September 18, 2024

Not Just Adam and Eve

By Mara Hodler

Sometimes when I see something reprehensible in the world, such as a terrible act of hatred or violence that is the direct result of sin and evil, I think to myself, I wish Adam and Eve wouldn’t have eaten the fruit. I wish they had never brought sin into the world. I wish we did not live in a broken, fallen world (Genesis 3:6–19).

The Garden of Eden was a perfect place. I like to imagine that the grass was lush and green, but not itchy; the sun shone, but it was not too hot; the world was full of its natural beauty, but nothing was dirty or dying. There was no such thing as rich or poor, slaves or lords. No haves and have-nots.

Then someone takes a bite of a forbidden fruit and the world breaks. Sin enters the world, along with sickness, death, and suffering. And ever since that day, mankind has struggled and suffered.—Suffered from the elements of cold, heat, drought, floods, earthquakes, storms, and fires. Humanity has suffered at the hands of one another through wars, feuding, slavery, greed, oppression, deception, and other sinful acts. There is sickness and pain; our bodies die.

When we consider the outcomes of Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God, we can be tempted to lament and wonder how things could have been if only this hadn’t happened! But we know that God is omniscient, and He knows the future (Isaiah 46:10). He created Adam and Eve in His image with free will, and they made the wrong choice and sin entered into the world. And as human beings made in the image of God, we have also been given the gift of free will, and God has given us the freedom and responsibility to choose to love and obey Him or to choose our own way and to disobey Him.

When I was a young child, our family had a favorite ice cream shop that we would frequent. I was still learning how to eat an ice cream cone without making a mess. My parents were quite easygoing about the messes I made, but there was one thing they told me every single time: “Do not bite the bottom of the ice cream cone.” My sense of logic hadn’t fully evolved, and I was desperately curious as to why I could not bite the bottom of the ice cream cone.

One day, after an afternoon of running errands, my mom decided to take us for an ice cream treat on the way home. The plan was to eat our cones as we walked home. My sister and I were certainly on board with the plan, and I selected a cone with my favorite ice cream of the time, Rocky Road. On our walk home I realized that with Dad not being present, this was the perfect time to conduct the cone-biting experiment, and I excitedly bit off the bottom of my ice cream cone.

Only a few seconds later, as melted ice cream dripped out of the bottom of my cone, did I realize that biting the bottom of my cone had ruined my ice-cream-eating experience. Ice cream dripped on my clothes and shoes, and I was forced to throw my cone away. I learned an important lesson for life that day—our decisions have consequences.

In thinking back on that experience, I would say that I exhibited behavior similar to that of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They were told not to take a bite, and yet they did, assuming they knew better than God, rather than trusting that God had good reasons for telling them to not eat that fruit. Likewise, I was told not to take a bite, and yet I did. My heart, their hearts, are all made of the same human stuff and proclivities.

Our desperate need for a Savior cannot be placed solely on Adam and Eve. As human beings, we have to acknowledge our personal responsibility and that we are each just as sinful as Adam and Eve of our own accord. “As the Scriptures say, ‘No one is righteous—not even one. … All have turned away. … No one does good, not a single one’” (Romans 3:10–12). “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The knowledge that we didn’t just happen to be born into this world in the time period after sin entered the world, but that we ourselves are sinners in desperate need of saving, should make us eternally grateful for God’s free gift of salvation. God had a plan for our redemption. The Bible tells us that “God paid a ransom to save us from the empty life we inherited from our ancestors” through “the precious blood of Christ,” which He planned “long before the world began” (1 Peter 1:18–20).

When Jesus took up the cross and began His torturous walk to Calvary, when He allowed Himself to be pierced and poked, it was for each one of us and because of each one of us. And when He arose triumphant over sin and death, He changed our eternity. How amazing is that?

I’ve always known I am saved and understood that Jesus loved me, forgave my sins and mistakes, and reconciled me to God through His death. But when I recently came to understand how like Adam and Eve I am, I gained a much deeper appreciation for Jesus’ sacrifice and death on the cross for me and the joy of my salvation.

We cannot fully experience the joy of our salvation until we comprehend the truth that we would be lost in sin without the grace and love of God (Ephesians 2:1–8). May the joy of your salvation be renewed and restored today! (Psalm 51:12).

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. … And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.—Ephesians 3:14–18

Adapted from a Just1Thing podcast, a Christian character-building resource for young people.

Posted in: grace, guest contribution, obedience, salvation