Joseph and his family lived where there was a big ravine right behind their house. Joseph and his brothers enjoyed playing in that ravine. It even had a stream at the bottom of it. Across the ravine from their house was a house with a big yard that belonged to a kind lady named Mrs. McDonald who didn’t mind little boys playing in her yard.
One day, Joseph and his two brothers, John and Alex, decided to build a fort in Mrs. McDonald’s yard. They worked very hard, hauling up sticks and other great building materials from the ravine, and soon they had a fine fort ready to defend and enjoy. Just as they finished up, some neighbor boys, who also got to play in Mrs. McDonald’s yard, came by. Joseph and his brothers proudly showed them their fort. The boys said, “Nice!” and left. Then, Joseph, John and Alex had to go home for lunch.
While they were having lunch, they looked out the window and saw those same boys back in Mrs. McDonald’s yard. For some reason, they had decided to destroy that nice fort. Joseph and his brothers went running across the ravine, yelling, “Hey, hey! Don’t do that! Why are you doing that?”
When the other boys heard Joseph and his brothers coming, they ran off. They probably thought the rightful owners of the fort would be angry. But they weren’t really angry, just very sad. All that hard work ... and now, nothing.
But they were determined boys! They went right back to work to make another fort, only better and stronger and bigger than the first one. They were tired when they were done, but they were happy, because now they had a great fort they could enjoy. Maybe the bullies felt a little bad, because they left that fort alone.
This story is a picture of what happened in this world when God first created a beautiful home on it for two people named Adam and Eve. He had made them, and He put them in a lovely garden called Eden, where there was lots of delicious food, no problems, and lots of happiness in enjoying the love of God and one another. But one day, very soon, along came an enemy of God and of everyone, named Satan. He can’t stand to see anyone being happy, and he really can’t stand anyone loving God. So, he thought of a way to ruin this lovely happiness. He disguised himself as a snake, and he talked to Eve. He made her start to think that God really wasn’t good to them, because there was one tree that He had told them not to eat from. He tempted Eve in this way, so that she started to think about that tree. She decided it really did look like a tree that was good for food and that would make her smarter, because it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Sadly, she and Adam took some of that forbidden fruit. That was the first sin any person ever committed. Have you ever done even a “little” sin like that? It really wasn’t little, because God had told them not to do it, so it was disobeying God.
Well, Adam and Eve found out the truth about Satan right away. He was a terrible enemy and a liar. They knew more than they did before, for sure. But what they now knew was that they were naked. Now they didn’t look forward to the visit from God to Eden that evening. They dreaded it. They went to work to try to hide their nakedness by making some clothing out of leaves. You can read this story in Genesis 3.
Now for the good news. When God came to visit them that evening, He wasn’t angry with them. He did give them some painful consequences for the sin they had done, and He also sent them out of that lovely garden, because He didn’t want them to eat from another tree in that garden called the tree of life, or they would have lived forever in their misery. But He promised them something truly wonderful. He said that Eve would have a child, and then down the line of humans who would be born, Someone would be born who would completely conquer the serpent, Satan, who had lied to them. He didn’t tell them the whole story, but we now know that God was going to do a wonderful thing. God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, would come to earth as a human baby. He would live a perfect life, and then He would be killed on a cross by wicked men. Before He died, He would suffer on that cross for the sins of those who would believe on Him. His death made a way them to come live in an even better home than Eden — in heaven itself,
with God.
So, just like the destruction of the bullies in our story led to Joseph and his brothers building a bigger and better fort, Satan’s lies and his destruction of God’s creation only led to God making the way to an even better place for all the people He loves so much to live in. I’m on my way to that place, called heaven. I hope you are too! “As by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One [the Lord Jesus] shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:1919For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)).
Messages of God’s Love 11/19/2023