Remember Your Roots

The Rise and Fall of Man

     Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, " Did God really say, ' You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
     The woman said to the serpent, " We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ' You must not eat the fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"
     " You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman....
     When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
     Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
     Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.


Scripture:
Genesis 3:1-4, 6-8


     Defining Moments

     Say hello to the deadwood in your spiritual family tree. They go by the names of Adam and Eve. And they've taken you far away from your roots. Not that we'd have done any differently had we been in their bare feet, but Adam and Eve's decline into deception cost them much more than a nice, cozy home in the garden spot of the world. It cost the entire human family everything God had created it to be.
     Because of their sin--or the Fall, as it's commonly called--mankind refused his rightful, original place of perfect, guilt-free fellowship with God, and landed with a thud on a dark, remote nowhere land a million miles from home--spiritually depraved, hopelessly lost.
     Ever since then, the human quest has been to rediscover his lost worth, to understand why his innate desire to be better than he is--and to enjoy a relationship with a God bigger than himself--has always ended in such disappointing failure. There's only one way back. And you've found it. Say hello to Jesus Christ.

Next Up:

     Through the sacrifice of the cross, that fallen person that used to be you has now been reinstated with your heavenly Father. So why doesn't it always feel like it?