Week 1 Genesis
Somewhere out in the eastern regions of the aboriginal world the Lord set up a special place for Adam & Eve. It was a comprehensive self-contained environment that had everything a physically, mentally and emotionally perfect couple needed. A perfect place for A&E. Until one day evil glided into the garden.
Eden wasn’t set up like an old Russian-style gulag where no one could come or go. A&E were free people, accessible, available people, and they were confronted one day by a smooth assassin who was already a credentialed evil-doer and who wanted to turn the perfect couple.
Could the Lord have serpent-proofed the garden? For sure. And the fact that he didn’t put the burden of serpent-proofing on A&E. They had the chance to serpent-proof themselves.
Right at the very beginning of the bible there’s this simple story of two contending sides that are shaping up.
The Lord says don’t do x; and Satan says go ahead and do x.
Or the Lord says do y; and Satan says don’t do y.
It’s one of the basic up-front questions the bible faces me-the-bible-reader with: is the Lord telling me the truth or is the Lord lying?
However much more complicated it gets it starts there.
The Lord tells the truth…
The Lord’s a liar…
The reader gets to choose.