This morning as I was reading the account of the Fall of Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, I saw something that I had never seen before. I really love it when God suddenly allows me to uncover such profound Scriptural gems. But I am sure that this little gem is still rough, and I have only scratched the surface...
I have always understood that God’s curse upon man for his sin in the Fall was that the ground would be cursed, and subsequently, his labour (which was originally created good by God) would now become burdensome toil. Up until now though, a part of the curse that I have overlooked is that God said Adam would now “eat the plants of the field”. You might ask, “How could this possibly be a curse for sin?”
We can begin to answer the question when we remember that in Gen 2:16 God gave Adam the fruit of the trees of the Garden of Eden for food (including the Tree of Life). And when we understand that Eden was actually God’s Sanctuary – the place of God’s closest communion with Adam – we begin to understand the depths of exactly what Adam lost due to his sin.
O, how glorious then does the Gospel shine when we see how God makes a New Creation through Jesus Christ, the New Adam, together with His Mother Mary, the New Eve. Because it is in Christ that communion with God is restored through the Cross, which is the New Tree of Life (Gal 3:13; 1 Pet 2:24; Rev 2:7). Our deepest communion with God is realised when we partake of the Sacrifice of the Cross i.e. when we receive the Most Precious Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus in Holy Communion.
I thought that it would be fitting to finish this post with the opening prayer for the Feast of Corpus Christi:
Lord Jesus Christ, you gave us the Eucharist as the memorial of your suffering and death. May our worship of the sacrament of your body and blood help us to experience the salvation you won for usand the peace of the kingdom where you live with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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