God’s love for you and me expressed through the story of Adam & Eve

In my previous posts, we learned about God’s love through the story of Jonah. This was a three-part series that looked at the love lessons that we learn from the Book of Jonah through Jonah, the Ninevites, and the sailors. One of the greatest lessons we got from the story was God’s universal love for everyone. His love was expressed through different ways to the various characters in the story. In it all, God’s motive is the same.

If you missed these letters, do not worry! We’ve got you covered. These were one of our most popular posts and I believe you will enjoy reading the Jonah series as well.

Here are the three links to the series:

Part 1: Love lessons from the book of Jonah

Part 2: I want you to know that I love you

Part 3: Lessons from the book of Jonah Part 3 | Life & Healing Online Ministry

Don’t forget to leave comments and any feedback you might have.

In this series, we are going to learn about God’s love for us as through ‘The story of Adam and Eve’

The story of creation in Genesis teaches us of God’s love for humankind through Adam and Eve. That love is unmatched. It is evident before Adam and Eve sinned and it is even more evident after the fall.

God’s love before sin came in the picture

For those who are not familiar with the story of Adam & Eve, please read this post for a deeper background. Also. refer to Genesis Chapter 3. Before Adam & Eve sinned, God provided everything for them. They lived in God’s presence effortlessly. They had it all! God provided for all their needs and they did not have to work for a living. God- the ultimate provider, provided all their needs.

God gave Adam and Eve one simple command. And as a loving father, He even went an extra mile by explaining to them the consequences that would befall them had they chosen to disobey Him. (Gen 3:2). At this point, Adam and Eve had a very personal relationship with God and they obviously knew that every word that comes from the mouth of God is true. Despite their knowledge, they chose to be enticed by the lies of the enemy. How painful that must have been to God our Father! He had given them no reason to doubt Him but they still chose to believe the voice of the enemy.

Love during punishment

Often times it is hard to notice love when people are being punished. And I admit, as a baby-Christian, I could hardly see God’s love in how God dealt with these two.

So let me share with you how I see God’s great love at this stage. Firstly, God’s heart must have been broken when Adam and Eve chose to turn their back against Him. He was and still is a good father. He had never done anything bad to them. When the enemy accused Him of being a liar and a deceiver ( Gen 3:4), His own children did not stand up for Him. This was a good opportunity for them to defend Him and speak highly of the father whom they knew. But alas, they quickly believed the lies and they rebelled against Him. As a parent, I cannot think of anything more painful than learning that your own children whom you have loved and cared for with everything in you have teamed-up against you. Adam and Eve teamed up and crossed over to the enemy’s side.

No parent wants to see their child make a mistake that destroys that which they have built. Adam and Eve’s rebellion completely destroyed the perfect world that God had created. The worst part is that, not only were the consequences of this fall going to affect these two but the whole world at large.

As a mother to three little ones, my heart breaks when my kids mess-up my perfectly clean house. What’s devastating to me is the fact that after putting in hours of hard work in cleaning the entire house they just need a few minutes to destroy it. As sad as my story might sound, our house can be cleaned again in a matter of hours. And everything else will be back in place. But picture this, the mess that Adam and Eve created could not be fixed in a matter of hours. Even up to today, God is still working on restoring the order in His house. Their mistake has taken more than 2000 years to fix, and yet He still gave Adam and Eve a way to reconcile with Him. Oh, what a lenient and forgiving father we have!

Eve and Adam’s sin meant God did not only lose the two of them, but He automatically lost ALL his children. Had I been God, I would have been furious to the last degree. Losing one child is hard enough.  I can’t even imagine how God felt when He realized that He had lost all his children as a result of this deadly sin. But our loving father is rich in mercy and love. Through His loving nature, He showed mercy to Adam and Eve. He could have destroyed them right away, which is probably what you and I could have done! He had the power to do so, but He chose not to. He chose to be merciful and gracious to them from the beginning. And He was merciful and gracious to them all the way to the end. Even today, He is still the same with us,

Before Adam and Eve sinned, they lived in nakedness but they were innocent and unashamed, standing in complete openness before one another (Genesis 2). As soon as they ate the forbidden fruit, one of the first consequences they faced was the realization of their nakedness. Due to sin, their innocence was replaced with shame and guilt (Gen 3:7). So they sewed fig leaves together and hid from the presence of the LORD. They resorted to hiding amongst the trees of the garden.

Upon realization of their sin, they could have looked for their father and begged for forgiveness. But they chose to hide. What a way of handling mistakes!  Seeing all this, God could have retaliated by ignoring them, abandoning them, totally disowning them or giving them the treatment that they truly deserved. But God is not like that. He is love. And He is the God of love. So as the loving father that He is, He went looking for them and called them in His presence. (Gen 3:8-15)

When the LORD asked them about what they had done, they both played the blame-game. When Adam was asked about what he had done, he responded, “the woman that you gave me…” This is the voice of a man who is indirectly saying, “I never asked for this woman, you’re the one who decided to give her to me.” In simple words, it’s not my fault. Then he goes on to say, “She gave me of the tree, and I ate.” As bad it sounds, Adam’s answer gives an impression of one who had no choice and yet he had! When the serpent came and spoke to Eve, Adam was there. And as the man, he could have been in charge. (Gen 3:6). After all, he is the one who God spoke to directly when he passed the command not to eat the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:16-17). In his response, Adam did not own up to his mistakes but passed the blame to others.

When Eve was asked about her choices, she quickly blamed the snake and none of the Bible versions that I have read tell us of the part where either Adam or Eve took ownership and apologized.

These two consciously chose to believe the enemy’s lies rather than the true spoken Word of God. They willingly chose to disobey their God in exchange for the false promises from Satan and none of them seemed apologetic. If you and I were God, we’d have likely dealt with them differently! However, God was patient with them. He explained to them the consequences that they now had to face but He did not kill them or totally disown them. (besides the spiritual death they got when ate forbidden fruit they were still physically alive and they still had an option to repent one day)

Despite the fact that these two had rebelled against Him, never admitted to their faults and possibly never apologized,  God also gave them a promise of a redemptive plan. He promised that He ’d restore the intimate relationship that once existed between him and them before they sinned. (Gen 3:15). This was a promise that one day, someone would come and strike back against the sin and evil that threatens His creation, His people, and His plan. And that person was Jesus Christ.

Despite their sin, God promised a solution; a solution that He had to create Himself for the mess created by His children. God didn’t have to save Adam and Eve. He could have allowed them to suffer the dreadful consequences of their actions without hope.But He chose not  to. God is a loving father, who forgives, grants mercy and exercises patience as He builds and restores intimacy with His children.

Lastly, God did not stop at extending his mercy and patience, but He also covered Adam and Eve’s shamefulness. After they sinned, they covered themselves with fig leaves. God did not ignore their need.  He slaughtered an animal and made garments of skins and clothed them.

He is God, the one who never leaves us in our shame and nakedness. We mess up so many times, but He loves us so much and He always comes through to help us out of the mess that we create for ourselves. Even up to this day, God still clothes us because His  love for us is magnificent.

He is a patient and merciful God who clothes us and never leaves us in our shame and nakedness.