This episode features Father Mike Schmitz, host of the Bible in a Year podcast produced by Ascension, using the Great Adventure Bible timeline to read through Scripture chronologically.

Day two covers Genesis chapters 3 and 4, exploring humanity's fall from grace and the first murder, along with Psalm 104 celebrating God's creation and providence.

Father Mike examines the serpent's temptation strategy, God's response to sin, and the difference between curse and remedy in the consequences given to Adam and Eve.

The discussion extends to Cain and Abel's offerings, exploring why one was accepted and the other rejected, and what this teaches about giving God our first fruits rather than leftovers.

The Serpent's Strategy: Challenging God's Trustworthiness

The serpent in Genesis 3 is described using a term that elsewhere in the Bible means leviathan, sea monster, or dragon - indicating a fearsome, dangerous creature that Eve would recognize as threatening.

"He doesn't overtly challenge God's existence. He doesn't even overtly challenge God's authority. But he does challenge God's trustworthiness when he says, 'Did God really say?'" - Father Mike

The serpent's implication is that God doesn't want humans to be like Him, suggesting God is withholding something good rather than protecting them. This shifts the question from believing in God to belonging to Him.

"God doesn't simply want us to believe in Him. That's not the point. The point is not to believe in Him. The point is to belong to Him" - Father Mike explains the core test of faith.

God's Heartbreak: The Father's Response to Sin

When God asks "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" Father Mike emphasizes how we hear this question reveals our vision of God.

"We could hear the true heart of the Father, who would say, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I've commanded you not to eat?' What we hear is the heartbreak of the father in his voice" - Father Mike

The consequences given to Adam and Eve are remedies, not curses. Only the serpent receives an actual curse in Genesis 3 - the text does not call Adam and Eve's consequences curses.

Eve will bring forth life in pain, and Adam will work by the sweat of his brow among thorns and thistles. These are painful remedies teaching that love always involves sacrifice, since they failed to choose love freely.

The Tree of Life: Mercy in Exile

God places cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the tree of life, preventing Adam and Eve from eating and living forever in their broken state.

"God's saying, no, stay away from the tree of life because I don't want you to live in this brokenness for eternity. I will now allow you to live in this world in such a way that you will end up dying so that you can be raised up" - Father Mike

Genesis 3:21 reveals God's continued care: "The Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them." Something had to die for God to clothe them, connecting love with sacrifice.

Cain and Abel: First Fruits vs. Leftovers

Abel brought "some of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions" while Cain brought "an offering of the fruit of the ground" - not necessarily first fruits, just whatever.

"Do I give God the best or do I just give God whatever's left? Because one offering is acceptable and gives glory to God, and the other offering might in some ways be meaningless" - Father Mike on the difference between the offerings.

The principle applies to prayer and daily schedules: giving God the first fruits means putting prayer as the first rock in the calendar that doesn't get moved, not just whatever time is left over.

"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" - God's warning to Cain declares humans do not have to sin.

"Even when we are broken, even when we are angry, even when we are tempted, we do not have to sin. God is declaring that we do not have to sin. You can be the master of the evil that is within us" - Father Mike

Love and Sacrifice: The Pattern Established

Adam and Eve were made for labor, leisure, and love. They failed to choose love, which always involves sacrifice, so now they must learn this through painful remedies.

The garments of skins God made for Adam and Eve required something to die, establishing the profound connection between love and sacrifice that runs throughout Scripture.

"As an act of love, love always involves sacrifice. And so I will now, in order to love you, I have to sacrifice something. And each day, what that means is I have to sacrifice some of my time to spend with you, to be in prayer" - Father Mike applies this to daily life.