Daily Lectionary: Gen. 6:1-7:5, Mark 3:1-19 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Last Wednesday was a stark reminder of our future, wasn’t it? “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Those are words no one likes to hear, especially if there has been a recent tragedy. It’s hard to hear those words when they are so close to a raw, open wound. 

Yet that’s what Adam and Eve hear from their loving and eternal God and Father right after the Fall into sin. God doesn’t give them time to process their grief, he doesn’t wait for them to find a safe space or a Comfort Dog; He just unloads on them with all His might and fury. 

Of all people, they had it all right before them. They knew life in Paradise. They knew what it was like to behold God face-to-face. They knew a peace we will never know in this life. And even so, they were led astray. 

In an act we will never understand this side of eternity, Adam and Eve turned from God to listen to the sweet, deceptive voice of Satan. It is something that we do all the time, too. Abandon or ignore God’s Word to go our own way, because we somehow know better.  Sometimes, it earns the wrath of our parents, our school authorities, or even law enforcement! This is not what God wants from his children. Yet, sin and Satan lead us astray over and over again. 

But God the Father doesn’t leave us there in that pain and wrath. He fixes it the only way he can; by sending his Son into our flesh to right what has gone so wrong. To fix what is so broken. 

Even though Adam and Eve were cast from the Garden, God was with them every day of their lives and He had spoken a promise into their ears that echoed down the centuries until the time had fully come and God’s only Son was born of woman to redeem, to buy back, to make right, to save everyone who suffered because of Adam and Eve’s sin. 

You can’t out-sin God. He always has more forgiveness than you have sin. Even when you think there’s no hope, his promise still stands. Jesus is still for you, and his love will never fail. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.