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

The Nature of the Revolt: Undermining God’s Choice

Adam and Eve undermined God’s design with their choice to disobey. As Creator, God knows how we are intended to function. He knows what is good and best for us and what we should avoid. He knows what is going to bring us harm and what will cause us to flourish. We are created to humbly submit to His design, not to come out from under His rule and make decisions that we feel are best. This is exactly what Adam and Eve did. They saw the fruit was “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (Genesis 3:6). In Eve’s mind, it made sense to eat the fruit, regardless of what God had clearly said.

Sin is always like that. We commit sins because the actions are appealing—they seem wise in the moment, they make us feel good, and they are attractive to our eyes and hearts. If sins were clearly nauseating, it’s unlikely that most of us would pursue them. But, apart from the grace of God and the mind of Christ, we often don’t see sin as evil. We sin because we want sin more than we want God, which is exactly the choice Adam and Eve made so long ago in the Garden. Here is another way to think about sin: Sin is loving something more than God.

The apostle Paul described sin as exchanging “the truth about God for a lie” and worshiping and serving “created things rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25). Paul says the heart of all human sin is an exchange. We all were created to love God and worship Him, but we give up that worship in order to love something else—like a relationship, money, power, sports, fame . . . the list goes on. Anything can take God’s place in our hearts and minds and cause us to abandon His worshipful design for our lives.

Respond

Where are you most tempted to worship something other than God as God? Why?

What are some of the triggers that cause you to distrust God’s way?