Genesis 3:1-24
The Fall of Man
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.
Acts 4:8-12
Salvation is Found in No One Except Jesus
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Romans 8:28
God Works for the Good of Those who Hove Him
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
What would the world be like if Eve had not eaten the forbidden fruit?...Would there be no pain and suffering?...Would everything and everyone's life be bliss?...And would this be good?...
Everyone suffers at some point in their lives...Is there this need for suffering and pain?...Did God's Plan have pain and suffering a part of the human condition?...Does the suffering have this greater meaning in the lives of mankind?...Is there good in some sufferings?...Do we need to toil and work to advance ourselves?...If Eve had not eaten the fruit, would we need a Savior?...Would there still be Paradise in Eden, if she had not eaten it?...
Malcolm Muggeridge said that that in worldly terms, Eve was totally innocent; Eve before the fall, with no knowledge of good and evil, She made one realize how necessary the Fall was; without it, there would have been no human drama, and so no literature, no art, no suffering, no religion, no laughter, no joy, no sin and no redemption...
Muggeridge makes one think how the world might be had Eve not eaten the forbidden fruit...
God allowed Job to suffer...And we learn many lessons from the Book of Job...In the end God worked for the good of Job, because Job loved God...So St. Paul's writing and saying, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."-makes more sense if we believe Malcolm Muggeridge comments...
Jesus suffered and died on the cross...He was crucified...He came to earth to help us and we allowed Him to be rejected and crucified to death...His suffering showed us there is great meaning in how He suffered on the cross...He suffered for mankind and became our Savior and our Salvation...And as He suffered and then died, He is the reason we are redeemed for our sins...He brings atonement for our sin debt...Jesus gives us redemption from our sufferings...He brings us this Great Salvation...Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved...