Kicked out for our own good

Posted on February 15, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

Growing up, when I read in Genesis Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden, I always viewed this as a punitive action. I thought that our first parents were being punished for their sin.

This morning, as I read this passage, I noticed that the goal in expelling them from the Garden was to prevent them from eating from the tree of life and living forever.

Then the question came to me, was this punishment or grace? Would you want to live forever in a fallen state? I suppose that age has perhaps given me better perspective on this, but I can say now that I would not.

Imaging living in a perpetual state of knowing what you lost and knowing that it can never be recovered. To live forever with the knowledge of being flawed with no path to recovery would be a living hell. To see the mess that we have made of the world would have to be torture for Adam.

God was gracious to Adam and Eve as He is to us. He gives us a purpose for being here and takes us to be with Himself when our purpose is complete. This is grace from beginning to end. With this attitude, we can say with Paul, “to live is Christ, to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21)

Let us live with the goal of fulfilling this purpose.

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Advice from Hollywood

Yesterday I read Psalm 1:1. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” (ESV) Growing up, I was taught that this verse is speaking about choosing friends and situations to avoid: those who are wicked, those […]

Corrective Cultural Lens

I had the opportunity to listen to a podcast of an interview with Mark Eckel while driving to my first appointment this morning. You can find this podcast and other information about Mark Eckel by clicking on this link. Of the many good things that Mark said, I was struck by one in particular. He […]

On Grace and Mercy Combined

If we are honest, the fact that we are not moral train wrecks has to do with God’s grace than our ability to live out the Christian life. So why not extend that same grace to others?

Grace combined with even a modicum of mercy will have a powerful effect.

Wanted: A Point of Reference

When you are sitting at a stop light in your car and see motion out of the corner of your eye, there are two responses. The first is to push harder on the brake pedal and the second is to lo at a lamp post, building or some other stationary object to see if your […]

Abandoned by God – 1 Samuel 15:35

1 Samuel 15:35 (ESV) 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. Saul had abandoned God and as a result, God abandons Saul. Someone once said that we have two options which […]

It is worth doing badly

The fact that I sometimes do the Christian life badly does not diminish the truth of who Jesus is and what he came to accomplish. The Christian life is worth living, even if I fall short of where I think I ought to be in my level of spiritual maturity.