Communication is Key

Discipleship 1:4

But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” Genesis 2:16-17 NLT …

… The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

“Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die.’”

“You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”

The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too. Genesis 3:1-6 NLT

And so it begins…

For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many… Romans 17:a

First, satan questions what fruit they must not eat. Isn’t that just like him to focus on the negative? They had a whole garden of fruits and herbs at their disposal, for their pleasure, and satan picks on the one tree that God had warned them not to eat.

Second, Eve misquotes God’s admonition to Adam saying they couldn’t eat it or touch it. (Bad game of Telephone?)

Third, satan capitalizes on Eve’s doubt. He knows he has her attention so he runs with it. He convinces her that God is withholding from them, not protecting them. He doesn’t really care about them, He just doesn’t want them to be like Him.

satan is still talking to people along these lines today. Maybe you haven’t heard it said but it’s definitely implied that we’ll never experience true happiness by staying within the perimeters God has set for us. As if people must rebel and live out of control; as if they must be drunk, experiment with drugs, engage in premarital sex; knock people down to climb the ladder of success; or indulge themselves by any means in order to be happy. God’s not wanting us to do these things is not to prevent us from having fun, but from harming ourselves and/or others and from doing things in which there might be no turning back. Has the voice of our enemy whispered in your ear? He’s whispered in mine.

You know what’s super cool? God’s displays His forgiveness and love for His creation despite their sin through disobedience by still seeking out the couple that He created.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:8-9 NLT

Despite our sin, God is still coming to us today. How?

…But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17b NLT

Even before sin entered the world through one man, God had a plan to redeem it through one Man. And we needed redeemed.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT

And …

But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 NLT

After we accept salvation, we must be aware.

For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. Romans 10:3 NLT

We talked about this, remember? us trying to get right with God and then stay right in and of our own efforts? We can’t do it, it’s self righteousness, and it stinks! But if we put our faith in Jesus …

and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; Philippians 3:9 NKJV

The course I am reading did not focus on the importance of communication, but I’m going to. Looking back, where did this mess begin? God warned; satan questioned His instruction; Eve misinterpreted; satan built on that one forbidden thing and made God to not be good by withholding from them; Eve and Adam bit, literally. Boom! Distance between God and man. Did you notice something beside the fact that God still sought them out post-sin: they hid from Him.

I sometimes wonder how things would have looked if Adam, who the Bible clearly states was with Eve when all this went down, spoke up. What if he rebuked satan right out the gate? What if, as Eve was being misled, he said, “Look Babe, that’s not what God said. We’re not eating from that tree!” What if, after they ate, Adam ran through the garden calling for God, asking for His forgiveness, rather than hiding? Yeah, they’d have still been kicked out. Despite how harsh that sounds, it was actually a merciful act. They had eaten of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and if they had progressed and eaten of the tree of life they would have lived forever in a sinful state.

Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24 NKJV

Can you imagine living on planet earth forever in the state that it’s in? I can’t! Even His discipline is mercy extended to us.

Today’s topic is relationship and I’d sum that up by saying good communication is necessary for a good relationship.

I hope you will join me next time as we dive into the nature of God, beginning and ending with …

God is love. 1 John 4:8