“After they ate the fruit and hid from God,” Austin continued, “Mom and Dad came walking into the garden looking for them.”
“When they called out and asked ‘Where are you?’ Adam and Eve came out into the open and replied ‘I heard you coming and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself.’ The Holy Spirit asked, ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ to which God The Father followed up with, ‘Did you eat of the tree I commanded you not to eat of?’”
“Adam looked at Mom and Dad ashamed and said, ‘The woman who you gave to be with me gave me the fruit, and I ate.’ Turning to Eve, God The Father asked what she had done and Eve responded, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’”
“And the God The Father turned towards the serpent, who was once a beautiful creature with legs and cursed him. He said to the snake:
`Because you deceived Eve, cursed are you above all other animals. From this day on, you shall eat dust and slither on the ground to move. You, Adam, Eve and all of their children will be at war. You will bruise their heel, and they will bruise your head.’
“He then turned to Eve, and said:”
‘When you give birth, it will now be painful. Your desire will be for a man, and that man will rule over you.’
“Finally, he turned to Adam and said:”
‘Because you listened to your wife instead of me, the ground you work on will be cursed. You will plant seeds, but thorns and weeds will grow among your crops, and only by the sweat of your face, will you eat and survive. You were formed by dust, and to dust you shall return.’
“The Father then turned to the Holy Spirit and said, ‘Adam and Eve have become like us in knowing good and evil, before they eat of the tree of life and live forever, we must send them out of the garden.”
Austin could see that the reason Mom and Dad gave for Adam and Eve being kicked out of the garden were confusing to them, so he started to explain.
“The tree of life, is actually the son of God The Father and The Holy Spirit, Jesus. But Jesus is their son and in the image of God The Father. What don’t we see? We don’t see the counterpart for Jesus. Adam has Eve, The Father has The Holy Spirit, but who does Jesus have?”
“Jesus has us. Jesus’ bride are the humans that love him. Just like Adam wasn’t given Eve right away, Jesus wasn’t given his bride, humanity, right away either. And for good reason too! You can see that Adam and Eve wouldn’t be very good helpers to him when they would rely on themselves, instead of Mom and Dad.”
“Adam and Eve needed to be prepared for Jesus.”
“And before you ask, yes, even Adam takes Eve’s place as the bride in relation to Jesus. The best way to think about it is, that Adam and Eve together, are the perfect helper and perfect one to love Jesus.”
“That’s who you and I are, we are the perfect helper and perfect partner for Jesus, but we’re being prepared for him, so that when we are with him and live forever, we’re ready.”
“So Jesus watched us as we were sent out of the garden. His own perfect partner was cast out because of their sin. Jesus saw this, and knew he didn’t want to sit idly by. With Mom and Dad’s help, he came to save us, and sacrifice himself for us so that we could be free of sin, and be with him forever.”
“What does it mean for me to be Jesus’ helper and partner?” Tim asked.
“Very good question Tim, and it’s not one I can answer perfectly for you. We are all made differently, and given different gifts by Mom and Dad. Some of us are made big and strong, and others lead. What Jesus wants us to do, is to take our gifts, and give them to him.”
“If you’re a leader, follow him first, and lead others while listening to him. If you are a teacher, teach others anything, but teach them for him.”
“When I say, ‘teach for him,’ that doesn’t always mean ‘teach about him,’” Austin continued, “It means to live your life trying to rely on Mom and Dad, and using what they gave you to the best of your abilities.”
“You could be writing about why the chicken crossed the road, but it’s still giving your gifts to Jesus, as long as you’re relying on him.”
Tim seemed to understand.
Read Chapter five