Broken Vessels
Our lives are by no means easy. Since the fall and Adam’s willful disobedience in the Garden of Eden, mankind has been cursed with sorrow and pain, and to toil and work constantly just to survive. We are all broken vessels.
Genesis 3:16-19, to the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be towards your husband, and he shall rule over you.” Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, And to dust you shall return.”
Paradise Lost
For a time we had a paradise that provided everything we could ever want or need. We lived in complete peace and health, and in perfect unity with God. Then, one flawed decision destroyed it all. As a result, we gained a cursed and broken world full of broken people. As we see in Genesis 3, that one decision by Adam to obey his wife and not God cursed not only him, but his wife and the planet God had created. Pain and suffering were now the norm.
Women would now suffer pain in childbirth. One wonders how it might have occurred if the fall had never happened. My guess is there would never have been pain or sorrow. Today, according to Trends in Postpartum Depressive Symptoms — 27 States, 2004, 2008, and 2012, 1 in 9 women suffer from postpartum depression after childbirth. Just imagine, 11 percent of women who give birth being depressed and in some cases suicidal. That should not be our normal. Giving birth to a new life should be one of the most joyous and happy moments in a woman’s life. This is a direct result of the curse.
Created as Partners
In addition, women would also be ruled over by their husbands. That wasn’t the case in Eden. Women were created as a helper and nurturer to walk alongside their husbands. They were to share in the work of stewarding Eden together. They are not meant to be ruled over but to rule alongside:
Genesis 1:28, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Willful Disobedience
It is my humble opinion that Adam’s sin was far greater than Eve’s. Eve’s actions affected her and all women, but Adam’s affected all of creation. Therefore there were far greater consequences. Eve let herself be deceived by the Serpent. The earth is cursed because Adam chose to obey Eve and disobey God. The land would not produce effortlessly as it had in the garden. Now, Adam had to work the land by the sweat of his brow and he too would suffer sorrow. The land would resist him and bring forth thorns and thistles. Plants that would steal nutrients from other beneficial plants and choke them out but are not beneficial to man for food. The land would do all it could to fight man so that his work would be difficult.
Not only that, but as God had warned them both when He told them not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would now suffer death. Before, Adam and Eve were perfect and would live forever. Once the sin entered they corrupted themselves and began the death process. Every man, woman, and child, from now on would experience growing old and death at some point. And just as they were from the dust of the earth, they would return to the dust of the earth.
Obedience to God Above All
Eve let herself be deceived, but Adam willfully chose to disobey God and chose to obey his wife. That’s a good lesson for us today. If God tells you not to do something or to do something, obey Him and Him alone. God is the one who knows the end from the beginning and we only see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). Adam and Eve did not immediately die. But, because of their actions, death now has power over the earth. Now, everything living dies.
In Genesis 1-2, we can see that brokenness was never meant to be a part of human life on Earth. Adam and Eve were in a protected, enclosed area of rest and pleasure. Psalm 23 is a great example of what Eden was for Adam and Eve. “He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters (quiet waters of rest)”. The garden was a safe and good place. It was a place of life in which death had no dominion. Then the fall.
A Fallen World
Today, as a result of that fall, our world is the exact opposite of Eden. Our world will break us and crush us back into dust. The ruler of this world, the Accuser of the brethren, Satan, looks to sift us as wheat. I’m sure many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Stress and all manner of traumas surround us on all sides. Every second of every day of every year we walk through walls of stress and trauma that cling to us until one day we have so many layers surrounding us we can no longer move or breathe. We become stuck in life and slowly suffocate.
We are broken vessels. The world sees us as useless and not worth their time. We become burdens to those around us. They throw us away. We suddenly have little value left to those around us. Those closest to us see only part of our struggles. Sometimes it’s because they choose not to see, sometimes we choose to hide from them. Most times it’s both. Either way, we wander looking for a new purpose in our brokenness. Looking for a reason to stay alive other than just staying alive.
There is Hope
There is hope for the broken vessels. God promises and tells his people throughout His word that His broken vessels are important to Him:
Psalm 34:18, The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Isaiah 42:3, A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
Psalm 147:3, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Hosea 6:1-3, Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight? Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
Psalm 51:16-17, For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; you are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Matthew 5:4, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Agents of Restoration
Hold tight to God and bury yourself in His heart precious broken vessel. He will remake you and create something beautiful in you. You will become His Agent of Restoration.