The Fall of Man Revealed the Resilient And Highest Love of God By Babs Kincaid

The Fall of Man Revealed the Resilient And Highest Love of God

By Babs Kincaid

          Ironically, the fall of man revealed the resilient and highest love of God. What could have resulted in a huge game changer became a huge display of love!  God created man for an eternal family relationship and man revolted at the first enemy attack! “I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.” Leviticus 26:12 God’s love was not derailed by man’s failure but ignited with hope and compassion. God’s mission to create an eternal family was not to be lost!

God offered Adam and Eve an intimate companionship with himself and each other, an enchanting garden, and savory food and more. Wow, what outstanding gifts! God presented Adam and Eve with the freedom of choice to enjoy their magnificent environment. The only restriction God imposed was his edict: “you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” Genesis 2:17   Their playbook had only one rule and endless perks! They had the joy of ruling over all of God’s awe-inspiring animals! What more could anyone desire for a fulfilling life? Despite God's warning, Adam and Eve took Satan's bait and ate an apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God had set them up for the best life ever and they blew it! Because of God's grace, the story did not end in destruction.

To fully digest God’s merciful response to man’s sin we need to consider the depth and breadth of His Love! “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” Lamentations 3:22-23 Consider how quick we are to resent others when they let us down or fail to meet our expectations! Consider how swift we are to say: “I’m done.” when others hurt our feelings or throw us under the bus! Consider the shortness of our fuse, when others do something irritating in our presence! The mighty hand of God did not overlook our sin, but provided a covering for our nakedness and created another plan to redeem us. God’s love for us was not compromised or diminished as ours so often is for others! “Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.” Psalm 36:5 According to NASA:  “The Exosphere is the upper limit of our atmosphere. It extends from the top of the thermosphere up to 10,000 km (6,200 mi).” The extent of God’s love reaches higher than that! We need to get a visual of that in our minds! “Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; his greatness no one can fathom.” Psalm 145:3 My mind is blown away with that astonishing concept!

Photo by distinguished NC photographer Alan Ostmann

The resilient factor of God’s love is a fascinating notion to me. When I was in college I remember being intrigued by the concept of resilient fabric. According to the Free Dictionary the word resilience is defined as: “The ability to recover quickly from illness, change or misfortune. The property of a material that enables it to resume its original shape or position after being bent, stretched or compressed.” You can take certain fabrics and knot them and fold them up into a ball and they will recover their original shape. God’s love is likewise resilient to perfection! “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.“ Ephesians 2:4-5 God could have said: "Adam and Eve are too high maintenance for me and not worth the effort." Since God’s character is rich in mercy and rich in love He responded with incredible grace!

          Sometimes life seems to result in disappointment and failure, but God’s love never fails or disappoints. Dreams, relationships, marriages, careers, and plans often fall short of our visions. “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 That’s what true love from God looks like. The good news is “if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” 2 Timothy 2:13 Our fellowship with God is beyond astounding and worthy of our praise!  I am so grateful that I can claim this verse:

 “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3 Be encouraged by God’s ultimate love that still moves mountains for his beloved people! My prayer is that our love will be resilient as well!

Photo by FL photographer William Trausneck