Video Transcript: The Fall

Welcome to Mental Health Integration, week one, part three. We just got done  talking about how they were made, the man and the woman in the garden, how  they were made beautifully and wonderfully, how they were the image bearers,  how there was nothing more valuable, how they were created as exceedingly  good, how God looked at what he created and loved it. It was exactly how he  wanted it to be, not that they knew what they were doing and they were doing it  perfectly, but they were in unity with God, and they were doing things together  out of who they were made to be as valuable and worthy. But that's not the way  that the world that we works looks a lot of the time. The world we live in looks  quite different a lot of the time, and that is because Genesis 3 happened, and  that's what we're going to step into today. But first we need to go back just a little bit to Genesis 2 to talk about why that was such a big deal. So in Genesis 2, it  says The Lord took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to  take care of it. And the Lord commanded. The Lord God commanded the man,  you are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the  tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die. So God's made this man, and he puts him in the garden, and he says, this  whole thing is so good. This is the best place. And I'm so glad you're here. You  can do anything you want. You can eat anything you want. And that is the first  command the God created. Man put him in the garden to work it. This is a good  thing. God creates work as a good thing. Then he commands him to eat  anything in the garden. This is a second command, do good like enjoy. This is  yours. Enjoy it. It is such a good place. And then his third command is, and don't eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, because if you eat of it, you  will surely die. And the reason we want to hit this is because oftentimes we just  think of it as God said, just don't eat the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and  Evil. But this reinforces that this is a good place that God creates Adam for work  that is good, that he creates him in a place where everything around him is  good. This is a place to be enjoyed. This is a place to just fill yourself up with  and this is a place to work hard in and that that that whole thing is perfect. And  then he tacks on at the very end, and yeah, there's this tree of the knowledge of  good and evil. Don't touch that thing. Don't eat that thing, because if you eat of  it, you will surely die. Then we continue in Genesis 3. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made, he said to the  woman, Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the garden. The  woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but  God did say you must not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden,  and you must not touch it, or you will die. You will not certainly die. The serpent  said to the woman, For God knows that when you eat of it, eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So the serpent  comes and says, I think I'm not sure that you really need to stay away from that  tree. Didn't the God really say that you you should not eat from any tree, that 

you shouldn't eat from any tree in the garden. And already we see the serpent  leading Eve astray, right? Because he didn't say, actually, this is a great place  for you to enjoy, for you to work, and then just don't eat from the tree. Of the  Knowledge of Good and Evil. His immediate saying is, well, are you sure he  said, don't eat from any tree. And then we see Eve's response as well. Woman  said, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say you must  not eat from the tree that is in the middle of the garden. You must not touch it, or you will die. We even see there where Eve is even putting an extra bit of  emphasis, this is not I must not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. I can't even touch it. Don't get near that thing, because if we get near it, we  might die. There's a good place. We really don't want to screw this up. And then  we see the serpent continue. You will not certainly die, For God knows that  when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing  good and evil. So the serpent is pushing Eve, saying, no, no, this will be this will  be such a good thing. This place might be good, but don't you know it can be  better, and you might be good, but don't you know you could be even better. And there's this proposition from the serpent, don't you want to be like God, which is  really interesting, coming from what we just talked about in the last session. You  were made in the image and likeness of God, that you are like God. And the  serpent says, God knows that your eyes will be opened and you will be like Him. We can look back and say we would have acted differently. I don't know if we  would have, but we can look and see the value already that Eve is stuck in this  place of saying, maybe you're right. Is there something I'm missing when she  already has all the value and all the likeness she could ever want? And it  continues when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and  pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took and she ate  it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then  the eyes of both of them were opened and they realized they were naked, so  they sewed fig leaves together and made covering for themselves. So Eve sees  this fruit, and she doesn't just think, Oh, that looks really tasty. That looks so  good. I've never had anything like that before. She looks and sees that as good  and it is good for attaining wisdom. This isn't just a normal fruit. This makes her  life different. This makes her different. This makes her different than she was.  And she looks and she says, Okay, I'll do that. And she takes and she eats of it,  and then she hands some to her husband. An interesting side note, you cannot  blame the fall of humanity on, you know, women and say, this is an Eve  problem. Adam and Eve both eat from a tree. This is an Adam and Eve problem. This is a man and woman problem, and we exist in the repercussions of that,  but we don't need to assign blame to a person. Because of that, they both eat,  and suddenly their eyes are opened. They see things that they didn't see before, but in that, things begin to crack, because all of a sudden they notice we're  naked and they sow fig leaves together and make covering for themselves. And 

God's reaction is going to be fairly big, but you have to think, what was it like to  be in the garden, to be naked and completely unashamed to be in full unity with  the creation and with yourself, with, in this case, your husband or wife, and with  

God, to be fully, fully vulnerable and fully exposed. And that that was a normal  good thing, and there were no boundaries or problems with that. In many ways,  we can't even imagine what that's like, because to be fully that open just runs  counter to everything that we have in the world today. In some ways, right then  the narrative continues. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord  God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from  the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the  man, where are you? He answered, I. Heard you in the garden, and I was afraid  because I was naked, so I hid. So I hid the intimacy that we just had in Genesis  1-2 suddenly is completely broken. We had openness, we had authority, we had  creation, and we had it in a place with no shame. We had Adam and Eve in a  place where they existed and they were good and without any knowledge of  what they were supposed to do, it was exactly how God wanted it to be. And  then in this one action, they're hiding that intimacy with God. It's gone because  they are no longer open. They are no longer around God. They are no longer  intimate with God. They are hiding. They are running away. They are running  away from each other, and their eyes are open in different ways to who, then  who they are. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten  from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman  you put here with me. She gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate. Then the  Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? The woman said, The  serpent deceived me, and I ate. Adam and Eve realized the gravity of the  situation immediately, and their first reaction is to blame. They were in this  position where everything was good and everything was set with God, and now  all of a sudden, both of them, their first reaction immediately is, this isn't my  fault. The man looks at God and says, she gave it to me. It's her fault. He  blames the woman who is created out of man who is flesh and my flesh and  bones, my bones. He says, it's her. She did it. The woman looks at Adam and  looks at God and says, It was the serpent. He did it to me. It's his fault. And you  can see this breakdown immediately, right? Adam and Eve are created with  authority to be there in the garden. They're created with responsibility for what  the garden is and responsibility for themselves in the creation. And you can see  them try to pass the buck and know that this thing is falling apart. They're trying  desperately to say, No, this is not my fault. I might be responsible for the entire  creation, but I'm not responsible for my own action just now, and in so doing,  they isolate themselves. They are alone in the garden, they're pushing  themselves away from God and pushing themselves away from each other. And  this beautiful community that they had, this beautiful place that they had  together, all of a sudden, is being shattered. And the narrative continues so the 

Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, Cursed are you  above all livestock and all wild animals. You will crawl on your belly and you will  eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the  woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you  will strike his heel. God looks at the man, the woman, and he turns to the  serpent and says, You did this. There are going to be repercussions for the  actions you have taken. This is not okay. I will put enmity between you and the  woman between your offspring and hers, and you'll do damage, but he will kill  you. And beyond that cursed Are you above everything else in this creation? You are not going to be like everything else that has the dignity of walking. You are  going to be cursed to wriggle around on your belly throughout creation for the  rest of eternity. Then he continues to the woman, he said, I will make your pains  in childbearing very severe, your painful labor. Through with painful labor, you  will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule  over you. From this is the perfect creation. This is exactly the way it's supposed  to be. This is the way I want everything to be. God looks at the woman and says, This is going to be really painful for you. The rest of your life isn't going to be  easy. It's going to be hard. And it's not going to be just the way you want it to be, the things you want most in life. You're not going to get because your desire will  be for your husband. You will want this intimacy that you had. You will want it to  be like it was, and it's never going to be like this again, because it says Your  desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. It isn't going to be like  this, with this perfect being known and being an intimacy with Me and My  creation and everything, it's broken now, and the thing you want most in the  world, it can't exist. And into that broken world you are going to bring your  offspring, the people you would care for, and they're going to be in that same  broken place. And you can just think of this and see Eve's heart has to be  broken at this fact, she has to be looking at God, going, really this, this is so  heavy. This hurts so much. How can it hurt so much? I want that back. I want the good things back and to that God continues with Adam. To Adam, he said,  Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I  commanded you, you must not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you, through painful toil, you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will  produce thorns and thistles for you, you will eat the plants of the field by the  sweat of your brow, you will eat your food until you return to the ground. Since  from it you were taken from dust you are and dust you will return. And Adam,  there's the same sort of reaction. Adam had been placed in the garden with  authority over the entire garden, and God said, This is yours. Take care of it. It'll  bloom. It'll grow for you. I want you to enjoy it. And that's what he said, Right.  Enjoy it. You may you're in the garden to work it and eat of the trees of the  garden, except the middle one those first two commands, God suddenly says  you are going to work and is going to hurt and it is going to be hard. Cursed is 

the ground. This will never be working in tandem with creation again, you will be  working, but seems like against creation in order for it to make something and  instead of enjoying the world that you live in, you will work it by the sweat of your brow until it makes something all of a sudden, this creation is broken. This  intimacy with who with the Earth is broken, and Adam is saying man, this is  hard. And God says, From dust, you were taken from dust, you will return. You  will die. This is death to you. I keep my word. Adam named his wife Eve,  because she would become the mother of all the living the Lord God made  garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. And the Lord God  said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must  not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat  and live forever. So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to  work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he  placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword  flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. We see the character  of God from Genesis 1-2 come through after the fall, Adam and Eve ate. They  broke everything God has to be thinking. They just ruined everything, my whole  creation. It was great. Now it's not. And instead, he looks at them with care.  These are his beloved son and daughter made in His image the things he cares  about most in the entire universe. And to that, he says, You can't come back  here. He took a step that means you can never be back here. And with that, He  lovingly clothed them. It helps them. And though he has to reject them from the  garden and push them out, he does so in a loving way. He doesn't just kick them out of the garden. This is now, it's all your fault. Get out. Instead, he says, I will  make garments for you. We will do this together. You're not allowed back here.  You will never have these relationships again. You will never exist the way this  was. But you don't have to go out naked with a couple leaves on you. I will at  least help you get out well. And they go from isolated in the garden to broken,  and this is the creation, in some ways, that we see now we've worked the  ground, and it's hard. We want intimacy with the people around us, and we want to be known. We want to know. We want full intimacy with God. We want to be  there and never have these separations. And we don't experience that. We don't experience what it is to be loved fully. We don't experience what it is to love fully, and we see all of this brokenness, and in that God is still there, sending us out  with these beautiful clothes made from things that we wouldn't need him out of  right? He's still caring and loving and supporting. There's still gifts in this broken  place. There's beauty in this broken place. There's goodness in this broken  place. It's not all bad. There's still so much of Genesis 1-2 in this place. There's  still so much of the creation that was good, but that's it's been cracked. I like to  think of this in some ways, like a piece of glass that the creation we saw through it, and it was beautiful, and it was exactly the way it was supposed to be, but it  was perfect. And then in the fall it cracks. And it's not that it's completely broken.

It's not that everything falls apart. It's that the image is cracked. It's not right. It's  perverted a little bit as parts in the Old Testament say, Justice comes out  crooked, comes out a little bit sideways, and that's exactly what happens with  creation. It's not like it's all gone. We didn't suddenly become these awful,  worthless, terrible creatures. Instead, we're still those valuable creatures from  Genesis 1-2, but the intimacy all of those things that were made with us, they're  broken, they're compromised, they're cracked. And instead of seeing that we are exactly the way that we were made to be, we're trying to see ourselves as who  we were made to be and is dysfunctional and is not living up to things, and is  struggling and is unknown instead of as known, as beloved, as powerful and as  good. Because those relationships that were shattered, they were shattered with ourselves, Adam and Eve hide immediately and their own way that they see  themselves as broken. Are they still these powerful, authoritative figures? Do  they still have power and worth and value? Are they still good? I imagine in that  moment, Adam is working himself, going, I am such a failure. It's not the Bible.  You can't make an argument about what he is or is not saying that would be an  argument from silence. That's not good. But you can look at it and say, if I was in that space, I would be wondering if there was anything good about me because  I had just broken something that mattered so much. You can also see that his  relationship and his relationship to God completely shattered. They had walked  together in the garden together, and now they are walking apart from each other in separate places, and they're not even crossing paths. We see God come in  manifest form again in the Old Testament, but we see pieces of it, except in  cases like Aaron and Moses, where he is the cloud and he is the fire and he.  Walks with the Israelites day and night. But we never see this God walking  through the garden with Adam and Eve again, not until Jesus comes and we see God walking amidst his people again. We see the relationship is shattered  between Adam and Eve themselves. They're hiding from God, they're hiding  from each other, they are broken. Eve's desire is still for her husband and he will rule over her. That relationship is completely destroyed. And we saw with Adam  how his relationship with creation is also broken, how he was supposed to have  this incredible, abundant relationship with creation, and now instead, it's not.  And in the midst of a fallout like that, when everything falls apart, we have to ask the question, what's this mean about their mental health too? Because if we look at God's original design in Genesis 1-2, this isn't the design that says you're  going to feel anxious and you're going to feel depressed, you're going to feel  worthless. You're going to want to kill yourself. This is going to be awful. In fact,  your own brain is going to betray you on a very regular basis. It's a design that  says you are good, you are worthy, you are enough, you are fine, and you are  with me. And so the very idea of this is that mental illness is something that  comes out of that break. It comes out of that glass that is cracked in Genesis 3,  that somehow this puts our head, kind of in a nutcracker. It takes our brain and it

breaks it. I would argue that the fallouts of mental illness are all fallouts from  Genesis 3. You can say that, you know this is because of a person's sins. Is  because of anything, but everything was affected in Genesis 3. Everything  broke, and part of that is my own brain chemistry. Maybe some people you know that this isn't the way it was meant to be, but it's sideways, it's broken, it's  crooked now that before Genesis 3, we can see that there was no such thing as  this brokenness that would run through families. We didn't see things like child  abuse and neglect and brokenness, and we see that now, and that affects  largely how people integrate and how people used to be in the DSM -IV type two types of mental health issues, we don't see those but when one thing breaks in  Genesis 3, everything breaks. And so I'm not going to say that mental illnesses  are the fault of one person, but they entered the world through this lens, when  all this, when all of this brokenness starts, and that's how we live now in this  world with all of this brokenness. We will continue this next session when we  start talking about what mental illnesses are from a biological perspective. We're going to be talking about how common they are, some of the symptoms, what  they feel like. A little bit we're going to touch that more in week, in Session  Three. But next week is or next session, since I don't know when you're taking  these is largely going to do be dictating how common are these? What are the  symptoms? What do we look out for? What are these things from a biological  perspective? So that the further we get into this course, the more we can  continue to grow and develop and learn about how to integrate these things into  our faith. Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoyed this first session.