Flaws or Choices?

If God created flawed beings, how then can He go on to blame them for their flaws? James Halloran

Back in the Beginning, God made two loving, caring, trusting human beings. He talked with them and shared with them. He gave them his highest gift: the choice of loving and trusting him, or of rejecting him. And if you’d asked Adam and Eve about fear they wouldn’t have known what you were talking about. What was fear? What did they have to fear? Who did they need to be afraid of? God was their trusted Friend. Until...

Until they chose to destroy that trust, to think and act and live in opposition to God. Until they chose to make themselves God’s enemies. Until they chose to break the friendship.

The choice they made. Not God’s choice. Adam and Eve preferred to believe The Liar and disbelieve God. The Fall is nothing so simple as just eating some fruit! Sin means the breaking of trust. The relationship becomes self-centered rather than God-centered, and love is destroyed in this separation from him. Here fear is born—in a complete misconception of God and the way he behaves. Fear is the immediate response to the “fallen” situation. Now for the very first time the Bible mentions fear—when man hides himself away from his God.

The Record quietly reports this earth-shattering event: God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid...” (Genesis 3:10). The very first person ever to be feared—was God. The loving Creator who had so carefully prepared the earth for his friends was now seen with eyes full of terror. What did that do to the heart of God? We are only afraid of God if we don’t know him, or don’t understand or like his intentions. Like the spaceman meeting some science fiction Super being, fear comes from the unknown aspects of this very powerful Person. With all the incredible greatness of God, it’s easy to see how fear can develop: amazed and terrified of this all-powerful God. God: the Divine Alien!

The fall of Adam and Eve was not over which fruit they ate. Rather, it was the choice of whom they believed. Believing the Devil, they consigned themselves to his perverted picture, and suffered the inevitable consequences. They feared their Father, and ran to hide from this terrible Ogre.
Since that time, both God and the world have had to live with that fateful choice.  To claim that the Devil is wrong is not enough. God’s way is one of show, don’t tell. In the ultimate demonstration, God came Himself to reveal the truth about Himself, and to categorically prove His true nature. For that He paid the ultimate price.

© Jonathan Gallagher 2009