The Condition of the First Human who Violated the Creator God: Genesis 2-3
Guilt: Trash at the Human Heart while Gem in the sight of God
There is an invention in the car industry
nowadays; it is called electronic gadgetry. It is a sound effect that is placed
on the car to notify if something wrong with it. It functions immediately when
the normal set up of the car is not totally in placed. The light begins to
blink, produce an alarming sound that quickly caught one’s attention. That
warning will generally give an ample opportunity to avert a potential disaster.
However, when the warning is ignored sure trouble comes.
Our bodies are much like modern cars. We are
all equipped with a warning system that tells us something is wrong or out of
place and could cause trouble. That warning system is called guilt.
How a person deal with his guilt will determine whether he is able to travel
the road of life and accomplish the will of God or whether he break down along
the way. The meaning usually given to the word guilt in Christian circles today
bears little relation to the biblical meaning. Recent Christian found more
interest in the subject that focuses on the psychological dimension, analyzing
the causes of guilt, which is deep-seated in every human and paralyzes the
lives of some.
The remembrance of the
forbidden fruit is always marked as the portrait of the fall. After Adam &
Eve fall from sin, the two suddenly realized that they are both naked.[1] Imagine, someone who entrusted the whole
creation, molded and created by His Word, the center of His interest,[2] and most of all passionately breathed by
God,[3] yet in just a simple pick from a tree,
has to be penalized and separated from God resulting of their ultimate
disobedience.
The arrival of guilt at the early picture of the narrative prevail how it stimulates the thought and heart of human in a deeper and powerful sense. It presents the significance
of calling one’s attention and awakening the heart from the mistake that
was committed. Does it mean that guilt will never come across the scene if Adam
don’t listen to the request of Eve? However, since it was all happened, guilt
is experienced and visits the heart of someone who 'stepped-out of the line',
tried to pick what is forbidden and ate what is supposed to be not.
The book of Genesis showcased many stories of
beginnings and opens the door to know things of the old. Genesis 1 is
apparently talks about the Creation and then proclaimed the power and might of
its Creator, while Genesis 2 and 3 is perfectly our story; it
is about who God is and who we are as human beings in God’s world. There are
two levels in the narratives starting Genesis 2 to 3. After the narrative
development recounting the first creative acts and its “parallel” narrative
about the rivers (primary level) Gen. 2:4–15 and 3:22–24, YHWH Elohim gives a
command to the man[4] which presupposes a specific
interpretation by YHWH of the value of the first creative acts, and therefore
introduces a secondary level Gen 2:16–3:21. These values attributed
respectively to the man and the garden (and its various components) demands
that the two be in a specific relationship expressed in the command. [5] In 2:18 we find a second interpretation
by Yahweh of the same situation focused this time on the loneliness of man.
Shame also partly pierced in human, but guilt
is particularly the one that stirred the heart and literally pushed the
conscience that made them see their nakedness and realized their disobedience.
Therefore, guilt has seemingly perceived as the first apologetic emotion that
was felt by human towards his God. The story seemed to move toward its
climactic scene, when the eminent antagonist appeared, the Serpent; this led
into a major shift at 3:1. The whole creation was then perfectly in placed and
the couple was already given the authority to “rule over”[6], this means that creation is given to
humanity to hold in trust. Insidiously, the serpent’s trap drew the woman into
a one-on-one conversation with him. This may happen to be the first bargain of
evil to deceive humanity.
During that time, human does
not know what evil is, until it was exposed to them, but since God is the
Creator of the Garden and he knows what he created, God provided two special trees (Tree of Good and Evil and Tree of Life) for a purpose, and that purpose was encapsulated by confidence that what he called to be
the ruler of that garden is able to stand on that
place because even though how beautiful and alluring it may be. God
placed great confidence in his creation and by his love he trusted human so
much. He did not even mind placing the trees at the center of the
garden, because after all humans are always the center of his love and
interest.
Since true love never forces, instead God gave man the freedom to choose. But He wasn't surprised of the man's choice, thus God stays true to his word, for the tree that man chose, he's going to express. Not the tree of life but the one forbidden by choice. Therefore, guilt took root in hearts once pure and whole- a condition that introduced the living ones to its eternal pause. The couple now stand
outside the boundaries of God’s purpose and have taken life itself into their
own hands. The couple became aware after they ate the fruit. They became aware
of their nakedness, of what is lack on their bodies. The art normalcy and the
nature of all was primarily put into question. The couple realized that they
are naked, and they experienced shame and react guilty about it contrary on
stated in Genesis 2:5. The couple’s attempt to cover their nakedness with crude
garments of leaves depicts the weak and futile efforts of human beings to
address the guilt of sin. Their behavior towards God, creation and even with
each other were affected. The normal function and even role of things as God
intended was merely altered into something complex and painful.
But the story didn’t end there, with the guilt that Adam and Eve felt. It became an instrument of the Lord, making them reflect more on His goodness and protection toward them. The guilt that weighed upon their hearts also revealed the depth of God’s love for His creation. It was not just the recognition of their vulnerability, but the realization of sin an unbearable burden that gnawed at their hearts. And yet, in the very same breath, this guilt propelled them to run, to flee in desperation, as if hiding from the very presence of the One they had so grievously wronged. They were stunned to the supreme power and authority of the living God, His holiness that seemed to magnify their failure, yet in that moment, they also understood the depth of their betrayal more so the magnitude of his truth and love.
Whatever else it may
be and how it was all turned out, the second and third chapter of Genesis reveals who we
are as human beings in God’s world, how we respond to God, and how God responds
to us. Indeed, no one who manufacture a lock without a key, hence in any case at any cost, the hands of God is not too short to reach out His people, to bring us back into His presence. He knows and always provide a way out and route back Home.
This is basically a story about human condition. Ultimately, it
is our story. A story that confronts man in relation to God. As the
story unfolds, human begin to see himself standing before the
forbidden tree, torn between obedience to God and our freedom to choose our own
way. Whichever way, God in his power, can turn this messy guilt into a shining gem in man’s heart. Into something meaningful, which caused us to realize our nakedness, to a golden element for a true repentance.
[2] E.A Speiser, The Anchor Bible
GENESIS: Introduction, Translation and Notes (USA: Doubleday &
Company, Inc, 1964), 18.
[5] Speiser, E.A The Anchor Bible GENESIS:
Introduction, Translation and Notes (New York: Doubleday
& Company Inc., 1964) 19.
[6] Genesis 1:28
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