Genesis 3:12 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 3:12

Comments

Adam has fallen and as he fell, as he has turned away from God, as he chose all the opposites of God and the opposites of God’s standards, all those anti-values have sprung into existence. How did evil come into the world? Man looked at God, and then he looked away into an abyss, the opposites – What would the situation be without God, the opposites of every high and holy standard? – and those opposite values come into being at the fall.Even now Adam does not come clean. God comes to him as if he were a human judge making human enquiries, for he gives him scope to show the deceitfulness which sin has now produced in him. He now blames Eve, and in the process blames God who gave her to him. How he had rejoiced previously at the wonderful gift of God, for the Lord had created the perfect helpmeet for him, but now all his joy is gone and his character has been changed.Chivalry has fled; it has vanished. Cowardice and cruelty have come in. Adam’s words could be re-rendered roughly in this way – If there is a punishment for what I have done, she should receive it. What cruelty is this? You turn your wife over to some dreadful calamity, when it is your fault as much as hers. And that is what Adam does – the perfect man becomes the perfect coward – callous, cruel, and disloyal – a horrible spectacle.

Application

We have not truly confessed us into God while we still try to shift some of the blame elsewhere. The fact that others are also guilty should not concern us when it is a matter of our judgment before God. God will come to each one in his or her turn, but our guilt rests fairly and squarely on us. The fact that we are tempted is not sufficient reason for us to yield to temptation. The fact that others do evil is not sufficient reason for us to become like them. While we make excuses, we are still failing to face up to our own guilt, for in reality, the excuse and the blame which we attach to others becomes everything, while our own part in the matter becomes nothing by comparison. Today men and women are still busy finding others to blame for their sins, but it is we alone who must stand or fall before God, and he is able to distinguish the guilt that belongs to each one. Let us come to God without excuses, openly confessing what we know he can already see. If there is blame to be attached to others, he knows about it. We cannot do ourselves an injustice if we confess our sin to God.

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Genesis 3:12 Commentary and Bible Study