West Main

WHAT  IS  YOUR  CONFESSION?

The need for confession is one result from the original Fall into sin. Remember, God declared to Adam and Eve, “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” (Genesis 2:16-17). We are all too familiar on how this story ends. Adam and Eve disobey God resulting in God’s decree, “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” (Genesis 3:22).

What we perhaps do not often acknowledge about the fall concerns God’s words, “now…knowing good,” as well as knowing evil. There is often a tendency to think the Fall concerns just the power of evil entering our lives. However, just as destructible to us is the knowledge of the good. The issue is not what is deemed good in-and-of itself, but the issue is our discerning what is to be deemed good, and when and how to live out the good.

What God teaches in part in the Garden of Eden is that only in relationship to God in obedience can humanity know good and evil. Obedience is not to be reduced to simplistic notions of “Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there” (Isaiah 28:10). More fully, obedience to God teaches us the structure in which our relationship to God, others, and our own selves can thrive and reach the fullest potential. In other words, obedience is about love. As we read in First John, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2). In obedience to God’s commands we come to experience and know what is “good” about God, others, our own selves, and life!

By partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve ushered into humanity independent choice. No longer were our choices made in obedient relation to God that fosters the love and life of all. Now with sin in the world, we can independently choose what we believe to be good and evil.   How are we doing so far with that independent choice? The depth of pain and misery that is the human race makes God’s banishing us from the tree of life appear as an act of mercy. If we create so much destruction in the world in the few days we are given to live on this planet, then just imagine the destruction we could inflict living forever.

The need for confession arises due to this arrogance of our independent choices. Out of step with our relationship to God, we do not promote the good that fosters love in this world. We need to confess our sin in not obeying God that results in the evil we inflict on each other and our own selves. Without confession our relationships to God on down would remain in a broken condition. Confession is the “healing balm of Gilead” that begins to repair the damage we have done.

Brothers and Sisters of West Main, will you confess your sins so as to be healed, or will you persist with independent choice bringing harm to yourselves, others, and God? What is your confession?

– Terry