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 from it you will certainly die.”
Genesis 2: 15-17, NIV
Healthy relationships aren’t built on demands and impositions, but rather on covenant agreements. The foundations of any society are laid on the bedrock of a firm social contract among the parties involved. Relationships grow and flourish within the bounds of covenant agreements, giving and taking from one party to another as permitted and required by the covenant, establishing trust and responsibility and demonstrating integrity and honesty as the relationship unfolds. All of the hallmarks of a great relationship can be credited back to an underlying social contract, a fundamental covenant agreement, which girds and guides the parties of the relationship.
Early after the dawn of Creation, God establishes a relationship built on a directive, a demand of Adam. God says to the first human, “[…] you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil,” or else there will be Hell to pay. There’s not much compromise in this statement, and not much room for the relationship between God and human to grow out of such an edict. There is only do or don’t. Obey or disobey. There is no room for the Devil to get between God and human. There is no middle ground.
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”
Genesis 17: 1-2, NIV
While there is no ‘middle ground’ in God’s first interaction with his created humankind friend, there is also no room for the human to fail God. The human can only fail himself - God isn’t injured in the human’s disobedience. The human, however, is mortally wounded. By eating the forbidden fruit, humanity inherits sin, death, and distance from God. God inherits nothing new - God remains the High King of all Creation, the Creator and Ruler of all things. Yet just as punishment is about to be handed down to the disobedient firstborn of humanity, we sense God having second thoughts. After all, the pinnacle of God’s creation has been his human friends, first Adam and then Eve from Adam’s rib. Humanity was the crowning achievement of creation. It’s as if God had done everything that was necessary to create a perfect universe and then added a cherry on top - humankind - just because he wanted to. God wanted humankind because God wanted relationship. God reserves his wrath and instead eases humankind into an existence broken by death. God allows work and pain to enter be the human condition, not as punishment from God, but rather as learned traits and the choice of humanity, the wages of disobedience. It must grieve God, but the worst part of the situation that unfolds is that the perfect relationship between human and God, creature and Creator, is broken. They must live separated - humankind kicked out of the Garden, God’s heaven on earth. There would, however, always be a connection. God couldn’t let his beloved humankind slip away forever. The relationship had changed, but it must not be allowed to end. God makes a promise with Abram, and begins a new relationship with humanity under new terms.
The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
John 12: 23-26, NIV
Yet it couldn’t last. The centuries from Abram until Jesus are littered with stories of broken promises on the part of the people. God sends patriarchs, priests, judges, kings, prophets… not one messenger can get the attention of all of humankind. Despite the warnings and the hell unleashed in their wake, humans continue to disobey and dishonor God throughout the ages. As they follow their own path, apart from their God, life only gets harder for the people. And yet, no ordinary human voice has ever sung the pitch that would pierce the wicked heart of men.
The Devil loves a promise because it’s a clearly defined target. Promises help define (or are, at least, central to) the nature of a relationship. Making one small mistake when it comes to a promise can bring a whole relationship crumbling down. The Devil loves a promise because there is so much temptation to abuse power within a relationship. The sinner believes that a slight bend in the rules of the covenant agreement, a slight deviation from the terms, might be allowed. If not, the sinner will resort to the Devil’s tricks of manipulation and gaslighting and emotional sabotage to maintain their benefits in the relationship without having held up their own responsibilities to it. The Devil’s favorite relationship scenario is achieved when one partner plays the victim while the other partner actually is the victim.
The Devil loves a promise because a promise insures a relationship, and a broken promise almost always insures a broken relationship. Relationships that grow and flourish are life-giving. The Devil does not love healthy, flourishing relationships. The Devil loves misery, not for the Devil’s self, but for you and me.
Jesus’ life and death and resurrection teach us a new way. God has come down in human form, eliminating the barrier between Creator and creature, taking on the punishment of the broken covenant himself. Death on a cross, pain and humiliation, all borne for the redemption of humankind. What once the Devil had so easily stolen, the Savior of the World has reclaimed and redeemed forever and for all. The right relationship is restored.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
Revelation 21: 3-5, NIV
Thanks be to God.
J.M.D.