Back to the Garden

The Garden of Eden. What picture comes to mind when you hear those words? If you’re like me, you probably picture the most beautiful place you can imagine. Lots of trees. Lots of animals. Maybe you think of Adam and Eve. Maybe you wonder what it was like to live before sin was in the world. What was it like not to have to deal with sickness or death? What was it like to walk with God? What was it like to talk with Him like you would talk to your closest friend? Perhaps this imaginative exercise fills your heart with longing for a simpler time….a simpler place.

When God created Adam and Eve, everything was perfect. Sometimes it’s hard to wrap our minds around the word “perfect” when we think about this story. We know that in just a few verses Eve and then Adam will sin against God. They will open the door for all kinds of evil things to enter the world. They will hand over their dominion to Satan himself. But “perfect” doesn’t mean flawless. It means complete. When God created Adam and Eve, the world was finally complete. That’s why He rested on the seventh day. There was no more work that needed to be done. Everything was ready.

Adam was created in God’s image. As a man, Adam reflected certain characteristics and qualities of God that only a man could reflect. He was a provider. He was a protector. He took care of things. It was his job to keep things running smoothly. It was his job to rule over the animals. It was his job to look after the garden, to work it and tend it. Adam was in charge of things. He answered to God. And when Adam had a question about something, he got his answer directly from the Creator. He got his answer from God. God was his source of information, and his source of truth.

Eve was also created in God’s image. As a woman, Eve reflected certain characteristics and qualities of God that only a woman could reflect. She was a helper. She was a responder. She helped Adam to take care of things. With her help, Adam could do his job better. Eve was created inside the garden, instead of outside of it like Adam. She answered to Adam and then to God. And when Eve had a question about something, she could get an answer from Adam or from God. God was her ultimate source of information and truth. It was Adam who passed along the rule about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That command was given before Eve was created.

Man and woman, husband and wife, together as a unit brought glory to God and reflected God’s glory to all of creation. Just as the trinity functions in perfect harmony, with Jesus and the Holy Spirit submissive to God the Father, so too did Adam and Eve function in perfect harmony, submissive to God the Father. But then, Satan showed up. And from the very start, he targeted his attack not only at God’s overall plan and authority, but also sex-specifically at Adam and Eve’s strengths and weaknesses.

Satan spoke to Eve. He knew that God created Adam first. He knew that the leadership hierarchy put God first, then Adam, and then Eve, but he refused to acknowledge God’s plan and authority. Instead, he targeted his appeal at Eve. We don’t know where Adam was when this conversation took place. Maybe he was separated from Eve for a moment, or maybe he watched passively as his wife spoke to the snake. What we know is that Eve spoke to the snake. And the snake appealed to Eve’s responsive nature. He responded to her created strength of relationship. You see Eve was created to be relational. So when he spoke to her, he appealed to the need for community and companionship within her.

Eve listened, and then she made a choice. She chose to not ask Adam for direction. She chose to not ask God for direction. She chose to be her own source of information and truth. When Eve ate from the fruit, she disconnected herself from God, and plugged into herself. Then, it was Adam’s turn. He abdicated his authority to Eve. He didn’t check with God for direction. Instead, he chose to plug into himself as the source of information and truth.

Sin brought what God knew that it would: shame and guilt. So when God came looking for Adam and Eve, they did what we all still do. They hid. They hid because they were afraid. They were guilty. They felt shame. God knew what had happened. Nothing surprised God. God knew the minute He placed the tree in the garden and allowed Adam and Eve the ability to chose that this could and would happen. Then God asks Adam and Eve a question: Where are you?

When you read the story, what tone of voice do you hear God using? Do you hear Him as angrily demanding an accounting for their action? Or do you hear Him as a father whose child has run away? Do you hear the sorrowful plea in His voice asking where His child is and why they would choose to be somewhere other than home with Him? How you answer those questions will say a lot about the picture of God that you have.

Adam and Eve emerge. They have tried to fix the situation themselves with fig leaves sown to cover themselves. Adam tells God that he hid because he was afraid and because he was naked. And God asks question number two: Who told you that you were naked? God knew the answer to this question to. And again, the tone of voice you hear when God asks this question will reveal a lot about how you see God. God knew that Adam and Eve felt shame as a result of their sin, and He was pointing out to them that as the source of all truth, what anyone else had to say about their worth, about their value, about their guilt or innocence, about their shame, etc. didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered is what He said about them. After all, He had created them. He had given them value….and Satan had stolen it away.

Now, we know the rest of the story. The snake is cursed first. Then Eve. Then Adam. Their curses are sex-specific. Eve will have pain in her relationships. Her fundamental created purpose had been damaged. It will now be tainted with sin. She will struggle to control things. She will want to take authority for herself. She will be tempted by an overpowering, pathological need for intimacy that will have the potential to wreck havoc on her relationships and her sense of self-worth. Adam would have pain in his capability. His fundamental created purpose to provide and protect had been damaged. It will now be tainted by sin. He will struggle to provide for his family. He will struggle to protect his family. He will struggle with being passive when he should be a leader. He will fail to take control. His servant leadership will now be tainted by the need to dominate. He will possess the potential to abuse. But God wasn’t punishing Adam and Eve with this. He wasn’t arbitrarily making their lives difficult because they made a mistake. He was simply telling them how sin would affect their lives from this point forward. Sin taints everything. It can’t be put back in the box and locked away. This was the consequence of their choice because this is what sin does…it corrupts everything it touches. It twists its intended purpose.

But God had a plan, even then. A plan that would allow Adam and Eve to escape the effects of sin. The seed of the woman, Jesus Christ, would set things right. He would take dominion back from Satan. He would bridge the gap between mankind and God. He would undo the effects of sin. God not only gave a future promise of ultimate grace, He gave them an immediate example of it. God made them skins. He covered their sin and shame for them. Sin was the problem. God’s grace was the solution.

When we come into relationship with Jesus, we can go back to the garden. We can unplug from ourselves as the source of truth and plug back into God. We don’t have to hide in shame. We get our information, our truth, our value, etc. directly from the Creator. We are washed clean of our sin. When we allow Christ and the Holy Spirit to operate fully in our lives, our intended created purpose is restored to what it was supposed to be. We can experience a bit of Eden again, even in the midst of our sin. That is what hope is all about.