Chapter 1
Disobedience and Disaster
It is only logical that in trying to discover the origins of things we should turn to the book of the beginnings which is what the word 'Genesis' really means. The Bible does not attempt to be a chronicle of world history. It is a highly selective, God's eye view, of key events in the destiny of the human race; it is mankind's story. It is the only genuine explanation for the world as we have come to know it. In the Bible other histories do touch mankind's history from time to time but the creation of the angels is not mentioned, and the animal creation is only referred to in passing; it is man's story, but where other histories touch ours the point of contact gives fascinating insights.
At a specific point in human history God breathed a spirit of life into the creature he had formed and that creature became a living soul. Man was made with a unique description and destiny; he was made in the image and likeness of God. He was given authority to care for the rest of the creation as its chief servant. His role was to be a servant-king for creation itself; true dominion is the authority to serve. The man, Adam, was placed into the garden of Eden to serve it and guard it. The woman shared this destiny with the man, being in Adam when Adam received his commission.
There's a gentle hint of the nature of man's amazing relationship with God in the words of Christ to the Pharisees regarding divorce. Jesus says that God had decreed that one man and one woman should be united, but a reading of the account in Genesis might suggest that it was Adam who voiced the statement. Adam was to learn by revelation rather than experiment. His relationship with God was such that God's words could flow spontaneously from him, and the words of a man would be the Word of God. What a destiny! God's will done on earth, as it was in heaven.
This intimacy was devastated by mankind's sin. The sin was disobedience. The biblical revelation is that the woman was deceived by the Tempter, but that the man sinned with his eyes wide open. The story and its consequences are all too familiar. Sin brought immediate separation from fellowship with God and consequently from the presence of God too. It also quickly revealed the characteristic human trait of blaming others for our own faults.
The sin was not merely the taking of forbidden fruit; that was the outward manifestation of an inward folly. Man had imbibed the Satanic lie that he need not remain under God's authority; he could go-it-alone and become a god himself. The noun 'god' is used in the Old Testament to describe not only the one true God, but to designate someone in ultimate authority in a given situation. Consequently it is used of judges and angels in certain contexts.
The nature of the temptation and man's response to it shows clearly that this was a break for freedom, and a usurping of God's rightful place. The letter to the Romans contains this same truth; although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were they thankful.
Although the man had been warned of the consequences of such action he made his choice and sealed his fate. The temptation, like most temptations, was at its root a slander against God's character. God was reported as being selfish and possessive. God was portrayed as standing between men and man's true destiny. God's influence must be eradicated. Man had nothing to loose but his chains.
As in all temptations there was a genuine point of contact between the Tempter and the tempted, and an element of truth which could be manipulated. It is probable that Adam did have a sense of destiny; future glories awaited him. There was within him amazing potential and the Tempter tapped into it. Satan is not a creator. He does not have the power to create but he does have the power to corrupt what has already been created. The most beautiful instincts in the human race have been distorted almost beyond recognition by this cosmic vandal.
God had greatness in store for man, but in His time and by His means. This Satanic short-cut was a slur on the character of God, and a buy-now-pay-later bait which Adam swallowed whole. Frustration is always a sign of unbelief. It is also an indication that I want to be in control. I will be a god. I will impose my will. I will have what I want now. For the believer it is a sure call to prayer. Activities pursued in frustration never produce lasting satisfaction; they merely bury the seeds of impatience for a future harvest.
If Adam did fear that his opportunity was passing there is a remarkable parable of this in the Bible story of King Saul. (1 Samuel 9 onwards) At his beginning Saul was an exemplary man; physically and morally head and shoulders above his peers. Greatness awaited him. His destiny was to be a powerful servant-king for the people of Israel. At a point early in his reign frustration and fear ruled his conduct. Instead of waiting for God's time he precipitated an action which he reasoned was in everyone's best interests; a religious sacrifice to prevent the army's defection.
Samuel the prophet echoes the words of Eden's fateful day; "what have you done?" He had forfeited his destiny; that is what he had done. We shall return to this theme later. For King Saul the disaster would take some time to work through. His initial feelings may have been shame or loss, but the full consequences were not immediately apparent. Saul had pre-empted God's provision in an independent action which was the beginning of the end of his unique role as a servant-king of Israel.
In the moment of Saul's sentence of dismissal comes a promise of another man who will fulfil God's destiny. Saul’s intended destiny was not a fantasy, but the genuine intention of God. God, however, is not to be taken by surprise and the future provision was already in hand. This is all a remarkable echo of the Genesis account. Light shines in the darkness. It was in mankind's darkest hour that God declared his settled intention to the vandal; I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)
Man's disobedience had an immediate consequence for the creation that had been placed under his authority and care. The creation as we now know it has been described as a beautiful bride who on the day of her intended wedding receives the news that the husband-to-be has committed suicide. It is a stark and sombre image. Paul's letter to the Romans tells us that the whole creation shared Adam's fall.
This is not the place to examine the controversy between Creationism and Darwinian Evolution hypotheses, but the world as we see it is now is both wonderful and amazingly cruel. For every evidence of a wise and loving creator there seems to be a counter-evidence for 'nature red in tooth and claw'. Most sensitive observers will see in nature cause for celebration of the marvel of life and that which evokes a feeling of deep distress.
The biblical revelation is that the creation itself is in distress; things are not as they were, or as they were intended to be nor, indeed, as they will be at some future time. Events have occurred which have profoundly affected the world around us. The language of Romans is poignant; we read of it being subjected to futility, imprisoned in corruption, it groans as in the pains of childbirth.
Let's stay with the picture of frustration. The English word comes from a word meaning in vain. The effort seems to be pointless. Life is an endless round of 'might-have-beens'. This painful conclusion is what the writer of Ecclesiastes discovered for himself. Here was a man equipped with all the resources of his day to find fulfilment in life. At every attempt in every area of life he arrives at the same verdict; all is in vain. It is literally meaning-less.
This is not to say that there is no enjoyment in life, but that it is always hauntingly incomplete. "Life is a short, fevered rehearsal for a concert we cannot give. When we appear to have attained some proficiency we are forced to lay down our instruments. There is not time enough to think, to become, to perform what the constitution of our natures indicates we are capable of. " is how A W Tozer once described it.
So man sits, like Charles Dickens' Miss Haversham, amidst the dying wreckage of all those might-have-beens. So much for this bold bid for freedom. Man's short-cut to destiny has proved to be a certain route to disaster.
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