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THE PROMISE THE PROMISE IS MADE WHEN GOD CREATED man and woman, he gave them a definite role in life. The husband was to be head, the leader, of the family. The wife was to be a suitable helper. But Adam was led into sin by Eve who was tempted by the devil. Terrible consequences fell upon the world and mankind as a result. Let's learn how this all happened. After God created the world, he placed our first parents into a beautiful garden. It is known as the Garden of Eden. It must have been a very wonderful place. All kinds of trees pleasing to the eye and good for food grew there. A flowing river, giving water to man, to animals and to plants, ran through the garden. Adam and Eve were happy. Work was not a drudgery, but a joy. However, God gave Adam one command. He told him he should not eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil found in the middle of the garden. God said that Adam would surely die if he ate some of its fruit. An angel who became sinful, called Satan, then enters upon the scene. Satan questions Eve. He causes her to doubt God's statements. He even lies. Satan tempts her saying, "You will not surely die. God knows that when you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will be like God." Well, Eve saw that the fruit on the forbidden tree was good to eat. So she ate some. Then she gave some of the fruit to Adam. And he also ate. They had disobeyed a simple command of God. They had sinned. They had brought the condemnation of God on themselves and the world they lived in. They immediately died spiritually and subsequently physically. The consequences of the fall into sin of Adam and Eve were evident and are with each of us today. You and I no longer possess the image of God. We are no longer sinless but we are sinful. We no longer know God perfectly. God knew what had happened. He put Adam and Eve out of the garden as punishment. He told Adam that now he would have to work hard. Toil would be painful. And it is today, isn't it? Thorns and thistles would grow in Adam's fields. And they do today, don't they? He said to Adam that his body would return to the dust from which it was made. And our body does the same when we die, doesn't it? God told Eve that she would bear children painfully. And that is so, isn't it? He told her that her husband would rule over her. And that is the way it is today. But God is not only a just and righteous God. He is also a merciful and forgiving God. He gave to Adam and Eve, and to all us sinners, a wonderful, blessed promise. He promised to send a Savior. He said that the Savior would crush the head, that is, the power of Satan. In the process, however, the Savior would be hurt. That Savior, promised so long ago, is none other than Jesus Christ, the Son of God. By suffering, dying and rising again from the dead, he frees mankind from the guilt of sin, the fear of death, and the power of Satan. You and I are in need of that Savior. When we are born in this world, we are sinful human beings. We inherit that condition of sinfulness from our first parents Adam and Eve. Then in our everyday lives, we actually commit many other sins. We fail to keep God's commandments. When we lie, steal, curse, have evil desires, hurt our neighbor, make other things more important than God, we sin. We have sinful thoughts. We speak sinful words. We commit sinful deeds. As a result you and I deserve eternal death in hell. Our comfort is to know that God kept the promise to send a Savior. We learn about that Savior in the Bible.
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