Sin of Rebellion

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the Garden for a specific reason. It was a boundary. It was the one area of the Garden reserved for God. God placed this tree in the center of the garden and told Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit. Doing so would mean that they would have knowledge or awareness of not only good things but also evil things. The Hebrew word for evil that is used in the tree's description — ra‘ — implies a sense of misery or grief. It points to something extremely sorrowful. Adam and Eve had beautiful trees full of life. But this tree opened up a new world, one that held misery and sorrow and grief. Adam and Eve’s sin opened up the world of misery and sorrow and grief.

Pastor Mark Flynn refers to sin this way, “Sin is much bigger than the wrong actions we do or bad thoughts we have…Sin is the state of rebellion against God that causes us to ask at every juncture, ‘do I choose to be obedient to God?’ The ‘wrong’ actions, words, or thoughts are an outgrowth of nurturing the rebellions against God.”

Rebellion is first and actions follow. Both involve our CHOICE.

Sin is not the action of eating the forbidden eat. It is the initial rebellious decision to disobey God. The result of sin (disobedience to God) is that it breaks the order of creation. The immediate consequence of their sin is shame and fear. They now have a broken relationship with God, the same God who gave them the original blessing, the God who created them and blessed them as very good. The couple’s relationship with their Creator God is changed by their sin.

⁸ When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. ⁹ Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9

They now hide from God and see God as a threat and they fear his punishment. This is why they hide from him.  But notice the first question that God asks – “Where are you?” What does this question tell us about God?

God pursues us. The first question God asks shows us how God recognizes we are not near to him and so he calls us back. This is the question he asks throughout the stories of Scripture. He begins his relentless pursuit of us from the very beginning of creation. From the first sin we see that God is pursuing man. His greatest desire is for us to respond to his pursuit by running to him. When we stray, he still wants us to return to him.

Where does God find you? Running toward him or away from him? God wants to extend his love and mercy and grace.