We Got a Big Problem

A View From the Lower Story

In the midst of a flawless environment that God had created, something shifted. When God gave Adam and Eve this perfect home in the garden, he also gave them something else: freedom. Rather than force them into a relationship with him, he gave them the freedom to choose whether they wanted to be with him or go it alone. To provide a way for them to accept or reject his divine vision, God set two trees in the middle of the garden. One was the Tree of Life, which bore fruit that, when eaten, would sustain life forever. The other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Eating from this tree would signal to God that Adam and Eve had rejected God’s offer.

According to Scripture, a serpent—a creature we later learn represented Satan, the very force of evil—appeared before Eve and told her that if she and Adam ate from the forbidden tree, they would be like God. Of course, this was a lie; they were already like God, made in his image. However, this made good sense to them, so they ignored God and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The tree lived up to its name. Evil was deposited alongside truth in the DNA of Adam and Eve. At the core of this evil, which is called “sin” throughout the Bible, is selfishness. God looks out for others; evil looks out for self. Selfishness is the root of hatred, jealousy, violence, anger, lust, and greed. Adam and Eve were covered in it.

Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. The sin nature within them had no place in the perfect, loving community of God. God would meet with them outside the garden, but they would not be allowed to reenter until the problem of sin was reconciled.

After they left the garden, Adam and Eve began their family, only to witness the pain of a brother killing his brother. This signals to us that the sin nature birthed in Adam and Eve was transferred to their offspring. Because we are the offspring of Adam, we, too, are conceived in sin and act it out in our relationships with God and each other.

A View From the Upper Story

While this is a tale of great tragedy and loss, embedded in this story are two clues—two pieces of good news from the Upper Story. The first clue from the Upper Story comes at the sentencing for sin. God declares to the serpent:

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NIV)

Clearly, many women have an adverse relationship with snakes (four times more than men), but there is much more. This is the first clue from the Upper Story that God is coming for us to redeem and restore us. The offspring, or seed, of Eve, not Adam, is a reference to Jesus. Satan will bruise his heel (the crucifixion), but Jesus will bruise his head (a fatal blow defeating Satan once and for all).

Second, when you read the story, you notice that the first thing that Adam and Eve did was to cover themselves. Immediately upon eating the fruit, they recognized they were naked and felt vulnerable. Now that they had the knowledge of evil, they pondered how another might take advantage of them, so they covered up.

When God found them hiding, did you notice the first thing he did? He replaced their fig leaves with the skins of an animal. Why would God do this? Well, certainly animal skins are more durable than greenery, but there is so much more. God is giving us an important clue. What is it? The true covering of our sin will require the shedding of another’s blood.

This is the second clue of many in the Bible that lets us know that God is working out a master plan to get us back into the garden because of his great love for us. The first clue is all about who God the Father will use (Jesus); the second clue is what God will use (the blood of Jesus).

A Moment to Reflect

1. Why would God allow Satan into the garden?
2. Why do you think Adam and Eve hid from God? Are we still doing this today?
3. Why do you think God accepted Abel’s offering but rejected Cain’s? How does this inform our offerings to God today?