Last Sunday, we learned God designed us to be good stewards of His creation and all that He entrusts to our care. Everyone in church last Sunday received a $5 bill and was asked to pray about how they could use the $5 to bless someone. How did you use your $5 “talent” to be a blessing? Don’t forget to place your stewardship survey on the altar today. I look forward to reading how everyone used their talent.
Today,
we are going to read about free will in Genesis 3. God wants us to be able to love Him and love
cannot be coerced. It must be freely given. So, God created us with free will, the ability
to make choices freely, without being forced, allowing people to decide between
right and wrong. Of course, the freedom
to love and obey God also comes with the possibility people will choose to hate
and disobey Him. All this plays out with
tragic consequences in Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:1-7
1 The serpent was the
shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he
asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the
trees in the garden?”
2 “Of course we may
eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. 3 “It’s
only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not
allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you
will die.’”
4 “You won’t die!” the
serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that
your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God,
knowing both good and evil.”
6 The woman was
convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious,
and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and
ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it,
too. 7 At that moment their eyes were opened, and
they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together
to cover themselves.
Our reflection from Eden takes a pivotal turn in chapter 3. The serpent, described as the shrewdest of all the wild animals, slithers onto the scene with a deceptive question: "Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?" (Genesis 3:1). This was no innocent question. It was designed to introduce doubt into Eve’s mind—doubt about God’s words, intentions, and authority.
Notice the serpent’s strategy: he doesn't outright deny God's command.
Instead, he twists it, planting the idea that God may be holding something back
from Adam and Eve. The serpent tells her in verse 5, "God knows that
your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God,
knowing both good and evil." The suggestion is subtle but powerful:
What if God isn’t as good as He seems? What if He’s keeping something wonderful
from you?
This is the same tactic the enemy uses on us today. How often are we
tempted by the thought that God’s way is too restrictive, or we’re missing out
if we follow His commands? Temptation often comes disguised as something good—a
chance to get ahead, pleasure, or fulfillment—convincing us that what we want
is better than what God offers.
Eve was faced with a choice. She could trust God’s command, believing He
knew what was best, or she could trust her own desire. In verse 6, we see the
tragic moment unfold: “The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was
beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would
give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her
husband, who was with her, and he ate it too.”
And I want to point out verse 6 says Adam was with her when all this
happened. Adam is just as guilty as
Eve. He stayed silent while Eve listened
to the serpent and chose to disobey God.
And then Adam also actively disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit
when Eve offered it to him. Martin
Luther King, Jr. once remarked, “Our lives begin to end the day we become
silent about things that matter.”
Sometimes, our sin is not in what we say or do, but in what we don’t
say or do. Adam was silent when Eve
trusted Satan and disobeyed God. Then
Adam disobeyed God and ate the fruit too.
Adam and Eve had free will and they chose disobedience. That’s the
challenge with free will—it requires us to trust God’s wisdom and love Him,
even when we don’t fully understand His reasons.
Genesis 3:8-24
8 When
the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard
the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from
the Lord God among the trees. 9 Then
the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He replied, “I heard you walking in
the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
11 “Who told you that you were naked?”
the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I
commanded you not to eat?”
12 The man replied, “It was the woman
you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
13 Then the Lord God asked
the woman, “What have you done?”
“The
serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
14 Then the Lord God said to
the serpent,
“Because
you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
15 And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16 Then he said to the woman,
“I will
sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”
17 And to the man he said,
“Since you
listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living
from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
20 Then the man—Adam—named his wife
Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. 21 And
the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.
22 Then the Lord God said,
“Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil.
What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they
will live forever!” 23 So the Lord God
banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the
ground from which he had been made. 24 After
sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east
of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and
forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
After Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit, everything changed in an instant. Genesis 3:7 says, "At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves." What was once a state of innocence was replaced by guilt and shame. They become painfully aware of their vulnerability and tried to hide it. But you can’t hide anything from God.
This is
what sin does. It distorts our relationship with God, with others, and even
with ourselves. Where there was once openness and trust, now there was shame,
fear, and hiding. Adam and Eve’s choice broke their connection with God and
corrupted everything else about the world.
And isn’t
that how sin works in our own lives? When we make wrong choices, it creates
distance—between us and God, between us and others, and even turmoil within our
own hearts. We try to cover up our mistakes, hoping no one will notice, but
deep down we know things aren’t right.
But even
in the midst of this brokenness, God doesn't abandon Adam and Eve. Though they
face consequences, God still cares for them.
He gives them clothing made from animal skins (Genesis 3:21). This act
foreshadows the ultimate hope we have in Jesus, who would come to cover our sin
and restore our broken relationship with God.
God’s grace is always at work, offering hope and restoration. The
question for us is: Will we continue hiding, or will we come to God for
healing?
I want to end with a touching story in the Gospel Mark (5:25-34) about a woman who suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. Can you imagine? I had a nose bleed once that wouldn’t stop bleeding for about 15 minutes. Imaging bleeding for 12 years! Not only would it be embarrassing, it would make you feel awful to constantly lose blood. And in Jesus day, given the Jewish ceremonial laws, bleeding would make this woman an unclean outcast from society. I’m sure she would do everything she could to hide her embarrassing problem. But then she heard about Jesus—a man they said could heal any sickness. A man full of love and compassion. A man with the power and authority of God. And the woman was faced with a choice: keep hiding her shame or come to Jesus for healing. She decided to seek healing from Jesus.
I’m sure this
poor woman would have preferred to come see Jesus privately and ask for
healing. But Jesus was constantly
surrounded by crowds so it had to be done in front of everyone. One day, she thought If I could just touch
the hem of His robe, it would heal me.
So she got on the hands and knees and crawled through the crowd and
reached out and touched the hem of his robe.
And as she did, she was immediately healed.
Jesus said
to the whole crowd, “Who touched my robe?”
Mark
5:33-34 – 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the
realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of
him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said
to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your
suffering is over.”
We have a
choice too. We may not be bleeding like
the woman in the story, but we all have sinned.
And our sin makes us feel ashamed.
We don’t want anyone to know. We
keep our dark deeds hidden away. But we
know in our hearts we are broken. And
when we hear about Jesus, a man who can heal our sin and makes us whole and
restore our relationship with God, we have a choice. Do we keep hiding in shame or do we come to
Jesus and seek healing?
Today, you
have a choice. Are you going to be like
Adam and Eve who sinned and realized they were naked and then tried to hide
from God? Or are you going to be like
the women who set aside her pride and crawled through the crowd to touch the
hem of Jesus’ robe?
We all
have a choice. God created us with free
will. How will you use your freedom
today?
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