Bethany Bullet - February 8, 2011

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GEICO commercial – Honest Abe

The Golden Rule giver Jesus Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount calls us to be honest. “Let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No’, anything else is from the evil one.” -Matthew 5:37

Of course this shouldn’t come as a surprise. From the outset hasn’t the LORD called for honesty to be a hallmark in the relationship He has with His creatures? Think about the events in the garden.

(Click here to Read: Genesis 2 and Genesis 3)

In all honesty we can’t claim to know everything that happened in the garden. However, Scripture tells us what we need to know. What we do know is that, Satan came to the couple in the form of a snake and he spoke to Eve in the form of a question, “Did God really say?” I suppose we don’t honestly know if the “serpent” said the conversation or not. Yet, he knew the nature of God, that God is truthful and not deceptive. The serpent was equally aware that the fruit couldn’t make the couple like the LORD as they were already as much like Him as they would ever be: Holy, Righteous, and Pure. That same serpent honestly knew the role of creation, for he too is a creature of the Creator. The role of creation is to obey, to serve, and to receive.

But he was seeking to be a creator himself, so he sets out to create doubt (dishonesty does that) by offering false testimony, “You’ll be like God.” This is where dishonesty began. The couple picked it up quickly. Count the ways in which Adam & Eve had to be dishonest with themselves, each other, and God to take this fruit. First, they had to deny that they knew what God wanted (their obedience by not eating the fruit from the tree in the center of the garden). Then they had to deny that they knew who God was their Creator. (Creator is an intimate picture – an intimate relationship, God had breathed life into the clay and Adam’s eyes opened. God had molded Eve’s frame and animation took place. They knew God. They had to be dishonest with what they knew: that He was, is, and always shall be UNEQUALED by any, THE ONLY one outside of creation who exist in and of Himself.) To commit the first sin they had to be dishonest about God, dishonest to God, dishonest with God, and be dishonest with each other and with themselves.

When confronted with their sin and their nakedness, we find them hiding in the bushes; those who keep secrets from God keep their distance from Him too. One act of dishonesty leads to further dishonesty. Before you know it they are making up other lies to cover up their earlier falsehood. “The woman, who You gave me - she did it.” “The serpent that You created - he tricked me.” Dishonesty had its day; everyday dishonesty stirs, to rise up in the sons and daughters of Adam & Eve who are at the very same time the children of God.

• In honesty, Adam & Eve eventually confess
• In honesty, Adam & Eve accept the consequence of their actions (they move outside the garden)
• In honesty, they trust the promise of God, “He will crush your head (serpent) and you will strike his heel.”

What proof is there that Adam & Eve trust God as one who will forgive - even the sin of being dishonest to and about Him? Adam names his wife Eve - life. Then, the couple mistakenly believes their first child to be the Messiah, “Behold I have begotten a man the LORD.” Gen 4:1.

From Adam & Eve we learn the truth that the only way to survive in a world of deception is by trusting the One who will never deceive us! And only as we embrace His honest view of us: forgiven sinner and redeemed child of God, can we begin to return honesty into the world by being honest ourselves.

-Pastor Kevin Kritzer