a bit of a diversion from my usual style...

Right from the Start….

Read/skim through the first 4 chapters of Genesis, or simply try to remember from your Sunday School days….

1. When was the first time, in the history of the earth, that blood was shed? Most people will say ‘when Cain killed Abel', but the real answer is found in Gen. 3:21 - "The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."

2. Why did He shed it? To clothe them… to cover their shame. Gen. 3:10 – "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Hadn't they been naked the whole time??

3. Gen. 2:25 says, "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." What happened between 2:25 and 3:10? Why were they ashamed? Why were they afraid? They sinned. They ate from the tree they were told not to eat from.

4. What was the big deal? What huge sin did they commit? Eating fruit? Why make such a big deal about it? In fact, if it was going to be such a HUGE deal, then, why make the tree in the first place? What can we learn about the character of God, just from the fact that He created the tree? (Gen. 2:8-17)


** This is one of the most profound things that I have learned in my entire life. If we answer the last question by saying that the motive, and thus, the character of God is to ‘control us,’ it would be illogical, because the best way to control someone is to give them no options… Don’t create the tree! If we say ‘to spoil our fun,’ then we are following the precise line of thought the devil used to deceive Eve. He ignored the Truth that there were, I don’t know…, probably thousands of trees they could (were allowed to) eat from, and only one that they were not allowed to eat from. It’s not like they were going hungry! But that’s what the devil accused God of… of holding out, of being a ‘spoiler of our fun!’ He uses the same tactic, the same accusation today!

Why then, did God create it? Because He VALUES my FREE WILL above all else! He knew before hand (and warned them about) all the trouble that lay ahead, all the heart ache, the bondage, the brokeness, but he gave us the RIGHT to choose! In creating the tree He created my RIGHT to CHOOSE! Every human born on planet earth has the RIGHT to choose how he/she will live, how we will respond to the situations we are in. God does not FORCE himself on anyone. I cannot explain how huge this is. God has been accused of so many horrible things, but I know him as the AUTHOR and DEFENDER of my RIGHT to CHOOSE! But, this is another story…

Back to the nudity… God asked them, "Who told you you were naked?" It’s a good question? Who did? Sin did… their own knowledge of good and evil, their own conscience…
5. What was the immediate result? Shame. And, fear of God. There had been no fear before that…God was their friend, their provider.

6. Was God any different after they sinned than He was before?

7. What was their response to their fear and their shame? Gen.3:7-8 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden." They sewed fig leaves for a covering, but they still hid.

8. What do we do, say, at home, when we do something wrong? Do we ‘cover’ it up? Do we lay low for a while? Do we try to avoid the one to whom we will be accountable? Do we sew our own version of fig leaves?

9. Read Gen.3:9. Who makes the first move in reconciliation? God does. What does that tell you about His nature, His character, His motivations? What is important to Him here? What does He VALUE? Relationship, right?

10. Notice in Gen.3:12-13 that neither Adam, nor Eve took responsibility for their actions. Both of them said, ‘ya, I did it, but it wasn’t my fault…’ As far as I know, neither of them ever did…Do we ever full out acknowledge our sin before God? Or do me make excuses? Play the blame game?

11. Back to the blood. The first question I asked was; When was the first time that blood was shed? What is significant about this? What can we learn about the nature of God from this one little verse? That man’s attempts to ‘cover’ his own shame do not satisfy God. God himself ‘covered’ the sin, the shame, by the shedding of innocent blood. By the death of an animal. By a sacrifice. For "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness" Heb.9:22 Right from the start! God VALUES the blood shed…