Why Did They Eat That Apple? The Fall
CUMC: 21 January 2007
Andy Langford
Genesis 2:25-3:23 and Psalm 130
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that the fruit was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of the tree’s fruit and ate; and she also gave some of the fruit to her husband, who was with her, and the man ate.” Genesis 3:6
Last Sunday, Reta told us about creation from the first chapter of the Bible. As time began, God made all things and called everything good. And when God created man and woman from the earth, and breathed into them the breath of God, God declared that human beings were the pinnacle of creation and very good. Creation was now complete with human beings with whom God could be in relationship. This biblical story of creation reminds us, in good times and bad, to have hope and trust in our God of love. So ends the first page of the Bible.
But in the words of Paul Harvey, here is “the rest of the story.” Today, as we turn to page 2 and chapter 3 of the Bible, the story continues with what we call “the temptation and fall.”
What’s the point of this story? So as not to leave you in suspense, the story is about why human beings, who were created to live in intimacy with God forever, rejected that divine relationship and instead die. I recently saw an episode of the television show “CSI.” This show is about crime scene investigators who determine why or how a person dies. In this episode, one of the lead characters asked her colleague: “Do you feel like you are going to die?” He casually replied, “Never.” She responded sadly, “Death is a sentence hanging over all our heads.” The character on CSI spoke the truth. Death is hanging over all our heads.
We may ignore death. We may act as if death is simply a part of our human condition. We may run from death by the latest advances in drugs and medical care. But, death is hanging over the head of every one of us and over every person we love and over all creation. This story from Genesis describes why we die.
We cannot understand the rest of the Bible unless we understand this one story. And we truly cannot understand the heart of our Christian faith and our hope in Jesus Christ unless we understand the story of the first temptation and the fall.
We begin at the end of chapter 2: “And the man and his wife, Adam and Eve, were both naked, and they were not ashamed.” (2:25)
Now in the South, we have two similar words that are pronounced quite differently and mean two very different things. The words are naked and nekked. What is the difference? If you are naked, you are wearing no clothes. If you are nekked, you are wearing no clothes and are doing something you should not be doing. Naked is good. Nekked is a scandal.
In the garden, Adam and Eve were naked. Adam and Eve were not ashamed of their bodies. They were created in the image of God. Beautiful inside and out, they showed forth their beauty. Artists throughout the ages, therefore, have depicted Adam and Eve in their nakedness, their clothing on the day of creation.
Yet, all was not well in the Garden of Eden.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. The serpent said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat from any tree in the garden'?"” (3:1)
Many people make a major mistake about this story. Nowhere does this story in the Bible call the serpent “Satan.” It is true that the snake promotes evil. But in this story, we see no cosmic battle between God and Satan, between good and evil. Instead, the struggle is between people and God. Eve and Adam, while innocent, had absolute freedom how to respond to the craftiness of the serpent. The serpent simply asked a question. Eve and Adam were responsible for what happened next. The devil did not make them eat of the fruit.
“The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch that tree, or you shall die.'" (3:2-3)
Get had set at the beginning of creation just one rule: no fruit from this one tree. Adam and Eve served as stewards, as trustees of everything God created. The man and woman had even given names to everything in creation, and controlled it all. God had but one rule: no fruit from one tree. And if Adam and Eve broke the rule, God told them, they would die.
“But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of that fruit your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."” (3:4-5)
The serpent tempted Eve. Instead of focusing on the result of eating, the snake focused on the gift the fruit would bestow. If Eve ate of that fruit, she would know the difference between right and wrong. She and whoever ate that fruit would become just like God.
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that the fruit was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some of the fruit to her husband, who was with her, and the man ate.” (3:6)
Some persons declare that women are less than men because Eve disobeyed God first. Some people say that Eve had the greater fault because she tempted Adam to eat. The story, however, indicates that Adam was right beside Eve when she ate that fruit. Women and men bear equal responsibility for the fall. Eve and Adam could not say, “The devil made me do it.”
Why do we call this act of disobedience the fall? What did they fall from? Adam and Eve fell from their perfect obedience to God. They fell from holiness. They fell from being faithful to God. Instead of being satisfied with being just a little less than angels, Adam and Eve wanted to be just like God. Adam and Eve wanted to be in charge, set their own rules, and make their own decisions. They did not want to be stewards of God’s creation but the owners of creation. Adam and Eve replaced God’s rule with their own.
One of the major Christian theological affirmations is what we call “original sin.” What is original sin? Original sin initially refers to this first time when human beings turned their backs to God. The sin was not that Adam and Eve were naked. The sin was not sex. The sin was that Eve and Adam deliberately did what God told Adam and Eve not to do.
Original sin, however, also is more than just what happened in the Garden of Eden millennia ago. Christians believe that Eve and Adam created in every single human being thereafter, including you and me, the un-natural tendency to repeat their wrong decision. Sin began with one bad decision, Eve’s response to the serpent. That sin then created another bad decision, Adam eating the fruit. And so on and so on until with cascading effect the whole of creation and every human being throughout history was infected. Like a computer virus that jumps from computer to computer, this virus of sin has infected us all. This virus of sin has impacted the worst person in this congregation, and the best person in this congregation. Sin infected Saddam Hussein and Billy Graham. This virus of sin has also affected you and me from the moment of our creation.
I illustrate the pervasive power of original sin this way. Think of new born infants. All babies are beautiful. Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, once said all babies looked like him, bald with fat cheeks. Yet, from the moment babies are born, they are self-centered. Feed me. Change me. Make me happy. Ignore me and I will make your life miserable. Human babies are the most self-centered beings in creation. The doctrine of original sin simply reminds us that self-centeredness shapes our lives from the moment of our creation.
“Then the eyes of both the man and woman were opened, and they knew that they were nekked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.” (3:7)
Although Adam and Eve were in the image of God, having lost their innocence, they now covered up their divine beauty. If you want to see the fig leaves illustrated, watch the introduction to the television show “Desperate Housewives.” Adam and Eve were ashamed of their innocent, trusting relationship with God. They moved from being naked to being nekked. Then the consequences of sin followed.
“The man and woman heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, and said to the man, "Where are you?" The man said to the LORD God, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was nekked; and I hid myself."” (3:8-10)
As soon as Adam and Eve ate of the tree, they knew they had failed God. Filled with guilt and shame, they anxiously awaited God’s presence. Because God had created them to be God’s companions, Adam and Eve knew that God would soon be visiting for their evening conversation. And God arrived.
“God said, "Who told you that you were nekked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?"” (3:11)
“The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate." 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."”
I wonder what would have happened if Adam and Eve simply asked for forgiveness. Adam blamed God, for giving Adam for giving him a companion. Then Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. Film-maker Mel Gibson blamed alcohol when arrested for drunk driving. Comedian Michael Richards blamed his anger for his recent racist tirade. Part of sin is that we blame others instead of taking responsibility for our own actions.
One message out of this story for us is when we eat forbidden fruit, we would be well served by not blaming others and instead asking for forgiveness. If Adam and Eve had accepted blame and asked for mercy, maybe the course of human affairs would have been different. Our lives would be better if when we wrong another person, we would simply say “I’m sorry.” Our world be healthier if we stopped blaming other people for our failures as individuals and as a community and accepted our own role. Instead of looking for a scapegoat, we should acknowledge our own responsibility.
But Adam and Eve did not ask for mercy, and the punishment was swift. Their wanting to be like God affected every aspect of creation.
“The LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have tempted Adam and Eve, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; man will strike your head, O snake, and you will strike his heel."” (3:14-15)
“To the woman God said, "I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and Adam shall rule over you."” (3:15-16)
“And to the man God said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of the ground all the days of your life; thorns and thistles the ground shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of the ground you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return." . . . (3:17-19)
In every one of the funeral services I conduct, I always say: “From dust we came, to dust we shall return.” As God formed Adam and Eve from the earth, because of sin we will return to our elemental nature. Our yearning to be like God causes us to have exactly the opposite effect, to die.
Just last week, I thought for a moment that I would not have to preach this sermon. I was checking out at Wal-Mart and found this highly respected newspaper: “Weekly World News.” It announced “Death Cured.” The subtitle said “One injection of new miracle drug and you can live forever.” The centerfold story described how scientists looking for a cure for cat hair allergies discovered “Preparation X” that “treated death like ragweed.” Unfortunately, as I looked closer at this newspaper, I discovered that the articles in this paper were “fictitious.” The cure of death is fictional. The suffering of death is real.
“And the LORD God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.” (3:21)
Even after their sin, God still cared and protected Adam and Eve. God killed an animal, the first death in the Bible, to provide clothing for human beings. An animal was killed to cover up the failure of Adam and Eve. That animal for skin and clothing was the first sacrifice to God. For that day forth, creation has never again been like the Garden of Eden.
“Then the LORD God said, "See, the man and woman have become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, the man and woman might reach out theirs hands and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"-- therefore the LORD God sent the man and woman forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which they were taken. The LORD God drove out the man and woman; and at the east of the garden of Eden God placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.” (3:21-24)
Adam and Eve then exited the garden. As John Steinbeck’s novel declares, fallen people live the rest of their lives “East of Eden.”
But did you hear something spectacular in this story? In Eden there was also a second tree, never mentioned until now: the tree of life. Adam and Eve had access to and could have eaten the fruit of that tree of life everlasting, but instead they ate of the tree of good and evil. What a tragic mistake.
We will never again hear about the tree of life in the Bible until December, when we read the last chapter of the last book of the Bible, The Revelation of John. In that chapter, John writes:
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. . . . On each side of the river stood the tree of life. . . . And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. (Rev. 22:1-3)
What was the curse John saw? The curse was death. But in the new creation at the end of history, the curse of death will be gone. The handout in your bulletin will help you see the parallels between the first three chapters of the Bible and the last two chapters of the Bible.
In our back hallway, I have put out a picture I brought back from Spain. After worship, and for the next several weeks, I encourage you to go and look at this painting that tells this story of temptation and fall is stark relief.
The three-part painting was created by Hieronymus Bosch five hundred years ago for a private family in Spain. The painting depicts the creation of earth, the infiltration of sin into human life, and hell. In the left-hand painting, Bosch has drawn a fantastic picture of creation, humans and animals living in harmony with one another. In the final section, we see death resulting from the seven deadly sins, such as a woman staring into a mirror to depict pride. It is a fantastic, surrealist painting that has more symbolism than can be explained.
As I began, we cannot understand the rest of the Bible unless we understand this one story. And we truly cannot understand why God sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross or raise from the dead unless we understand the story of the first temptation and the fall. This is the story of sin and death. Death is hanging over all of us. But the temptation and fall are not the end of the story. As we read the rest of the Bible, we will discover anew how God removes that curse from us. That is the rest of the story. Thanks be to God.