In Genesis 3 we find the deceptively simple story of Eve’s and Adam’s sin in the garden of Eden. Yesterday we read how the serpent talked Eve into eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Eve then shared the fruit with Adam and both were guilty of disobeying God’s command, resulting in a host of consequences starting then and continuing to this day. This is among the most important stories in the entire Old Testament for Christian theology, because it explains how God could have created everything good yet we find ourselves living in a broken world, alienated from our loving Creator.
Today’s reading concludes the story with God’s pronouncement of punishments for the serpent, Eve, and finally Adam. To me, the most profound of these punishments is found in verse 23, “so the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden …” The garden represents perfect intimacy between people and God. Banishment from the garden represents shattered intimacy and separation from God. Humanity is now outside the garden, longing to restore relationship with God, and condemned to a life of pain and struggle.
From my perspective as a Christian, it is impossible to read this story apart from the Apostle Paul’s interpretation found in the New Testament. Paul showed us how sin is the fundamental problem of humanity and death its inevitable consequence. He taught that Jesus reconciles us to God, restoring the intimacy lost as a punishment for that first sin, and reversing the consequence of death. The simplest statement of Paul’s teaching on this is found in 1 Cor. 15:22, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” (See Rom. 5:12-21 and 1 Cor. 15:21-22 for the full context.)
If it were not for God’s resolve to restore our lost intimacy and make us alive in Christ, we would all be living at the end of Genesis 3, condemned and without hope. Thank God the Bible doesn’t end at Genesis 3! Though sin and death are universal, we know that Christ and life will ultimately prevail.
Clif Guy serves as Director of Information Technology at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
