God's Sabbath

H OW I T A LL B EGAN

243

“Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” 1Timothy 2:14. The question now was, how should he handle the difficulty confronting him? The choice lay between recognizing that his loving, heavenly Father was the only legitimate Problem Solver, or undertaking this work himself. The future of humanity hinged on the decision he would make. If he had trustingly and submissively said, “God is our Problem Solver. I will not make any move to unravel this difficulty myself, but will commit it in to the hands of my Creator and accept any solution He offers”, the Father would have provided a perfect solution. Adam would have remained as the prince of this world and Satan would have been defeated. Sin would never have become established on this earth, and there would have been no sickness, death, destruc tion, wars, or misery of any kind. We do not know what God’s solution would have been, nor what would have happened to Eve. By choosing to be his own problem solver, Adam deprived God of the opportunity to reveal His divine solution. Adam did not make his choice lightly. He knew very well what had happened. The angel they had been warned about had de ceived his spouse and he knew this would result in his separa tion from her whose society had been his joy. A deep insight in to Adam’s decision is revealed in the following paragraph: “There was a terrible struggle in his mind.... all these bless ings were lost sight of in the fear of losing that one gift which in his eyes outvalued every other. Love, gratitude, loyalty to the Creator—all were overborne by love to Eve. She was a part of himself, and he could not endure the thought of separation. He did not realize that the same Infinite Power who had from the dust of the earth created him, a living, beautiful form, and had in love given him a companion, could supply her place. He re solved to share her fate; if she must die, he would die with her. After all, he reasoned, might not the words of the wise serpent be true? Eve was before him, as beautiful, and apparently as in nocent as before this act of disobedience. She expressed greater love for him than before. No sign of death appeared in her, and he decided to brave the consequences. He seized the fruit and quickly ate.” Patriarchs and Prophets , 56.2.