Imagine the
beauty of the garden: the deep greens of the flora dotted with brightly colored fruits of all sorts.
Imagine the sweet, intoxicating smells of those fruits that occupied the air.
Imagine the soothing sound of rushing water that flowed from the four rivers in the garden.
Imagine how good everything tasted.
Imagine the sweet, intoxicating smells of those fruits that occupied the air.
Imagine the soothing sound of rushing water that flowed from the four rivers in the garden.
Imagine how good everything tasted.
![]() |
Photo Credit: zeeweez (creative commons) |
Everything Eve had put in her mouth to this point was amazing--each new food tasted better than the last.
But there
was that one tree.
And she
wanted it.
This is the
genesis of the first sin and of all sins, the first of two steps.
All Things Are Created Twice
In Stephen
Covey’s book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he espouses the
concept that “all things are created twice.”
This is the
idea that everything we create, we first create in our minds.
Take a
sculpture, for example.
The artist
pictures in her mind what she wants the sculpture to look like. She may even do
some sketches before ever touching the clay.
Covey’s
point is that this applies to our actions as well. If we don’t have a blueprint
for what we want to do with our lives, then our actions will be the result of
external influences or internal emotional pulls.
Jesus Said the Same Thing
This
concept enlightened me and excited me. It was so profound.
Then I
realized that this was not the first time that I had heard it. Jesus basically
said the same thing about sin:
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person. Matthew 15:19-20
Jesus says
that before we physically commit sin, the evil thought has already come from
our hearts. Before we murder someone, we hate him first. Before one commits
adultery, he lusts first.
All things are created twice.
Even sin.
Even sin.
Step One: Imagine
So the
first step to sin is to create it in our mind.
Look at the
first sin as an example.
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. Genesis 3:6
Before she
committed the sin the scripture says that she saw the fruit was good and
pleasing and desirable for gaining wisdom. At this moment, something that is
not recorded in the scripture happens. It is not in the text, but it is
implied. It does not need to be there because every human who has sinned (i.e.
everyone) knows what happens after she saw it was desirable but before “she
took some and ate it.”
She lusted
after the fruit.
This is her
mental creation. She imagined what it would taste like. She imagined how she would
feel after eating it, being enlightened, being “like God” (Gen. 3:5). She imagined
all of these things.
And she
wanted them.
Step Two: Lie
But she knew
it was wrong.
Just moments earlier she told the serpent, “God did say, ‘You
must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you
must not touch it, or you will die’” (3:3). She knew it was wrong.
So she had
to lie to herself.
This is the
second part of the process: lying to ourselves or believing another’s lie.
When confronted by God about her actions she responds with, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (3:13). Her response is technically true, because he did deceive her, but that is not why she ate. You see the serpent did not try to argue the fact that she was not supposed to eat the fruit. Instead he debated the consequences of eating:
When confronted by God about her actions she responds with, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate” (3:13). Her response is technically true, because he did deceive her, but that is not why she ate. You see the serpent did not try to argue the fact that she was not supposed to eat the fruit. Instead he debated the consequences of eating:
“You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5
Despite
this argument from the serpent, she still knew that God had told her not to eat
the fruit. The serpent did not argue that fact, because he knew she would
reject it. Instead he led her down a path of deception. She ultimately had to
lie to herself—he just made it easier for her.
The exact
lie that she believed is unknown; it could have been more than one. But it was
probably something along the lines of these:
God may
have told us not to eat the fruit, but I can deal with the consequences.
God loves
me, so He would not really punish me.
God wants
to keep good things from me.
One bite
will not hurt.
No one will
know.
All sin is
created first in the heart; it is out of the heart that we are defiled.
All sin
begins with a lie, and because God is Truth, sin removes us from Him (John 14:6).
What
happened after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit? They were immediately
extricated from the garden, removed from God’s presence (Gen. 3:23). Eve may
have told herself that she could live with the consequences of disobeying God,
but she was dead wrong. How can mankind live when separated from Him who gave us
life? This is what God meant when he said that she would surely die. Sin
separates us from God who is life. Therefore sin separates us from life itself.
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23
Do not let yourselves be deceived. We can't live with the consequences of sin.
Great post! I love the perspective of everything being created twice. I had never thought of it in this way but it makes complete sense. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimberly! If you haven't read the 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, I definitely recommend it.
Delete