Solo: Day 1 God's Plan For Reconciliation

Morgan got a The Message Remix: Solo devotional for Christmas. It was a gift from me. I enjoyed the time we spent together doing Experiencing God and wanted to do a read a bible in a year type study. Since I had a copy of Solo... it seemed a natural thing to do together. It is not quite a whole reading of the Bible, but we will cover most of it (me more so, as I will naturally read the extended passages everyday because I am a natural overachiever and extra credit doer).

Today's passage was Genesis 3:1-10

¹The serpent was clever, more clever than any wild animal GOD had made. He spoke to the Woman: "Do I understand that God told you not to eat from any tree in the garden?"

²The Woman said to the serpent, "Not at all. We can eat from the trees in the garden.³It's only about the tree in the middle of the garden that God said, "Don't eat from it; don't even touch it or you'll die.'"

⁴The serpent told the Woman, "You won't die. ⁵God knows that the moment you eat from that tree, you'll see what's really going on. You'll be just like God, knowing everything, ranging all the way from good to evil."

⁶When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it--she'd know everything!--she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.

⁷Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"--saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.

⁸When they heard the sound of GOD strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from GOD.

⁹GOD called to the Man: "Where are you?"

¹⁰He said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked. And I hid."

The devotional talks about how the first two chapters are concerned with God's creation, then this passage (and all of Chapter 3) deals with the rebellion of humankind and then the rest of the Bible is concerned with God's plan to redeem, restore and reconcile his creation! Something so vast and marvelous, destroyed by one simple act.

However, the whole passage strikes me as more beautiful than that. God gives us free will - we can do what we want. God is even kind enough to warn us, don't eat that fruit. The "clever" serpent just wants to see what will happen, but we act. Adam even tries, like a child to pass the blame to Eve. She told me to eat it. Yeah, but God told you not to. God, like a good parent/creator, doesn't let that stand. He holds Adam accountable for his actions.

Then there is the wonder of what happens. Adam and Eve know what they did is wrong and hide. That's what sin does. It makes us ashamed. We know we shouldn't do it, so we hide such deeds from those around us, even thinking we can hide it from God at times.

God knows what is going on. He is omniscient. However, he asks the couple where they are at. He knows, but he is doing two things. First, he is trying to reestablish (reconcile and restore) the relationship he had with Adam and Eve. That personal bond. Secondly, by making Adam talk to him, it makes it clear to Adam that he has done wrong... it is the first prayer of confession if you will. Unfortunately, this first sin makes our lives as humans infinitely more difficult going forward.

It is a powerful bit of insight into what is a much more complex passage than one might imagine.

It is my hope that all my actions can be done in the open as I would have no reason to be ashamed of them.