AFTER THE FALL — GOD’S LOVE IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

by Jill Roberts and Michael Canalé

 

Last week’s blog ended with a spiritual turning point, nearly unrivaled in the Biblical record. God’s Creation, mankind, had just gone from being “Easter People,” or those possessing eternal life in Eden’s paradise, to living in a “Good Friday World,” a sentence of death now hanging over their heads, as a result of their giving in to the temptation to disobey God by eating from the one tree with fruit that was forbidden. As Scripture sets forth in another context, “How are the mighty fallen.” (2 Samuel 1:27) KJV.

 

After this debacle, Adam and Eve, are tenderly clothed by God, as they are suddenly aware of and embarrassed by their nakedness. He then tells them some of the consequences of their disobedience, after which He sends them from the Garden.

 

Why would a loving God banish them from Eden? The reason is that, in the Garden, they would have had access to the Tree of Life. God did not want them, now in a fallen condition, to eat from this tree and, as a result, live forever in their compromised state. (Genesis 3:22) NIV.  Unless He relegated them to life outside the Garden, they would have lived forever but without hope of redemption. Tough love? Yes. True love? Unquestionably!

 

We can always count on God to do what is in our best interest, whether it is in the short term or, as here, with the long-term fate of mankind hanging in the balance. As Michael says, “Everything boils down to God.”

 

When we read Genesis 3:24, NIV, we see how, after the banishment from Eden, God put “cherubim and a flaming sword, flashing back and forth,” to keep them from returning. At all costs, God meant to prevent the perpetual state of sinfulness to exist. Why? Because, as Michael said, He loved them so much. Love in the Old Testament is Michael’s choice for these blogs for so many important reasons. One of the most important is to undo significant misunderstandings about this subject.

 

How many times have we all heard well-meaning people say, “I am just not that interested in the Old Testament. I want to go straight to the love and joy of the New Testament.” We believe that the fallacy in this is that there is simply no way that a person can truly grasp or even make sense of the New Testament without a solid understanding of the Old. The Bible is one book, one continuous story. And this is a love story, one in which God’s love is manifest in its genesis in the God of the Old Testament.

 

Last Sunday, I heard a profound sermon, delivered by a great man and servant of God, Monsignor Lloyd Torgerson of St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. He was speaking of this godly and amazing Catholic community in saying,

 

“We’re not called to just ‘fit you in; here at St. Monica’s; you belong to us.”

 

The Monsignor quoted Father Brendan McGuire who, a few months ago lead a Lenten retreat at the church. He explained that, with regard to this church,

 

“There’s nothing you can do to make us love you more or love you less. We just love you and you are welcome here.”

 

Their love is unconditional, reflecting the love of God – even His love during the time span of which this week’s blog concerns itself, i.e. the period immediately following the Fall.

 

Have you ever heard the expression, “They had quite a fall from grace,” in the eyes of some person, usually a superior in one realm or another.  The clear implication is that the one in authority was so disappointed in the other’s actions that this “fallen one,” no longer mattered to him. He decided to wash his hands of such a failure. We term the disobedience in Eden, “The Fall,” and, certainly, it was that. What we must never compare it to, however, is the above example of a “fall from grace.” 

 

Was God disappointed and even deeply grieved by mankind’s succumbing to temptation? Decidedly so. But, having said that, His love was then, and remains today, completely unconditional. As Father Brendan said of the Church, God is saying as to the tragic turn of events in Eden: “There was nothing Adam or Eve could have done to make me love them more or less.” As Monsignor Torgerson said, so God thought of His fallen Creation standing naked and embarrassed before Him, having even attempted to hide from Him:

 

“I did not create you to just ‘fit you in.’ You belong to me. You are mine and I am yours.”

 

When God closed Eden’s gate and placed guards there, this in no way reversed their belonging to Him or implied that He did not love them, even in their disgrace. In fact, a strong argument can be made that it was just the opposite. God’s next move supports the position that His commitment to them was growing. Why do we say this? Where is the evidence? The proof lies in the fact that, in a very real sense, God would, Himself, have to LEAVE WITH THEM, separate Himself from the perfection of Paradise, the bliss of Heaven. God the Father had a plan, in the Old Testament, to reinstate eternal life into mankind. The plan would be clear. It would be costly. It would be powerful. It would be Jesus.

 

The evidence? Michael and I say this because of one verse, part of this verse at that. It is Genesis 3:15 NIV. This recounts God’s speaking directly to Satan after his successful temptation, resulting in The Fall of God’s beloved people:

 

“He will crush your head

And you will strike his heel,”

 

To quote from my book, “How to Find God in Under Five Hours:”

 

“Who is the “he” about whom God the Father is speaking? It is His Son, Jesus! Here, God is revealing His plan to defeat Satan and redeem the world. He already has the rescue mission planned out. It will involve a true spiritual battle between the evil one, the tempter in Eden, and Jesus, His own Son. In the process, Satan’s head, or his seat of power, will be crushed and destroyed. However, this will not be without a great casualty, the agony of Jesus. As the verse says, Satan will strike Jesus’ heel. Jesus will be afflicted in the battle which he will ultimately win. “A strike to the heel is not fatal, but a crushing blow to the head is.”

 

God is decisive and set into motion the ultimate sacrifice. He will send Jesus. As Michael said, “Jesus is the middleman; he is the bridge to Heaven and to God.” 

 

Did God expel humanity from Himself because of their failure? No, He went deeper into His commitment. He put everything on the line. Is there a loving God in the OLD Testament? Indeed!

 

This plan would be a process, one that would last for centuries before Jesus would come to Earth. During the course of it, would God just delegate from Heaven while mankind thrashed about here on Earth? No! God doesn’t work remotely. He is not aloof. God’s original idea was closeness to his Creation. God doesn’t change His grand plan, swept away by time and circumstance. There is a beautiful verse in Scripture:

 

“God’s plans cannot be thwarted.”

 

As we continue, we will see God stay close and personal, time and time again. He will tabernacle with His People, preferring a tent in the wilderness to the mansions of Heaven, if that’s where His mankind was.

 

God is still going through our wildernesses with us today. If we are in a wilderness season, He has set up His tent right with us.

 

We are His all in all. When, in the better angels of our lives, we are where we should be, seeing correctly, He is our all in all, also.

 

Michael has a great expression:

 

“Don’t put a hat on a perfect idea.” Don’t give something traction when a thought, a situation is already the last, best and final word on the subject.”

 

May we never put a hat on the idea that God loves us now AND that He loved mankind through the pages of the OLD Testament. Love did not take a leave of absence during the Old Testament era. It is, in fact an amazing record of this amazing God and the endless examples of His amazing love. We will continue to explore them.