Broken

Rebels

The Devil, disguised as a serpent, deceived the first woman, Eve. He presented an alternative reality from what God had made. He tricked her into placing her opinion, wishes and judgment above those of her Creator, thus rebelling against him and inverting the created order. The life giver became the bringer of death.

16 To the woman he said,

"I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children.

Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,

but he shall rule over you."

After the debacle with the serpent, God came into the garden to confront the two rebels. Each received a sentence for their rebellion that reversed the blessing they had been given to start with. Although they retained their original roles, they would now fulfill them with much difficulty. So for the woman, childbirth, which was her special privilege, would now become painful, and ruling with her husband would now be fraught with conflict as they both strove for power, and he would rule over her instead of with her. They were driven from the garden, and its entrance sealed forever so they could not find their way back.

Holy God

That seems like an extreme response to eating a fruit. The punishment does not seem to fit the offense, especially since no one was hurt. Why did God make such a big deal of the incident? Was there no other way to remedy the situation that did not involve such a devastating end? That raises a question. What is sin, and why does God feel so strongly about it? Understanding the nature of God is a good place to start in understanding the nature of the offense and God's response to it. Many attributes describe God, but the one that holds them all together is his holiness. This word, as used in the Bible, is only used to describe God and the things or people devoted to him. God alone is holy, and he alone makes something or someone holy by association or declaration. Still, what does this holiness mean?

God is the only being whose existence does not depend on something outside himself. He is pure, (all his attributes exist in their original purest form), whole (all his attributes complement one another well and are so perfectly blended as to be inseparable from one another), complete (nothing can or needs to be added to him), and perfect (he cannot be improved). For these reasons, he is unlike anything and anyone in existence, and this "otherness" is his holiness. After God made Adam and Eve in his image, they were described as naked and unashamed. Shame is that emotion we feel when we realize that we fall short of the ideal. Shame did not exist because they were pleasing to their maker having been made as pure, complete, whole and perfect as creatures could be. As long as they remained subject to him, Adam and Eve were perfect creatures, deriving their perfection from their makers perfection.

Not Enough?

By insinuation, the serpent presented them with the lie that there was something lacking in their being. Eve was made to feel like she needed something else to make her complete. Something happened in their hearts before they ate the fruit. They believed the lie. They put their trust in another created being instead of the creator; this was the essence of their sin. Every time we sin, we say, "God is not enough for me," and chose something he has made to fill our perceived need. The problem with that thought is that everything else that exists is made by God and inferior to God. We are therefore placing him beneath his creation. When they believed the serpent's lie and ate the forbidden fruit, they stepped out from under the Creator's protection, favor and kindness, seeking a life apart from him. But there is no such thing as life apart from God. Their rebellion made them incomplete, less than whole, imperfect, and no longer holy. They became something the Creator had not made, something false. In their new state they were a glaring blemish in a garden designed for perfect creatures. For the first time they recognized that they fell short of the ideal and experienced shame. Having become unholy, they could no longer remain in the presence of a holy God and felt the need to hide from him. The image of God in the creature became distorted by sin and a wedge arose between the Creator and his creature.

Once we understand the Holiness of God, we realize that there is no such thing as a minor sin. Every deviation from perfection, no matter how slight, stands out in stark contrast. Certainly, some sins are worse than others because of how they may affect others, but in God's eyes, the difference between what we call minor and major sins, is the difference between something slightly terrible and something very terrible. They are both terrible. God's response to the first sin then makes sense. The consequences of that original sin remain with the human race, and all of our sufferings directly result from the sins that we commit or that others commit against us. The curse that followed the first sin is still in effect today, and this curse touches your experience as a woman today. What we live in now is not the original design; the perfect garden is forever lost to us on this earth. There is no going back on your own.

I think this is one of the saddest events in human history. Our first parents went from two perfect creatures endowed with power and authority and blessed by their maker, with a whole planet at their feet to populate and rule over, to shame, curses and banishment. We have fallen so far from the perfection we lost that we might as well have fallen from one world into another. What is next for the woman in this sad new world? What about bearing God's image and ruling and fulfilling his purpose to multiply to fill the earth and subdue it? What about being that suitable helper without whom the work could not be done? What about giving life? God's original intent is not abandoned. All is not lost, and God is not done with the woman yet. Before he drove them out of the garden, he covered their nakedness. That was a sign that though they had damaged his image and become shameful, he would not forsake them and would cover their shame. God had a plan for restoration.

It's not over

There are two important takeaways from this story. First, God is Holy and, by comparison with his perfection, sin is something terrible that cannot remain in his presence. It is like cancer that has permeated every aspect of our existence as humans. Your natural disposition is set against God because, without even knowing it, you constantly place things God has made above him in your heart. Your wants are at the center of your affection instead of God and what he wants. Because your heart is twisted in this way, you act contrary to God's will. You live in a world where everyone else is driven by the same condition. Out of that brokenness, we hurt one another. We are not what we were meant to be and don't even have the inclination or ability to get back there.

Secondly, you still bear the image of God though it is now distorted. For this reason God still values you highly. The commands that determine who and what you are, are still his commands. He still cares for you and is interested in the outcome of your life at a level of detail that is beyond your comprehension. Even though Eve blew it, God has not given up on the woman. She still retains a place in his grand plan. There is still a way to bear his image, rule on his behalf, multiply and fill the earth, and walk unashamed. The adversary meant to turn the created order upside down, and it seems he has succeeded, but God is not done, and he is in the process of setting things right again.