with finality, “if you are able to judge God so easily, then you certainly can judge the world.” Again she spoke without emotion. “You must choose two of your children to spend eternity in God’s new heavens and new earth, but only two.”

“What?” he erupted, turning to her in disbelief.

“And you must choose three of your children to spend eternity in hell.”  Mack couldn’t believe what he was hearing and started to panic.

“I can’t do this,” he said softly.

“You must,” she replied.

“I can’t do this,” he said louder and more vehemently.

“You must,” she said again, her voice softer.

“I… will… not… do… this!” Mack yelled, his blood boiling hot inside him.

“You must,” she whispered.

“I can’t. I can’t. I won’t!” he screamed, and now the words and emotions came tumbling out. The woman just stood watching and waiting. Finally he looked at her, pleading with his eyes. “Could I go instead? If you need someone to torture for eternity, I’ll go in their place. Would that work? Could I do that?” He fell at her feet, crying and begging now. “Please let me go for my children, please, I would be happy to… Please, I am begging you. Please… Please…”

“Mackenzie, Mackenzie,” she whispered, and her words came like a splash of cool water on a brutally hot day. Her hands gently touched his cheeks as she lifted him to his feet. Looking at her through blurring tears, he could see that her smile was radiant. “Now you sound like Jesus. You have judged well, Mackenzie. I am so proud of you!”

“But I haven’t judged anything,” Mack offered in confusion.

“Oh, but you have. You have judged them worthy of love, even if it cost you everything. That is how Jesus loves.”

“And now you know Papa’s heart,” she added, “who loves all his children perfectly.” (The Shack, Wm Paul Young, 2007)

Think of Papa, walking with Eve and Adam in the garden; God, who leads a reluctant people through a forty-year wilderness to a Promised Land; the Father, who makes His greatest sacrifice with the gift of His Son, Jesus; this is the LORD who kindly offers a narrow way for us in life. So we need not be God; we get to be mere humans, wonderful people, beloved children of God.

The video we viewed earlier asks us what it would be like, entering a Church fellowship, to be known by our sin.  In other words, to be judged.  We are, ofttimes, aren’t we.  Not with a nametag, but with a reputation, a reputation and a response that may or may not be very good or fair.  

What if we were known by our Saviour, not by our failure?  

What it we were seen in terms of how God wants us,

not by the evil that taunts us?  

What if we were viewed as those raised up tall,

not by how we fall?  

What if we were named for our Jesus, not by what displeases?