"What if...?"

How many times have you asked that question?

I lost track after the first time I ran out of fingers and toes.

Recently, though, I’ve been wondering about a particular “What if…?”.  And what I’d like to do in this post is explore one particular aspect of it, if you don’t mind.

But first, I need to set the stage…

And to do that, we need to go allllllll the way back to the beginning.  And, I mean, THE beginning…

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  (Genesis 1:1)

“The God said, ‘Let us make man in Our Image, in Our Likeness…’”  (Genesis 1:26a)

“So God created man in His Own Image, in the Image of God He created him, male and female He created them.”  (Genesis 1:27)

“Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed.  And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.  In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  (Genesis 2:8-9)

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when you eat of it you will surely die.’”  (Genesis 2:15-17)

“The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.  I will make a helper  suitable for him.’”  (Genesis 2:18)

Note:  Actually, the word "helper" used in Genesis 2:18 is, more accurately, translated as "life-giver" or "life-saver;" everywhere else in scripture where this word is used, it is used to refer to God Himself, and I find that exceedingly interesting.

“So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.  Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib He had taken out of the man, and He brought her to the man.  Then the man said, ‘This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man.’”  (Genesis 2:21-24)

Note:  I don't like the above translation of Genesis 2:24.  It feels so anemic.  I think Adam's response is more adequately translated, "This is it!!"  I mean, come on, what man, at the sight of Eve in all her fullness, would respond in such a subdued fashion?

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, ‘Did God really say, You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’  The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’  ‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman.  ‘For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’  When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.”  (Genesis 3:1-6)

What if…?

In a future post, I would like to explore the whole question of what would have been the result if Adam and Eve had not fallen in Genesis 3?  Would we have been better off than we are now?  Or are we better off now for having fallen and experienced the redemption of God through the Blood of Jesus?

But that’s not what I want to explore here.

Okay, Dave…we’ve been waiting for some time now to discover your “What if…?” question.  So...what is it?

As you wish.  So…without further adieu…here’s my question:  “What if...Adam had chosen not to eat the fruit but had, instead, come to Eve’s rescue and redemption?”

Have you ever wondered about that?  I do ALL the time.  The reason I do is because, in some ways, I wonder if that was the original plan.  As men, all of us have been created with an inborn desire (even destiny) to lay our lives down for our wives.  God’s command to us in Ephesians 5 is, I believe, written into the very cells of our bodies.  Here’s the command:  “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”  (Ephesians 5:25-29)

Now…please don’t get upset with me when I do what I’m about to do, okay?  Please know that I do not think that what I am about to do in any way adds to or modifies or changes scripture.  This is a short fantasy, if you will, of what I think might have happened had Adam done what I believe he was really created to do.

…

A Different Narrative…

“You won’t die, Eve,” Lucifer, the Great Serpent, said to her with a sly twinkle in his eye.  “He’s just afraid of the competition.  For, you see, that’s how he became a god himself a long, long time ago…if you really want to call him that.  Most of us just call him 'El Shaddai,' 'The Large Breasted One.'  Anyway, he’s been trying to wipe out the rest of us for some time, now.  And, unfortunately for him, it would seem, he’s had very little success.

“I think, to help him feel a little better about himself, he created you and Adam so that he could rule over you and have an audience of lesser beings to overwhelm with his GREAT AND MIGHTY POWER.  A power which A LOT of us have, too, I might add.  So…don’t be afraid, Eve, you’ll be just fine.  In fact, you’ll finally become a lot more like him and the rest of us…wise beyond your years and able to create good and to recognize the true evils of repression and inappropriate limitations.  Consider this a stepping stone to the reaching of your full potential.  This is the way it’s always been.”

Pulling a piece of fruit from the tree, Lucifer gazed intently at it and then took a long, sensuous, mouthwatering bite.  Exhaling a deep satisfaction and then looking back at Eve, he smiled and said softly, “Ahhh…exquisite…truly exquisite, my dear.  You should have some yourself.”

Eve looked away from the Great Serpent and eyed the fruit.  It did look good, after all, and how nice it would be to be so wise, she thought to herself.  All the while, Lucifer continued to gaze at her, focusing intently upon her form.  For to him, she looked good, too.  It had been a long time, he thought to himself.  How nice it would be to have her fruit someday.   Patience, he told himself.

Walking up to the tree, Eve reached up and pulled a particularly bright clump off and held it in her hands.  Almost immediately, the aroma filled her nostrils, and her whole body shuddered—again to the voyeuristic delight of Lucifer.  “Enjoy it, my lovely one,” he whispered.  Eve blushed momentarily and, with a smile, looked back at Lucifer as she bit into the fruit.

A couple hours later, Adam, who was unaware of what had transpired, finished his work for the day and headed back east toward the home he and Eve had created a few months before.  Upon arriving, he noticed Eve sitting off to herself, eating something and just staring off into the distance somewhere.  Walking up to her, he placed a hand on her shoulder.   

“Eve…”

“Adam!” Eve exclaimed, turning to look at him.  “Try this.  It’s fabulous, just fabulous...actually, no, it's more than that.  It is, in fact, quite exquisite!”

Adam reached down and took some of what Eve had been eating.  Looking at it closer, he recognized what it was almost immediately.  And then he realized what his wife had done.  She’d eaten that which God had commanded them not to eat.

“Eve,” he said, “Oh, no…you’ve eaten what’s been forbidden.”

Looking up at him, and with a bit of a smirk, Eve said, “What are you talking about?  Look, I ate it, and I’m just fine.  He lied to us, Adam.  He lied to us both.  Just like the Great Serpent said.”

“When did you talk with Lucifer?  You know what I’ve told you about him.  He’s an evil creature, Eve.  Don’t you remember how he tried to kill me once?”

“He didn’t mean for that to happen, Adam.  He told me that himself.”

“What?  When?  How long have you been talking with him?”

“Only since this morning.  He’s really not a bad creature, Adam.  And he was right, I didn’t die.”

Adam sat down in front of his wife and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier that you spoke with him this morning?”

Eve pretended not to hear Adam and stood to her feet.  “I’m feeling cold,” she said.  Adam stood, walked over to his wife and put his arms around her.  “It’s going to be okay.  It’s going to be okay,” he said to her—and to himself.  He could feel his wife shivering in his arms.  It's going to be okay, he told himself again.  "Let’s go get you warmed up, and then we’ll figure out what we need to do.”

By this time, Eve was really beginning to feel some things she’d never felt before.  Yes, she was feeling cold, but it was more than that.  It was the feeling of exposure.  And of deep aloneness.  Two things she hadn’t felt before, and she wasn’t quite sure what it all meant.

Eve continued to walk in the arms of her husband, who was gently urging and guiding her back to their little home.  Inside the hut, Adam helped her to their place of rest and proceeded to lay down with her and to hold her in his arms.  In his heart, he was distraught, and his mind was just whirling with conflicting thoughts.  “God, what would you have me to do?” he said within the privacy of his soul.

When your wife’s asleep, come talk with me by the old tree at the cooling place.

“Okay,” he thought.  "I’ll be there.”

For the next few minutes or so, Adam just laid there holding Eve and listening to her as she breathed in and out.  He wanted to be a comfort to her, but he wasn’t quite sure what she needed.  All of this was definitely new territory for him.  After a little while, he decided that just being with her until she fell asleep was what was needed.  And so that’s what he did.

What happened, Adam? God asked a couple of hours later.

“Eve ate from the tree, my Lord.  She ate what you forbade us to eat.”

God bowed His Head.  I know, my friend.  I saw it long ago.

“What’s going to happen to her?  Is she going to die?  I don’t want to lose her, Lord.  I love her so much.  I don’t think I could bear that.”

She’s already dead. Adam.  It happened the very moment she ate from the tree.  The Glory has departed, and she is now beginning to feel the deterioration within her very being.  I am sorry, Adam, but she will never be the same.  I am so sorry.

“What does that mean?  What do You mean she’s dead?”

She died in her sins, today, my friend.  Died to Me.  Died to herself.  Died to you.  Died to the Intimately Communal Life with you and with Me that I gave her.  I am so very sorry.

“What can I do?  Is there anything I can do?  Just tell me, and I will do it.  I don’t want to lose her, Lord.  I want her back, Lord.  I want my Eve.  I need my Eve.”

God nodded His Head, and, with a tear in His Eye, smiled at Adam with such compassion.  I know, my friend.  I know.  I have a plan.  But it’s going to require you to give up everything you have.  And I do mean EVERYTHING.  Are you willing to do that?

Adam thought, but only for a moment.  “I am!” he said.  “Please tell me what I need to do to rescue my Eve.  To win her back from the dead.”

You must die in her place, Adam.  Experience the very separation she is experiencing now.  You must pay with your own life the penalty of her sin, which is death.  Are you willing to do that?

“I don’t understand, God.  I want to be with her…and with You.  And I want to do whatever I can to bring that about.  But…if I’m dead, how can I be with her and with You?”

What if I told you that what you’ve had until now you can never have again?  And that what I’m suggesting will result in her being restored to a place of communion with me, but that you and she will be separated?  And that you and I will be separated, too?

“This is more than I can bear, Lord.  Are you saying that, if I die in her place, she will be reconciled to you, but I will remain separated from You and from her?”

That’s what I’m asking if you’re willing to do, Adam.

Adam shrunk to his knees.  “I don’t know, Lord.  I can’t bear the thought of being separated from You.  Or from her.  But I can’t bear the thought of her being dead and separated from You.  We need You, God.  Without You, nothing makes any sense…nothing works.  I know this full well.  I guess, either way, she and I will be separated from each other.  In her death, she remains separated from You, but if I die in her place, I will be separated from You, but she will be restored to You.”

Are you willing to do such a thing, my friend?

Adam thought for a few moments and then came to a decision.  And it was the only decision for him.  “Yes,” he said, looking up at his Master.  “I love her, God.  More than I love my own soul.  I love her so much that I cannot bear the thought of her being separated from You.  So, yes, I will die in her place.  I will take her penalty.  But please do one thing for me, okay Lord?  Please take good care of her, okay?  And please tell her that I love her, that I have always loved her, and that I will always love her.”

THAT I will, my friend.  You can count on that.  So…are you ready?

“I am.”

And I AM, too, Adam.

To be continued….