,When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:6–7
Following each and every act of mass violence perpetrated in our nation or around the globe, the question that is always on the minds, not only of survivors and family members, but politicians and pundits, is “Why?” Usually some answer rises to the surface related to terrorist sympathies, hate, or mental health. Yet, the question still lingers…how is it possible that one human being could do this to another? But for those who know God’s Word, even though the heinous nature of such acts remains inexplicable, the core cause does not. For it is right there in the third chapter of the first book of the Bible in the event we know as The Fall. Talk about inexplicable. Following Genesis 1’s general description of creation, Genesis 2 zeros in on the preparation of the land, a beautiful garden, and the centerpiece of God’s creation, Adam and Eve. At the end of chapter 2, Adam and Eve, the first couple, are dwelling in the garden Yahweh God has prepared for them. All of their needs are met and they are enjoying companionship with each other and intimate relationship with their God. But something very startling happens when we turn to chapter 3. Genesis 3 begins with the serpent, not a mythological creature, but a creature made by God. Yet, there’s more to this creature than meets the eye, namely, Satan (the adversary, accuser). His adversarial nature is revealed in what might seem a rather innocent question, “Did Yahweh God really say?” It comes across as innocent wondering, inquisitiveness, yet, in reality, this question is meant to cast doubt on whether God really has Adam and Eve’s best at heart. It’s noteworthy that the first half of Genesis 3:1 is the last time that God’s personal, covenant name, Yahweh, will be used for six and a half verses. What makes this so unusual is that His covenant name is used 11 times in just 20 verses leading up to chapter 3. But then we come to Genesis 3:1b and for the next six and a half verses, there is no mention of Yahweh God. Up to this point, Yahweh God has been the primary actor. He has been creating, making, speaking. But in chapter 3, Yahweh’s name is curiously absent, which serves to uncover the powerful connection between shutting God out of our lives and yielding to sinful, selfish behavior. Notice the means the serpent uses to arouse doubt in Eve, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’” As Old Testament theologian Bruce Waltke points out, “Satan smoothly maneuvers Eve into what may appear as a sincere theological discussion, but he subverts obedience and distorts perspective by emphasizing God’s prohibition, not his provision, reducing God’s command to a question, doubting his sincerity, defaming his motives, and denying the truthfulness of his threat” (Genesis: a commentary, p. 91). It’s like two children forbidden by dad from swimming in the pool who wonder, “Dad said we couldn’t swim, but did he say we couldn’t wade in the water?” Lawyers aren’t the only ones who look for loopholes…it is a side effect of the human condition. Sadly, if you know this story, you know that Adam and Eve choose to trust the serpent, rather than their Creator. Satan lies to Eve telling her that God is only keeping her from eating the fruit of the tree to keep her from experiencing what is best. God is not acting in her best interest. In other words, God cannot be trusted. But isn’t this the very deception that keeps people from God? People are always afraid of what they will lose if they give everything to him. We are afraid of what we will have to give up. Ultimately, we are saying that we really don’t trust God. We really don’t believe that He has our best interest at heart. And so, for the first time, in verses 6-7, it is not the Creator who determines what is good, but the creation…and with tragic results. Instead of “being like God” as the serpent promised (sin never lives up to it’s promises) these two are alienated from their God and from each other, as portrayed in the shame that now leads them to require coverings for their nakedness. Nothing has changed over the millennia. The sinful impulses which moved Adam and Eve to doubt God, are the same sinful impulses which underlie all selfish, unloving, ungodly behaviors, and are the same sinful impulses which lie behind heinous acts of terrorism. We are our parents’ children and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Yet, it must also be noted that the sovereign God doesn’t simply leave Adam and Eve in their shame, but graciously provides coverings in the form of animal skin. I cannot help but see in this animal sacrifice for the first couple’s sin a foreshadowing of the blood sacrifice of God’s own Son on the cross for the sin of the world. As one theologian puts it, “It is a long way between the death of an animal whose skin covered nakedness, and the death of the Son of God whose righteousness covers sin. Yet these are like the beginning and ending of the same journey.” Nothing has changed, man is still trying to play God, producing sin and evil of every kind, yet God is still reconciling man to Himself through Christ. As Paul writes, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Praise be to God that though the powers of sin and death are powerful and active in our world, redemption is far more powerful and will eventually prevail over all!!!
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Three guesses as to what book of the Bible I was studying for my quiet time this morning. You guessed it…Esther! In particular, Esther 4:14 where Mordecai argues that Esther’s ascendancy to royalty was not just for her own benefit, but was divinely appointed so that she might “save” her people (a beautiful foreshadowing of Jesus Messiah).
I do believe that God works in and through human affairs to bring about His divine purposes. I have seen this time and again in something as mundane as our building expansion, which was already in the planning stages when I arrived at Renton Bible in 2003. The next few years would see a stewardship campaign which brought in $300,000 and the completion, by volunteer labor, of a half million worth of infrastructure work for the sake of our expansion. It was around the same time, however, that the economy tanked and, by God’s grace, we received one of many letters sent out by the City of Renton offering free 9-year extensions of our conditional use permit…and all we had to do was ask! At our annual meeting in 2009, the postponement of our project was made official due to both the economy and lowered attendance. Yet we vowed to revisit this decision annually. We sought the Lord every year and every year agreed it was not time, until...until our 2016 annual meeting. At this meeting, we realized it was do or die. In view of the time it would take to raise the money, we either needed to act now or let this project die…and with it the huge investment in money and countless volunteer hours toward the hope of a new sanctuary. The city had already made clear no further extensions would be granted. But God's work in our congregation leading up to this point was evident at that 2016 annual meeting. There were a number of important factors which said "now is the time to build,” including an uptick in attendance of 14%, strong giving, Sound Transit's decision to pay us $2,000 a month for a park & ride, Dan Charles' commitment to stay, after retirement, to see this project through and a congregational meeting where the vast majority said, "Let's build!" Any one of these factors, alone, would have at least encouraged us to consider building. But all of them together communicated powerfully that God had finally answered our prayer of, "How long, O Lord?" In October of 2016, we commenced with the Growing Together campaign in which the vast majority of our people committed to Belong, Serve, Give and Invite. The commitment to Give, alone, saw $395,000 committed, far exceeding our base goal and just $5,000 shy of our high goal. We were simply overwhelmed by God's provision displayed in the sacrificial commitments of our congregation…commitments which would rise to $463,000 in 2017. And by God's grace, we are on track to see these commitments fulfilled this October, 2019, which, when combined with what was already in our building fund and rent paid by Sound Transit, has reached more than $750,000—the original estimate for what it would cost to build our church. Our God is an awesome God! That original figure, however, was not for a “finished” expansion, but to do enough to pass inspection. We always knew that finishing (painting, flooring, window coverings, etc.) would cost more. Not only this, but there was a significant bump in the cost of materials between the original estimate and when we actually broke ground. Thankfully, once again, God has supplied richly, not only in funds and workers, but also in donated goods including tens of thousands worth of commercial grade, barely-used carpet from a Seattle high-rise. Even so, under the direction of the Design Team and the elder board, we have moved ahead with plans to finish the sanctuary (painting, staining the floor, etc.) so that our building might not only pass inspection but so that it might be ready to be used for ministry. With this in mind, we are asking our congregation to consider anew a commitment to our Growing Together campaign, for the sake of finishing what was begun nearly two decades ago. For some it will mean renewing their commitment here at the conclusion of this three year campaign this month (October); for newercomers it will mean joining our Growing Together campaign by making a new commitment (for more details, see page 3!). It is simply awesome to see what God has accomplished in and through our congregation and to also see that we are so close to finishing the vision God gave this body so many years ago. We entrust the completion of this project to God knowing that it is only by His hand that we have gotten this far. Praise be to God for His indescribable gift! |
Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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