#DailyDevotion We Blame God And God Blamed God On The Cross

Gen. 3:10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

 

Well we haven’t evolved very much since our first parents. When confronted with our sin, we want to blame someone else. We do not want to take responsibility for our actions. We’re afraid of being punished and we’re afraid of what others may think of us. So we point the finger at someone else. In fact, we’ll even blame God. That is what Adam and Eve did.

 

Having eaten the forbidden fruit the Lord confronts Adam. “What did you do?” “The woman You gave me…” he says. He blames God for giving him the woman and he blames the woman. It’s interesting because I really believe he ate the fruit thinking the woman God gave him was going to die and he wanted to die with her instead of trusting God for another and not fearing God’s command or threat. Now he turns against her and blames God.

 

The Lord asks the woman, “What did you do?” “The snake deceived me.” Well she doesn’t explicitly blame the Lord, but you know I do believe it is implied. After all, where did he come from? Who made the serpent? Never the less, she points the blame away from ourselves.

 

The serpent, well he doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

 

Ultimately, we blame God for all our problems. If he hadn’t made the serpent, if he hadn’t placed the tree of good and evil in the garden, if he hadn’t let them be deceived and/or rebel and let them eat the fruit, none of this would have happened.

 

Well in our minds, with our limited capabilities God is to blame. The good news is, God decided to take the blame for it. The Lord threatens the serpent, which works out as a promise to us, the Seed of the Woman will crush the head of the serpent while having his heel struck.

 

Jesus, the seed of the Virgin Mary, the only begotten Son of God from eternity, God of God, Light of Light, one in being and essence with the Father, gets the blame, the guilt, the shame and the punishment for our sin on the cross. There on the cross God blamed God, God punished God for our rebellion, for our sin(s). God our Father no longer counts our trespasses against us. Jesus has reconciled us to God through the spilling of his blood. There on the cross Jesus, the Son of God, experiences the death we deserved and gives us his life, eternal life. Not because God was to blame, but because God is merciful, kind, long suffering, steadfast in love for us, forgiving our iniquity but not letting the guilt go unpunished. He did it because he loves you.

 

Heavenly Father, grant us your grace to confess our sins and boldly believe the good news that Jesus, your Son, has taken the blame, guilt, shame and punishment for our sin, that we may receive his righteousness, life and glory now and in the world to come. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.