Genesis 3 Selected
1Now 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’?”…. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”…. 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.”…. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them….
Do you remember the commercial for the medical alert device for seniors? I’ve fallen and I can’t get up was the tag line in the commercial. Well Adam and Eve have fallen and they cannot get up on their own. They have disobeyed one of God’s only two commandments. They were to work the garden and not eat of the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. They have fallen and they are about to find out what that really means; they will know evil. Up until now, there was no evil in the world. Somebody had to pay for this disobedience. And the payer is all of creation including you and me! We are all on the hook.
In Luke 14:28 (NIV) Jesus says 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? This was a costly mistake. Adam and Eve had no idea the ultimate cost of this disobedience. What’s it gonna cost? It eventually cost Jesus everything but that is a story for another day. What it cost at the time was the lives of the animals whose skin was used to make garments for Adam and Eve because they were naked. Hebrews 9:22 (NIV) says “22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Something had to give its blood and die for forgiveness to be granted. But God had a plan to redeem all of creation and that plan was and is Jesus. By His blood, we are redeemed and forgiven. So yes, we have fallen but Jesus the Christ is the way back up.
Thank You Lord Jesus that You were willing to sacrifice Yourself to redeem us. It was Your plan from before the beginning of the world. Your plan is to prosper us and give us hope and a future. Everything we need, we have in You! Continue to show us Your mercy and grace in Jesus name. Amen!