In the Beginning God...
That's how the Bible starts. It starts
with God. The Bible says that life starts with God. God created the visible cosmos:
the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, planets, galaxies--the universe,
and beyond. He created life: plants, animals, fish, birds, and humans
(Genesis 1:1-31). And God considered His creation to be "very good."
God loved the people he had made, and he enjoyed their companionship. He placed them into a perfect environment, paradise on Earth. And they were happy. Life was good. There was time to enjoy one another, and God. There was time to enjoy life.
But Something Went Terribly Wrong!
In spite of their great privilege; in spite of their perfect environment; in spite of their special relationship with God, the people chose to disobey Him. It was so simple. They had everything human beings could possibly need. There was only one rule: don't eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17). Human beings were created to have personal fellowship with God. Their relationship was based upon love, trust, and obedience. They were not intended to know the difference between the dark side and the light. They just needed to live in the light. But they chose to see what it would be like to be less dependent upon God. They chose independence over love, trust, and obedience.
Disobedience Resulted in Alienation
The people chose to be independent from God. And God honored their decision. They became aliens in the very world which was created for them. To prevent them from living forever in their state of alienation, God placed a guard between them and the source of eternal life. They lost their paradise. They lost eternal life. They lost real life itself! Their lives would become a mere shadow of what they had enjoyed before. From that time forward, human life would be marked by confusion and a lingering sense of emptiness.
The guard that separated them from the source of eternal life wielded a mighty flaming sword (Genesis 3:24). The Bible tells us that everyone born since that day has been born on the wrong side of that flaming sword. We are separated from God and the source of eternal life. That's why life doesn't seem right! We have a desperate feeling that something is missing. Something is wrong.
Modern Medicine Can't Cure It!
The Bible describes their act of disobedience as the beginning of a terminal disease
that has infected the entire human race (Romans 5:12). Their disobedience (their
decision for independence) was sin. And that sin entered the human race like a
sinister genetic disease, passed from generation to generation. There is no pill,
no vaccine, that will cure this dreadful disease.
Where Will It End?
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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, ©The Lockman Foundation; 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977.