the first necessary step to salvation

"then the eyes of both of them were opened".

today's passage comments that adam and eve's eyes were opened to their guilt the moment they sinned against God. mr. stott puts it this way: "they now saw with clarity the folly and wickedness of their rebellion against God".

as terrible as that moment must have been for adam and eve, how much better to feel guilt and "the folly and wickedness of our rebellion against God" than to have such a hardened heart as to feel nothing at all!

it is the first necessary step to our salvation.

all our lives, even as we acknowledge in some general way that we are sinners, we make endless excuses and rationalizations for our sinful behavior,

but it is truly a horrific moment the very first time our "eyes are really opened" and we see with clarity the extent of our "folly and wickedness of our rebellion against God."

guilt, shame, remorse, failure, fear, terror are inadequate terms to describe the person who for the first time realizes in a personal way their sinfulness before the living God.

that moment is as terrible for us as it surely must have been for adam and eve. like them, all we want to do is to hide, to forget, to run as far away from His presence as we can.

but it is only when we realize the extent of our sinfulness that we are driven to Jesus Christ, to plead with Him for mercy, grace, forgiveness.

i fear that too many times these days, when we sin against God, we feel nothing at all, ingenious as we are in rationalizing our behavior and shifting blame to others.

having "our eyes opened" is an unpleasant and wretching experience, but how necessary if we are ever to come to the Lord and receive His salvation! would we come to Him otherwise?

if you sin against the Lord and feel nothing, pray for "eyes to be opened", a tender conscience and a broken heart.

as terrible as it is, it is a gift, a mercy of God, this ability to feel.