There is a direct connection between the sin of Adam and Eve and the incarnation of Christ. Adam and Eve were created in God’s own image and placed into a garden that none of us can even imagine. In the evenings, God himself would appear in the garden and commune with them. Think of that! For us it is a challenge to relate to an unseen God but for them, there was no separation. 

We know the story of the serpent and conversation he had with Eve and her subsequent conversation with Adam and the sin they committed. What is remarkable is that you and I are born with a propensity to sin. We are born with a sin nature, but Adam and Eve did not need to sin. They were not created with a sin nature but were given moral freedom to choose obedience or not. 

Satan, the enemy that he is, twisted the words of God. He told Eve that “God knows that when you eat of (the tree) your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Up to this time Adam and Eve had known only good but not evil. So Satan essentially says to Eve, ‘God is not telling you the truth. By keeping the fruit of this one tree from you, He is holding something back from you, for when you eat it you will become like him. God has tricked you. If you eat it you will not only be like Him but you will Know both good and evil.’

It was a grand lie, for not only would Adam and Eve not be like God but the consequence of eating from the tree would be separation from God. Every human being, each of us, has been directly or indirectly impacted by the lies that Satan perpetuates. His greatest lie is that God and His commands are not good. The same lie he told Eve. 

Their sin was cosmic rebellion against the one who had made them in His image. It was a choice to rebel and go their own way. Do their own thing. To raise their finger to the God of the universe in defiance. And it had cataclysmic implications for them and for us.

Consider this. Every heartache we have suffered, every fear, every setback, every funeral we have attended, every sadness we feel, depression we suffer from, sin we struggle with, physical ailment we deal with, emotions we struggle with - it all goes back to the image being broken in the fall. It was in every way a very far fall, a fall so far that it is impossible to describe its impact. It was an eternal fall as people destined for life became absolutely separated from God. It was a massive fall as hearts that once embraced God now rejected Him. It was a fearful fall as people who once treated one another with love now used people for their own purposes. A perfect image became a ruined facsimile of its original form.

Satan took life and Jesus, in the incarnation, came to restore life and the effects of the fall. In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” God made us mankind in His image. Satan was instrumental in stealing that image and he continues to try to hurt us. But God, in Jesus, desires to restore His image in us, to reimage us to what He made us to be. It comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and it extends to every aspect of our lives and overflows into all our relationships, influence and actions. 

Father, How do I comprehend that in the face of this cosmic rebellion in the garden and in my own heart, you still came to invade our world and my heart with your love. That is irrational and amazing love. I thank you that you are even today reimaging me into your likeness. Amen.