My Identity in ChristCampione

Fallen man

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate.. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too (Genesis 3:6).

The command was simple enough to keep. The first human couple was allowed to eat of all trees in the garden, except of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:16-17). If they would eat of its fruit they would gain nothing and risk everything.

The snake tries to fool Eve into believing that eating of this tree would be a great benefit to her without any risks. And he succeeds. She chooses to trust his cunning words more than God’s simple command.

God had created man in His image, in perfect balance with himself, with each other and the garden in which they lived. Those perfect relationships shaped their identity.

Now this perfect balance is destroyed all at once. Adam and Eve hide themselves in the garden when they hear the Lord God walking in the garden and calling out to them. They are afraid of him, and feel ashamed! Then they blame the other for what went wrong: Adam blames his wife and God, Eve blames the snake. All relationships have suffered loss: their relationship with God, with each other and with their environment. And this is just the start of all misery. How will man and the earth recover?

How can you see in your own life that relationships with other people and creation have suffered loss?