6 When
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.
7 Immediately
the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw
themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes
for themselves. 8 When
they heard the sound of Godstrolling
in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the
trees of the garden, hid from God.
9 God called
to the Man: "Where are you?" 10 He
said, "I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was
naked. And I hid." 11 God said,
"Who told you you were naked? Did you eat from that tree I told
you not to eat from?" 12 The
Man said, "The Woman you gave me as a companion, she gave me
fruit from the tree, and, yes, I ate it." God said
to the Woman, "What is this that you've done?" 13 "The
serpent seduced me," she said, "and I ate." 14-15 God told
the serpent: "Because you've done this, you're
cursed, cursed beyond all cattle and wild animals, Cursed
to slink on your belly and eat dirt all your life. I'm
declaring war between you and the Woman, between your offspring
and hers. He'll wound your head, you'll wound his
heel." 16 He
told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in
childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll
want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over
you." 17-19 He
told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and
ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't
eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of
you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as
having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all
your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll
get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and
harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until
you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started
out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
On
the Christian liturgical calendar, today is Ash Wednesday. There are
Christians of every stripe: Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist,
Anglican, Lutheran, and yes, even Baptist who will celebrate this day
by remembering solemnly the fact that we are but mere creations of
the Almighty God who will one day, through decomposition, have our
physical bodies revert to the heap of dirt and ashes that God used to
mold us.
However,
the reminder of this day doesn't rest on the practice of placing
ashes on your forehead. The reminder lies in the decomposition that
creates the ash. The process of decomposition generally creates foul
odors. Our sin creates foulness. Ever since this act of volitional
disobedience by our forefather Adam, our race has been fouled by sin.
And now when we are born we are on a trajectory, not for perfect
relationship with God, but rather for decomposition and death.
While
verse 19 provides our reminder (that because of Adam's we too face
the consequences of sin, which is death), verse 15 provides us with
our hope. Jesus has been victorious over life, sin, and death. In Him
there is no imperfection or decomposition. If our faith is place in
Him and His finished works, our bodies will still see decay but our
souls will see Jesus.
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