Genesis 3 – WHEN THE APPLE BITES BACK?

Genesis 3 – WHEN THE APPLE BITES BACK?

When the Apple Bites Back!

My sister was a great story teller. She still is. She would tell a story so convincingly that I would believe it. A number of times her stories would trick me into giving her my pocket money and at other times she would bring me to the edge of tears with a story that was just pure lies. One Christmas, just when I had begun to question the existence of Santa, she looked out the window quizzically and swore that she saw flying reindeers leaving our house. She had heard their hoofs on our roof. So convincing was her story that I believed in Santa for at least another year. In fact I still do (just joking). I must admit, I loved my sister’s stories because I wanted to believe they were true, though sometimes they got me into trouble.

Eve was as big a sucker as I was as a kid. She was taken in by Satan’s lies as easily as I was beguiled to believe in Santa, only the stakes of the game she gambled with were much higher and the consequences of losing would affect the whole world. Something new and unknown up until that time entered into the world with the first bite of that piece of fruit. We may not know what fruit it was. The passage doesn’t tell us, though I’m sure my sister could convince me that it was an orange. We do know the word for the new and unholy thing that stained the whole human race from that moment – “sin”. If it was an apple then this apple bites back and it’s reptilian bite is poisonous.

I find myself wondering whether the snake in the garden had legs until he was cursed to crawl in the dust. I know it has nothing to do with the story but I still wonder about it. Whether he had legs or not, he took on the form of a serpent and told such a convincing story to Eve that she was taken in. The result, as we know, was Spiritual Death for both Adam and Eve. John 8:44 (NLT) tells us that Satan “was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

 We won’t get into the details. You already know the story, but what intrigues me is that God asked them a question which He continues to ask down through the ages. “Where are you?” He wasn’t asking them because He didn’t know. He confronts us with that question because answering it is of such importance “Where are you in relation to Me?” He says with His clear strong, loving and holy voice. And as He asks us this question all of a sudden we realise that there is no place to hide. Psalm 139:1-12 says “I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence!”

“Did you disobey Me” He asks us like He asked Adam and Eve. “What have you done!” He knows what we have done. We’ve sinned. The wonderful thing with God is that He gives us the opportunity to confess. Repentance is the key issue and we are so often relunctant to admit that we are tainted by our sin. God in His grace comes to us and does all He can do to get us to admit what we have done, bring it to the Cross and receive the forgiveness available in Christ. We are so often more content to play the blame game, but if we do we’ll be locked out from the blessings of God and relationship with Him, just as Adam and Eve were banished from the garden of Eden.

Whose voice will you believe? The voice of deception from the master of all lies, or the voice of grace that invites you to stop hiding from God? God’s voice can be the voice of Judgment or the voice of grace depending on the answer you give to the question “Where are you in relation to Me?” In Adam we all die but in Christ we have eternal life.

The question God is asking you today is “Where are you?” Behind that question He is saying “I want you to be aware of Me and honest and open with Me rather than hide from Me today.”

Pastor Ross