Sin trends,
But in the wrong direction.
A lie, hissed in the garden,
Sends humanity stumbling on its own way.
Exiting Eden,
Sprinting, full speed
Away from our Creator,
And His paradise intentions.
Rebellion spread,
Fast and far,
Exchanging His ways
For a morality of human invention.
For traditions of man,
We marred the face of the earth,
Paradise was lost.
We were lost.
Sin gained speed,
rolling downhill.
It multiplied,
As did we.
Taking everything good
Everything God intended,
Crushing it, under
Our rebellious will.
The current state of affairs
Is bleak, at best.
It’s our finality,
As we do our worst.
The creature exchanged Yahweh,
Preferring its own way,
Asserting it was its own creator.
Independence and rebellion,
Destruction and wickedness,
Every sin a declaration
Of our own autonomy.
“We’re free!”
We cried,
As we laid down to die,
With one bite of independence,
A spiritual suicide.
We, the Image bearers
Rejected the Image Giver,
In exchange for
Making a name for
Ourselves.
Me before You,
Us vs them,
Us apart from You.
Death reigned, cold.
Final.
Unbeatable.
Inevitable.
God crafted that garden
Which we crushed with rebellion.
Hearts flooded with evil,
So God flooded this world.
Yet the waters receded,
And generations continued,
By His mercy and grace,
Humanity sought to unite.
Not to make God’s name great
But to make our own names known.
And we crafted Babel.
A tower of sin,
Brick upon brick,
Pride upon pride.
Rebellion upon rebellion.
Paradise into perdition.
We traded long walks with the Lord,
For the sweet taste of resistance,
Of defiance.
The fruit we still eat today.
But in His perfect wisdom
God set the stage for redemption.
Adam failed,
But God’s story was still in motion.
It was God versus man,
But God himself became the bridge.
Changed the game,
Rewrote the rules,
Made a way,
As he sent The Truth.
Now it’s not God vs man,
But Christ vs the serpent.
The Prince of peace
Vs the Principalities and powers
Of death and destruction
Of insurrection and sedition.
Of insurgence and independence.
Yet it was no competition
Satan, the “little g” god of mutiny,
Slithering in his lies,
Was crushed under the heel,
Of the One who brings unity,
Of the One whose sandals we are not fit to tie,
Who washed the feet of His enemies,
And took on their pride,
Their curse on His Holy body.
My curse,
My pride,
My sin,
Jesus Christ paid the price.
My price! Your price!
I deserved that death for the bittersweet bite
Of the fruit of autonomy.
He died and He rose,
To restore true freedom and liberty,
Inside of His sovereignty.
Never apart from Him again,
It’s Eden in our hearts,
It’s His Kingdom in this world,
Because it’s Christ in us,
In you and in me,
The hope of glory.
Repent! Receive Christ!
God is still telling this story,
And your chapter is here and now.
Perdition to Paradise.
What once was lost,
Is now forever found.
Amen