Wednesday, March 29, 2006
One Generation Later
After God expelled Adam, Eve, and the Serpent from the garden, life was much different. Just as God promised, they had to work much harder and endure much pain to sustain their lives on earth. Immediately, the decay of sin began to take effect.
Eve, however, kept the faith in God's promise believing that her sons were a sign that God was going to keep His promise through her seed. There is nothing deep or mystical about women and babies here, just a clear promise of God. Eve trusted and looked for that promised One who would deliver from the curse of sin.
I should not be too bragadocious (if that's a word) on Christian teaching, but this fundamental result of sin is perhaps the most well established scientific fact (simply that as time goes forward, things get more disorganized). Chew on that idea for a while: things are in a constant state of change and increasing confusion. This is the opposite of the idea that evolution brings to the table (to be fair, some evolutionists do recognize the weakness of their theory in this respect). However, the Bible is very clear on one thing: things get worse under the influence of sin. Complexity comes and goes, but the degeneration of creation remains.
It is only plausible then that one generation after the Fall of Man, the generation after would degenerate. It did. Here we are in the Twenty-First Century saying things like "We will never go back to doing this or that" (usually a reference to some great historical atrocity or abuse of power). Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit. Cain MURDERED his very own brother. He did it over something sentimental. "Oh, God is happier with you than me, eh? I'll show you happy!" How bad is sin? It is so bad that the very worse is predictable in every life of every sinner. This is serious business.
One generation from now, I do not know what will happen. I do know this, that sin is so bad, that right now as I am typing about God's Word I am capable of doing the very worst because of sin. Please feel the tension of this passage. I hold no great hope for the development of a better society as long as sinners rule, myself included. Sin is so bad that Cain, who knew nothing of violence, had no violent movies, music, or video games murdered his own brother. We too are sinners. We have the same capacity and the same problem. We too stand in God's judgment, not just in the next generation but also in the present generation., right now.
Eve, however, kept the faith in God's promise believing that her sons were a sign that God was going to keep His promise through her seed. There is nothing deep or mystical about women and babies here, just a clear promise of God. Eve trusted and looked for that promised One who would deliver from the curse of sin.
I should not be too bragadocious (if that's a word) on Christian teaching, but this fundamental result of sin is perhaps the most well established scientific fact (simply that as time goes forward, things get more disorganized). Chew on that idea for a while: things are in a constant state of change and increasing confusion. This is the opposite of the idea that evolution brings to the table (to be fair, some evolutionists do recognize the weakness of their theory in this respect). However, the Bible is very clear on one thing: things get worse under the influence of sin. Complexity comes and goes, but the degeneration of creation remains.
It is only plausible then that one generation after the Fall of Man, the generation after would degenerate. It did. Here we are in the Twenty-First Century saying things like "We will never go back to doing this or that" (usually a reference to some great historical atrocity or abuse of power). Adam and Eve ate a piece of fruit. Cain MURDERED his very own brother. He did it over something sentimental. "Oh, God is happier with you than me, eh? I'll show you happy!" How bad is sin? It is so bad that the very worse is predictable in every life of every sinner. This is serious business.
One generation from now, I do not know what will happen. I do know this, that sin is so bad, that right now as I am typing about God's Word I am capable of doing the very worst because of sin. Please feel the tension of this passage. I hold no great hope for the development of a better society as long as sinners rule, myself included. Sin is so bad that Cain, who knew nothing of violence, had no violent movies, music, or video games murdered his own brother. We too are sinners. We have the same capacity and the same problem. We too stand in God's judgment, not just in the next generation but also in the present generation., right now.
