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Proclamation: Stick with the Plan! “Then the Lord God said to the woman: What is this that you have done? The woman said, the serpent tricked me and I ate”. Gen 3:13 The term bible is defined as: books. Altogether there are 66 books in the Holy Bible today. The Old Testament is comprised of 39 books that tell of the stories of Creation; Adam and Eve; the Fall of Man; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; God's covenant with Abraham; Abraham and Isaac; Jacob and Esau; and Joseph and his brothers. The Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. These works correspond to the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), with some variations and additions.. The term "Old Testament" itself is credited to Tertullian, (Carthaginian theologian whose writing influenced early Christian theology) who used the Latin vetus testamentum in the second century. It is also sometimes called the First Testament. Most scholars agree that the Hebrew Bible was composed and compiled between the 12th and the 2nd century BC, before Jesus' birth. Jesus and his disciples based their teachings on them, referring to them as "the law of Moses, the prophets, the psalms, and the scriptures. (Luke 24:44–45) The accounts of Jesus and his disciples are recorded in the New Testament. For the purpose of this teaching, we will concentrate on the beginning of the Old Testament; in fact it’s the beginning of the bible, some might call it the beginning of life, the book of Genesis and the epic story of creation. Genesis is the first book of the Old Testament; it starts with these words “In the beginning” Gen 1:1 (genesis is a Greek word for “beginning” or “origin”). It covers the time from the beginning of the world through the days of the patriarchs. The story of creation in the Christian church is believed to be the beginning of humankind as we know it today. Creation began with a command from God; when the command was decreed (“Let there be light”) in Gen 1:3 the word let swooped into action and it was so. This act of God showed forth His awesome power even from the beginning. As you read through this provocative story you will find that the first man Adam, (who’s name is derived from the Hebrew: adamah meaning ground) the one formed from the ground, in the very image of God, was created to take care of God’s creation; (Gen 2:15) To be a good steward over all things on the earth. God placed man in The Garden of Eden, other wise known as: “the place of delight” or “garden of God”. This palatial garden offered beautiful trees full of delicious fruit of every kind. Man relied on God for his every need and trusted Him completely; in return God provided man with everything he needed to survive including food, a beautiful, peaceful place to dwell and a help mate created from his actual rib, named Eve. (Gen 2:15-23) The relationship between God and His creation (man) for clearer understanding, may be compared to the relationship between a parent and child. A child is a creation, born from the mother and father. For most of its life a child depends on the parents for survival and the parents provide love, food, and much like the Garden of Eden a safe, beautiful place to be nurtured and protected called home. The child lives unaware of the evils in the world that surrounds them. The relationship between man(/woman) and God was pure and uncomplicated. Adam and Eve lived their lives in the perfect place created by God called Eden. Their trust in God and His will for their lives allowed them to remain naked and unashamed. Naked in the natural sense yes, but also naked in the spiritual sense in blissful ignorance of the plight that was about to visit them: temptation and the ultimate fall of man from grace. The temptation story is a classic example of what happens when you stop having blind faith in God and lose sight of His presence and promise in your life. When you allow something or someone to create doubt in what you know is right and pleasing to God, you run the risk of losing God’s favor. In this parable we see that Eve has allowed herself to be tempted by the evil presence in the garden represented by the serpent. (Gen 3:1-7 ) The rules of the garden stated that the couple could eat the fruit of any tree in the garden except from the tree of knowledge. Perhaps God in His wisdom was making an effort to protect the innocence of his children, by trying to shield them from the pain that life could cause. Eve being unaware of the possibility of evil was victimized by the influence of the cunning serpent. The serpent caused Eve to question God. When God learned of their disobedience He was frustrated. Much like when a child is disobedient to a parent. “Then the Lord God said to the woman: What is this that you have done? The woman said, The serpent tricked me and I ate”. Gen 3:13 We could look at this story and feel sorry for Eve on some level. She was living in a perfect utopia not a care in the world but her “nakedness” made her vulnerable and maybe somewhat naive. If she had just stuck with the plan perhaps we could all still be living in Eden. Many of us can relate to this scenario in our own lives today. Our lives may be going through a season of increase and we lose sight of the plan. We might start to think or act like we don’t need God or His provision. We start to believe our own press releases about ourselves; our prayer lives are corrupted and replaced by the busy tasks of the day and the requirements of worldly success. Our connection and relationship with God becomes secondary. We start listening to the serpents of the world. Don’t be fooled, they don’t have your best interests at heart. Just like any other evil force, the serpents are there to distract you from the plan, you have to stick with the plan. You might be going through a valley experience and the motives of God are not clear. Perhaps you don’t sense His presence in your garden or secret place. He seems far away and anxiety may cause you to doubt God and His love for you. Remember, our faith is tested daily. We must stick with the plan. The serpent tricked Eve and she didn’t stick with the divine plan. Her disobedience not only affected her but all of humankind. The original plan of God was altered because of the inability for man/woman to resist temptation. Lack of faith disappoints God. By the end of the story Adam and Eve try to hide from God because they are ashamed of what they have done. Like any good parent who loves their child, the child must be disciplined when the instructions are not followed so that they can learn from their mistakes. As a consequence of their actions Adam and Eve were thrown out of paradise to face life and all the obstacles it can bring. I believe God punished the couple so severely so that His power and authority would never be questioned again. God wanted to reinforce His roll as The Creator. His will is for us is to always trust Him no matter what temptations we may face. In other words, always stick with the plan! In conclusion, the creation story and the temptation story can both serve as a reminder to the awesomeness of God and what could happen when we doubt Him. I am thankful for His grace, because sometimes resisting temptation can be the hardest thing to do, but I have peace in knowing if I am faithful to God he will remain faithful to me. If we continue to trust in Him and build a true relationship of faith through prayer and meditation on his goodness, it becomes easier everyday to Stick With The Plan!
Stacy Wendell is the Traditional Gospel Music Director for WFDU-FM 89.1 and Stacy is also the host of Gospel Revelations, heard every Monday morning from 12:00 midnight -6:00 AM and Every other Sunday from 7:00 AM- 8:00 AM Tune in and start your day off with a blessing. Stacy is a proud member of Trinity Baptist Church in Hackensack, NJ (Rev. Jonathan B. Whitfield, Pastor) where she serves as a Missionary. Stacy is also currently in seminary studies at NY Theological Seminary in the Certificate program. Contact Stacy via www.gospelrevelations.com or call 201-692-2806 ext 5 or 201-503-9378 |
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