Lessons from Adam and Eve’s disobedience

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INSIGHTS. The story of the fall of man in the bible highlights what man is sometimes up to, writes Beatrice Nakibuuka

The story of the fall of man starts with our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Lucifer used the snake as his instrument and by cunning and deceiving to hedge up the path of righteousness. In his bid to tempt man, he mixed truth with lies to entice Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. He said, “You will not surely die.” (Genesis 3:4)
Because of lust in the nature of human beings, Eve ate the fruit. It was good for food, pleasant to the eye… she also took to Adam and he ate of the same. They had been instructed not to eat of the tree but they did not heed the instruction from God. This is what happens to us in our daily lives. Sin is always pleasant and we indulge appetite and passion in direct violation of the law of God. Sometimes we are warned about sin but we never listen.

Satan’s cunningness
According to Pastor Rogers Kaggwa of Central Uganda Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Satan deceives us that if we heed to him, we shall reach great heights of knowledge. “Ye shall be as gods,” he said to Eve, “if you eat of the tree forbidden by God.” Satan, the originator of sin, placed his own ideas above the instructions of God.
Genesis 3: 7 reads, “… the eyes were open, they realised they were naked. When the couple ate the forbidden fruit, the garment of innocence, a covering from God, which surrounded them, departed.
“They then sewed fig leaves together and made aprons for themselves,” says Pastor Kaggwa. This is the covering that the transgressors of the law of God have used since the days of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They have sewed together fig-leaves to cover their nakedness, caused by transgression. The fig-leaves represent the arguments used to cover disobedience.”
We hide from God
They also hid from the presence of God. When we sin, we run short of the glory of God. Our biggest problem is not the sins we commit. Instead, it is our failure to realise that we have sinned and that we need help.
Instead of seeking God, we hide from his presence such as Adam and Eve did. Sometimes we leave church, hate the people who correct us or even forsake prayer thinking that our sin is too gross and that God cannot forgive us.
Sometimes we think of making our own righteousness and covering for our sins like our first parents made aprons from fig leaves but this righteousness does not last long because we are humans.
Even when God calls us, through scriptures or advice from a friend, instead of acknowledging that we have sinned and probably get convicted, we give excuses and put blame on others.
He says, “In this spiritual journey, our only inspiration should be Jesus Christ, if you claim you failed to keep the commandments of God because of someone then it is lame excuse. God gives us the free will to choose.”

Blame game
Adam knew the instruction not to eat the forbidden fruit but he gave the excuse that it was Eve that gave him the fruit. Eve also gave the excuse that it was the snake. We should never give excuses for our mistakes.
Because of this, death came into the world. Pastor Kaggwa says, “Although the devil had told Eve that they would not die, we see the first incident of death in the Bible at this point. God made coats from skin for the couple. No animal is skinned and stays alive. The innocent animals died in the stead of guilty men.”
This was the genesis of the culture of sacrificing animals as atonement for sin. These further still pointed to a redeemer that would take away the sins of the world.
The good news is that although there would be enmity between the snake and the woman, there would always be victory because she and her seed would bruise the head of the snake.