Revolt: The Story of God's Pursuit of Imperfect PeopleSample

The Nature of the Revolt: Denying God’s Plan

For our purposes, it’s vital to understand the nature of this revolt so we can better grasp the extent of God’s love through Jesus.

First, we see that Satan questioned God’s wisdom and asked Adam and Eve to deny God’s plan using the subtle question, “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1). God’s command certainly may have seemed arbitrary to the first couple. Why was this one tree off limits? Why would they die if they ate of its fruit? God didn’t attempt to answer these questions in the first two chapters of Genesis. He simply gave his word to his people and expected them to obey—and they didn’t. They disobeyed God, which is, at the core, the most basic definition of sin. Sin is disobedience to God and his word. Read what Paul writes:

17 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; 18 if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; 19 if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—

21 you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24 As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” - Romans 2:17–24

Respond

Which of God’s commands in your life seems most arbitrary to you? Why?

When and how are you most tempted to question God’s plan?