Wednesday: Consequences of Sin
Based on Genesis 3:7-19 and Romans 5:12, what were the main consequences of sin?
Captivated by the persuasive speech of the serpent, Eve did not anticipate the far-reaching consequences of the road that she was following. In itself, the act of eating from the forbidden fruit was not as significant as what it actually represented. By such an act of disobedience, Eve broke her loyalty to God and assumed a new allegiance to Satan.
Image © Kevin Carden at Goodsalt.com
Genesis chapter 3 describes the fall of Adam and Eve and some of its most tragic consequences. From a theological perspective, both were overtaken by theophobia (being afraid of God) and hid themselves from Him (Genesis 3:8). From a psycho-social assessment, they were ashamed of themselves and began to accuse each other (Genesis 3:7, Genesis 3:9-13). From a physical standpoint, they would sweat, feel pain, and eventually die (Genesis 3:16-19). And from an ecological perspective, the natural world had degenerated (Genesis 3:17-18).
The Garden of Eden was no longer the beautiful and pleasant place it used to be. “As they witnessed in drooping flower and falling leaf the first signs of decay, Adam and his companion mourned more deeply than men now mourn over their dead. The death of the frail, delicate flowers was indeed a cause of sorrow; but when the goodly trees cast off their leaves, the scene brought vividly to mind the stern fact that death is the portion of every living thing.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 62.
Adam and Eve did not die immediately, in the sense of ceasing to live, but on that very same day they received their death sentence. The Lord told Adam, “In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19, NKJV). The Fall brought tragic consequences indeed to all humanity. The apostle Paul explains that “just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned” (Romans 5:12, NRSV).
The sad and painful fact is that just as humanity has done through all ages, we today suffer the consequences of what happened in Eden. How thankful, we can be, though, that because of Jesus and the cross we have the hope of eternal life in a world where sin will never rise again.
| As we reflect on Eve’s tragic experience, what lessons can we learn from it about the consequences of our own sinful acts? |
(15)
Did Adam and Eve know that their choice would have negative consequences for all people and all nature thousands of years later? I don't know. Does my one step outside of God's will have negative influences on people years and years later or creation somewhere far distant from me? I think so. That's why in the 2nd of the 10 Commandments we are told that the 3rd and 4th generations feel the shock waves of an ancestor's sins (Ex. 20:5-6). It's in the DNA, the emotions, the mind. It perfumes the air of the family home and the community beyond. Every thought and action is a choice for life or for death.
Physically - an internal conflict with God can raise blood pressure, take away a peaceful night's sleep, increase inflammation in the body. This affects others.
Emotionally - a lack of heart-to-heart connection with God and an inability to receive and give forgiveness leads to emptiness, hopelessness, brokenness, then guilt, depression, sometimes suicide. This affects others.
Mentally - a leaning on one's own understanding leaves a mind trying to gain understanding and alignment with other humans rather than depending on God. Thinking scatters down rabbit holes and conversation may become circular, empty, or chronically critical or negative. This affects others.
When Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden in the cool of the day, before they sinned, they had peace with God (physical health), a heart-to-heart connection with God (emotional health), conversations leading into God's mind (mental health). Isn't it comforting that even in this often discordant world, the Holy Spirit still offers all the gifts and health of companionship with God to all of us grandchildren of Adam and Eve?
Thank You, LORD, for Your forgiveness that alters the course of the "reap what you sow" trajectory. Thank You for the healing in Your Friendship with me, as I sit here with You in the evenings, in a quiet house, in the cool of the day.
As a result of disobedience, not only were our first parents alienated from God (they became afraid of Him), but they were also alienated from each other. Adam, who had knowingly disobeyed by taking the fruit from Eve because he couldn't bear the thought of living without her, nevertheless shifted all the blame on her. That is quite different from the godly other-benefiting love that had guided their lives before sin. It suggests that their whole relationship to each other was changed, so that they thought of themselves first, rather than of serving the other, as they had been created.
To me, a major attraction of heaven is the change back to naturally living in harmony with the law of self-renouncing love. That means it will be possible to live in emotional intimacy with everyone we meet. It reminds me of the state of exhilaration I have experienced when getting to know someone with whom I truly "click." That's what I see as a foretaste of our heavenly state of being.
We all do as Adam and Eve. Because we all have sinned. We all blame each other for our own choices! We are guilty, but we do not like to assume that. It may be difficult to accept this fact, but we can work on this very hard! The best we can do is to go to THE ONE Who was like you and me but NEVER sinned! This ONE is Jesus, the ONE we owe everything we are and think we have! May you and me meditate on this wonderful person, not only on His name, but on what He did for you and me! That's the real antidote for the "serpent's bite" (sin). Have a great and blessed day TODAY!
God put two trees in the middle of the garden of Eden.
The Tree of Life - Eternal Life of goodness and happiness
The Tree of Death - Annihilation - nothingness
God created Adam from the earth/dust, breathed into him the Breath of Life = Eternal Life.
Adam & Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden so they couldn't eat from the Tree of Life anymore.
God commanded them not to eat of the Tree of Death, it wasn't just advice/warning/suggestion it was a command from the Ruler of the Universe so when they disobeyed their sentence was "no more eternal life". Lucky for them Jesus took their punishment on himself and gave them a second chance to choose whom they would worship, serve and love.
Thank you Esther for describing the major consequences of sin. No wonder God hates sin! The word itself 'sin' seems to carry with it the hissing sound of a treacherous snake. Thank God that sin is not eternal thanks to Jesus. Therefore, we look forward to the ultimate and final thrilling victory over sin as mentioned in these scripture verses:
"For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him.
And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." 1 Cor. 25-28
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel." Heb. 22:24
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful." Rev. 21:4-5
Amen so many blames the wrong people places and things 4 the troubles we have. And doesn't look at the souce of the sin it self. Worse they look 4 answers from people places and thing's not from God or seek his answers for peace forgiveness of our sin's. Than will be comfort peace strength to keep going. Let blame faults and angry go accept this body will have many sickness and emotional problems for while we are in it. Jesus suffered for us find forgiveness in your hearts than peace will be within you to see clearly. Father forgive them for they know not want they are doing. Look at the pain he was in one the cross physical and emotional yet his words of forgive them. It brings me to tears of repentance every time hearing the words crucible him i can feel the emotional and mental pain he must had felt. Physical pain and grief he must had had yet father forgive them. I have to say my words would had been very different with hate angry bitterness ok amazing grace once i was blind now i see.
In Genesis 3, Eve says the serpent deceived her. All Eve had to do was believe God’s word and she would not have been deceived.
In preparation to teach this lesson on this Sabbath, I wrote:
Also, for me, I didn’t see where in the Bible it says that God gave any of the animals, except humans, the ability to talk; so that was part of the psychological temptation game that the devil was using to deceive the woman. If you saw and hear any animal talk, in the language of humans, you would be astonished too; I would be afraid as well, even if a tiny ant start talking.
That was Eve’s first warning that something was not right, “this animal is talking to me”. For those of you that like to go camping, like Elder Pat, who just come back from a camping trip with her family. Tell me, Elder Pat, if a bear came up to you and started talking to you, and the bear says, “I don’t want to hurt you, I just want some food.” What are you going to do? Are you going to stand there, and hold a conversation with the bear? Or are you going to run? I'm running to run.
So, the ploy of the devil is at work here with Eve, the serpent is talking direct to her and said, without saying it plainly, “see how wise I have become, I’m talking”. Thank God that He took away the snakes’ ability to talk very soon after that.
Instead of her running back to Adam, to tell him that “the serpent talked to me”; Eve decides to continue a one-on-one conversation with the serpent alone. And the serpent was saying to woman, paraphrasing, “not only am I not dead, but I also have a lot more knowledge, more wisdom, than I had before, and I can talk; I’m wise now.” Where is the serpent’s cunning and wisdom now? God cursed the serpent, for his role in the Fall of Man, to crawl on his belly and eat dust for the rest of the ages.
The devil used the serpent as a weapon of temptation to beguile or trick Eve into disobeying God’s command, or the desire to obtain wisdom, to be wise; then, she saw that the serpent was not dead and wiser, and she took of the fruits and eat it. The devil tried to use this psychology of temptation with Jesus in the wilderness, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days; he tried to use the temptation of the appetite to trick Jesus into turning “stones into bread”, Jesus answered him and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”.
At the end of Monday’s lesson, the author says: “Some people argue that all forms of knowledge are valid, as long as we retain ‘that which is good’ (1 Thessalonians 5:21, NASB). But the tragic experiences of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden demonstrate that knowledge, in and of itself, can be very detrimental. There are some things that, indeed, we are better off not knowing.”
God's blessings to you all!
On Friday's 'Further Thoughts', Shirley used a quote from Ellen White which I would say places Truth in a nutshell: “ Man lost all because he chose to listen to the deceiver rather than to Him who is Truth, who alone has understanding. By the mingling of evil with good, his mind had become confused, his mental and spiritual powers benumbed. No longer could he appreciate the good that God had so freely bestowed.” Is our mind still tuned in to ‘listen to the deceiver’, to evaluate 'different options'?
In my opinion, the real loss mankind experiences is – the loss of ‘appreciation of the good that God so freely bestows; we have appropriated the 'good' to be reflective of our own efforts. How does it help us if we know all about the loss and the confusion, but do not, at the same time, appreciate/can see the good which God made available to us in all its various forms?
As believers of the Gospel, being/living in Christ, knowing the consequences of sin and the Truth of our rescue, we are empowered to be the strongest, most loving and caring, the most engaged in truth and honesty, people on the whole earth.
“As we reflect on Eve’s tragic experience” - By being forward-looking, always acknowledging the loving faithfulness of our Creator, we will live the life of grateful conquerors and not the life of a defeated, powerless, confused, woeful Christian.