Not One Word
12/28/19
Have you ever tried to defend yourself by thinking up a
lie in order to cover up an incident that you knew you would get into trouble
if your parents or your spouse or boss ever found out? Humans love to try and explain their
motivations when things they have participated in go wrong but
every-once-in-a-while some try to not make any excuses and come clean when
asked. This type of action from us
reflects just how our hearts live and how they were influenced in the first
place, definitely making that choice.
God did not create us to function in such a failed capacity, and when we
find ourselves in such a situation, we usually bumble things up so badly that our
future movements can almost be determined without occurrence being
offered. God wants us and always has
wanted us to live without fear of any type of lie being tied to our existence
for we tend to forget that sin is a lie directed at God first. It is time we learn from time from two
famous people, ones we have more in common with than many ever have thought
about, Adam and Eve.
How many of us out there have done something that we knew
was wrong and even though we knew it was wrong we did it anyway? We became caught up in the moment then made
the choice to follow through with the act or acts that we understood to be
wrong. The weight of the moment far
outweighed the results and it was this thought that convinced us to continue
with the misgivings. But the scenario
does not stop with the act being committed but afterward when all is said and
done we have another moment to figure out exactly what has been accomplished
and for most of us, guilt immediately follows such an act, so much so that we
begin to do our best to justify our actions and to minimize its results. Most of the time when this realization
process arrives, we become quiet and think of ways to explain our actions not
only to ourselves but to anyone else who might find out about the deeds you
committed. I know I have been in some of
these situations in my past with most of them being stupid petty things that
did no harm but were pranks that were truly mean in nature.
How many criminals do you know, commit a crime and then
immediately go turn themselves in to the police, confess what they did and turn
over all of the evidence to convict them without even having a trial? Not many I would say. Most turn silent and wait it out to see what
occurs down the road, that road sometimes being years in time. It does not matter what the offense might
have been it is usually the criminal’s intent to get the job done and then flee
the scene hoping no one saw it occur. We
see this occur over and over in our society alone, most get away with the
incident but every once-in-a-while witnesses show up and information gets
passed along to apprehend this person or group of individuals. Again, we have the point of attack taken and
completed but afterward, there remains silence from those who commit crimes
against others selfishly hoping that they can keep what they have done quiet long enough for people to forget what occurred.
This is all part of their getaway plan and silence and laying low is a
key ingredient in such a plan. It does
not matter if the story about such a crime is fictional or a gruesome truth,
the crime always wants to be hidden for as long as possible. I heard a great one the other day, stating
that one or two states are going to allow accused people to return to the crime
scene to make sure everything is in order as it was when they committed the
crime; sorry, but that is just hilarious to me and serves as a reason why
people who do wrong stay quiet and try to formulate plans on their own.
Genesis 3:6-8
“And when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof,
and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and
they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made
themselves aprons. And they heard the
voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam
and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees
of the garden.”
In our Scripture reference above, we see that Adam and
Eve realized what had occurred as soon as they had completed their choice of
sin. Up until this moment in their
lives, they did not have to have any contingency plan for when things would go
wrong because God did not want them to have such a plan. God created Adam and Eve in a certain way and
in a specific manner all of which had no guilt or shame due to the fact they
were created in perfect and holy conditions, living in a perfect and holy place
too. But as soon as they disobeyed God
their world changed for the worse and sensations and physical emotions came
over them, feelings that they had not experienced before. Of course, they had to stop and take good
looks at themselves because their eyes had changed from the complete and total
spiritual to the physical, an alignment that was not readily handled with care.
Verse 7 states that after their eyes were opened they
knew that they were naked which created an entirely new condition that
according to them, needed to be corrected.
It was this process that has been discussed many times over in books and
sermons and it is true that Adam and Eve believed they needed to cover up their
bodies. How far had they fallen before
this process had to begin? Enough to
warrant no cry out to God for help or to inform Him of what had occurred, which
He already knew what had transpired because was all-knowing back in the Garden
of Eden times as well as today. This
verse quickly tells us that Adam and Eve began their search for material to try
and cover up their nakedness, an escape plan if you wish; yet, no word to God
about what had occurred. Are you seeing
a pattern developing here? If we are
honest, this pattern that Adam and Eve took is almost identical to what we
would try to cover up when we do things incorrectly.
Now, another detail appears here in both situations in
that before Adam and Eve allowed sin into their lives they had no reason to
hide from God, nor did they have to hide anything from God for they
had nothing wrong to worry about, they were still in perfect working
order. The same conditions apply to us
before we make the choice to allow some stupid idea to run rampant in our minds
and commit some type of foolishness to complete the stupid idea of ours. Just as Adam and Eve demonstrated to us, no
matter which one ate first, both were involved in the undertaking and so it
goes when we are following through with our stupid ideas, you might not be the
one that actually commits the crime at first, but your presence is perfect set
up as being involved thus carrying out the idea as they are the others with
you.
We see in verses 6 & 7 Adam and Eve not talking much
but hurriedly formulating and then putting their covering plan into
action. It is clear that they did not
have any other plans to talk with God about what had occurred nor were they
concerned that God already knew what they had done. It is fascinating to me of how humans try to
justify their bad actions through thoughtful plans afterward, all hoping that
the authorities will not find out. This
process of making coverings for themselves took some time for even the expert
seamstress with modern equipment would still require a bit of time to complete
such a covering. Another point of order
here is that Adam and Eve also understood that God would eventually come around
looking for them which is why our minds hurry up and try to think of what to
say or do when we believe we are about to be caught. Short conversations must have been quietly
passed between them while they were hiding behind bushes and if we are fair to
the human race it probably is not difficult to know somewhat what was said
between them; but as stated above, nothing about coming forward to God about
their deeds is ever mentioned in Scripture.
The longer they had to make their fig leaf coverings the further along
this new detestable growth pattern was allowed to run.
God also wants us to know about the process that Adam and
Eve took in order to tie all of the fig leaves in an appropriate pattern good
enough to be considered complete. This
was not the type of effort that they had to be concerned with previously, for
the focus of their lives was around them and not on them. Adam and Eve knew that God is a complete God
all the time they had been with Him and they knew that His consistency would not
change either, yet instead of having a repentant heart they complicated the
issue by continuing to cover themselves their own way just as they had done
when they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God loves a repentant heart but even as much
as He does He cannot dismiss the evidence of sin that comes with the
disobedient territorial dominion. Still,
Adam and Eve mention nothing about repentance as verse 7 comes to a close. Ultimately, this action or non-action by Adam
and Eve should erase any notion that they did not know what they were doing and
could use this as an excuse for their disobedience, just as we try to do when
we think of and then follow through with our stupid ideas.
As each day passes in our lives, we see the effects of
such ridiculous disobedience unmasking itself.
It does not matter if one lives in an urban society or rural community,
this force of selfish indignation comes into light. One cannot dismiss these events as normal or
natural for it tears away the hearts of those affected and renders them
defeated yet somehow our laws and governments have chosen to protect the
criminal and punish the victims, another detail of silence that strikes to the
core of our everlasting existence. Adam
and Eve were created and placed into the Garden of Eden to dress and to keep it
not to allow sin into its confines. God
created and ordained Israel to perform in such a separation manner afterward, and
then Jesus established the Church with a command to go into the entire world
and preach this separation (Gospel).
Just like Adam, Eve, and Israel, the Church has chosen to bite from the
apple and then formulate a plan to justify its reasoning for doing such stupid
idea. God already knows the sins we have
committed, and He wants us to stand up and face Him with repentance in our
hearts, not a covered up lie He already knows about.
It is one thing to expect people who do not know God to
think about, formulate, and then commit specific stupid criminal actions toward
others for that is what the world promotes and demands from its subjects. These types of acts coming from such hideous
hearts could be considered as a “normal” procedure but when they begin to rear
their acts that stem from the Church, it can be shocking on a level that is
hard to describe. Is this the
truth? Wasn’t Adam and Eve a
representative of what the Church would stand for today? Wouldn’t the nation of Israel be another
example of this representation? Yet, in
both of these instances, they did gross negligence against the law of obedience
to God and His Ways. It is this act
of doing bad things and then remaining silent while trying to make a plan to
cover it up that has gotten us where we are at today. Where are we at? We are on the curb sitting down with our
mouths shut as the world and its sinful parades walk right on by our
position. We no longer believe the power
of repentance and obedience and how one must walk with the other in order for
us to live an abundant and restored life.
Church, we can no longer afford to sit back and watch the
world walk on by and not stand up and proclaim the gospel to these dying
people. I do NOT care what the pope says
for us to do concerning this matter, we are to shine the Light of Truth into
the darkness and Yes, Pope Francis, you must proselytize in order for God and
His Light to shine. The plan that God
has for our lives is already spilled out for us we do not have to stop and make
up excuses for the Word of God if we do things correctly in obedience. The only time mankind is silent is when they
believe they have done something wrong and wish to hide it, as Christians we
should have nothing to hide, period! If
we do, then we need to confess to God our sins, repent from those sins and live
in a loud and prominent manner the restored life that God only can give. Are you living this kind of vibrant and loud
life, Church? Or are you sitting back
and trying to figure out what to do with the sins you refuse to let go of at
the cross. We have very precious little
time to witness to a dying world, we cannot be like Adam and Eve who were
enticed over disobedience and then sit in the bushes trying to cover up an
already known sin. The solution? Do not sin and live in obedience. What does living in obedience provide us, you
ask? A voice of truth and confidence
standing in the open waiting for further instructions and conversations with
God is what obedience gives us.
DLB
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