God Speaks Session 3: The Human Condition

This is for session 3 of a study on "God Speaks To/Through His People, the story of the Bible as a drama in five acts" for the Koinonia Class at Calvary Baptist Church, Denver, CO. Session 3 is Act I, Scenes 2 & 3 (Genesis 3-11)

Earlier (in the Prologue, Part 1) I called our experience of living in a world of ultimate questions, problems, evil, sin, and eventually death as “The Human Condition”. The subject is not original—many have written on it; and every religion treats it in one way or another.

My use of this term situates chapters 3 through 11 of Genesis as Act II in the 5-Act Drama of the story of the Bible. Act I is creation—of the world and finally of humans as those who are created “in the image of God”. Act II shows what happens when the actors don’t follow the Director’s directions.

In Genesis 3 Eve is tempted by the personification of evil to disobey God. She ate the forbidden fruit and then tempted Adam to join her. He did, and life has not been the same since.

Apparently, being created “in the image of God” included having the ability to choose and to be responsible for one’s choices. Free Will it is sometimes called. It’s not just that we are free to choose whatever we desire. Choices result in actions. Actions bring (sometimes unforeseen) consequences. Having the ability to choose also means being responsible for the consequences.
In biblical terms, Adam and Eve sinned against God. They chose to put themselves and their will ahead of their Creator and his will. In essence they said, “I want to be in charge of my life. I want to be a god myself.” The consequence was that God let them have their wish.

The paradise in which God had placed them was now off limits to them. They wanted to be their own god and create their own paradise. We know how successful they and all their descendants have been. The consequence of their sin (and ours) can be seen in the news every day.

Fortunately, the play does not end at Act II. God may have let us have our own way, but He has not left us alone. God’s desire for a loving fellowship with His creatures did not change. Act II, Scene 2 introduces the subplot of a covenant which continues throughout the rest of the drama. Even in the worst of times there is good news. We are not alone—God loves us and wants to reconcile us to Himself. Moreover, God provides the means for that reconciliation.

More about covenants next week.