God’s Sorrow

I had some difficulty understanding Genesis 3:16 at first.

God is wisdom, we know that. And being wise I would expect the punishment to "fit the crime", yet for the longest time I never could quite relate God's curse on the woman to the sin of eating from the tree and bringing it to her husband to eat. (I never said I was quick about these things!)

And then He helped me to see (without the use of commentaries this time) that the woman's punishment did fit the crime: the crime was the sorrow that she brought to God both by her own sin and by influencing Adam to sin. These were His children. He had created them, he had cared for them, and now He was going to have to witness their death, even though He had created them to be immortal and to live with Him forever. Now, instead, because she was deceived and rebelled against God, God would face the sorrow of witnessing all that this first couple brought upon themselves, and it began with this woman.

So I now believe that the punishment did fit the crime; the woman was going to understand sorrow as it relates to her own children, both in the "bringing forth" of them and in seeing them sin as God had to see His children sin, and then, finally, see them die because of their own free will choices.

We will see as our study continues in Genesis just how greatly the woman did suffer sorrow for her children; suffering the sorrow not only of the natural death of her children, but even facing the sorrow of one being murdered by his own sibling. In both of these cases, I wonder if we can comprehend just how much did she grieve knowing what her rebellion cost her own children. The weight of that burden must have been a terrible thing.

But, as Paul tells us in 1 Timothy 2:14 "…Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." So, if Adam unlike the woman, was not deceived, why did he willingly indulge in this sin with her?

I found one teacher (Chuck Missler) who believes it is possible that Adam loved this woman so much, that even though she had been deceived and sinned against God (possibly even realizing that if he had stayed by her side she would not have been vulnerable to the deception) he loved her so much that he would not let her suffer the punishment of her sin alone. He had walked with God longer than she had, he knew the commandment better than she did, and he knew what was going to come as a result of her sin, and he determined (by his eating of the fruit as well) to suffer it with her. He would not be parted from her, even though it meant he would die, returning to the dust from whence he was created, instead of living forever.

If Chuck Missler is correct, then right here at the very beginning of the bible, we have the first typology of Christ and His bride (those who would trust in Him and receive Him as Savior) with Jesus giving His own life, suffering even greater things than His bride would suffer, in order to prevent her having to suffer the ultimate punishment of her sins and in order to bring her back to the Garden (aka Heaven and life everlasting). And because His desire was that the entire world would become His bride, He gave His life for ALL. Some will reject Him, choosing to live in rebellion, in their own ways instead of in His ways; and so many will not become His bride. Though He gave His life for ALL because of His great love for ALL, yet many will by their own free will choices end up suffering the ultimate punishment for their continuing sin: that place of everlasting suffering and torment known as hell.

Jesus became the second Adam in many ways: as perfectly obedient son versus rebellious son, as a better caretaker and "covering" (1 Corinthians 11:3) for his bride than Adam was to the woman (whom he later named Eve in these same passages), as partaking in His bride's suffering to an even greater degree than Adam ever would even though Adam had tasted of an earthly paradise and lost it, Jesus had been with God in the heavens, and willingly left His place to dwell in terrible suffering and sorrow on this earth alongside of, and for the sake of, His soon to be bride; a bride whom He would never leave and would never forsake. He would always be with her, never leaving her to be vulnerable.

Eve greatly suffered the sorrows of her rebellion, as will we all as we make the decision to rebel against God and do things our own way, seeking our happiness and our contentment in things other than that blessed relationship with God, who having designed us, know exactly what our soul needs to find contentment, if we would but heed Him as He reveals His plan for us through His Word. But, in spite of our rebellion, God loved us still and gave us His own Son who became known as the "Man of Sorrows" (Isaiah 53:3)

I'd like to hear your comments about other possibilities of why Adam knowingly and willingly sinned, rather than being deceived as Eve was.