I find that to be a very interesting question. One that is not only pertinent today, but one that goes back to the very beginning of time. I write these blogs, as most of you know, as a Christian, and with that it affects how I see, understand, and even experience things in life.
So how different are we from Adam and Eve? There are certainly obvious differences that come to mind. Yet , if you consider it in a much broader way you will see that we aren't that different from them.
They were both quizzical about what was going on around them. They were experiencing things for the first time because they were the first people. You and I are quizzical, and it's ok to be more quizzical than another because there are more of us today.
Eve's quizzical nature made her an unfortunately easy target for the devil and his cunning serpent. She allowed herself to become quizzical enough to fall into the trap the serpent set for her. It happens all the time to us because in that way we are like Eve. Our quizzical nature allows us to get into situations where we don't recognize the problem until it is too late.
Adam was quizzical and yet he didn't fall for what the serpent was offering. But, he was quizzical enough to allow himself to accept what Eve said. He then responded to God when asked what he had done and that it was the woman God gave him that caused him to disobey. In this particular response, we are no different than they were, always blaming someone else for our mistakes.
The history of mankind is an interesting mixture of failures and successes. Regardless of the time, there is some good along with the bad. That is true today but the question again is how different are we? So here is where as the old saying goes "the rubber hits the road".
Every one of us is different. There are not two of us and that includes you twins out there that are exactly the same. We all have similar human characteristics, yet we are all different in ways that are not always visibly evident. We certainly don't all think the same way. Listen, that is why there is chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Everybody likes something even if it is a little different than another.
We learn in life to handle and navigate these differences with others. We adapt and find ways to deal with others even though they are different than us in a lot of ways. The word that is use to describe this is compromise. However, as a Christians we must take great care when it comes to compromise. We cannot compromise on what God and His Word tell us. His Word is clear that there are things which are to Him an abomination and other things that He hates and even some to which are detestable.
There is an old saying which goes like this "if you don't know what you believe in you will fall for anything". As I look around and listen, I see and hear so many who don't know what they beleive so they fall for anything. Society today worldwide is lost in a maze of beliefs that will and are destroying man. Everything is in question and the only place where there is solid rock is Jesus Christ.
If mankind had needed a political answer, God would have sent a politician. If we had needed to be amused, He would have sent us an entertainer. What we needed was a way through this life into the next, so He sent us a Savior. A baby in a manger to die for our sin so we might have "a life and have it more abundantly". So that we might believe and have eternal life.
We certainly are all different, but everyone needs Jesus because He is the way, the truth and the life.
In God's Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
Commenti