What Happened When Adam Failed (Genesis 3:12-13)
By: Betsy St. Amant Haddox
The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 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.” – Genesis 3:12-13 (ESV)
Genesis 3 reads like one intense game of finger-pointing. God questioned Adam while he was hiding, and Adam blamed Eve. Then God questioned Eve, so Eve blamed the serpent.
Sound familiar? I don’t know about you, but I can be pretty quick to cast blame far away from myself after I sin, too. It’s like I try to toss it up in the air, hoping it sticks to anything at all when it lands and distract the attention away from myself. Guess what? That’s part of our depraved nature. I bet your kids do that too, don’t they? They don’t have to be taught to lie, exaggerate, stretch the truth, or point the finger of blame. It comes to them as a fleshly, sinful survival method.
The ironic truth is the only true survival method is found in confession and repentance. Adam and Eve figured that out eventually, but not before it was too late for their freedom in the Garden.
After the serpent tempted Eve and she fell into sin, it’s noted in verse six that Adam was right there. (Genesis 3:6 ESV) 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, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
That might sound familiar too, huh? A husband not being protective. A husband causing hurt instead of compassion. A husband following instead of leading. Even as far back as the Garden of Eden, man has struggled to fulfill his God-given role. Adam failed Eve. (Eve also failed Adam, but that’s a devotional for a different day!)
You don’t have to look far to find a woman who has been disappointed by a man. When God questioned Adam, he immediately pointed to Eve and said (vs 3:12 ESV) “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.
I can only imagine Eve’s face when Adam said, “the woman you gave me.” Ouch! Instead of blaming Adam back, Eve turned and blamed the serpent. Sure, the serpent was involved in the deception, but at the end of the day, Eve’s sin was her own choice. Adam’s sin to follow her was his own choice. And in those choices, death sprung to life.
The consequences of this exchange between God, Adam and Eve we still experience today. Man was cursed with futile work. Woman was cursed with painful childbearing and with an endless power struggle against her husband. The earth was cursed. The serpent was cursed. Death entered the world.
But what’s beautiful here is that Jesus, through the Gospel, stepped in and more than fulfilled the role that Adam failed.
Romans 5:19 (ESV) For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.
The first glimpse of Christ.
Adam failed Eve in the Garden by standing there while she was being deceived by the serpent, by not speaking up for God’s Word, and by not taking charge of the situation and leading her away from temptation. But Jesus stepped in to fulfill all of our failures. Because of God’s love for us, and because of His holiness and justness, He made a way to atone for our sin and failures by becoming the perfect sacrificial lamb. By living a sinless life, dying, experiencing the wrath of God poured out, and rising again, Jesus fulfilled it all. He covered Adam’s sin. Eve’s sin. Yours. And mine.
Your husband will fail you. You’ll fail him too. You’ll fail your kids and your friends and your co-workers. And they’ll all fail you. But because of Christ, we can forgive ourselves and others. As believers in Jesus, we can move forward despite our failures because they’re remembered no more at the foot of the cross.
Because Jesus paid it all.
