Genesis 3: The origin of sin

Scripture

²¹ The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

Observation

So we have in this chapter one of the most famous passages of Scripture, which, like yesterday’s raises all sorts of questions that have been debated and debated. Were Adam and Eve literally real? Why did the decision of one person have to affect the whole of the human race from then on? And, most importantly, could snakes talk at one point, and was this a common occurrence for Adam & Eve??!! But I don’t want to focus on those, I want to focus on God, and what this verse above reveals. He discovers that his beloved humans, the first people he has created, have gone behind his back and done what he told them specifically not to do. So he assigns the punishments due to them, because he is a just God. But then the first thing he does for them after that is an act of compassion – making them some clothes. I have to say, transposing this situation into an equivalent with my children, if they had made a mess of something by doing precisely the opposite of what I’d told them to do, I might well say, “Your mess – you deal with it.” Thankfully, our God isn’t like that.

Application

Really, there are several ways to respond to this. Firstly, praise and thanks God for being the compassionate, merciful God that he is. He could have totally erased Adam & Eve from existence and started again with a new species who would do what he said, but he loved and respected us enough to allow us free will to follow him. Instead, he shows love. Second, we can determine to do our best to follow what he’s telling us, and most of what we need to know is in the Bible. There are occasions when he speaks to us in a different way, and we need to train ourselves to listen, which isn’t always easy. The third thing we need to do is be like him. When people get themselves into a mess, and especially when we and they both know it was avoidable, don’t stand in judgement, as that position is only for God. Let’s show mercy and compassion, and support people as best we can in getting themselves out of that mess. This is one reason I regularly support the work of Christians Against Poverty (CAP), a fantastic organisation that frees people from the burden of debt and releases them into living more as God intended. Check them out.

Prayer

Father, I’m sorry for the times when I deliberately go against what you have told me. I confess that the sinful nature is alive in me, and I need your help to overcome it and live as you intend. Please also help me to have mercy and compassion on others when they need it, as you did with Adam and Eve. Amen.

 

Genesis 1: The Story of Creation

Scripture

²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Observation

This chapter is chock-full of stuff that we as Christians use as bases for our beliefs and actions (I know this well these days, as the RE course I am teaching is Philosophy and Ethics through Christianity, and so much of it stems from here). So, “be fruitful and increase in number” can be extrapolated to mean “condoms are bad” for some Christians, and “rule over every living creature” can be taken to mean “do what you like with animals”. And of course, there’s the whole concept of creation which causes so many people such a lot of bother. Now, I’m not going to get into those issues here, but the verse I have picked out above underpins so much of what we value in terms of the sanctity of life, helping the poor, attitudes towards other religions. Human beings are made in God’s image. ALL humans are like God in some way, which means all humans have value, even if we might question what they do.

Application

It can be fantastic when you’re with someone who you can tell straight away carries the image of God, whether Christian or not; equally, it can make life very hard being in regular contact with people in whom it is hard to find God-like-ness (I can think of some pupils I’ve taught like that!). But more to the point, we ought to remember that WE are the image of God to those around US. When people look at us, can they easily see what God is like on a day-to-day basis? Or do they see more of the flawed humanity that comes in Genesis 3? And if we’re not sure, let’s ask God to reveal it to us and help us show off more of his glory, not to build ourselves up but him.

Prayer

Father, thank you for imprinting us with your image, and help us to reveal it even more to those we live and work with, so that you can be glorified as we go about our daily lives. Amen.

 

Genesis 13-16

Scripture:

 Genesis 14:13-16

          “One who had escaped came and reported [Lot’s kidnapping] to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people.”

 Observation:

 It is rare that one thinks of Abram (or Abraham, for that matter) as a great military leader or strategist, but here that is exactly what he is. Having parted ways with his nephew Lot, he hears that Lot and his family have been taken captive by certain warring kings, and decides to take matters into his own hands. His family was vitally important to him, causing him to go so far as to organise a minor military campaign against these kings. This surprised me (I am glad to still be surprised by reading the Bible after nearly 25 years of being a Christian!), and made me think about what God put into the father of Israel in terms of characteristics. His descendants, of course, would show a lot of this military capacity later in history.

 Application:

 Sometimes you don’t really discover what God has put into you until it just comes out, until you absolutely have to do something about a situation, and you discover what’s most important to you. Abraham was totally willing to leave all his wealth for the sake of another family member, and saved him in this way. This reminds me of Jesus’ promise about leaving mothers and brothers and whatever you value for his sake (Matt 19:29) – there is a reward for doing this, and Jesus says that it is eternal life. Way better than any money or possessions I might accrue here on earth, which frankly only brings more stress.

 Prayer:

 God, teach me more and more the value of following you, and enable me to put unimportant things aside for your sake.