Anatomy of a Fall

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other 

beast of the field that the LORD God had made. 

Genesis 3:1

Crafty. It’s the word Scripture uses to describe the serpent in the Garden of Eden. An apt word for a foe that manages to trip us up again and again. And a word that manages to conjure up all kinds of images in just six letters and two short syllables. Crafty. That word just does something!

Satan is indeed crafty — and effective. I can tell you that from personal experience. But the reality is that he’s been using the same technique since the beginning of time, quite literally. And we, both collectively and individually, keep falling for it.

We know the truth. We do. Honestly. We know that good is better than evil, that purity is better than corruption, that honesty is better than deception, that forgiveness is better than holding a grudge, that generosity is better than greed, etc. 

But temptation tends to eat away at truth.

Turning our focus back to the Garden, I think it’s safe to assume that Eve had seen the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:16) many times before her encounter with the serpent that day. She knew the truth about it and understood the danger, yet when temptation came, she gave it a place in her thinking.

We tend to read this passage as if it all happened in a moment. The serpent asks, “Did God really say…?” Eve responds, “We will die.” The serpent counters, “No. You’ll be wiser.” And then, within a few seconds, with the serpent still watching and the fruit within reach, Eve takes and eats — and all hell breaks loose. 

Might I suggest another scenario? One that Scripture would allow for? One that isn’t influenced by every painting you’ve ever seen of Eve under a tree with a snake over one shoulder and an apple over the other? Ok, good. My hunch is that Eve was minding her own business in a much less prominent location in the Garden when the serpent offered her not an apple, but an idea — the idea that what God had described as a danger to be avoided was actually a delight to be enjoyed.

Eve walked away from that conversation not with apple skin stuck between her teeth, but with a big “what if” lodged in her head. A big “what if” that she mulled over again and again and again. A “what if” that became more appealing over time as it pulled at different parts of who Eve was. That’s what I see when I read the following verse:

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, 

and that it was a delight to the eyes, 

and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise… 

Genesis 3:6a

First the tree offered something to satisfy her hunger. And, hey, it’s ok to be hungry, right? And then she began to notice how beautiful that darn tree was! Not that the other trees weren’t. But this one… wow! She just couldn’t stop looking at it Or thinking about it. And wondering, “What if?” What if it would make life better? What if I could be wiser? And happier? 

Some time after her thinking changed, her actions followed suit. 

…she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some 

to her husband who was with her and he ate.

Genesis 3:6b

When did she take of its fruit and eat? The author of Genesis writes, “When the woman saw…” (see Gen 3:6a above) Not necessarily the next time she looked at it, but rather — and please don’t miss this — when the way she looked at it had changed. When the “what if” had been entertained long enough to tip the “danger vs. desire scale” in her mind. 

That’s how it usually goes, doesn’t it? We avoid dangers. Naturally. But we entertain desires. When our thinking transfers something from the “danger” column to the “delight” column, that’s when destruction is imminent. Because our thoughts, more than anything else, drive our actions. Let’s cover that again: our thoughts, more than anything else, drive our actions.

You see, the mere existence of the tree wasn’t Eve’s downfall. Her thinking about it was.

And the existence of a drink or drug, or a pile of cash, or a man or woman won’t be our downfall either. Our thinking will be. Because our thoughts, more than anything else, drive our actions. 

So… what pattern of thinking needs your attention today? What is pulling at your appetites and pecking away at what you know to be true and right? Has something slowly moved from danger to delight? What are you going to do to move it back? And who do you need to tell about it?

While I don’t know your answers to those questions, I do know this: nothing good lies on the other side of that “what if?”

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

The Image of God

"So God created man in his own image; he created them in 

the image of God; he created them male and female."    

Genesis 1:27

It wasn’t until l began to attend seminary and studied under Dr. Wayne Grudem that I heard much talk about humanity and “the image of God.” And yet perhaps no other biblical concept has informed my thinking more than this simple fact — that men and women have been created in the image of God (the imago dei).

In the book of the Beginning (Genesis), Scripture lays out the story of Creation. Over the course of six days, God created the universe and everything in it — the sun, moon, and stars; the deserts and the mountains; the rivers and the seas; the birds of the air, the creatures of the deep, and every animal that roams the earth — from aardvarks to zebras. God created all of it. 

And all of it, with God as our witness, is amazing! The intricacy and the design only gets more fascinating as science peels back layer after layer of God’s Creation, revealing complexities previously unfathomed. Inspiring, and rightly so, awe among those who dare to plumb its depths.

And yet one element of Creation stands above it all: Mankind. For one simple fact: They were (we are) created in the image of God.

God infused all things with His creativity and design. But mankind he infused with a piece of Himself, His image.

It’s why the birds and the bees continue to build the same hives and nests they always have, while mankind has gone from caves to condos. It’s why humans collaborate to save a fragile ecosystem or a species of endangered turtles and never the other way around. And it’s why caribou, catfish, and caterpillars remain within their designated habitats while humans explore the world — and beyond.

Because more than any other part of Creation, men and women have been created in the image of God — to reflect Him and his attributes in this world. His intelligence. His creativity. His compassion. And the list goes on.

It’s also why we believe that every human life, regardless of age or ability, has inherent value. That no person should be subjected to treatment deemed demeaning or inhumane. It’s why we should believe that regardless of nationality, religion, skin color, or sexual orientation there is no room for hate, discrimination, or oppression. Because every person of every shape, color, size, and creed is an image bearer of God, possessing inherent worth and dignity regardless of what makes them different from you and me.

It’s true… the image of God in humanity has been tainted and corrupted. Sometimes, at our worst, it’s hard to see the image of God in others, in you, or in me. We don’t reflect much of His love or compassion or goodness at all. But God is gracious to us. He is willing to look past those things to see us. And we should do the same for others. And maybe, just maybe, as we look past behavior to see the image of God in others, it might just help others see more of Him in us.