"Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be" 

            - Sigh No More-

 

 I was talking to my son yesterday about what he learned in his Sunday School class on Easter Sunday last week. I love our conversations about what he has learned and I'm amazed at just how sponge like 3 year olds are. At the same time, I love their naivety and how there always seems to be mix ups in words or phrases that are worthy of journaling and sharing at a future wedding reception :)

  My three year old began telling me that Jesus was in a cave and that there was a rock outside of the cave. So excited that he was sharing this with me, my face lit up and I began to probe him for more details, trying to see if he really understood the magnitude of that day...

 Me: " Oh wow, Noah! That is so cool... what happened with that big rock in front of Jesus' cave? Did it roll away? Did it move?"

Noah: " Mommy... JESUS IS ALIVE!!!"

Me: " But, Noah... Tell mommy about that rock, what happened to it? Did it move? Where did it go? Did God move it?"

Noah: "JESUS IS ALIVE!!! And no, the rock didn't move... It was not real mommy, it was not real, it was just a picture."

I was so excited about the circumstances in this story, that I missed the most important part... He is ALIVE today and he is working and moving in our world. The circumstances pale in comparison to the reality that Jesus overcame them and came back from the grave for you, and for me, and for this world, His precious creation.

 The story of creation, a utopian paradise called Eden, and of a God relentlessly loving, caring and providing for mankind who turns their back on Him is where it all began. It appears to be the perfect fairy tale with love, beauty, deception, a bad guy and the whole nine yards. A good dose of betrayal also wiggles it's way into the storyline as well . Almost like it is too good to be true...This tale, this reality, is embedded deep within our core, our souls. There is an itching inside for someone or something more... The creation of man was not a result of a bored  white bearded wrinkly God drumming his fingers on a table completely bored out of his ever living mind. His desire to create mankind was rooted in an undeniable abundance of love and yearning to experience unhindered community with his creation and for man and woman to feel, in the purest of forms...love,acceptance, stability, security, peace, and joy. For them to experience what He experiences with the Holy Spirit and Jesus within the relationship of the Trinity.

" 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 said, "It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make a helper suitable for him" Genesis 2:18

He did not just make fruit trees for provision purposes, but he planted trees that were beautiful beyond all compare, that were to be "pleasing to the eye" because He loved Adam that much. He created a pristine environment in which there was no toiling to work to put food on the table or work to build shelter.  Adam's shelter was God, and that was all that he needed and at that point in time he didn't know any different. He created a place of wonder and beauty for Adam to feast his eyes upon.He created Eve so that Adam would not be alone, so that he could be in relationship with woman, his perfect helper. All of creation came from the "beauty of love as it was made to be."

So, why did He let it happen? And why not destroy that snake before he had his chance with Eve?

Since God is omniscient...

He knew that Eve would eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

He knew that she would manipulate Adam and convince him to join her in disobeying their Father.

He knew that the consequences would be that sin would enter the picture and that intimacy, that communion would become tainted and poisoned.

He knew that his perfect world would be destroyed and would begin to spiral out of control on all levels.

He knew that man would run from Him, ignore Him, deliberately disobey Him, hide from Him, forget Him, and ultimately deny Him.


How can anyone care that much?

But he also knew, that man could not truly live without Him.  The yearning for Eden was stamped on the hearts of all men, and the love of the Father has never been far from mankind. We may run, but we certainly can't hide from the power of love tugging on our hearts from our heavenly Father. We will continue to run and chase after the trappings of this world, false idols and ideals, and everything that is opposite of Him trying to fill that hole with that missing "something".... That "something" is the love  that was so evident within the walls of Eden and since that time has been pulsing through our world.

That is  unconditional love in it's purest form radiating from the heart of a father who is just too good to give up on you or me.

Satan would have wiggled his sneaky self into the picture no matter what disguise he had to put on. It was only a matter of time and God knew when that time would be. If there wasn't a serpant, it could have been a cow, or a pig, or a flamingo... It wouldn't have mattered. Satan is the ultimate deceiver and there was no stopping him ( at this point in time anyway) from attacking Eve that day in the garden. This was just the beginning of the story and both God and Satan knew the ultimate ending of this story. The ending where God, not Satan, redeems his people through the sacrafice of his son, Jesus. The ending where relationships  are  restored as well as the earth and all that is within it. The ending where Satan is  thrown into the fiery pit never to deceive, hurt, confuse again.

God knows that Love is a choice. Just like love was a choice for Him when he decided to create man. You can't make someone love you, but you can show them the love that you have for them in a manifold of ways.It's like trying to win over the love of a finicky cat.  Now, don't get me wrong, I am a cat lover through and through, but everyone knows that cats are notorious for being snooty and aloof. Even after purchasing a cat or saving it from a doomed life at the shelter, providing a safe and comfortable home, bed to sleep on, and providing it with tasty morsels of  fishy kitty chow, there is no guarantee that the cat is going to even acknowledge your existence or even let you touch him. Loving him unconditionally is the only thing that you can do in and of yourself and the rest is up to the cat whether he accepts and reciprocates that love or whether he rejects it.


As the creator of all that is truth and life, He knows that love at it's best is  patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.( 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 )

You simply can't force it, and neither can He.