In the third chapter of Michael Reeves' Delighting in the Trinity, the author describes the reason why Eve went astray. As per Genesis 3:6, Eve's motives for eating the fruit lie with the love she and her husband were to have for God turning inward and toward selfishness. It wasn't simply that Eve broke the rule; it was the issue of why, namely, that the forbidden fruit "was good for food," "pleasing to the eye," and "desirable for gaining wisdom (Gen. 3:6)." The desire of Eve (and her husband) turned inward; "What can this do for me?" instead of "What does our loving Creator say about this and what should we do or not do?"

As Dr. Reeves writes, it wasn't that Adam and Eve stopped being loving creatures; they could not, being "created as lovers in the image of God (Reeves, pg. 65)." What happened was that their love turned from the God and Father who had made them to themselves and/or the things they desired. Paul's description of sinners, as the author notes, includes "lovers of themselves, lovers of money... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:2-4)." The problem is, we're lovers of self (and of our desires) rather than lovers of God, the latter being what we were created to be. We turned from our intended purpose, and then we wonder why our world is so broken, even to the extent of blaming the Creator instead of the creation (i.e. us) that went astray.

As Dr. Reeves put it, "It means something happened deeper than rule-breaking and misbehavior: we perverted love and rejected Him, the one who made us to love and be loved by Him (pg. 68)."

Of course, we inevitably find that the cisterns, internal and external, we turn to to be broken and shallow. They can provide a limited joy, but we eventually get bored with whatever has struck our fancy, whether this be cars, games, drink, art, sports, et cetera. And none of them can provide us with eternal life with an eternally good Creator, or eternal life of any kind. Eventually, we will all pass away in this life, barring the return of Christ before that happens.

Thankfully, the one true God is not just a Ruler, Judge, and Creator (although He is all those things); he is a loving Father who desires to save His children from destruction. As Paul put it, "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)."

Again from Reeves; "The God who is love definitively displays that love to the world by sending us His eternally beloved Son to atone for our sin. And so, through the sending of the Son for our salvation we see more clearly than ever how generous and self-giving the love of God truly is. Without the cross we could never have imagined the depth and seriousness of what it means to say that God is love (pg. 68-69)."

The only way to eternal life - to forgiveness for the evils we have done, for turning to dead idols that fail to satisfy, whether or not they are us or material objects, for our rebellion, for turning away from God, period - is through the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of the Father. He is the only way; any other "path to salvation" leads to the eternal second death in hell. God is willing to give us a chance to be saved, if only we recognize our ways as evil, turned to Him, and accept His Son's death as full atonement for our evil ways.

We were made to love an infinite, triune, Holy, Holy, Holy God. Our love should be directed toward Him, not our own desires. God cares enough to suffer in our place rather than just giving us up to the fire we deserve. We ought to be grateful for that... and for the fact that He created us in the first place.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. May the Lord Jesus Christ save you, then guide, protect, and watch over you.