To Love or Not to Love

So Journey, the church I have been attending, just began a new course called "The Story Arc". For the next 10 weeks we will engage in a dialogue on Sunday nights about the Bible as it unfolds. The great part about this is that anyone, at any time, is asked to speak out a question or an observation about the text. We're not allowed to veer outside of the story and debate other theological issues or how they would relate. We can only comment on what the story tells us. So tonight, a room full of about 150 people joined with Pastor Jamie and talked about Adam and Eve and the story of creation and what this story tells us about who God is, and who we are.

And although I have heard this story since childhood, there were many things that stuck out to me...a lot of questions I had never thought of before. And we weren't allowed to take notes! It was only for talking and listening tonight. haha So, that is a very freeing thing, but I wanted to come home and write down a few things that I heard that were important to me...leading to maybe one very important thing.

God is good, and perfect, and right. Everything He does is good and perfect and right. He has created the world and everything in it...and He has called it "very good".

God created the angels, before creating the world. One of the angels rebelled (Satan) which lead to the rebellion of many of the angels. And because God is good and perfect, and He cannot allow sin in his presence (rebellion is sin), those angels who rebelled were cast into darkness.

Then, God created the earth and he made man, "Adam", in his image...he breathed life into Adam, and gave him the job of caring for the Garden and naming the animals. And in the midst of this, God knew that it was not good for Adam to be alone, but all through the garden, there was no creature compatible with Adam. So He created Eve to be Adam's helper. God knew what loneliness was. Hmm. He created relationship so that loneliness would not occur. Eve was created to be a helper suitable to Adam...God brought her to him. Then, God told them to be fruitful and multiply (ahem..we know what that means.)

And then, God walked with Adam and Eve...in the cool of the day...and talked with them. We speculated tonight about how casual that seemed...how very much like a relationship it was. God enjoyed talking with Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve enjoyed their time with Him.


God placed two trees in the center of the Garden. One was the tree of life. The other, a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He told them they could eat of anything in the Garden...except for the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". Eating of it, would lead to death. God gave them a choice. Hmmm. He let them decide.

And as we all know, the serpent came and talked Eve into trying the fruit. He mixed truth with his cunning speech...saying, "surely, you will not die...God knows that if you eat of this you will be like Him...knowing about good and evil". So...she ate it. She chose the words of the serpent...over the words of God. She had let the serpent convince her that God was holding out on her, that He was keeping something from her, that she should find a way to know what only God knew. And that caused me to ask the question...how many times have I ignored what God asked me to do...in order to do something I thought would be a "wise" choice...in order to find my own way? Hmm.

And then, the best part is this...God, knowing full well what they had done, came to find them. Instantly, after eating the apple, both Adam and Eve had been filled with shame at being naked and fear of being found by God...they were hiding when God came near. But instead of accusation, God asked, "Where are you?" And as they emerged from hiding, they told him that they were ashamed. When he asked them what had happened, they blamed each other...they blamed the serpent. So God, being good and perfect and right, God the keeper of His promises...had to stand on His word. Sin, "rebellion", could not stay in His presence. They had chosen not to believe Him. They had chosen their own way...so, their consequence was death. Death to life as they knew it...death to all they had known about their relationship with God...and eventually, physical death.

But God did not stop there. He made them clothes out of animal skins. And that means...that there was a sacrifice that was made...the sacrifice of an innocent animal. Blood was shed. Hmmm. And God covered their shame. Literally, He gave Adam and Eve clothes to cover their nakedness. He still loved them. He still cared for them. Yes, He had to be true to His word, the consequences were evident and real, but He still loved them...and still desired to have a relationship with them. God was still writing the story.

We all know that later, Jesus entered the world, to redeem all that was lost...we didn't talk about that tonight. We talked about the beginning. We talked about the fall. And here is the thing. God didn't spoon feed Adam and Eve. He didn't tell them what they had done wrong...he asked, "Where are you?" and "What did you do?" They had to come to their own realization.

God didn't want to dictate to Adam and Eve about how to love Him. He loved them fully and wholeheartedly, and I think very much wanted their love in return. But He gave them a choice. Life or death. Belief: that God was enough, or unbelief: that somehow God was holding out on them. God gave them a choice.

Because without choice, love is not love at all. And that, is the essence of the gospel, isn't it?

On a very personal level, I feel this lesson tonight.
If there is anything I can cling to, it is that God understands my longing.
God understands my desire.
He knows how it feels to leave the choice of love in someone else's hands.
Because as much as Adam and Eve had enjoyed walking with God in the cool of the day,
their ultimate love and devotion would be shown through choosing Him.
Their lack of choice, separated them from the love and protection of their loving Creator.
As my eyes are opening...I am understanding how His heart must have felt on that day.
And because the story has continued,
I am beginning to understand
how deep His longing must still be for me and for those around me...
to believe Him, to believe that He is enough, to walk with Him in the cool of the day,
to know Him for who He really is,
and to love Him without walking away.
I am beginning to understand,
the importance of the choices that I make.
the importance of choosing love over knowledge.
I am beginning to understand
that He is still redeeming my story...
because I am written into His.