Genesis 3:12 (ESV)
“The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”
Love is a very powerful thing. In fact, the extremes of joy and pain can, most often, be traced to the presence or lack of love. The first human love story is found in Genesis when God created the woman and brought her to the man. The Bible records that when Adam awoke from his sleep and saw Eve, he burst out into a love song:
“This at last is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:23)
How is it then that only a chapter later this same man passes blame to his wife? What happened to the love? Unfortunately, love was lost. As a result of the transgression of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world and therefore the good and perfect creation of God was corrupted, including love. Consequently, this pattern of a love lost has continued to persist over the many generations after Adam – spouses losing love for their spouses; parents losing love for their children and vice versa; and even worse, people losing love for their God. All these and more were occasioned by the problem of sin, but thanks be to God that Jesus came to redeem and restore us back to God’s perfect design, as we will see later in the week.
Reflections
1. Do you agree with the statement, “The extremes of joy and pain can, most often, be traced to the presence or lack of love”?
2. Have you experienced a love lost? How have you processed your situation?
