How come Adam and Eve didn’t stand up to God?

That is an awesome question! Here’s the deal on that situation. It’s precisely because they knew who God was that they didn’t stand up to Him. Think about it…would you stand up to your own father? Probably not, right?

Well, Adam and Eve both knew exactly who God was and, even more importantly, they knew they had made a mistake. I guess it’s easy to stand up to someone if you know you’re right but, if you know you’re wrong that changes things doesn’t it?

Remember, God created the whole world and everything in it, including Adam and Eve. They knew of His power. God also provided everything they needed to survive too. In fact, God gave Adam the first job in the history of the world…do you know what it is? Take a look at Genesis 2:15, which reads, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

So, let’s review here: God created the Earth, God created Adam and Eve, and God gave Adam a job. They knew of His power, knowledge and abilities.

Then, God had a list of rules. Do you want to know how many rules were on that list? Just one! The only rule God gave was to not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Remember, up until this point there was no sin in the world so there really wasn’t a need for rules. BUT, once Adam and Eve took a bite of that apple that came from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, sin entered the world.

Adam and Eve blew it. They made a terrible mistake by giving in to the temptation of the serpent and they knew it. Because of that, they were banished from the Garden of Eden. And, to make sure they didn’t come back in, God placed a cherubim (a winged celestial being) with a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Hmmm…God is able to call upon a winged being with a flaming sword? I wonder what Adam and Eve thought about that. Do you think they were wondering how many more of those guys God had in reserve!

And, finally, to add insult to injury, God cursed both Adam and Eve! He made it so that women from that day forward would have tremendous pain during childbirth. He also made it so that while women would desire their husbands, the men would rule over them. God then cursed Adam and made it so that Adam would have to work very hard and struggle to get things to grow from the ground because God cursed the ground!

Now, knowing how powerful God is and seeing all that God had created, knowing that He had the power to curse you for eternity and also seeing that he had access to “bodyguards” with flaming swords…would you stand up to God? Ummm…I’ll pass on that! And, that’s what Adam and Eve did; they accepted their punishment and lived the rest of their lives struggling, not just physically, but also with the sin that entered the world.

We “inherited” that sin from Adam and Eve. But, we’re lucky because we have Jesus, who took the sins of the entire world and of the generations to come on His own shoulders when He died for us on that cross. He redeemed us. Do you know what that means? Let me give you an example: When your mom or dad has a coupon and they take it to the store and “redeem” it, they get something back for that coupon. It may be a lower price for the item or it may be that you get another item free for buying one. In the case of Jesus, you get eternal life in Heaven because Christ redeemed you with His life. All you have to do is admit your sins and ask for forgiveness, believe that Jesus was who He said He was and that He died on the cross for your sins, and then confess Him as your Savior. It’s as easy as A-B-C…admit, believe and confess!