The scripture tells us God started the line of humanity by creating Adam & Eve (See Genesis 1-3). They were not just creatures like all other species that God had created. Adam & Eve were created in His image. That means what we see in ourselves is a reflection of a God who made us.
Our desire for intimacy and relationships is a reflection of a God who passionately wants to have a relationship and intimacy with us. We desire to be loved and respected. God commands us to love and honor Him. We like to have ownership and authority in our spheres of influence; God reveals His authority and ownership in our lives and those around us. God’s revelation of Himself is magnificent in different seasons of our lives. If you are a parent, we are faced with the unescapable fact that all our dreams and desires for our children are a reflection of God’s purpose and desires for us and for our children!
God placed Adam & Eve in a beautiful garden full of abundance. Adam & Eve walked with God, and there was no ambiguity in hearing God or understanding His desires. He gave them the charge to be fruitful and multiply. He gave them permission to enjoy everything in the garden but not to eat of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. Satan deceived them, and the one thing God asked Adam & Eve not to do, they chose to do it. Adam & Eve distrusted God by taking matters in their own hands. This resulted in sin entering the world.
Adam & Eve’s innocent nature became infected with the deadly disease of sin which separated them from their loving/respectful relationship to a holy God. This caused fear and insecurity in their hearts that they didn’t have prior to sin. They feared God’s punishment, so they tried to avoid punishment by hiding from God. When they got caught in sin, Adam blamed God, and Eve blamed the serpent for her sin. In the process, they lost the intimacy they had with God, and it damaged the trust and unity Adam and Eve had between each other.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6: 5-8
Over time, man’s wickedness grew so much that God chose to use Noah to start all over again. Noah and his family were the only ones saved from the flood by entering the Ark. God still desired a loving and holy relationship with His humanity. As a result, He called Abraham and made a covenant relationship with him and his descendants. Later on, He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses in order to teach His laws and boundaries to humanity. However, the entire Old Testament describes a pattern of repentance, short-term obedience, and compromise which eventually led to more rebellion towards God.
How has humanity tried to solve the problem of sin and what is the solution to this problem? I will share about this in the next devotionals.