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LIVING GOD’S STORY: SEEING GOD
JUNE 8-14, 2015 | GENESIS 3:8-15
PARADISE
TEMPORARY
MONDAY, JUNE 8 | GENESIS 2:3-17
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 | GENESIS 3:6-8
If Genesis 1-2 are paradise, then 3 is paradise lost. The
first two chapters provide a remarkable picture of creation
evolving, growing, even coming together. The Creator
and the created; the heavens and the earth; darkness
and light; morning and night; day to day; water and sky;
land and plants; sun, moon and stars; creatures and
blessing; dust and breath; humankind and God. In the
center of this paradise stands the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. God tells Adam to not eat of this tree or
“you shall die.” When you’re told to not do something,
what is the one thing you’d like to do? We know
ourselves too well. Paul says it this way: “I do the very
things I shouldn’t do, and I don’t do the things I know I
should do.” This tension is at the heart of the Garden of
Eden story. Do you recognize how broken we all are?
Ask God to help you see the reality of our human
condition.
Relying on her senses of sight and taste and her desire
to know more, “she took” (verse 6) and ate. This is the
first time in scripture where humankind “takes” instead of
receives. Prior to this point, God has provided everything
needed for life and health. Here, humankind “takes.” The
text tells us that, from that moment on, “their eyes were
opened.” For the first time they stop trusting God to lead,
guide and provide. Now, with “their eyes wide open,” they
begin to move on without God. They see that they are
“vulnerable” (naked), so they make a lame attempt to
cover themselves. The irony here is that what they
choose to cover themselves with will not last. The fig leaf
will, in time, wither and disappear. Their attempt to cover
is temporary. Can you trust that God will provide
everything you need for today? Can you turn away from
those things that delight the senses but lead you in the
wrong direction? Are there things in your life that bring
you satisfaction, but you know this satisfaction is only
temporary? Ask God to give you a discerning heart to be
able to identify temporary gratification.
PARADISE LOST
TUESDAY, JUNE 9 | GENESIS 3:1-5
As chapter three opens, the serpent, part of the created
order, enters the scene. Crafty and wild, and made by
God, the serpent engages the woman in conversation.
But there is also cunning here. The serpent begins by
casting doubt on what God had previously said to Adam
(Ish) and Eve (Ishah). “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat
from any tree in the garden’?” The first thing the serpent
does is cast doubt on the One who has invited
humankind to live in open, transparent, trusting
relationship with God. The woman responds, “We may
eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said,
‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of
the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” There
is misunderstanding here, or worse. There is a twisting of
the word of God. The serpent follows up by casting more
doubt, and an outright denial of God’s word: “You will not
die.” So the woman and the man disobey God’s
command. They refuse to heed the encouragement to
live within the healthy boundaries that God has provided
for life. If you were there, what choice would you make?
Ask God to grow a transparent, trusting relationship
between you and God.
BLAME
THURSDAY, JUNE 11 | GENESIS 3:8-13
They hear God walking in the Garden, but because of
their shame and vulnerability, they cannot face the One
who promised to provide for them. They hide from God.
God calls to Adam (Ish) and asks, “Where are you?” We
might ask, “Doesn’t God know where they are? Isn’t God
omniscient? Why does God have to ask?” Here God
gives Adam the opportunity to freely confess and
disclose. But Adam does not. He makes only a half
attempt: “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I
was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” God
asks, “Who told you that you were naked?” But God
doesn’t wait for Adam to plunge further into shame. This
is a grace moment. Then the blaming begins! Adam
blames Eve: “This woman …” Adam blames God: “that
you gave me …” Eve blames the serpent: “The serpent
tricked me …” There’s plenty of blame to go around in
this story. Do you quickly blame others, or circumstances,
for things that go wrong in your life? Are there some
things you need to “own”? Ask God to help you see
where you are wrongly blaming God or others.
CURSES
FRIDAY, JUNE 12 | GENESIS 3:14-15
Here we see the curses brought upon the serpent, the
woman and then man. How do we find ourselves in this
story? How do we respond to God who has given us all
things, all we need for today? Do we gratefully accept
what is given to us? Do we help one another? Or do we
rely on our senses to drive us? Do we really believe that
God will provide? And how does God do that? Or do we,
like Eve, so what we think is good, follow after what our
eyes delight in, follow after our own sense of wisdom and
propriety? Do we trust God’s word and its intent for us, or
do we shift and change the word of God to meet our
needs? The end result of this bad decision-making is this:
God sends Adam and Eve out of the garden into the
world to “work very hard to get the things you need.” Ask
God to help you see your self-centered tendencies and
turn you toward the needs of others.
REWRITE
SATURDAY, JUNE 13 | GENESIS 2:1-4
These verses take us back in history before the Garden
of Eden. God made everything and said it was very good.
But something went very wrong. If you had the power to
go back in time and do it all over, how would you change
the story? “Good,” a new song by Nicole Nordeman (the
Story) contains these lyrics: “If I could, I’d rewrite history.
I’d choose differently. If I could, I would. I’d leave out the
part where I broke Your heart. In the garden’s shade, fix
the mess I made. If I could, I would. If I could close my
eyes and then dance around again. If I could, I would be
who You adored. Why did I need more? When beauty
was not trained to hide behind my shame. If I could, I
would.” This is the voice of Adam, and he claims that
now, knowing what he knows, would go back and change
history. It’s an interesting idea, but it’s not going to
happen. We’re left as we are, with our human
brokenness, struggles, and pain. We’re left needing to
work hard for all that we need. Now we know what it
means to be unhappy. Ask God to help you trust that God
really loves you more than you can ever imagine.
FATHERS
SUNDAY, JUNE 14 | GENESIS 2:24-25
We typically hear this passage at weddings. On this
Father’s Day we honor those men in our life who have
loved us and continue to love us. Not every father is
perfect. Not any father is perfect, but, as we learn from
Adam and Eve, a father is a very human being with all
the frailties and failings that come with being human. On
this Father’s Day we see those father figures in our lives
through the lens of an honest human reality. They aren’t
perfect, they can’t be perfect. But they can guide, lead,
care, love, provide, bless, encourage, teach, and nurture.
When we look back over our lives we can celebrate those
times when important “fathers” paid attention to what we
needed. This is Father’s Day. Celebrate. Remember.
Give thanks.