Beginnings

And when the woman saw

   that the tree was good for food,

   and that it was pleasant to the eyes,

   and a tree to be desired

     to make one wise,

she took of the fruit thereof,

 and did eat,

 and gave also unto her husband with her;

and he did eat.    Genesis 3:6 KJV

Here is one of the earliest pictures of Jesus in the Bible.  Many who are looking for power and proof of their own agenda miss this picture.  When we look for the love of God Himself, we cannot miss Jesus here.  The love of God was not only built into Adam, the first man, it was also trained into him in his daily walk with the Lord.  When Adam was faced with the devastating condition of sin in the woman to whom God had wed him, He did the thing that God Himself would do.  In love, he joined himself to Eve in the deadly knowledge of good and evil. 

When the Apostle Paul draws our attention to this picture, he reminds us that Adam behaved according to the godly power of love toward Eve.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve. 

And Adam was not deceived,

but the woman being deceived

      was in the transgression.    1 Timothy 2:13-14 KJV

Clearly, Paul is teaching that when the man took the fruit from the woman’s hand, his own knowledge of good and evil had been injected into him by her fall into sin.  What happened to her became intrinsic in him.  Eating the fruit sealed his death and joined him to her indelibly.  Mankind would continue to be defined as man and woman even in their sinful union.  God Himself would not undo this definition of mankind when He took on flesh and established Himself as bridegroom to all of humanity. Paul, again, declares that this union of man and God was chosen before creation:

For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother,

    and shall cleave to his wife;

    and the two shall become one flesh. 

This mystery is great;

but I am speaking with reference to

    Christ

    and the church.  Ephesians 5:31-32 NIV

Here, then, is a picture of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ who is described as the one who “became sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21).  Unlike Adam, Jesus was able to join humanity in her condition and provide a new life through His shed blood on the cross.  The love of Adam was great and noble but his ability to join Eve was an act of hope; hope and trust that another could come with the power of everlasting life to set mankind free.

Jesus came to give us life.

In love, He calls to mankind from the cross.

Come to Jesus.

Come to the Cross.