Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Genesis 3:14-19

Genesis 3:14-19 
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

   Consequences aren't any fun.
  We all know when we've done something wrong -- there is usually a strong sense of shame associated with it.  What many of us hope for is that no one will notice our wrongdoing and we can let it slide into history unnoticed.
  Here, God spells out the consequences for humanity after the Fall.  Food will not come easily.  We will have to work hard.  Death is now introduced.
  Things will no longer be the way they were designed to be.  Brokenness has a fingerhold in this world, and it will slowly exploit our weaknesses, our desires, our appetites, until we no longer trust one another, no longer love one another, but care only for ourselves.  Our communities will be fractured.  We will not put God first.
  Sin runs from Adam and Eve to us.  We all have it within us, and it was Solzhenitsyn who said that the line between good and evil runs right down the middle of every human heart.  We are broken and carry sin within us, but thanks be to God that there is a way forward from here, that forgiveness is possible, that grace is poured out upon us.  This is not where the story ends -- for God is still at work.

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