Who opened the Door?

 

I presume that we all know the account of Adam, Eve, the serpent and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that’s recorded in Genesis chapter two.

Maybe you can do with a brief reminder.

God formed Adam from the dust, planted a beautiful garden in Eden, including two trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, then He placed Adam in the garden, charging him with its care.

And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely 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 die.” – Genesis 2:16-17 (NRSVUE)

God then creates a companion for Adam, a woman who he eventually named Eve. They were living as intended until Eve had an encounter.

Long story short, the serpent enticed Eve into eating from the tree that God had commanded Adam not to eat from, then Eve gave its fruit to Adam and he ate as well. They were all reprimanded by God, a curse was placed on the serpent, Eve was promised exceedingly great pains during childbirth, and Adam, for his disobedience God said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil 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 until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:17-19 (NRSVUE)

God had set specific boundaries which Adam crossed by eating from the tree but more than that, Adam ignored the voice of God and listened to the voice of his wife instead. For Adam’s disobedience, God pronounced a judgement of “death”; that was never the original intention. Adam cracked open the door to mortality.

Adam’s was a transgression of God’s direct command but not a sin against the law, for sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. (Romans 5:13 NRSVUE). The commandments of Sinai were not yet in place.

God’s specific command was a “tsavah”, a directive from God that set boundaries, and not a “mitzvah” which refers to the Mosaic laws and obligations.

Our English rendering stands wanting as these distinctions matter. The original languages of Hebrew and Greek give a more comprehensive perspective of Scripture.

Adam’s and our failure to listen and obey God’s “tsavah” demands consequences so, as a result of their disobedience Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden, forfeiting access to the Tree of Life which would have the benefits of immortality, instead their existence would continue through painful procreation.

Enter Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve’s first and second born sons. Cain is a farmer, a tiller of the ground and Abel a shepherd. Their story revolves around their acts of sacrifice to God and His response.

Abel’s sacrifice finds favour with God, but Cain’s offering did not. Cain became very angry and God said to him,

“Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it.” – Genesis 4:6-7 (NRSVUE)

Cain received a direct warning from God about sin. His father, Adam, received a direct command but this was a completely different kind of command and like his father before him, Cain ignored God, and succumbing to his anger, killed his younger brother in a jealous rage.

Then God, just as He had done with Adam, engages Cain in dialogue.

“Where is your brother Abel?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen, your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground! – Genesis 4:9-10 (NRSVUE)

Beloved, the Hebrew word used for blood here is in the plural, indicating that Abel’s “bloods”, that is his progeny with all their potential, was crying out; Cain had murdered Abel and every one of his descendants.

Adam cracked open the door, but Cain swung the door wide open. His failure to obey the voice of God and lack of repentance for his vile act was an act of rebellion. He opened the door for sin to come in and it spread like an epidemic.

Adam’s actions introduced mortality, sealing it into the human condition but Cain caused sin to master him and in so doing he was the one, not his father, who opened the door to the sin that was lurking, lying in wait for a moment like this.

Adam introduced sin through his transgression but his son Cain, by his iniquity, unleashed sin and made death our fate.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned – Romans 5:12 (NRSVUE)

Sin entered and death followed immediately after.

Do not let yourself be overcome by evil, but overcome (master) evil with good. – Romans 12:21 (AMPC)

Cain might have been the one who opened the door, but God had a plan to close it.

Enter Jesus Christ.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.– John 3:16 (NRSVUE)

Jesus, through His death and resurrection, closed the door!

Jesus overturned the certainty of mortality, restored access to what the Tree of Life signified, and conquered death (ref.1 Corinthians 15:26).

so that, just as sin reigned in death, so grace might also reign through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. – Romans 5:21(NRSVUE)

Beloved, Cain spread the reign of death and Jesus Christ reopened the way of life for He is the Way, and the Truth and the Life (ref. John 14:6).

I shall end today’s reflection with a line from one of Charles Wesley’s hymns, A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify.

Amen †

Shelley Johnson “Who opened the Door?” ©2026 February 3, 2026