When Things Go Wrong

Spiritual growth is our goal, but as with most things, growing in our spiritual life takes hard work and discipline.  What was meant to be natural in the beginning has become a chore.  Why is that, why, after a beautiful beginning, has the condition of the world become so desperately far from God?

Last week I mentioned that in the beginning God was the source of all creation, man was created for a relationship with God and people, each of us has a role, and God is the boss.  However, all that changed the moment Adam and Eve turned God’s program upside down.  The forbidden fruit in the garden wasn’t to deny Adam and Eve of anything, but rather a test of their resolve to trust in God’s goodness.  The serpent (we know him as Satan) placed a question in their mind, is God good?  If he were, the serpent queried, why would he withhold anything from you?  As soon as Adam and Eve stepped outside of God’s set boundaries they set into motion a consequence that has affected us ever since.

God as the source.  The serpent tempted Adam and Eve to be like God, to be the source of their own knowledge, the source of their own moral choices, and the source of what they could or could not do.  In that instance they said they didn’t need God.

Relationships.  Man was made for a relationship with God and with people.  Their choice severed that relationship.  No longer would their relationship with God be the same.  There was now a barrier between them, but it also impacted Adam and Eve’s relationship.  They began to blame, accuse, and foster distrust.  God’s curse was a mirror of what was to happen when people didn’t live according God’s plan. 

Roles.  God had given roles to man and woman that created order and satisfaction.  After their sin those roles no longer were a joy but a burden.  Women would be subject to their husband, and they would continually try to usurp man’s responsibility to lead.  It would be a constant strain.  God’s role as head of the home would be replaced by lusts, possessions, and power.

God is boss.  The fall into sin did cause man to feel guilt over their, confession, and repentance.  Instead man, in his arrogance, has pushed God away, thinking that his own way is best.  Meaning, purpose, contentment, peace satisfaction, joy, and happiness are sought everywhere but within the framework God’s law, rather in his effort.

What was meant for good has been turned upside down.  All one has to do is look around and see the devastation that permeates the world.  Wars, immorality, abuse, broken marriages, homosexuality, self-indulgence, hatred, and greed are not the exception but the rule when sin reigns. 

From our perspective we hope that we would have made a different decision than Adam and Eve.  Yet, each day we chose the same course as our forbearers.  We need something, someone, who can return us to a state that would allow us to chose a different course.  There is hope, God has not left us alone, He, in His grace, has made a way.  I’m just saying….