A Fall to Be Savored

Happy Fall, Ya'll! Okay, it's been a few weeks, but temps are just starting to feel like autumn in our little armpit of the East. I hope you're wrapping yourself in the warmest sweaters and coziest mugs of chocolaty goodness you can find; crunching through golden leaves, gazing at October blue skies, and savoring the smell of bonfires and spice. It's a glorious time to get out and enjoy God's created world and celebrate the changing of seasons. Just a question, though, when you imagine those six days of Creation, do you envision leafy green trees, shady spots in sun-kissed meadows, hills bursting with mountain laurel, plump bumble bees bobbing effortlessly from flower to flower, and Eve, long hair flowing, reaching up to grab a perfectly polished apple? Or do your thoughts go to the THUNK CHUNK BUMP-BUMP of acorns dropping, foliage dried and swirling, honking geese, burrowing frogs, jittery squirrels bustling about with their collecting, and Adam, tall and rugged, gathering his bounty of arugula, turnips, and squash? We have a visualization, don't we? One that doesn't seem to include autumn and its earthy hues. Perhaps that is because of the other fall, the one that cost all of creation dearly. Perhaps we think that autumn is the beginning throes of nature's death, and death, of course, came with the Fall of Mankind. 

So, let's talk about that fall for a bit. Genesis 1: God creates, and it is very good. Genesis 2 provides us with the gift of rest, gives us the details of humanity's creation, describes the naming of the animals, and explains God's provisions and restrictions for the couple in the garden. Genesis 3: The Fall. Verse 1 gets right into it. The serpent was cunning, he talks to Eve, and she responds. Was it strange for this animal to speak? Was she surprised? Did she question it? Did God really say, ‘You are not to eat from any tree in the garden’? Cunning indeed! He perverts God's words from the start and makes His decrees subject to our evaluation. Mankind becomes the authority and God the subject of our scrutiny. Is that really what He said? opens the door to assessing the very character of God. Is God unfair? Does He have too many rules? Even worse, His motives are made open (not really, but in theory) to question: Is He trying to keep you from being all you can be? Is this a power play? Is He threatened by your ability? What does this inquisition imply about God? Eve, who, we assume, received the command from her husband, seems to be forced to face this probing alone. What did He say? Don't you know? Her ignorance giving birth to shame, Eve makes up her own version of "the rule": Don't eat it or touch it, lest you die.

Friends, there is nothing like the Light of Jesus Christ poured out on the shame with which this world would burden us to expunge it completely. Had she remained silent, had she asked her husband, had she humbly said, "I'll get back to you on that", had she asked her Creator and the Giver of the law... had she done anything but pervert the words of God as adeptly as her deceiver... Instead, she overstepped, and knowing she overstepped, the serpent took her words and contradicted them. The word of God is truth; there is no refuting it. But the word of a woman wearing the brazened armor of legalism? Fruit wasn't the only thing ripe for the plucking. She saw the fruit was pleasant and tasted that which had been forbidden to her. 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! ~ Psalm 34:8 

The desire and doubt in her heart became manifest through indulgence in carnal pleasures rather than relationship with, honor toward, the worship and obedience of her eternal, divine Creator. And the same is true of humanity today. Condemnation and separation are multiplied as we seek to know and become one with the carnal. Grace, peace, and relationship are ours in the spiritual knowledge of our Lord and Creator. Jesus Christ is the Mediator and Redeemer who removes our guilt and restores our relationship with God the Father, and by His Holy Spirit, we are able to walk humbly in step with Him.

I can't say for sure whether Creation looked more like a balmy summer scene or the onset of a slumber season when God first spoke, but I do know the vibrant colors we enjoy as the weather starts to cool are the handiwork of a loving Creator who gave us all things. Through the redeeming work of His Son at Calvary, the curse of the mankind's fall is reversed. We are made ready to serve Him and enjoy Him all year long!