The Good News
Read time: 8 minutes
3 Now the serpent (Satan) was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of (all) the trees of the garden; 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (Like God), she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1–6)
This account of the fall does not really sound like good news, and it is not. However in order to fully appreciate the good news we must understand, to some degree, the bad news. Often when I hear the readings at mass, and the reader says “the gospel (good news) of the Lord, I think to myself “that really did not sound like good news”. I realize that in order to see the good news sometimes one must know the rest of the story.
The following is a small part of the rest of the story. In this account of the fall, there is much that can be learned. First of all consider Eve. She had never sinned and enjoyed a close relationship with God and was completely in His Grace. She did not have a sinful nature (that St Paul calls the flesh), since she had never followed Satan’s way. She had no intention of disobeying God and had absolutely no interest in the tree in the middle of the garden, after all there were so many other trees in the garden, that they could not possibly eat all the fruit that was produced. Nor was she confused by Satan who tried to mislead her. She knew exactly what God had said. However when Satan said you will be Like God (be a god) she was hooked.
Now what is Satan’s story. Tradition tells us that he was the most glorious angel that God ever made. He was in charge of the music ministry in heaven. But he was so obsessed with himself that he decided that he should be the center of attention, and not serve God (or anyone else). So he convinced about a third of the angels in heaven to follow him in rebellion. There was a great battle in heaven and he and his angels were defeated and were cast out of heaven. They became what we call demons. Satan wanted to be his own god and even though he was defeated he is still trying to live that way to this day. That is his way. He tried to convince Eve that she should follow his way, and she fell for his temptation. By disobeying God she and Adam lost fellowship with God and did not have a way to restore the lost relationship. They were stuck trying to live their lives without God’s grace along with all of their descendants, who in turn, were also tempted to follow the way of Satan. That is the bad news.
God makes all people in his image (good). Satan tries to remake all people in his image (self absorbed). The result of Satan’s efforts to remake us in his image is what the bible calls the flesh. When we follow our sinful nature we follow Satan’s way. Because all people have sinned all people are in Satan’s kingdom to some degree. And so we see the fruit of evil all around us in the world today. We see violence, hatred, abuse, selfish ambition, divisions etc. The good news is that God gave us a way to be restored to the garden – the way of Jesus. The way of love, peace, joy, patients, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control. The way of service to God and to others. When we see these good things in our lives we can be assured that Jesus is living in our hearts by faith and we are children of God fully restored in His kingdom. Even when we fail again, and choose satins way, we have a way back to God … that is Jesus.
So what does this temptation to be like God (be our own god) look like in ordinary people. Well in some cases it always insist that I am right and you are wrong. It often insists I will make my own decision – no help is welcome. When mistakes are made it says – it is not my fault. It often leads to arguments and disputes. It hangs onto resentments and unforgiveness. It is the major reason there is division in the church, and a high divorce rate in families. It always leads to decision making that excludes God and his word. It seldom wants to serve, but if it does it is always the way it wants to serve and you better like it. It puts a higher priority on watching TV than prayer. Just to name a few.
When we see just how far we have fallen from Grace it then becomes clear just how good the good news is. God is so good; why would we ever doubt or fear Him.
Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are continually calling out to us, to repent from following the devil’s way and return to the garden of grace and mercy with all of the fruits of the Spirit available to us. Each time we pray from the heart, include God in our decisions, go to Mass, ask God to forgive us, make an effort to walk His way, reach out to others in need, we are on the narrow way that He has provided for us that leads back into the garden.