The snake curled his body around the tree, his tongue licking out with every word, “So, God told you not to eat the fruit, huh?”
“Yes, and not to touch it, either,” the woman agreed as she eyed the forbidden fruit.
“Are you sure He said that?”
“Oh yes,” she sighed. “He even said that if we touch it, we’ll die.” Her husband, standing next to her, nodded his head.
“Nah, He didn’t mean it. He knows you’ll be like Him if you eat it and He wants to be King. Go ahead, eat it!” The snake urged.
When the woman saw the fruit was good and pleasing to the eye, she took it, ate it, and gave it to her husband and he ate it.
BOOM! I don’t know if there was a thunderclap to signal the end of paradise at nearly the point of its beginning, but I do know there’s been a whole lot of trouble since our first parents were kicked out of the Garden of Eden so they (and us) would not live in this state of trouble forever.
God’s original intention for us in the Garden was that we should be made in His image. An image of Beauty, Grace, Peace, Strength, Wisdom, Glory…and we traded it for a piece of fruit.
I’ve often thought I’d like to give Adam and Eve a piece of my mind – but maybe I can’t spare it. Would I have done better?
The failure of mankind, through our first parents, brought sin and ugliness to us. But, at the same time, our Father God had a plan to redeem us through His Son, Jesus Christ. This redemption restores His original intention for us – to reflect His Character. He is busy all the time, even now, remolding us into His Image.
What does it mean to reflect God’s character? What will God require of us? What kinds of risky things will God demand us to do in order to mirror Him? Let’s find out in the next few weeks. Reflecting God is our goal and doing it together brings joy.
“Then God created man in His own image; in the image of God he created him” Gen 1:27.
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