Good News from the Garden
So, what happened back in the Garden of Eden? Most of the time we focus on what the first humans did wrong. What if we focused on what God did right? In a previous post, the term gospel was defined as good news but shown to include bad news as well. The bad news is that humans became infected with sin and the good news is that God made a way to forgive us and change us. This bad and good news makes up the whole “good news” of the gospel. But do we only see that gospel when Jesus Christ comes in the flesh?
When we go back to the 2nd and 3rd chapter of Genesis, recording the very beginning of human life, with careful reflection we see God’s amazing grace and mercy. If God was before all things, then He doesn’t owe anyone anything. So by providing man with perfect conditions in which to live is gracious. For God to initiate a personal relationship with humans is very gracious. Defining boundaries and consequences, just like we do with children for their own good, is gracious. So when humans cross the line and stab God in the back, how do you think He should respond? Have you ever noticed what God does NOT do in response to the betrayal by Adam and Eve? He certainly doesn’t act human or stoop to a childish level.
Most of us react angrily when someone stabs us in the back. We may run at someone and yell or scream. We may point our finger in their face and threaten. We may stonewall, be distant, blackmail, or withhold our friendship. Did God do any of this? Read it yourself in Genesis 3.
When Adam and Eve ran away from God, He pursued them. He asks dignifying questions that He knew the answers to. He didn’t shout, and He didn’t avoid. When Adam and Eve realized they were naked, who clothed them? God. When they broke relationship with their Creator, who allowed them to stay close to each other and reproduce? God. When they were tempted again to reach out and eat from the tree of life after falling, who delivered them from more pain? God.
This last point is tricky. If you read the last few verses of Genesis 3, it becomes clear that prolonging life occurred from the fruit of the tree of life. So having the chronic effects of sin inside causes us to long for relief. Dying after one hundred years is way better than living with sickness and ailments for thousands of years. It was better for them to not stay in the Garden of Eden and not to extend the negative effects of the curse.
It is good news that God has been gracious from the beginning and hasn’t changed. The “gospel” means good news, and we see the gospel all the way back in the garden. At COR, we are discussing the free gift of salvation God has offered from the dawn of our denial of Him. Please join us to learn together about this good news!