Daughters of Eve

You may have noticed when reading or watching C.S. Lewis’ work The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, that he refers to men as “sons of Adam” and women as “daughters of Eve.”  While Lewis did not originate these terms (see Genesis), I think his reference to men and women in this way is both a wise use of composition and theology. 

There is a publication here in the lowcountry called Skirt!.  From their website:  “Skirt! is all about women…their work, play, families, creativity, style, health and wealth, bodies and souls.  Skirt! is an attitude…spirited, independent, outspoken, serious, playful and irreverent, sometimes controversial and always passionate.”  I am not a regular reader of Skirt!, however, the June 2009 issue caught my attention with its emphasis on our original mother, Eve.  From the front page:

Interview with Eve:

Adam never had much luck with women.  Don’t get me started on those fig leaves . . . guess who got stuck with the laundry from Day One?  While Adam snored, the snake and I stayed up to schmooze.  And believe me, he knew all the dirt in the Garden.  That apple?  Adam never let me live it down.  No matter what went wrong, he was like, “If you hadn’t eaten that apple blah blah blah . . .”  Let me set the record straight . . . Adam and I have the same number of ribs.  All I can say about Cain is that one day I was in Paradise and the next I was raising a rotten apple.  Am I bitter?  How would you like to go down in history as “the devil’s getaway?”. . . Do I regret the apple?  No, but your first one is always the most delicious!

On page 17 you will find the introduction to June’s issue, which states:

Read all about it! 

Woman bites Apple!

Adam blames Eve!

Eve blames Snake!

Snake:  No comment!

Charged with original sin!

Eve Turns Heads in fig leaf!

Deported from Paradise!

Snake leaves court on belly!

Couple sentenced to hard labor!

Eve Rocks World!

The excerpts above give you a pretty clear glimpse of the issue . . . articles about women achieving all kinds of freedom in their day-in and day-out lives: an issue by women and for women.  Of everything that I read in this issue of Skirt!, the final line of that last statement is what struck me:  “Eve Rocks World!”  Undoubtedly, the writer is precisely correct on that point. 

Eve did indeed make a choice that forever changed the world.  Further, the line from the cover referring to Adam’s passivity in the Garden is right on target.  While the June issue of Skirt! is not (at all) intended to be a theological treatise on original sin, I think it nonetheless provides an interesting perspective on a “modern” woman’s view of that critical moment in the Garden (a perspective much different from my own).

Pondering the lives of Adam and Eve left me meditating on that instant in the Garden so long ago:

• That moment when Eve believed she knew better than her Maker
• That moment when the importance of submission and headship is clearly seen
• That moment when a serpent unveils himself as the father of lies
• That moment when eyes are indeed opened, and sin enters an undefiled world
• That moment when nakedness is understood
• That moment . . . that one, single moment that would forever change the undefiled cosmos

I am a daughter of Eve.  Left to my own desires and fleshly passions, I too, am prone to think I know better than my Maker.  I can desire to lead when I should follow and I am easily prone to believe the lies of the enemy . . . just like Eve did.  But for the grace of God – while sin and death and perversion and corruption may have entered the world in that one single moment, we cannot escape the Garden without looking forward to the cross: 

• That moment when the wisdom of God was displayed (I Cor. 1:18-31)
• That moment when headship and submission is most clearly seen (Ephesians 5)
• That moment when the serpent’s head is crushed (Genesis 3; John 19:30)
• That moment when sin is defeated (John 19:30)
• That moment when nakedness is covered with the righteous robes of Christ (Rev. 7:14)
• That moment . . . that one, single moment that would forever change the completely defiled cosmos. 

Eve’s decision is not insignificant – she did change the world.  However, lest we give ourselves (as daughters of Eve) too much credit, it must be remembered that the fruit was not as much about Eve as it was about Christ.  Did Eve disobey when she ate the fruit?  Yes.  Did her decision have consequences?  Certainly.  Was this Garden scene but a moment in God’s ultimate drama of redemption?  Absolutely.  Eve made her own choice, but that choice did not leave God scrambling.  From eternity past, God planned to redeem a people for His own glory.  His plan of redemption is evident even in the act of sending Adam and Eve out of the Garden, as God displayed both His absolute hatred for sin and wisdom in judging evil.

Daughters of Eve, we have a loving Father who redeems us from our rebellion.  However – it does come at the cost of our “freedom” as we submit to Him in repentance.  May we humbly lay down the supposed right to independence in an effort to exemplify the submission that Christ displayed for the sake of the Gospel.  Because ladies - despite what Skirt! might say, it really isn’t all about us.

When we resist authority, we become more vulnerable to Satan’s attacks and to sin, even as Eve sinned when she acted apart from the authority of her husband.  On the other hand, when we willingly take our place under God-ordained authority, we are granted God’s protective covering, we release Him to work in the lives of those in authority over us, we reveal to the world the beauty of God’s created order, we proclaim His right to rule over the universe, Satan is defeated in his attempts to dethrone God, and we cooperate in establishing His kingdom.                                                          – Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Lies Women Believe (261)