Have you ever experienced buyer’s remorse? I have. Just prior to making a purchase, I feel the surge of excitement that comes with getting something new. After buying the item, however, a wave of remorse sometimes crashes over me. Did I really need this? Should I have spent the money? In Genesis 3, we find the first record of a buyer’s remorse. The whole thing began with the crafty serpent and his sales pitch. He persuaded Eve to doubt God’s Word (v.1 Now the snake was the most cunning animal that the LORD God had made. The snake asked the woman, Did God really tell you not to eat fruit from any tree in the garden?). He then capitalized on her uncertainty by casting doubt on God’s character (vv.4-5 The snake replied, Thats not true; you will not die. 5 God said that because he knows that when you eat it, you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad.). He promised that her eyes would “be opened” and she would become “like God” (v.5). So Eve ate. Adam ate. And sin entered the world. But the first man and woman got more than they bargained for. Their eyes were opened all right, but they didn’t become like God. In fact, their first act was to hide from God (vv.7-8 As soon as they had eaten it, they were given understanding and realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves.8 That evening they heard the LORD God walking in the garden, and they hid from him among the trees). Sin has dire consequences. It always keeps us from God’s best. But God in His mercy and grace clothed Adam and Eve in garments made from animal skins (v.21 And the LORD God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, and he clothed them.)—foreshadowing what Jesus Christ would do for us by dying on the cross for our sins. His blood was shed so that we might be clothed with His righteousness—with no remorse! Satan misapplied God’s words in today’s passage. God’s prohibition against eating applied only to the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:16-17), not to every tree (3:1). Satan’s phrase “You will not surely die” (v.4) was a direct challenge to God’s declaration, “You shall surely die” (2:17). In turn, Eve also modified God’s clear instruction: “nor shall you touch it” (3:3). The story of the fall is a clear warning to us to study and know God’s Word so that we will not be led astray. THE CROSS, WHICH REVEALS THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, PROVIDES THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR MANKIND.
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 15:28:23 +0000
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