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

The Nature of the Revolt: Rebelling Against God’s Goodness

Perhaps the worst part of Adam and Eve’s story is the fact that they rebelled against God’s goodness, kindness, and love. Think about this. They had been intricately fashioned by God, placed in a perfect world, and given everything they needed to survive and thrive. God also saw that it was not good for either Adam or Eve to be alone, so He gave them the gift of relationships (see Genesis 2:18). Most importantly, they knew and were known fully by God!

The Creator of the universe walked with them in the cool of the Garden and met their every need (see 3:8). There was only one thing off limits. One tree and its fruit. They were given access to everything else! They had all the other trees, not to mention the amazing beauty they could enjoy simply by being in God’s presence and feasting on the bountiful delights that He provided. By choosing to embrace what God told them to shun—namely, the fruit of that one tree—they revealed their doubt in God’s goodness and His care for their needs. It seemed that God was holding out on them or keeping them from something really good.

We often entertain those same questions when we sin. We may not say them out loud, but our actions reveal that we believe lies about God and question His goodness in our lives. Telling even “little white lies” to get ahead at work or school reveals that we doubt if God can truly meet our needs. Unwise relationships demonstrate that we question if God is wise and capable of leading us to a loving relationship in His time and His way.

This idea reveals our third and final way of thinking about sin: sin is believing lies about God. Adam and Eve’s sinful choice served as the prototype for all subsequent human sin. The reality is that we are not all that creative with our sins. Not much has changed in the thousands of years that have gone by since this tragic scene in the Garden of Eden. We still sin by disobeying God and His word, by loving something more than God, and by believing lies about God. All of our foolish choices come from those same sources, as the following passages relate:

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” - Isaiah 64:6

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” - Romans 6:23

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.” - Ephesians 2:1–3

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.” - 1 John 3:4

Sin is not a little thing. With every sinful action we take and choice we make, we revolt against our Creator and His mission in our world. Rather than submitting to God’s loving care, we decide to live for ourselves and become masters of our own lives. But the reality is that we are horrible at living lives under our own domain. We run headlong after our own passions and priorities, only to find that we’re not actually all that great at being in charge of our own lives—a lesson that Adam and Eve also had to learn the hard way.

Those who know and love Jesus understand this reality. We all make bad gods of our own lives. He is far better at leading our lives than we are at creating our own reality.

Respond

Reread Genesis 3:7-13. What are the ways the first couple responded to sin?

How can you relate to Adam and Eve’s experience when it comes to your sin?