Blame

Nobody blamed themselves for the sin.  Nobody said, I sinned.

Adam and Eve (Marlina Vera)

I have three adolescent children.

And that colours the way that I see the world.

You see, when we reach adolescence, we spend a lot of our time exploring boundaries.  This is a natural and normal part of growing up and developing into adults.  Though it might sound clinical to say that explore boundaries, what we are really saying – in reality – is that as adolescents we make lots of mistakes.  That is normal and natural.  We take risks with things and as a result of those risks, we sometimes make good decisions and sometimes make bad ones.

Sometimes, we take a risk in a positive way and other times we take a risk in a negative way.

And I have been thinking about this today as I have been thinking about how my children take risks and then look to blame each other, me or event he circumstances around them for when those risks lead them to unfavourable consequences.

You see, this reminds me of Adam and Eve.

Saint Paul the apostle says that sin entered the world through one man, Adam (Romans 5:12).  And the question is why was Adam blamed if Eve ate from the forbidden fruit first?

And the answer is very simple…  Because Adam knew better.  And he knew better because God had explained it to him first.  Thus, he was responsible.  Nowhere in the passage are we told that Eve went off and found Adam and after finding him explained what had happened and convinced him to eat the forbidden fruit.  Instead, it is implied that they were together.  And Adam watched as Eve sinned.  We are told that Eve was deceived.  It was a lie that she was told by Satan (1 Timothy 2:14).  But, Adam was not deceived.  He knew what God wanted because God had told him PERSONALLY (Genesis 2:16–17).

It was not that Eve was innocent of this sin, it is that she was not accountable – it was Adam who was responsible and accountable for the sin because even though he knew what God wanted, he did not testify to it. 

And then they both hid from God.  Adam blamed Eve (“The woman You gave me…” (Genesis 3:12)) and Eve blamed the serpent.  Nobody blamed themselves for the sin.  Nobody said, I sinned.

And this is why Christ is called the second Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45).  Because Christ took the BLAME for the sin – even despite being sinless.  He did not hide from the consequences of OUR sin.

And I have been thinking about this today as I have been thinking about how this impacts on my own life.  Because it seems to me that I have spent a lifetime hiding from sin and trying to blame someone lese for my mistakes.  And my poor God, my poor poor God has spend an eternity atoning for MY sins and taking the blame for me.

My poor poor God…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.