3 Warning and Hope
It really was true; they had it all. They lived in a beautiful part of the world, really too beautiful for words. They had jobs they loved, doing things that made a difference. They had a wonderful marriage free of accusation, conflict, and division. Every day was filled with beauty, purpose, and love. You and I would look at their lives and wish somehow, someway, we could enjoy the same. Not only were things horizontally peaceful and right, but they were vertically right as well. More important than the love they had for one another, they also lived in loving and worshipful peace with God. You simply could not imagine finding yourself and your loved ones in a better situation than theirs. Yes, they had it all, but sadly “all” sometimes is not enough.
In one single act of arrogance, defiance, and rebellion, they lost it all. There is no sadder moment in Scripture than the moment when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. Their world was damaged, their union with one another was damaged, their relationship with God was damaged, and the damage passed down to subsequent generations is breathtaking. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about it, but that single act of disobedience provides volumes of insight into how we, too, get ourselves into trouble and turn God’s good things into bad things. In fact, I think there are few stories in the Bible that provide more help for understanding our money problem than the story of the fall of Adam and Eve.
Take time to read Genesis 3 and then let me unpack that story for you.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely 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 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. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 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.”
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Eight Takeaways from the Fall of Adam and Eve
1. They listened to an alternative voice.
We miss so much in this historical account because this story is so familiar. The first thing that ought to jump off the page is that Eve was even willing to have this conversation with the Serpent. Why would she be interested in an alternative voice offering a radically different view of life from the one that God had given her? Why did she not run the minute a snake began to talk to her? Why didn’t she defend what she knew was true? It’s easy to look back at this moment and see the disastrous mistake that Eve made, but it’s not as easy to admit that we are more like Eve than unlike her.
You may be wondering what this has to do with our struggle with money. It gets to the heart of how we get ourselves into the money trouble that produces heart unrest and relational stress and robs us of our ability to live generous lives and contribute liberally to the work of the kingdom of God. There is no topic more talked about by Jesus than the topic of money, and if you stay within the borders of the wisdom of what he said, you will avoid the money trouble in which so many of us find ourselves.
But there is a voice to which we are tempted to give precedence over the voice of the Lord. I’m not talking about the voice of the Devil; I’m talking about our very own voice. I’ve said before what I’m about to say, but I think it’s particularly important here: no one is more influential in your life than you are, because no one talks to you more consistently than you do. You are in an unending conversation with yourself, and the things you say to you are formative of the desires, choices, decisions, and actions you take. Your inner conversation really does shape and influence everything in your life. This influence is powerfully seen in how you view and use the money that God has placed in your care.
When you are at the mall and something you don’t really need—but really want—has caught your eye, the decision to buy or not buy will be determined by one of two voices. You will listen to the protective voice of your Lord, who has said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth” (Matt. 6:19), or you will listen to the desires of your own heart and the logic you give yourself that makes this purchase acceptable to your conscience.
When God brings before you a needy person, you will argue inside yourself that you do not have the wherewithal to give or that there is another way this person will be taken care of, or you will submit your choice to the wise words of Jesus, who said, “Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you” (Matt. 5:42).
It really is true that our financial life is shaped by whatever voice we listen to, and it is also true that, in our sin, we are tempted to listen to ourselves more than we do our Lord.
2. They wanted what was prohibited.
There is a question that should greet you as you read this account of the temptation of Adam and Eve: “Why did Eve ever entertain a conversation about something that God had clearly prohibited?” Eve’s conversation with the Serpent was not about a morally gray area. God had marked his directions to Adam and Eve with one main prohibition: “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16–17).
Pause and think about this for a minute. Not only did God say, “Don’t ever eat from that tree,” but he followed it by saying, “If you do eat from it, you will die.” You would think that this would have been a “case-closed” issue for Eve—no need to think or converse anymore about it and no need for any internal debate. The only explanation for Eve’s willingness to have the conversation with the Serpent is that despite God’s warnings, Eve was already thinking about, considering, and even beginning to desire what God had clearly prohibited. An important and practical question to ask yourself again and again is this: “In what ways is my life troubled by wanting to use my money in ways or for things that God has prohibited?” There is a corollary question: “Where, when it comes to my use of money, have I failed to heed God’s wise and clear warnings?” (See 1 John 2:15 and 1 Tim. 6:10.)
3. They thought they knew better.
Between the “already” of our conversion and the “not yet” of our home going, either our lives are shaped by the submission of our hearts to the stunning wisdom of the Lord, graciously laid out for us in his Word, or somehow, someway we are telling ourselves that we know better. Adam and Eve disobeyed God because, at some point, they began to think that they knew better. Seeing themselves as smarter than God, they believed that eating from the tree, rather than resulting in dreaded things, would deliver to them good things. Sin always has us assuming we know better, and embedded in that assumption is the belief that good things can result from what God says is bad.
Every sin dethrones divine wisdom and enthrones human wisdom. So it is with money. Every misuse of money begins with elevating human wisdom over the wisdom of God. Every bit of money trouble begins with assuming that something God says is bad isn’t so bad after all. Every instance of paralyzing debt begins with denying human foolishness and minimizing the protective value of the wisdom of God. There is nothing more dangerous to our financial well-being than thinking, if even for an instant, that we are smarter than God.
4. They minimized God’s present provision.
I am deeply persuaded that there is a direct connection between ingratitude and financial trouble. To the degree that we are content with what God has graciously and lovingly provided, to that degree we have immunized ourselves against the temptation to take our lives into our own hands and to use our money however we think best. A grateful heart focuses on the riches provided and not on the things that may be lacking. The greatest protection for Eve against the temptation of the Serpent would have been a grateful heart. Her immediate response should have been, “Look at how God has lavishly provided for us. Why would we ever want anything more?” If she had focused on what she had been given and what had been provided, she would have had little interest in words of the Tempter.
This means that financial health and debt and trouble are the products of the meditations of your heart. If the eyes of your heart are focused on how God has provided for you way beyond anything you deserve, so that you are filled with humble gratitude and wonder, then your thoughts won’t be captured by all the things you don’t have. If you are persuaded that no one knows better what you need than the Lord and that he has been faithful in meeting those needs, then you don’t look toward the world with a needy and craving heart. You simply cannot separate debt and ingratitude. Debt would be much easier to solve if it were just a matter of too little money; it is made much more difficult because it almost always involves the cravings of our unthankful hearts.
Could it be that your tendency to minimize the provisions of your Lord has maximized your susceptibility to temptations to use your money unwisely?
5. They allowed themselves to doubt God.
The whole strategy of the Serpent’s temptation balanced on one thing: getting Eve to doubt the goodness of God. He was essentially saying, “Your God isn’t so good after all; he’s insecure, selfish, and jealous. He is withholding something wonderful from you because he’s afraid you will become like him and know what he knows, and if you know what he knows, you will no longer need to depend on him.” You see, if you and I allow ourselves to doubt the goodness of God, we will then take our lives into our own hands. You don’t put your life into the hands of someone you do not trust.
This has such powerful application to the way we view and use our money. Proper use of the resources God has given us always begins with a settled belief that what he commanded is wise, right, and for our good, and that what he has provided is loving, sufficient, and good. When we begin to doubt God’s goodness in the area of our money, we will quit following his commands, we will do what we think is best, and, in so doing, we will set ourselves up for all kinds of money trouble.
Could it be that although your theology says that God is good, the way you use your money reveals deep heart questions about his goodness and the kindness of his provisions? In counseling people with money problems, I was unprepared for how much doubt of and anger toward God I uncovered. I counseled people who had quit believing that God makes good on every one of his promises. I met people who had come to believe that God plays favorites. I met people who no longer believed that God hears and answers their prayers. I talked with people who were no longer sure that God’s commands are for their good. And I’ve counseled many people in whose heart praise had long since been replaced by complaint.
6. They decided to step over God’s boundaries.
All our lives are shaped and directed by moral choices. In fact, the character of every day is set by a series of moral choices. Most of these go on unnoticed because they go on in the mundane. Our lives aren’t shaped by three or four big moments but by thousands of little moments. It is the direction set by the little, everyday choices that determines how we respond and what we do in the grand, significant moments of our lives.
In the countless little moments of every day, we make inescapable moral decisions. No matter the subject, the decision is always about the same thing: will I choose to stay inside God’s boundaries and do what he says is right, or will I step over God’s boundaries and do what will get me what I want? If a Christian husband is yelling at his wife, saying things to her he should not say, he’s not yelling because he is ignorant of the fact that it’s wrong. He’s doing it because, at that point, he doesn’t care what God says is wrong. There is something he wants, and he will do whatever it takes to get it. In the same way, Adam and Eve didn’t eat the forbidden fruit because they were ignorant of the fact that it was forbidden. They knew where God had placed his boundaries, and they willingly stepped over them to get what they wanted.
Your use of money will be shaped by momentary moral choices. Will you stay inside God’s wise and loving boundaries and use your money in the way he says is best or step over his boundaries to get whatever it is you want? Yes, some of our money problems are rooted in ignorance; we haven’t taken time to learn all that God has to say about this important part of our lives. But could it be that many of our money troubles are the result not of ignorance but of rebellion? Could it be that we get ourselves into money trouble because we want our way more than we want his glory? Could it be that real and lasting change in our financial lives will come not as the result of more information but as the result of heartfelt, personal self-examination and confession?
7. They denied clear potential consequences.
The warning of God was clear: “You shall surely die” (Gen. 2:17). These were words of love by a God of love to people he loved. An announcement of judgment is always an act of grace. If judgment is the overarching goal, there is no need for a warning. Warnings alert people to danger so that they will turn and go in another direction. If you ignore the warning and do exactly what you have been warned not to do, you do it because you have been able to convince yourself that you can do it without facing the predicted consequences.
One of the scariest aspects of the deceitfulness of sin is how it enables sinners to deny the consequences of their sin. We are all able to swindle ourselves into thinking that we will not suffer the ill effects of the wrong things we do. A person committing adultery convinces himself that he can get away with it and that his marriage will be okay. We tell ourselves that we can eat more than our bodies require and not face the negative effects on our health. And we think that we can love material things and spend ourselves into debt, and it will be okay.
There is no greater danger to your handling of money than your ability to deny the consequences of your love for and misuse of it. Money problems do not begin with a bad budget, frivolous spending, or poor investments; money problems begin with a lifestyle of denial. To the degree that you are able to convince yourself that God’s warnings concerning money will not fall on you, you are setting yourself up to use money in ways that God never intended. Remember, Adam and Eve were able to step over God’s boundaries because they were able to convince themselves that they would not face consequences for doing so. Likewise, money problems and denial are inextricably connected.
8. They shifted the blame to someone else.
Whenever you and I are able to convince ourselves that we do the things we do, not because of what is inside us, but because of things outside us, we don’t humbly confess our need and run to the grace of God, which is our only help. But, like Adam and Eve, blaming what’s outside is often our first response. Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Serpent, and neither one accepted responsibility for their rebellion.
When it comes to money, we are tempted to do the same thing. It is scarily natural for us to blame the economy, the size of our paycheck, the advice of another, the high cost of things, or someone near to us for the financial trouble in our lives. It is often sadly easy to convince ourselves that our money trouble is not the result of the thoughts and desires of our own hearts. And when we do this, we not only don’t get the help we need at the place where it is most needed, but we set ourselves up for further financial difficulty. When we shift the blame, we not only deny our need for help, but we also leave our hearts unchanged and our habits unaltered. Could it be that you have financial woes in your life that never get fixed because you have become all too skilled at shifting the blame?
Genesis 3 is in the Bible not only as a history of how the disaster of sin entered the world, but as a warning to us. The fall of Adam and Eve into sin stands as a case study into how we all fall, and because it does, it is also a case study of how we get ourselves into money problems. But to leave our discussion there would be depressing. This passage portrays for us one of the darkest moments of human history, followed by the most tragic consequences that are also infused with bright and glorious hope. God was unwilling to leave his world enshrouded in the darkness of sin and death and walk away. He had the righteous right to do so. But our Lord isn’t just perfectly righteous; he is gloriously gracious as well. So as he sends Adam and Eve out of the garden, he predicts how this thing will be fixed.
Speaking to the Serpent, God says, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). And with these words God promised help for every aspect of money temptation, every instance of money foolishness, every moment of money denial, and every circumstance of money love. You may be thinking, “Paul, you got all that out of those words?” Here is why those words carry all our money-sanity hopes. If the deepest of our money struggles live inside us and not outside us, then we are simply not able to help ourselves. A new commitment to changed spending habits won’t help us, a stricter budget won’t help us, reading another money book won’t help us. All these things are beneficial, but unless the core problem is addressed, our money problems will not be solved—and the core problem is us.
So in that dark moment in the garden, God promises that out of the woman will come a Son who will crush the Serpent’s head. And in these shadowy words, God is telling us that Mary will give birth in Bethlehem to a son, but not just any son. Her Son will be the Messiah, and in his life, death, and resurrection he will once and for all defeat the power of sin within us and the power of the Devil outside us. At the judgment of Adam and Eve, God promises that his Son will come and bear our judgment, purchase our forgiveness, and restore our relationship to the One who made us. And in that restored relationship with God we will find everything we need to live, in every area of our lives including our money, in the way that God intended.
In the coming of the seed of Mary is the promise of rescue, forgiveness, empowerment, personal transformation, and ultimately our final deliverance from temptation and sin. This means that the remedy for all that causes trouble in our lives—including money trouble—is found in the person, presence, and grace of Jesus. If you are God’s child, you are never alone in your money struggle, because the seed of the woman, Jesus, is in you and for you and with you. He battles on your behalf, even in those moments when you are too confused, tired, or discouraged to battle. He battles for you in those moments when you are running the other way. And he will battle for you until there is no need to battle anymore.
The way to connect to his grace is by running to him and admitting that there is evidence in your money life of how much you need it. Your Savior lived in the world you live in and faced the temptations you face, so he won’t be shocked by your struggle, he won’t mock your weakness, and he won’t turn his back on you when you cry out for his help. Fight the deceit of denial and the self-righteousness of blame-shifting and come to him in humble honesty and watch what he will do.
Review and Reflect
1. Eve was willing to converse with the Serpent in the garden of Eden. What does her willingness indicate about her heart at that moment? What “voices” echo loudest in your heart when it comes to your spending habits?
2. Do you use money in ways prohibited by God’s Word? If so, prayerfully seek to uncover why these wrong ways appeal to you. How do 1 John 2:15 and 1 Timothy 6:10 expose the reality of the sin that attracts you?
3. Paul Tripp writes, “Every misuse of money begins with elevating human wisdom over the wisdom of God” (p. 47). How do James 3:13–18 and 4:1–8 hold this tendency in check?
4. How does ingratitude fuel financial difficulties?
5. Why does Paul Tripp claim that “money problems begin with a lifestyle of denial” (p. 51)?
Heart Reset