What if Adam lied?

I have read a number of commentaries and many sermons discussing the fall of Man. In each, it is clarified that God had only given one law that Adam had to follow. Read Gen 2:16-17. The law begins with all that Adam was allowed to do, followed by the one restriction and ending with the outcome to reaffirm the need for the restriction. '

As everyone will tell you, all he had to do was not at from that tree. The question I am asking is what if Adam had lied prior to eating from the tree? Would that have been sin? Would that have resulted in the fall?

In looking at this, the Lord has revealed that my question is wrong or that my understanding of sin and sin nature was faulty. I propose that Adam was incapable of lying prior to the fall because the manifestation of sin, that is lying, requires a sin nature. We commit sin because we are sinful. In the garden Adam did not have a sin nature. He was innocent.

To clarify this, lets look at a possible lie Adam could have told and dig deep into it.

Adam could have told Eve, "I rode a Rhino today" when he had not done anything of the sort. This is a lie where he is trying to get Eve to think he was brave or even to get her to increase her desire for him. We lie like this all the time in small and big ways in our lives. We exaggerate our history to increase our prestige, or we gloat over small victories expanding them to make a better story.

We do this because we want to be respected, to be considered superior. Adam in the garden, did not have this flaw of the sinful nature. He truly loved Eve and his desire for her would have been to lift her up and not himself. He would not have considered lying, because the sinful desires that would have prompted that lie did not exist in his nature.

Their are many types of lies we tell, but the intent and desire that underlies those lies come from a nature that seeks our own glory, our own self preservation, our own rebellion from God. Adam, when he ate that apple, decided to take his life into his own hands instead of trusting in God. God created us in His image. We were intended to be other-focused, other-centric, good creatures of Love. When Adam put himself before God he became unnatural. Thereafter, all humanity became unnatural, corrupted, prone to committing acts of sin from their sinful nature. Each a betrayal of the Love and Goodness of God that deepens the stain of sin and further cements us as separated from God.

We are not good people that slip up and tell lies. We are rebels to God and we lie because it is what we are. Each lie darkening our rebellious nature a deeper shade of evil. We cannot do good because it is no longer in our species. When Adam fell, there was only sin. God must judge that sin. Yet He had a purpose in creating us and no creature in Heaven or Earth will thwart His will. His Love surpasses even our rebellion and at great personal sacrifice, He sent His beloved son, with no regard for His own concern, to take on the penalty for our sin. He experienced the full wrath of God on that cross, a willing sacrifice on our behalf. Now God's judgement has been satisfied and His Love also has been satisfied, in that if we trust in His son, he will give us a new life, the life of His son, eternal. For in Christ we die, yet we live, but not us, Christ lives in us and through us.

If you find yourself lying, look at the source. Are you glorifying yourself, protecting yourself, executing your plan for your life? Stop, confess your sin, repent, and seek the glory of God, trust God to protect you, follow His Will and then surely the goodness of God will follow you.

Small miracles

We are amazed by the big miracles. Impressive is as impressive does.

God doesn't work in big ways or small ways only. He works in all ways. His grace to us is to show us His handiwork in ways we can see. He directs our attention to what we need to see. When you are looking at a problem, do you see the Lord at work or the problem? Seek and you will find. 

So here is the small miracle today. God is at work right now. In every direction that you turn, He is working to the fulfillment of His will. From the keys on this keyboard to the judge's chambers of the Supreme Court, our God is in charge and His purposes will prevail. Trust in Him and follow His will.

God meets us where we are. If we aren't where we need to be, then walk with Him and He will get you there. Along the way, watch Him work and glorify Him through thanksgiving and praise. Keep it simple, keep it small. 

Blue Belle Blessings

What a blessing a broken car can be.

My car has been in and out of the repair shop for the last month. It has actually spent more time at the shop than in my driveway. I am thankful that the Lord has provided me alternative transportation while I wait for the repairs to be completed. However, I have been so blessed by how I have gotten to witness the change he has wrought in me. Not once during this entire time have I gotten angry. This is not my nature. 
"When a problem comes around, you must bend it to your will or destroy it."  - Todd from days past.

I have always been a man of extremes. Feast or famine. All in or all out. Full speed or sound asleep. Burn the candle at both ends or enjoy the darkness...


God has been using this car to demonstrate the extremes. Even the problems it was having are a matter of extremes. When it started it sounded like a thousand sparrows on gerbil wheels trying to take flight. Once it got up to speed and warmed up the engine would go back to normal sounds. However, as I move it up to highway speed and new sound like steel balls on a grindstone would start coming up from the driver's side wheel. It was rather unnerving of an experience to drive that car. 

However, the Lord was my Shepard and there were no outward appearance of issues, no rattle, and no shimmy. So, being far from home and with a promised companion to assure safe delivery, I turned over the trip into His hands and relied upon Him to get us both safely home. 


The Lord was faithful and that ride home was a true blessing. We both got to share how God was working in our lives and experience His faithfulness together. 


I can report now the root cause of the car troubles. First, the bird sounds was cause by the new serpentine belt that was from the wrong manufacturer. It was fine to be in the car, but cheap and prone to making those bird sounds. It would have worn out much sooner than the quality belt that was ordered. They are replacing that. The grinding noise was caused by the flap that directs the air around the tire. When they replaced the axle, someone didn't fasten that back properly and when it got to highway speeds the flap would rub against the tire. So these great big problems that sounded like a car was going to fall apart were nothing more than empty noises, signifying nothing. My friend and I were never at any risk during the trip. 

This is how Christ meets us. God is the only true mechanic, and when we see things that happen in our life, we are prone to respond like its the end of the world. Yet if we trust in our Mechanic, then we know he would never put us on the road with a faulty life. Sometimes he gives us those warning sounds to let us know that we need to keep the engine running and go at his pace. Not so slow that we never get where He is leading us and not to fast that we overrun His plan for our lives. He leads us as the good Shepard, prodding us when we need to move and hooking us to pull us back to His flock. 

Thank you Lord for the blessing of faulty cars.