Details

Hits: 2775

            Adam and Eve had two sons in this chapter, Cain and Abel. Abel was a keeper of the sheep and Cain was a tiller of the ground. One day Cain and Abel brought God offerings, however God was not pleased with Cain’s, only Abel’s. Cain was very angry and instead of trying to do better he chose to feed into the anger and began to lose his composure. God addressed this behavior and asked Cain why he was getting mad when his offering wasn't good, and why he wasn't choosing to just do better next time. Cain didn't like that God wasn't pleased with his offering or his anger so one day Cain took the anger out on his brother and killed him.

            God asked Cain where Abel was and Cain lied and told God he didn't know. But God made it clear to Cain that he knows Abel was dead and that Cain was guilty. God told Cain that because of his sin, he will be cursed and the ground will no longer give him harvest, and he will be a fugitive on the run. When we face the consequences of our sins, we can let it drag us down deeper and allow it to ruin our life, or we can rise above it and grow stronger and more knowledgeable from the situation. God wanted Cain to rise above this and feel remorse and repent for what he did, but Cain wouldn't even acknowledge that what he did was that bad, his pride was blinding him. When we see ourselves in a situation where we messed up, don’t allow pride to grow and keep you from making things right, this is how we grow.

            Because Eve chose to sin, and then her husband followed suit, the sin was passed on to their kids and every generation. Without God we fall into sin, with God we can overcome sin. Two groups were formed following Adam and Eve, those who fell into sin and chose sin (Cain), and those who tried to please God (Abel). These two groups are still very present today, which group do you fall in? Do you fall into sin easily, or do you seek God and aim to please him and avoid sin?

            Adam and Eve had another son named Seth; Seth would take Abel’s place as the leader of a line of God's faithful people. Seth had a son named Enoch and the men began to call on the name of the Lord again.

Details

Hits: 2698

            In the first sentence of this chapter we learn that Satan disguised himself as a serpent, and was more cunning than any of the beasts of the field that the Lord God had made. This shows us that Satan can disguise himself to try to tempt you, if he would have showed up in his true form, Eve may not have fallen for his trick, but in a disguise she was led to listen and fell into sin. The word cunning means to have skill in achieving something by deceit. Satan will lie and manipulate to try to get you to fall into sin, or to doubt and fall into fear. Satan convinced Eve to disobey God’s only command, she ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and then also fed Adam of the same tree, which caused their eyes to be open and they were no longer protected from the evil that Satan brought into the world from his fall.

            God called unto Adam and Eve and they hid because they were embarrassed and ashamed due to them being naked. When they told God why they were hiding God knew that they disobeyed His only command because now they had the knowledge to know and feel evil and all side effects from it. You see, God didn't want Adam and Eve to ever feel any negative emotion. He never wanted them to live with embarrassment, guilt, fear, anxiety, stress or anything else that Satan tries to put on us. All they had to do was obey God and they would live in peace, with happiness and joy.

            God punished Satan and deemed him cursed. Eve was punished by receiving painful childbirth and was to obey her husband and he would rule over her. Adam received cursed grounds and no longer was able to walk with God.  Adam was no longer pure and righteous and lost his relationship with God. They unknowingly gave up their relationship and joy with God, and received everything that Satan threw their way. When Satan tempts us he never tells us the consequences or even the whole truth, he tells you the part that interests you enough to get you to sin and not a word more. For example, he may convince you it’s a blast to go out one night and get drunk at a bar, he will drop all kinds of fun thoughts of you letting lose and having a great time to where you begin to crave it. What he doesn't tell you is what can happen when you are drunk at a bar and not able to control your actions; you could cheat on your spouse, cause a bar fight, drive home drunk or say a bunch of stuff you didn't mean and would never say sober. He also doesn't tell you the consequences of what can happen after these things may be done; divorce, unplanned pregnancy, being arrested or just plain embarrassed. There are always consequences to sin, so when God gives us guidelines to protect us from the bad that could happen, we should listen.

           God made clothes for Adam and Eve and then the personal relationship and the chance to walk with God was temporarily gone. Any time you are tempted to sin, think about what could happen after, think of the worst case scenario and ask yourself if it’s even worth it. Also realize, when you choose to sin you are choosing not to walk with God, and when you aren't walking with God you aren't protected by God and Satan is waiting to attack, it’s his only job and he is patient and has nothing better to do. When tempted to sin pray for God to give you strength to overcome this attack and ask God to remove the desire to do whatever sin you are being tempted with.

Details

Hits: 3384

            Here we learn about Adam and Eve, our ancestors. Learning about them illustrates Gods purpose for creating the universe, His love and compassion as well as the way He intends for us to live. Learning from Adam and Eve’s mistakes can help us to understand the nature of sin and its consequences.

            Genesis chapter 2 begins by God declaring on the seventh day, after all He created was good, that the day was blessed for rest. We live in a busy and hectic world, there is always something that needs to be done, but God made it clear we still need to make time for rest. Since He mentions having a blessed day of rest, it’s important to take note that it’s not just the rest we need, but it’s a day we need to keep Holy by focusing on Him and our relationship Him in our moment of rest. This doesn't mean just think about God once a week, you can’t have a very good relationship with someone just by acknowledging them once a week, we should talk to Him and seek Him daily. But we need to make it a point to have our time of rest and to thank Him for it. In Mark 6:31-32, Jesus told His disciples to get away from everyone and have a moment to rest. We will always have a lot to do but if we want to get things done effectively, it’s important to be rested enough to get the job done right.

            The bible tells us that God created man by forming him from the dust of the ground, but man didn't become anything of use until God breathed the breath of life into Him. This shows us that without God, we are comparable to something as unimportant as dust, but with God, we are valuable. God could have made woman the same way, but He chose to cause Adam to fall into a deep sleep while God took one of his ribs which He made into woman. This doesn't mean that woman are second to man, we are all equal. What this shows its two flesh’ becoming one, Adam and Eve were to illustrate husband and wife, they were to be each other’s partners and by making woman from man, it shows us what God intends for marriage, to have two literally become one. God shows that man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. This is why God didn't create Eve from the dust in the ground like He did with Adam.

            Before God created Eve to be with Adam, He gave Adam the privilege of naming all the animals that God created. God could have just told Adam what He wanted to call them, but instead He wanted Adam to see how important He was to God, so God told Adam that he can name all the birds of the air and the beasts of the fields. God doesn't want to just boss His people around; He wants us to get involved with His plan, because He loves us. It would be easier to just tell us what is and let it be, but He seeks a relationship with us and wants us to be involved.

            God put two trees in the garden amongst all of the other random trees, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and told Adam eat freely of all the trees except the tree of knowledge of good and evil for you will die if you do. The name of the tree of knowledge of good and evil indicates that had already occurred, but since Adam didn't know sin just yet it probably refers to the evil of Satan’s fall. Many people ask, why wouldn't God just take that tree away so they wouldn't be tempted? And the answer is free will. God loves us so much that He doesn't want to force us into anything, even if it is for our own good, He wants us to have freewill and the chance to choose whatever choice we desire. Think about it this way, if your spouse was forced to marry you, they had no say in the matter, and how would you know if they really loved you or if they were just making the best out of what they were given? God doesn't want to force us into a relationship with Him, He wants us to want one and to seek Him so He knows our love is real and full and not hollow. So He gave Adam and Eve the choice to obey Him, or to disobey Him.

            The last sentence in the chapter tells us that Adam and Eve were both naked and they were not ashamed. They weren't ashamed because they had not sinned yet, there was no sin yet, just good. Could you imagine living in a world with no sin, no sickness, no disease, no accidents or murders, just complete goodness? It’s important to know that that is what God blessed Adam and Eve with, complete goodness, which is why they didn't feel negative emotions like being ashamed. It’s important to know what Adam and Eve had before they chose to give it up by disobeying God. God loves us and doesn't give us a list of rules to be bossy, God gives us things to avoid for our own safety and protection, all we have to do is read His word and follow it.