The First Sin

Genesis 3:9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”

God had wanted man to choose life over knowledge of good and evil. This life had authority, immortality and happiness. But man’s selfishness always desired what God had denied to us. But, the reality was God had protected us from one important enemy, which is the flesh. In this meditation, let us detail the stages into sin.

From Verse 1, we see cunningness being the only method Satan uses to win man. The question he poses to Eve can be seen here. Even when God had given complete dominion to Adam and Eve, Satan asks her if it is true that God has denied complete authority. This question itself has venom and is provoking. The sentence is craftily designed so that it uses our disappointment against God. God had denied only a single tree but Satan uses that tiny variance in pointing out that it is not complete authority. Satan uses a similar term to Jesus himself in Mathew 4:3 “If you are Son of God”. Whenever somebody questions our authority, we tend to react immediately and prove that we are the best. This attempt to establish or prove one’s authority has been the failure of many preachers. This is the same problem with Pharisees and other current time scholars who always try to promote their talent and knowledge.

And the woman when answering to this question comes with an explanation that has two problems. She mentions that there is only one tree in the midst of the garden. Verse 2:9 says mentions the tree of life at first and then the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But Eve mentions that there is only one tree in the middle of the garden and that tree has been restricted. We also read in verse 6 how Eve saw the tree was good, pleasant and desirable. When there is a tiny denial or a rejection, the human mind always focuses on that and presents that as a failure. We casually forget all the benefits God has given us and complain saying God did not give me a Rolls-Royce. Unless we do away with this greed and develop a satisfaction on all our possessions, obedience becomes a hard target. In 1 Kings 21:4 we can read how a king’s heart was filled with another person’s property and that perversion pushes his wife into murder. Ahab had other problems and has seen God’s power in the previous chapter. However, his desire for trade with Syria brought condemnation to him. In spite of this condemnation, Ahab was childish with Naboth’s vineyard.

The second problem with Eve’s statement is that she adds “you shall not touch it” which God never had ordered (2:17 and 3:11). This part is where she believes that God is unreasonable. We always imagine a strict and unreasonable God who never understands us. We blow up the task God had given us that it is so hard and impossible. This is primarily caused because we do not trust God that He loves us. We are expected to submit to His wisdom. Another reason for this problem is tradition where unnecessary practices are still followed without understanding and context.

In verse 6, we read that Eve saw all the goodness of the tree, she ate and gave her husband too. In all this time Adam was with her which can be seen in the words “with her”. God created woman as a helper to man. But, this man had become a silent listener and just let the helper do the talking, seeing and decision making. This is why God had ordered a submission to the husband. This is a punishment to all women just like the one given to man for toiling. When God gives some liberty and responsibility we should honor them and not abuse. More than a punishment, it is also a wise decision by God so that women who are weaker will not have authority to lead men towards sin. We need to remember that God was seeking Adam first. (1 Timothy 2:11-15).

The knowledge about good and bad has first given them the information that they are naked. Nakedness was frowned upon by God throughout the bible. But in the early stage when Adam and Eve’s eyes were not opened, God did not see that as a problem. In the last verse of Chapter 2 we read that they were not ashamed. But now they were very much ashamed even after covering themselves with fig leaves. This cover is an important thing what Jesus had to give up so that we could be saved (Isaiah 52:10). This is an illustration of Christ losing His diving status and all the benefits of knowledge which is the opposite of what Adam did. This is the symbol of selflessness.

God’s search for mankind with “where are you” started right at Adam. We can see this question from God in many instances like to Cain God asks “where is Abel?”. God is never concerned about all his creations, but about every man God is completely worried and is constantly seeking our repentance. We were part of this glory and shared a great relationship where we could even hear God walking. But sin threw us out of this and our distance kept increasing and increasing so that grace upon grace was required for salvation. Jesus’ arrival to earth is God’s descending to earth so that we can ascend to that glory. This search for souls has brought Him here. Let us make Him victorious by being able to answer this question righteously. But our pathetic situation is that God is still asking the same question “where are you” from heaven as the Father, from earth as Jesus and even after being inside us as the Holy Spirit, He still has to ask the same question to us.

Amen.

Life and Knowledge

Genesis 2:9 “And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Life, as per our understanding is all about planning, toiling and then success. Unless success is attained, life becomes meaningless according to the world’s standards. But according to verse 3, the resting day was the blessed one. The verse clearly mentions that God rested from His work and not after His work. The rest was not a result of hard work but it is a separation from all worldly issues to concentrate on God Himself. The importance will be seen in Exodus 35:2. This was given to a generation who had not received grace yet. They were to work for 6 days and spend time with the Lord in the seventh day. We are expected to spend all seven days to the Lord. This does not apply for full time ministers alone. In fact full time ministry is not something separated to specific people. We are all given the responsibility to live as living sacrifices.

If we read John 1:4, Life was present only in Jesus. The tone in introducing Jesus is that He had the wonderful element of life which was not present in anybody else. This life was the light of men. We were enlightened on how life should be lived when we saw Jesus live His life. Jesus defined what success is. This was a life which never succumbed to the darts of the world and the earth. When his anger was provoked through false accusations, he did not give way to it. But at a time when there should have been peace at the temple just after everybody exalting Him singing “hosanna” at the gates of the city. He did not change with the circumstances around Him, but created circumstances. That is the example of a great leader and a successful warrior.

And life is something that is present inside and not outside. Just as knowledge is something we enjoy inside and then make use of it externally, life is similar. God had breathed life inside us and searching for life outside is toiling in vain. When God said “you will surely die”, it did not mean death in this world, for God’s eyes those who are not in grace are already dead.

We can also understand that the plants of the “field” were not grown because of the absence of rain and man’s work. But, God was very supportive that he sent the mist that did not require both the rain and man’s tilling. Of the four rivers, only one was present when Moses was writing this book. We also see the word “garden” which means that it was completely decorated and Adam was put there. This is the life God wants to give us.

But, the only thing that God had positioned opposite to life is knowledge of good and evil. God sees that this knowledge is dangerous to man. But we are required to ignore this knowledge and seek life instead. These simple decisions are the hardest to mankind. There are two trees in the middle of the garden which means that Adam was free to eat the tree of life. The reason why God had denied knowledge of good and evil is that we should depend on God to make decisions. The immediate next verse mentions how God saw “it was not good” for man to be alone. This good and bad decision is something God had always wanted to make. That’s why the serpent uses the word “you will be like God knowing good and evil”. Man was already in the image and likeness of God. He also had access to the fruit of life which would provide eternal life. He also had dominion over all the other living beings (1:26). The only attribute that was lacking was this knowledge or deciding between good and evil. But this knowledge caused him to lose life. God had clearly warned Adam what is good between knowledge and life and expected him to choose between the two.

Also, one wrong choice and one disobedient act will lead to the end and cause man to choose evil and not anything that is good. That is the effect of choices. All God expects from us is to trust in Him without questioning and accept His way. If we want to decide ourselves, even a simple decision like choosing between a forbidden and a life giving fruit will fail. That dependency is something we need to build.

In verses 18 and 20, we can read God and man together searching for a suitable helper to Adam. This was the reason God had made and sent all the animals towards him to choose. The word helper is used because of the duty man had to perform. This duty was not just to tend and keep the garden, but also to keep himself away from eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is the role of a spouse here. God saw that it is not good for a man to be alone. This decision was from God and it was the best. When God decides on what is required, we always get the best.

All God wants man to do is live a life that depends on Him and trust in Him for everything. We are expected to be calm and rest with Him. But our wrong choices drag us towards toiling and suffering for simple needs. We are just surviving now because of unwanted knowledge and dangerous decisions.  God wants us to live and not just survive.

Amen.

Light and Darkness

Genesis 1:4 “And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. “

The creation is the most studied and least understood event in the Bible. We are not going to study this again for a better understanding about the event but for a little more light about who God is.

After the beginning and when the earth was without form and void, God brings light to set things right. We can understand that God did not see anything good in creating heavens and the earth. Here darkness does not point to the absence of light but is described as an object. Since darkness was on the surface of the deep, there was something even more abominable in the deep. Above the deep was solid earth and then water was covering the whole earth. Above the waters was the Holy Spirit moving around. In Rev 21:23 we read that the glory of God will illuminate and Jesus will be the lamp that provides light to the New Jerusalem. This is the importance of Christ in The Trinity. In John 17:5, Jesus has mentioned about the glory that was shared between the Father and Christ before this time. Based on these verses, we may understand that the Father and the Son were glorious before the earth was created but this glory was not present in the earth when it was without form and void. It was dark everywhere. This could have been because of Lucifer’s fall into the deep.

Even when the presence of the Holy Spirit was there, light was required.  The requirement of light has to be seen with a right revelation from God. The creation of the heavens and the earth is not revealed to us in detail but our revelation starts with the creation of light. After God created the light, He saw that it was good. This was not because He could see things only with light (Psalms 139:2), it was because it was His glory that was shining on earth. This explains why God had to separate His glory apart from darkness. Glory and sin cannot be together.

But the Holy Spirit and sin can be found simultaneously which should be noted particularly. The role of the Holy Spirit is very crucial in our salvation. He is the part of God the Father who is able to be support in our darkness. He is the person who is waiting for the light to come into our lives. In 1 Cor 6:19, we read that our body is a temple of the Holy Spirit and it does not mean that we cannot sin or sin drives the Holy Spirit away, but it means that we are rejecting the ownership of the Holy Spirit. He will still be hovering around waiting for an opportunity when we will come back to Him.

Also, it was not mere words that created this division but this division requires hands. This is applicable in our personal lives. Blessings are easy, but cleansing requires toiling and hard-work even to God. Let us be very careful during temptation. Failure is very expensive. We read this in Mathew 18:12-14 where a loss of a single soul is very painful and it makes everybody else in the fellowship exposed to temptation as the master has abandoned them in search of a single person. Our sins cause pain to us, our family, church and the person who suffers most is Christ Himself. We need to exercise that kind of caution when in the outer world outside the presence of God.

From Verse 14 onwards, we read God creating separate lights with responsibility to rule the earth. These lights are categorized as bigger, smaller and then stars. We also see that all herbs, plants and trees were created before these lights and these plants had capabilities to reproduce through their seeds before their creation. If we understand that it was the glory of God which was there to create all these plants, then all sea and animals were created under the sun which is another source of light, we can see that we are inferior to these plants. All the sea and land animals have eyes and the brain which needs somebody to rule. The plants do not need disciplining. That’s why God created these lights to rule the day and night.

This can be compared with Jesus wanting us to be lights of the world after He Himself was the original light. God sees the light as good and for this light to stay good, it needs separation from darkness. In each family or situation or location God places some people as lights to rule. Many lives are created when these lights rule. But, the tendency of human beings is that they look at the stars and not their actual rulers to rule them.

God did not work at night time, everything was performed during the light. This teaches us to not try anything without His presence. If we are outside His presence, we should just survive the night time and wait for the day to complete. In the morning, His mercies are new and so we wait for His mercies to forgive our failures during the night time. We complete the day with receiving forgiveness and had renewed our relationship with Him. And God does not consider the rest we take without His presence as a proper resting. We need to rest with Him on the Sabbath.

Our God is awesome in giving us plenty of lessons and messages in every action He does. We are expected to exactly follow Him. Let us understand Him more and love Him more.

Amen.

The Law of Christ

Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

According to Paul’s teachings there is no law that can control or manipulate us as we are beyond all law and belong to the Holy Spirit. But here and in 1 Corinthians 9:21, Paul uses the term “law of Christ”. Both these statements point at the emphasis of fellowship between brothers being the law of Christ.

In the NT, no other law but fellowship is given the status of a law. This is a very important message as Jesus when spoke about this in Mathew 22:37-40, after the first law that emphasizes the relationship with God that we need to love Him, the next important law is to love our neighbors. This does not contradict with Paul’s statement that we are above all law because this law does not require obedience like all worldly laws. The law of Christ expects love.

A detailed description of Christ’s law is the Sermon on the Mount. Here in Mathew 5:38-42 Christ makes it mandatory to lose all kinds of hatred or revenge completely and send love everywhere. To win souls Jesus proposes three submissions from us. The first is to the neighbor’s anger, second to his need and then to his love. These are the perfect steps in displaying Christ’s love where he submitted to our anger at the cross, then to our need through death and resurrection so that we would be forgiven and then to our love by sending the Holy Spirit to walk with us in our pursuit of glory.

Just like the commandment in the Ten Commandments that required us to honor our father and mother which has an attached blessing that our days will be more, this commandment of loving our enemies has an attachment that we will be sons of our Father in heaven (V 44,45). Jesus in the same statement adds that the Father is perfect with His Fatherly role with all good and evil people, but if we have to be this Father’s sons we have to copy this action of the Father.

In Galatians, as soon as Paul speaks about the fruit of the Spirit, he requests the church to do away with hatred, practice encouragement and burden sharing which fulfills the law of Christ. In 5:26, Paul advises not to provoke anger and immediately in 6:1 he requests to restore if anybody sins with a spirit of gentleness. Restoration is completely different from condemnation. We are expected to do this restoration in the model of verse 2 which wants us to share each other’s burdens. If anybody sins, we should share the burden and encourage this person towards perfection. This was exactly what Jesus did at the cross.

Similarly in 1 Corinthians 9:21 Paul emphasizes in going to whatever extent to earn souls for the Lord. Paul, though being a free person, acted like a complete servant to all. This servant carried the burdens of others. His submission is willing to take up any role or responsibility to win hearts. In this context only Paul says that even if he is not under the OT law, he is submissive to the law of Christ which again is towards God. The law of Christ expects mutual encouragement and sincere burden towards souls at whatever costs it may require.

Additionally, Paul includes self-examination in Galatians 6:3-5 with this statement. This is because of the reason given in the first verse. When we share other’s burdens we are open to temptation and that may lead to failure. Self-examination is very much required at many stages before we start sharing the burdens of others. The lesson given to us is that people can bear their own burdens, but if we who are spiritual, can share other’s burdens and restore them. This ministry needs caution. The word “deceive himself” points to the fact that this examination is not simple and most people are falsely convinced that they are righteous and are being led by the Holy Spirit.

And in the next few verses (6-10), Paul includes material helps in the law of Christ. This especially has be done inside the church because material debts or crisis are reasons for sin. Carrying one another’s burdens is expected with all our earnings and strength. Also, this is where the scripture allows offerings to preachers. But here, Paul includes the verse “Be not deceived, God is not mocked” which monitors the motive of our good deeds on if we would want to feed the flesh or the spirit by doing these deeds. Let us note that when we think ourselves being worthy and try to take other’s burdens, we are deceiving ourselves. But when we try to feed the flesh (self-satisfaction) by helping others, then we are mocking God.

While concluding the book of Galatians, Paul emphasizes that our relationship with the world is crucified at the cross and so, we do all good things for the glory of the cross. This relationship when started brings us towards glory that elevates Christ about everything else. 

Amen.