Genesis 1:1-24
The Fall from Grace
1 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 certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from 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.
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.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this,
“Cursed are you above all livestock
and all wild animals!
You will crawl on your belly
and you will eat dust
all the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20 Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22 And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
I often ask why God would allow Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil...Eve made a mistake and kept a conversation going with the evil one...She said: “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 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.’”...“You will not certainly die,” the evil one of temptation said to Eve...“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”...The evil one had twisted God's words and suggested that God was withholding something good from them...This is how temptation often works – it makes sin look appealing and desirable...When Eve saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to her 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...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...
Eve was disobedient to God, but also her desire in this case got the better of her...She then shared her desire and eating pleasure of the fruit, with her husband...It was their fall from Grace...Adam and Eve were created by God to live in a state of perfect innocence and harmony with Him (a state of "grace")...However, they disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which resulted in their expulsion from the Garden of Eden and the loss of their innocent state...This act of disobedience is the "fall from grace."...God had given them a choice, and they made a choice...While their choice had forever very, very sad consequences, it was ultimately their choice...This needs to be repeated, because they were in Paradise and now would be in the situation of work, toil, suffering, and death...Pleasures and desires would be much less on the outside of the Garden of Eden, than on the inside of Paradise, with God' Presence always there...This is important because we learn much about understanding human responsibility in the choices we make each day...Even in the beginning we already see the need restore the broken relationship between humanity and God and the need for a Redeemer with our Father, because of the choices we would make over the years over the next several thousand years...And in the middle of these passages is the promise of a future Savior (Genesis 3:15) as a seed of hope planted even in the midst of the consequences of having to leave Paradise...
C. S. Lewis wrote: "Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world....There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise...If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."...
Lewis continues, "Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing...If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same."...
Eve had a desire to eat the forbidden fruit...And eating up, most definitely did and would never quite keep their promise of the desire she had to eat the fruit...Lewis's point is that earthly pleasures do not have to be bad in themselves and sees desires as temporary events...In fact, they can be good gifts from God...However, they are not meant to satisfy our deepest longings...They are meant to awaken in us a desire for something more, something beyond this world...Eve was in Paradise and did not need to eat the fruit, because she was always in the Presence of God, but by talking and listening to the evil one, she lost her Paradise and her innocence...
Eve tried to satisfy one of her desires...The Bible does not explicitly say that we should try to satisfy our earthly desires and pleasures...In fact, it often warns against the dangers of excessive indulgence and encourages moderation and self-control...Eve had a major warning from God...The Bible acknowledges that we are merely men and women with needs and desires, and it does not condemn all forms of pleasure...It recognizes that some pleasures are good and healthy, such as the enjoyment of food, drink, and companionship...For instance Eve enjoyed the food and pleasures of Eden until she ate the fruit...Lewis's insights help us understand Eve's experience...She, too, was drawn by a desire for something more...
The key is to find a balance between enjoying the good things in life and avoiding those things that are harmful or excessive...This requires wisdom, discernment, and a willingness to listen and follow God's guidance...
Some followers of Jesus believe that it is wrong to seek any pleasure at all, while others believe that it is okay to indulge in any pleasure as long as it does not harm others...However, the Bible seems to suggest a middle ground, where we can enjoy the good things in life without becoming enslaved to them...
Lewis in reading about our earthly desires, he seems to tell us it is like a signpost pointing to a destination...The signpost itself is not the destination, but it directs us to it...Earthly pleasures are like signposts pointing to our true home in heaven...Lewis is not saying that we should deny or despise our earthly desires...On the contrary, he says we should be thankful for them...But we should not make them the ultimate goal of our lives...We should enjoy them in moderation, recognizing that they are temporary and imperfect reflections of the joy that awaits us in heaven...Eve failed to realize the desire she was tempted to was fleeting and temporary and was not the will or guidance of here Father...While desire is a key element in the story of the Fall, it's important to remember that the act of disobeying God's command is what constituted the sin...One's desire in many cases might not be sinful, but acting on it in defiance of God's will is...
If we ask whether God wants us to satisfy our desires, it depends on what we mean by satisfy...God wants us to enjoy the good things He has given us (such as the Garden of Eden), but He also wants us to be wise and discerning and listen to Him in how we use them...Some desires are good and healthy, while others are harmful and destructive...Adam and Eve learned this...We need to learn to distinguish between them and to follow God's guidance and His Word in how we manage our desires...Adam and Eve learned this after they ate the fruit...
Adam up to this point had not given his wife a name...We know that naming is a powerful act...It signifies dominion, understanding, and relationship...By naming his wife "Eve" (meaning "living" or "life"), Adam acknowledges her crucial role in the future of humanity despite consequences of their disobedience...It's an act of hope and faith in God's Promise that life would continue, even outside of Eden...It's also a recognition of her unique and essential role in that continuation...This naming happens after the fall because it is in the context of their changed circumstances that her role as the mother of all living becomes particularly significant...They have lost Paradise, but life will go on through her... Adam giving Eve here name is a powerful act of recognizing her role in God's plan for humanity, even in the midst of their brokenness...
Their relationship with God had now changed...The events following the eating of the fruit highlight a shift in the relationship between Adam and Eve, and between humanity and God...The harmony with God is now broken...The naming of Eve, while hopeful, also takes place in the shadow of their transgression and the knowledge of mortality...The garments of skin provided by God are a poignant symbol of this new reality – a world where they would be experiencing hardship and suffering...
Jesus addresses the issue of personal desires in the Gospels in various ways...He warns against greed and materialism, but He also affirms the goodness of marriage and family and helping others...Adam and Eve would have a family and their families continue today for those who believe...We are all great, great, great grandchildren of Adam and Eve...Jesus also talks about the importance of self-control and discipline, but He also shows compassion, forgiveness, and understanding towards those who struggle with temptation...He, personally, was tempted by the evil one for forty straight days and nights and remained Full of Grace and Truth...
The Bible presents a balanced view of human desire...It acknowledges that we are flawed men and women with needs and wants, but it also emphasizes the importance of living a life of purpose and meaning, focused on God and His Kingdom...While the Fall from Grace is a significant event, it's also important to remember that the Bible's story doesn't end there...God's story is ultimately one of Grace and Redemption...Even after the Fall, God doesn't abandon humanity...He promises a Savior who will ultimately restore the broken relationship between humanity and God...God gives us this Great Lesson of Hope in our fall and our brokenness...We have got to get back to the Garden, and Jesus is our Hope...