God created Adam out of the dust of the earth and Eve out of Adam’s rib. He blessed them, told them to be fruitful and multiply, and to have dominion over every living thing on the earth. He presented them with herbs and fruit producing trees of every kind.

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31)

Adam and Eve were made in the image of God, but God gave them free will to make their own decisions. He placed them in the Garden of Eden, a paradise of plants including the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were allowed free reign except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Of course we know what happened. The serpent tempted Eve to eat from that tree and she went on to offer the fruit to Adam. The serpent convinced her that she could be wise like God. She exercised her freewill to make the worst decision she could have possibly made.

Eve could have eaten from the tree of life. She could have lived forever in paradise. Instead, she listened to bad advice and forever impacted the trajectory of humankind.

When God gave Adam and Eve the ability to think for themselves, he knew that they would make poor choices at time. They were made in the image of God, but didn’t possess the mind of God. Eve was human. She messed up, big time. But Eve was who God chose to be the Mother of humankind. She was the first link in the lineage of Jesus, God’s son, Savior of the world.

We all make mistakes, just like Eve. But despite our failures, God can still use us to advance his kingdom. May we keep our eyes on his future rather than our failings.

Scripture Background: Genesis 1-3