The Accustions
I have heard variations of this claim. Some say that God lied, and the serpent told the truth. Others say that by putting the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden he set the first couple up for failure. They then go into all the problems that they have with the story. First, they didn’t immediately drop dead when they ate the forbidden fruit. Another charge is that God was holding out by denying something good from them. Why would God create man and give him free will if he knew Adam and Eve would sin? Why didn’t God destroy Satan as soon as he rebelled? How is it God didn’t know where Adam and Eve were, isn’t he omniscient and omnipresent? Why would he punish all humanity for Adam’s sin? I will not deal with every single issue, but when I finish, I hope you understand that man fell because of his own choices and refused God’s mercy. God is just and fair in all his dealings with his creation. He is also a God who always provides a way of redemption when we fail. God kept the light on if Adam ever decided to return to fellowship with God.
Quick review of Genesis 3:1-24
Let’s review the story as it is commonly told. God makes Adam in his image and makes woman from a rib of Adam. God then plants a garden in an area of Eden and places Adam and Eve in this garden. Their job is to take care of the garden. In the middle of the garden, God places two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God tells Adam don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Evidently, Adam relays God’s command to his wife. One day they take a walk in the garden and a creature in the form of a serpent confronts them and questions Eve. Did God tell you not to eat off the trees? Eve corrects the Serpent that they can eat from any tree except one particular tree. If they eat the fruit of that tree they will die. Then he tells Eve that she won’t die as God said. The real reason it’s forbidden is that God doesn’t want them to be as smart as he is. Eve then eats the fruit and gives it to Adam as well. Many translations indicate Adam was right there with Eve.
God confronts the couple and Adam throws both God and Eve under the bus. Eve throws the serpent under the bus. The serpent doesn’t even get a chance to speak. For their disobedience, God pronounces judgment on each. Paul would argue in Romans that we are all condemned through Adam’s transgression. The debate about original sin is do we inherit Adam’s sin, or just his altered nature that tends toward sin? Let’s look at these various accusations that try to paint Satan in a positive light and make God the villain of creation.
Why didn’t God destroy Satan as soon as he rebelled?
Before I look at the relationship of God and man, I want to deal with why he didn’t destroy Satan as soon as he rebelled? There aren’t any verses in the Bible that directly address this issue and so we are left with logic and supposition. With that in mind let’s consider some possible answers. One answer lies in the story of Adam and Eve. God’s nature is one of forgiveness and while I know that most theologians may disagree, it is possible God is giving Satan space to repent. We see in Scripture that God has a quotient, often referred to as a cup that until it is full God doesn’t pour out his judgement. Until that time, God will use Satan to accomplish his will. By allowing Satan space to resist God, he shows man’s ability to choose freely. In the Garden Satan didn’t force Eve to rebel against God. He appealed to her greed and Adam’s as well by extension. Notice his claim, God is selfish and jealous. He doesn’t want any competition. God doesn’t want what is best for you and doesn’t care about you. He just wants blind followers. If you eat this fruit, you will be just as smart as God. That God showed mercy by not killing Adam and Eve shows Satan’s accusation to be false.
In Job Satan says the only reason Job serves God is for what he can get out of the deal. Of course, this is the opposite of what we see in real life. The richer people get the less likely they are to serve God. God allows Satan to afflict Job with ever increasing calamity and yet Job stays faithful. So again, we see Satan is a false accuser. Satan is far less powerful than we give him credit for. In fact, the Bible points out we sin when we are drawn away by our own lusts (James 1:14-15.) Satan has no part in our actions, in fact according to the Bible, Satan had no part in Adam’s sin. Satan’s end will come in God’s time
God is holy and merciful, Man is selfish and rebellious
Now it’s time to turn our attention the issues of the relationship of God and man. I’m going to start with the doctrine of original sin. This doctrine is the source of inherited sin. It teaches that even in the womb we inherent not only a sin nature, but Adam’s original sin. I am not alone among Bible-believing Christians who believe this concept is unbiblical, illogical, and goes against the very nature of God. First, if we are all born with inherited sin, why don’t we inherit righteousness from saved parents? Why only Adam’s sin? (Don’t get me wrong, I believe that we are all born with a desire to sin and Scripture supports this.) Ezekiel 18:20 (KJV) The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. This verse is clear that the son does not bear the sin of the father. So then, what are we to make of Romans 5:12? Romans 5 is one of the most debated chapters in the Bible regarding the doctrine of salvation. Romans 5:12 says that by one man sin entered the world and death by sin. It further states that all are made sinners and die because of Adam’s sin. The usual interpretation is that all includes infants and children rather than just those who can understand the Gospel. We sin because it is our nature. If that were the correct interpretation, then continued reading would lead to the doctrine of universal salvation. The debate over universal salvation and the doctrine of original sin has been ongoing since the second century and is a topic all its own. It also involves resolving the question of the eternal fate of the unborn, infants and young children so I will take it up in detail in another blog. For now, I am going to leave it with the explanation that we sin because we have a sin nature thanks to Adam and his transgression. Thus, we die as Adam died. However, we are not held accountable for what we don’t know and thus the unborn, infants and small children who do not know of sin and how it offends God’s holiness are not charged with those sins.
Next up is the accusation that by creating man with free will and then telling Adam not to do something, set man up for failure. In short, that means it’s God’s fault, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. Seriously? I’ve heard parents say the same thing. By setting boundaries for their kids, they set their kids up for failure and punishment. There are a couple of things being missed, first 1 Cor. 10:13 tells us that whatever temptation we face is common and that God can be relied on to make a way of escape. In addition to God making a way to escape, he also gave us the ability to resist. It’s called self-discipline and the more you practice it the more you grow. God gave the first couple exactly one commandment. They could do whatever else they wanted, just don’t eat that one tree. Even with Satan tempting them a little self-control was all it would take. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James4:7 NKJV) Do you want to question God? Fine, all they had to do was ask him about what the serpent said. They talked directly to God who created them, they just need to use some of their God-given abilities and intelligence.
In the debate over free will what gets lost is that without it love is impossible. I’m talking about the highest form of love known as agape. This is biblical love and the love that God expresses towards his creation. It is the first of the fruits of the Spirit and the fruit from which all others find expression. Paul writes about this expression in 1 Corinthians 13. It’s about wanting what is best for the other person, not bragging, showing patience, kindness and putting others first. For us to love God and each other as God loves us, we must have the ability to freely choose. In the fall Adam chose self above Savior, and the result is that our nature changed. In giving the Mosaic Law, it starts with “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God…” Jesus would later tell his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John would write, “We love him, because he first loved us.” Think about what God had done for Adam, he created him, gave him an equal partner also made in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), and placed them both in a garden that was a place of protection, purpose and beauty. God gave them one commandment by which they could show their love to their maker.
What about the idea that they were newly formed humans and were little more than children? How about God said, “Let us make man in our image.” Remember, God breathed life into us. Sorry, they were fully developed humans that could understand the concept of obedience to a single prohibition. This is the weakest argument by far and so I am going to spend the least amount of time on it. We also don’t know how long they lived before being placed in the Garden, or how long they lived there before the fall. When we examine the interchange between the serpent and Eve we also realize she knew and understood God’s command.
Look at the serpent’s pitch. First, he cast doubt on God’s Word. Either they heard wrong, or God is lying. God knows they won’t die by eating the fruit. Second, God is jealous and doesn’t want them to be his equals. My problem is Adam got the command directly from God, if he was there, why didn’t he speak up? Why didn’t he stop his wife? They took what they should have asked for. James said if any man lacks wisdom let him ask of God, who gives to all men liberally. Satan had no problem believing the first couple knew right from wrong. He also knew that Eve got God’s command second hand from her husband.
What about calling God a stalker or that he didn’t know where they were because he went looking for them is bizarre and shows how the modern world thinks. Normal people do this all the time. Our dogs act guilty and often hide from us when they’ve done wrong, and so do our children, is it surprising that Adam and Eve did the same? Here was their chance to come clean, but they tried to hide their sin. Throughout Scripture we find that God in his mercy extends a period of time for repentance. David had a year after his affair with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah. The Amorites had four hundred years before God used Isreal to accomplish his judgement. (Gen. 15:16) God gave Ninevah forty days, and God gave Adam until their daily meeting.
Was their punishment unjust? Their action of disobedience was both a rebellion against God and an affront to his absolute holiness. Instead of admitting what he did, Adam blamed Eve for giving him the fruit and God for giving him Eve. Eve blamed the serpent for deceiving her. With no repentance in sight, it was up to God to deal with the actual sin, rebellion. Isn’t it interesting that only Eve received a promise? It was through her that the future redeemer would come. Maybe it’s because she owned up to being conned by Satan. What about that thing of instant death? The literal translation is dying, thou shalt die. I find it interesting that God preserving them from immediate death is used as proof that God is a liar and a villain. Peter told us why God delays execution of his judgement, in his mercy, he gives us time for repentance.
Let’s turn to what we can learn of God’s mercy and man’s hard-hearted attitude. I’ve done some research about that flaming sword and the cherubim that stood guard. There are theologians such as Jonathan Edwards and Matthew Henry who believed that Adam could never be restored from his fallen state and was forever barred from the Garden. However, many other commentators take a different approach and based on my knowledge of the Bible and what it teaches about God, I agree with them. The flaming sword should be rendered Shekinah. This means that this flame that looked like a sword, not only barred the way, but pointed the way to the Garden entrance and the Tree of Life. As we learn in Exodus this represented the presence of Jehovah. To the Christian, Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New. This is important because it provides us with a unifying principle in Scripture, there is one way of salvation. Jesus said “I am the way…” For Adam there was one way of restoring fellowship with his Creator and the cherubim and sword made that clear. The one way back was repentance at the foot of the presence of Jehovah. All other paths were prohibited.
Is the God of the Old Testament only a God of vengeance?
One of the worst views of God is that there are two gods in Scripture. The Old Testament God is a wrathful, vengeful God who arbitrarily slaughters entire nations for his pleasure. In the New Testament we see a loving God quick to forgive. However, nothing could be farther from what the Bible says. Throughout the Old Testament we see a gracious and forgiving God who wants a relationship with those who follow him. The entire book of Jonah is about God getting his prophet to warn Ninevah, so they have an opportunity to repent. Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV) “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. Psalms 103:8-12 further illustrates this point, Psalm 103:8–12 (NKJV)
The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
There are no less than six other verses in the Old Testament that talk about God’s mercy. In addition, we have all the stories demonstrating his mercy to his people and the gentile nations. My point is that the Bible shows God has always been a God of mercy. However, while God’s mercy is always available, there are conditions that must be met to receive it. It cannot be earned is the first thing we have to understand. In fact, it is impossible for man to live good enough to earn his mercy.
I had a professor who first pointed out that there is no evidence that Adam ever returned to being a spiritual man. With the fact that God is a God of mercy and forgiveness why didn’t Adam ever have the chance to reenter the Garden? Let’s look at God’s conditions.
The book of Matthew is a bridge between the Old and New Testaments; it also has the clearest discourse by Jesus on what salvation looks like. The Sermon on the Mount starts with the steps of salvation. First, salvation has never been about good works, in fact Isaiah 64:6 says all our righteousness are like filthy rags. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit. This is the first step in salvation, but only the first step. Until you acknowledge you are spiritually without any righteousness, with nothing good and deserving of nothing from a holy God, you haven’t even taken the first step of salvation. Until you understand you are so beggarly poor that you are ashamed to even raise your eyes towards heaven, you cannot be saved. Every ounce of pride must be gone.
The second step is that you must be broken and in mourning over your sin. Jesus used the term of wailing that people do at the death of a loved one. This is a brokenness that leaves you undone with no idea where to turn next.
The third step is humility. The word translated as meek can also be translated as humble. My application is that we should be humble before God and meek towards our fellow man. What I mean is that we must be spiritually, if not physically on our knees and prostrate before God. We can’t hold anything back and we acknowledge that whatever God does to us, we deserve.
Finally, we must hunger and thirst after righteousness, not justice as some translations incorrectly say, but righteousness. If you want justice, then Hell is your just reward; we want God’s righteousness. This desire is compared to being in the middle of a desert with no water. You will do anything for a single drop. That is what it takes to find salvation. As the song writer put it, “All to Jesus I surrender, humbly at his feet I bow, worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me Jesus take me now. What I love is that when we come to him begging for crumbs, he raises us up and makes us his children.
God makes some promises when we are truly penitent. The kingdom of heaven is ours, we will be comforted, we will inherit the earth, and we will be filled. These are promises that transcend all covenants and dispensations. This is a relationship God wants with all his creation. So, what about Adam?
First Adam tried to hide. When he could hide no longer, not only did he refuse to confess his sin, but he also never asked for forgiveness. Instead, he blamed God and his wife for his sin. God gave him over seven hundred years to repent, for seven hundred years he had a daily reminder of what he had done and there is nothing in Scripture that shows he even confessed his sin, let alone ask for forgiveness. In fact, the Bible is very clear that if we confess our sins, God removes them and never remembers them again. He gives us his righteousness.
God is not the bad guy here. We will fail and fall and when we confess our faults, failures and transgressions, God is always ready to forgive our sin and remove them as far as the east is from the west. To quote Shakespear, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.” (Julius Caesar act 1 scene 2)