Week 3: The fall

• Key verses: Genesis 3:4-6
• Reflecting on the fall
• Pride and the image of God
• Parting thoughts

Key verses

Genesis 3:4-6 (NLT)

“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Reflecting on the fall

There are many different topics highlighted (or lowlights from) in the story of the fall. Here are a few that I recall through the years:

• Questioning God. Did God really say that?
• Expanding on what God said. Legalism.
• Supplanting what God said.
• Eating the fruit.  The basis of following the world (1 John 2:16):
  • Pleasing to the eye = lust of the eyes
  • Good for food = lust of the flesh
  • Desirable for gaining wisdom = pride of life
• Complacency of Adam.

Pride and the image of God

I want to focus on the distortion of God’s image, pride. The last two weeks, I focused on humans being created in the image of God. I discussed how we are designed to create and be recognized for our work.

One of the serpent’s temptations was that Adam and Eve would “be like God.” This is a subtle way of saying they could be God’s equal. They could be self-sufficient. This is the basis of pride. We don’t want to be the image of God; we want to be Him. I want to wrestle with a couple of common thoughts we encounter during our day.

Take pride in your work.

This has a foundation in the creation story. God created, stepped back, and saw that it was good. As creatures created in God’s image, we create, step back, and see it is good. However, we create with existing stuff not like God who created out of nothing. Our creations are good because they reflect on the Creator. We also need to remember that our creations are tainted by the fall, by sin. We are encouraged by God to reflect on the goodness of our work and how it glorifies Him. Our work results reflect the image of God in us.

God helps those who help themselves.

This is not in Bible. Many times, God said says he will help those who trust in him. This saying is founded in pride. “I don’t need God right now.” All that we do should be built on our reliance on God not ourselves. We need God. Our work should be built on our faith in God, whether we bring order out of chaos by sweeping the floor or designing a rocket to explore his universe, we can do these things because we are created in his image to manage and build on his creation.

Parting thoughts

We should not be too hard on Eve. Every day we are tempted in the same way and consistently fail. Batting .300 works in baseball, but God requires 1.000, perfection. This is why we need Jesus.

This year our church is using the book Core 52 as a personal study to help us strengthen our knowledge of the Bible and grow our faith together. As part of my faith journey, I will be writing my thoughts and insights here.