We talked about the Humpty Dumpties of humanity, Adam and Eve, and the great fall in the previous blog, The Greatest Crime Scene of All Time. Now we’ll look at the three cracks that have plagued humanity ever since that moment in time.
The Garden of Eden was perfection – no sin (Genesis chapters 1 and 2). But in chapter 3, the fall of man began when Satan tempted Eve, and she chose to disobey God. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate” (Genesis 3:6 NKJV).
Disobedience is a crime against God, punishable by death.
- Shame (and guilt)
Shame causes us to cover up; guilt causes us to hide out. We tend to blend those two and view them as the same thing, but they’re not.
- Shame is about me, who I am.
Maybe you grew up in an environment where you never felt like you measured up. You thought you could never be good enough. Or you walked around feeling ashamed all the time.
When Adam and Eve fell from the wall, they felt shame. And like everything that occurs as a result of following sin, shame and guilt distort your lives. When we sin, shame is something that could cause us to come back to God, but instead Adam and Eve covered up (Genesis 3:7 NKJV).
We often cover up in our relationships today. If I feel shame in my life, I’m going to cover up from you. I’m not going to be vulnerable to you.
Guilt is a different emotion. Guilt is what I feel as a result of something I’ve done or not done. And so, I’m going to hide out.
So, what’s the solution?
The two most important ingredients are to
- Confess to Christ (Romans 3:23, Romans 10:9).
- Have confidence in Christ.
The greatest ways of dealing with feelings of guilt and shame are to:
- Be honest with yourself.
- Be honest with God. He already knows.
- Confess the truth.
- And then develop confidence in Christ.
2. Blame
Blame is just a quick escape from guilt. It gets me out of it and pushes the feeling aside.
- God called to Adam and asked, “Where are you?’” (Genesis 3:9).
- Adam said, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 NKJV).
- God asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded that you should not eat” (Genesis 3:11 NKJV).
- Adam blamed his wife (Genesis 3:12).
It’s human nature to blame other people. Here’s some examples of how we blame today:
- I wouldn’t have yelled at you if you had done what you were supposed to do.
- I would have gotten it done if traffic hadn’t slowed me down.
- It’s the government’s fault.
- It’s my neighbor’s fault.
Blame can keep you from really experiencing the intentional life God has for you.
So, the solution to this blame game is the first law of five laws of Intentional Living, which is to take 100% responsibility. Remember the three-foot rule, “I’m responsible for anything that happens within three feet of where I am.”
We’re each responsible for our own thoughts, attitudes and actions. You can’t blame anyone else for how you choose to live as you strive to follow Christ (Ezekiel 18:19-20).
Blame holds you back from the freedom God intends for your life. It’s a powerful, freeing moment in a relationship to be able to say to your family, your children and friends, “I was wrong, will you forgive me?”
3. Pain
Today we not only experience the pain of living, but also the pain of dying.
God was not happy with Adam and Eve’s behavior. He addressed Satan first and then spoke to the woman about the consequences of the fall (Genesis 3:16).
God then told Adam he would toil the curse ground and return to it because that’s where he came from (Genesis 3:17-19). The consequences:
- Adam and Eve started to experience the pain of dying that we all face today— the physical, the emotional and the spiritual.
- They also began to know the pain of living.
Yet we find a solution in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (NKJV).
The reason you receive comfort from God is so you can comfort other people.
Adam and Eve are the Humpty Dumpties of humanity. And these are the three cracks that are important for us to remember as a result of the fall.
