Have you ever watched a two-year-old trying to get a beloved toy back from a sibling or play-date buddy? Violence. Who taught a two-year-old to forcefully grab the toy, bite the kid, shove her sister, and lord over her victim when she already has a fake cupcake from the miniature kitchen (never mind that there are five other identical cupcakes strewn about on the floor)? Or, who taught your four-year-old niece to blame her aunt who lives 180 miles away when confronted about the “Big Apple Red” nail polish streaking up and down the bathroom walls? Children reveal the worst kept secret about humanity—we all have a propensity to lie, cheat, steal, and harm. But why?
Broken
Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.
eden has fallen
Yesterday we realized the very good news of the Trinity’s love for us and our role and responsibility to be like God—just, good, loving, kind. What happened? God never forces love, so when he made humanity, he gave us the choice to love him in return. Part of our love for God gets expressed through our obedience to God. Adam and Eve faced the choice to obey God’s command—eat whatever you want, the whole garden is yours, abundance and goodness at your fingertips, but don’t eat from this one tree—or to disobey and listen to the voice of another. In God’s good creation humans sat atop the created order, but now Adam and Eve chose to put themselves under the influence of the serpent. They were meant to rule, not succumb. In a moment of arrogance, weakness, and confusion, our first parents doubted God and listened to the voice of a liar. Cosmic terrorism broke into God’s perfect creation and everything felt the effects of sin. Everything.
the consequences of sin
Lions no longer lounge with lambs—they hunt. Trees no longer easily produce fruit—they labor. The sun no longer warms our bodies—it scorches. And humans no longer enjoy unhindered fellowship with God—we suffer. The effects of Adam and Eve’s rebellion reverberated from Eden and reached the farthest galaxy and penetrated the smallest atom. Sin broke everything. One of the far-reaching effects of sin gets passed down through every umbilical cord. Our first parents’ rebellion altered our DNA, and now every human is born with the propensity to do great harm and is born into a world that testifies to this truth. A full picture of the gospel recognizes that we need saving from the cosmic brokenness that was inaugurated in the garden.
The gospel declares the good news that someday we will return to Eden, lions will lounge with lambs, trees will freely feed us, the sun will tickle our skin with warmth, and we will walk with God.
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Daily Question
Have you considered the far-reaching effects of sin created by Adam and Eve’s rebellion? How do you see this play out in your own life and in the world around you?
Comments (11)
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I really have not looked at my sin as being an extension from Adam and Eve for some reason. Nor how their sin effected the world as a whole. It is interesting to read how their sin was the fall of everything.
Sin is so much easier than holiness. I’m prone to drift, and it’s never towards God. Without spiritual discipline my nature is to be more like Eve than Jesus – disobeying and untrusting of the holy and perfect God. I can see it’s effect in so much of this world and just our natural tendencies. It makes me see how much I need Jesus, not just for salvation but to live out this life daily.
The sin affects us all and some are more conditioned to some sins than others . Out DNA seems to call us/ tempt us to sin. But Jesus came to drive out the sun rooted in our heart and break us free from the dominion of darkness forever !
Its too easy to do what we want, not what we should.
And as our world progresses it has a propensity to get easier to just dismiss right from wrong. Reading the Bible daily, talking to God through prayer and establishing a mentor are ways that I have been able to help direct myself to better things. But I am at end a sinner and I mess up and I make mistakes. My Heavenly Father continues to love me. I need to continue to confess and bring light to my wrongs.
I do. I know we were born into a world of sin. I know that every day there is a battle and that I do not get to walk freely side by side with God here on earth right now. I do in my heart and long for that day, but for now must pray and at times struggle through this world and the evils of the world.
Yes, we see it everyday. There’s no point in dwelling on it, the ramifications or what if’s, of the Fall. The truth is it needed to happen. It was the only way for us to be able to have a choice. He could have stopped the whole thing and continued for us to be made for Him. But, He wanted Us to want to Love Him, as He loves Us. We needed to be cut from Him, to be able to experience the need for Him. Our choice to Love Him. Don’t get me wrong, this world can be very Ugly, We can be very Ugly. But, we can also be Beautiful. With Him we can really be Beautiful.
We definitely live in a fallen world. The suffering, and sin is everywhere and everyone is affected due to our first parents rebellion. The very simple truth as to WHY we are in NEED of a Savior-Jesus. We were given free will to choose to accept or deny God. After Salvation-in Christ alone are we able to walk in the fruit of the Spirit and have ears tuned into the Holy Spirit’s counseling in our lives. We can’t do it on our own….This is a daily obedience to choose to be in the Word and walk as Jesus did, although we may fall, we have the opportunity to repent, get back up and try again…
Woah…loaded question. I feel like the older I get the more far-reaching it becomes. I can see it in myself more than ever. In the things that distract me from Him, in how I speak to my family members when I am stressed or anxious. I can see it in others– how they treat the people around them, family friends, or strangers. More recently, I have seen it in Christians using His Word to hurt, exclude others and uplift themselves. It is something I have never experienced before, and it is incredibly hurtful. It has opened my eyes to how many people many sectors of Christianity excludes, and passes judgment on harshly. Both eye-opening and disappointing.
In this time it’s hard not to see the reaches sin has. This world is falling apart and is so broken with illness that fear roams free, and faith becomes a second thought. It saddens me to see this, and it even spreads in my family. My kids will tell lies to me in fear of getting in trouble instead of having faith that I will not come down hard on them if they tell me the truth. It is second nature for us to hid our sin (which in itself is a sin) in fear that something unpleasant will happen. Fear takes a hold of our rationalizing, so trying to see God’s amazing abundance for us is lost and we loss focus on the truth.
Yes, there have been many issues that generations in my family have struggled with. But God who is rich in mercy, has started breaking through some of the issues. It has been a blessing to see Him work.
We can see the far reaching effects of sin generation after generation. I feel like the world becomes deeper in sin and unsteadiness as time goes on. We become numb and used to the sin and then it becomes more accepted publicly. Then the sin strengthens and becomes bigger than it was before. TV and media have a significant role in the area of sin in regards to coveting and adultery. Sometimes we are sinning and among sin without even realizing because we are so immersed in this “norm.” In my own life, I am becoming so much more aware of the sin around me and my own sins that I didn’t even realize I was partaking in. I am trying to hard to shelter my children from sins that are not considered sin but “normal” to others. I am trying to be so much more aware of my own sins and explaining to my own children when I’ve been wrong and I need to ask for their forgiveness and God’s. Like when I get aggravated and should show them patience while we are trying to get dressed and ready or if I say something negative to my husband out of frustration. Sin loves sin and it grows. We have to be the change.