Eve
Originally posted on 3/5/24
Have you ever wanted to be the first person to do something? Have you ever wanted to be the first one? Being first has its privileges. Sometimes it comes with a trophy and a little popularity. We even like to be the first in line so we don’t have to wait. Eve will forever be remembered as the first woman and the one who ruined it all.
Eve was the first woman, the first wife, and the first mother. No one had gone before her. She was the first mother to lose a son. But she was also the mother of the first murderer. She is the mother of every living thing, but she is only mentioned four times by name in the entire Bible. (Gen 3:20) The interesting thing is that Eve also brought on the death of all things. That’s a pretty big legacy for one person.
God created Eve to be Adam’s helper. She was made for him. In Len Woods’s book, 31 Women of the Bible, he says that “Eve was God’s very tangible way of saying, “Adam, you need help!” p. 7 She was specifically made by our Creator to be a complement to Adam. “The word complement means “suitable or corresponding to.” The idea is that Eve would fit Adam like a jigsaw puzzle piece.” Woods p. 7
Adam and Eve had a perfect life in the beginning. They walked and talked with God. They had none of the struggles that we have. They had everything they needed including unfettered access to the Creator of the universe. They had everything, but somehow it wasn’t enough.
We are all familiar with Eve being deceived by the serpent. She was somehow convinced to do the very thing that God said they were not to do. When my kids were little, they always tried to do the very thing I didn’t want them to do. It takes only a second to want to do that very forbidden thing. We are like that, too. We know we shouldn’t eat that extra piece of cake, but yet we do it anyway.
More importantly than getting Eve to eat the fruit, the serpent was able to get Eve to doubt God. He convinced Eve that she would not die by eating from the tree. He convinced her to doubt God’s word. How Satan continues the same tactics today with unparalleled success. He manages us to doubt God and His Word. God has always been faithful to us in every circumstance.
God was true to His word. “The result was exactly what God had warned–death. The immediate death of innocence, intimacy, and peace. The catastrophic end to a harmonious relationship with God, with others, with creation itself. Gone were virtues like vulnerability, trust, and selflessness.” Woods p. 7
The serpent was able to convince Eve that perfect was just not good enough. How many times do we spoil what God was given to us? “In a sense, Eve’s life prefigures every life. Each one will be special. Beautiful. Marked by doubt and disobedience. Marred by the tragedy of sin and utterly dependent on the One who is able to reverse its curse.” Woods p.8
What will you do with what God has given you? Will you be grateful or will you doubt God? Do you trust His plan or do you think you know better? God’s faithfulness is written on every page of Scripture. It is also filled with people who doubted and went their own way instead. It is a daily struggle to resist the schemes of the devil. He is masterful at convincing us that we can never be forgiven.
I want to be the one who trusted God at every turn and never doubted. I don’t always manage to do that. It isn’t the easiest journey to take, but it is definitely the most rewarding.
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