Melinda Katzenmeyer
While many of us are familiar with the story of the Fall, it is important to remember why we need Jesus and give context as to why the Easter Resurrection matters.
God created and it was good, good for two whole chapters and then we read about the fall which sets the stage for God’s whole redemptive plan.
Read Genesis Chapter 3
In this chapter we see so much happening to change the course of history, immediately we see a breakdown of relationships: our relationship with God, with each other, and with creation.
Adam, who a chapter earlier broke out into poetry and song, is now blaming God, “The woman YOU put here with me.” How many times has something happened to you, and you find yourself shaking your fist at God? “This circumstance YOU put in my life.” I like to imagine a chapter earlier, Adam and Eve were with God, “walking in the Garden in the cool of the day.” The intimacy with God they must have experienced prior to the fall is unimaginable. Then we find them hiding from God. HIDING?! Hiding from the all-knowing, omnipresent God! It sounds silly but I’m sure if we pause, each of us can think of things we attempt to hide from God.
God also curses the ground; and the work Adam had previously done without labor is now a source of painful toil. I’m not going to spend much time here but God created work and it was good, but how much do we all feel the painful toil in work which is a result of the fall?
Relationships with one another is a breakdown we see here. This is best shown by looking at Genesis 2:23-25 and pairing it with Genesis 3:20. In chapter two, Adam names her Woman because she is a part of him. We see they were naked and felt no shame. This is more than a physical nakedness, it’s intimate and emotional. Imagine not having to hide a part of yourself from anyone, the freedom you would feel to be unashamedly you. Then enter the fall, Adam names Woman a second time, Eve. He names her for her purpose or task, the mother of all things.
Don’t glance over this. Adam was tasked with naming the animals in chapter 2, he was exercising his authority and his charge to subdue the earth. This is why the second naming of Eve matters. When she was Woman, they were one, naked and felt no shame. Now, the breakdown of relationships has occurred, and as a result she is named Eve, for how she now relates to Adam in the fall.
Woman —> You are a part of me
Eve —> What you can do
There is no longer nakedness without shame. The curses and punishments have been felt but praise God there’s more.
Check out 2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jesus takes our problem of punishment and death from Genesis 3, takes it onto himself, and pays the wage of death for us!
So what does this mean as we look to the cross and the resurrection? Our need for the cross screams at us daily, in the way we interact with each other, God, and our work. Accept daily, the Great Exchange Jesus offers us, the most beautiful gift we will ever receive.
Please pray:
Praise God for the Easter message and that Jesus is greater than sin.
Pray that God will use these devotionals to not only change your heart, but that of Central Baptist Church as a whole.
Melinda Katzenmeyer
Communication and Media Specialist