I find myself asking questions like that often in business and government and church: “Are you still OK with this? Have you changed your mind? Are you still on board with this proposal?” I doubt that I’m alone. We all ask those questions of each other because humans often change their minds about things and it isn’t easy to keep up.
It is also one of the most frequent questions that God asks: “Are you still with me?”
I recently realized how important that question was when I was reading the original story about Adam and Eve and the Serpent and the Forbidden Fruit and God. The key moment in the story was when God asked Adam and Eve, “Where are you?” This was after they’d eaten the forbidden fruit; they knew they’d grievously sinned and were hiding from God among the trees of the garden. Of course God knew where they were and he knew why they were hiding when he asked where they were … so why did he ask? Was it a rhetorical question designed to produce a confession? Maybe, but I believe God was asking, “Where is your heart, Adam? Are you still with me?”
And to answer God’s question, Adam climbed out of the bushes and said, “Yes.” At least, he answered that way in so many words and actions. It’s true that Adam blamed Eve for the sin, and Eve blamed the serpent, but neither of them denied the sin. They both confessed, “I ate it.” Anyone who’s been around kids (and adults) knows how often we deny eating the fruit even as the juice is dripping off our chin. But Adam and Eve didn’t deny what they’d done.
When God asked “Where are you?” they came out of hiding instead of running deeper into the woods. They gave themselves up. They surrendered on their own. They walked out into the open, knowing the encounter might be bad.
Now, I understand the theology of the garden and the fall of man and original sin and all of that, but I don’t care about discussing those issues. Not because they are unimportant or because I don’t agree, but because I’ve spent enough of my life worrying about sin. I’m responsible to God for my choices, and I’ve made enough bad choices to stand condemned regardless of the existence of original sin. I don’t care so much about the deep theology of the Genesis story as I do about learning to live in hope and grace. And that’s what brought me to the question from God - “Are you still with me?”
I doubt Adam understood the long-term impact of his sin, but I believe he recognized the eternal moment when he stepped out of the trees and back toward God.
One of my biggest questions about the Genesis story is why God didn’t make the forbidden fruit harder get. Why not put it way up high so Adam and Eve would have to combine their efforts to get it? At least that way, maybe one of them would have talked the other out of trying. Why didn’t God make it a coconut so they’d have to invent a machete before they could sin? Or at least, why not post a warning sign around the tree saying, “Danger, Stay Away, Original Sin At Stake, Back Off and Go Home!”
Why would God give them freedom of choice next to a dangerous, tasty, fruit, with all of humanity in the balance? Was that good parenting on the part of God?
Well, for his own reasons, God made the first sin all too easy. And God created free will even though he knew humans might use it to freely choose something besides him. And even after Adam and Eve sinned, God was unwilling to abandon his broken creation. He came back looking for Adam and Eve. God wouldn’t eliminate free will, he couldn’t erase their sin, and he loved them too much to leave the world the way it was. So he went looking for their hearts. He could still change their hearts. “Where is your heart, Adam? Are you still with me?”
I think Adam and Eve gave themselves up because they couldn’t stay away from God any longer. They didn’t want to live one more minute in hiding. They were drawn back to God.
And it is that deep longing for God that makes us human. God made us for himself and our hearts will be restless until we rest in him. Humans seek God; craving God makes us human. Adam and Eve couldn’t stay away, and neither can I.
I know that this specific line of questioning wasn’t the crux of your post, but it sure did make me think. As a brand-new dad, I find myself in the position to make choices about how far to remove temptations versus how readily to make opportunities for learning.
Dede & I differ somewhat about this, but I don’t believe in bubblewrapping the world for our son. Sure, I’m not going to willfully allow him access to things that will undoubtedly cause harm, but at the same time, I don’t want to move every forbidden object above the 3′ level. To do so robs him of the chance to learn that some things - despite their availability - are off-limits. If he doesn’t learn that now, while those forbidden items (like table lamps and telephones) are relatively inexpensive and fairly trivial, how much worse will it be for him to learn this when the forbidden things in question are not cheap or unimportant?
Anyway, it’s a challenging learning process for all three of us and it’s certainly thought-provoking to consider this from our Creator’s perspective…
Great post, especially the last paragraph!