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Adam
You can credit a lot of “firsts” to me but the ones worthy of credit were not my doing and the ones worthy of blame, well, I wish I could just forget. First human, first husband, first gardener, sure – that was the Creator’s doing. But then, first sin, first feeble excuse, first father of a murderer… All mine.
Let me back up. My first conscious impression of anything was of the LORD God and the Garden and close communion. To say everything was perfect is an understatement. And I talked with God face to face, knowing we were not equals but basking in His love. I didn’t realize how perfect it was until it was gone. The variety of fellow creatures was amazing and the fruits, the pleasure of eating, well, what can I say?
In naming the animals, it became apparent that I was different and separated from them by a vast gap. So God prepared a helpmeet, taken from me, individual and separate and yet complimentary to me. I could not take my eyes off her and was fascinated by both her body and mind. God had given me one rule and I passed it on to her, one forbidden tree and all the others good for food. One tree of life.
Do my descendants still enjoy eating in your day? Do they still enjoy seeing things of beauty? Well, I was so taken with Eve that when she started having a conversation with the serpent, I just stood there. Yes, something struck me as not quite right in that the serpent I had named during my inventory of the creatures did not speak.
I was so amazed at Eve’s command of language and logic that I did not at first catch the serpent’s direct contradiction of God’s command and the implication that the Creator did not have our best interest at heart. I should have at least said, “Eve, dear, a private word, please?” if not “STOP!!” But I didn’t and I failed in my role of spiritual leadership. In fact, I was sort of curious about the possibility that there was something positive about eating that fruit.
She was deceived but I just plain disobeyed. I knew as soon as I did it that it was wrong. I just didn’t know how MUCH wrong it was. We both suddenly felt ashamed. I made the first attempt at sewing clothing. Then we hid when the LORD called. The voice was different, the closeness was gone. He asked why and I said we were ashamed because we were naked. But that had never mattered before. He asked if I had eaten from the forbidden tree – obviously He already knew and I at least admitted it, but then came up with the first lame excuse, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it."
When He brought us clothing, I suddenly realized that it was the skin of one of those wonderful innocent animals I had just met and admired. It had to die because of what I had done. Too late, I realized what He meant about ruling over the creatures.
We were expelled from the Garden, blocked from close fellowship with our Creator and doomed to a difficult life, but we did not die right away. I suppose I wondered if the serpent might have been right about something. It WAS true that we had new knowledge. It just wasn’t things we really wanted to know or that were beneficial to us.
God did promise Eve that an offspring would fatally injure the serpent so when she had a child, we thought this was it and perhaps the primordial perfection would be restored. I suppose we were too indulgent with Cain, thinking of him as the savior, but then Abel came along. He seemed more in tune with the Creator than his brother and somehow realized that death of an animal was part of the response God wanted us to take to cover our sin. I think God talked to him as well. But when the brothers offered sacrifices and Abel’s was received and Cain’s rejected, Cain took the sacrifice to a whole new level – he killed his brother!
When the LORD told us what happened, Eve and I just looked at each other. The dream had become a nightmare. Then Seth was born and when he grew up and had children, they began to call on the name of the Lord. But the world was indeed spoiled. Some people were filled with evil and violence. Yet, even they carried the image of the Creator in their creativity. But at the same time God had a people who worshipped and followed Him, using their gifts in His service. God still had a plan. The number of our descendants grew and we lived to see many generations, still awaiting the fulfillment of the promise. Has the fulfillment come in your time?
Genesis 1:1 - 4:26
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Discussion Questions
All these dramas may be used and shared freely. If you do use them, I would be interested in knowing about it and hearing comments.
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