16 - The Accuser

The Accuser

When we look back, the first time we see Adam and Eve confronted with their own limitation as creation is not by God asking if they ate of the tree, but when the serpent confronts them in the garden. The serpent implicitly introduces a standard of measurement by comparing them to God, then immediately showing that they do not measure up. What is not revealed is that creation can and never will measure up to God. Adam and Eve perceive this deficiency to be a lack on their part that can perhaps be rectified, rather than the natural state of the created order. This is not by any fault of their own. Further, where is it that we see God as "Satan" the accuser? Does God state that 'you are this" or "you did that"?

No. God asked a question and let us use our freedom to accuse ourselves. Our response is everything. God offers the chance to trip on the rug and break a leg, or catch one’s self and carry on. The choice is whether to take responsibility, repent and find how to fix things; or to deny any responsibility. We are limited creatures, mistakes are made. However God is far more concerned with our reaction to our mistakes than the actual mistakes themselves. Adam and Eve could have responded with repentance and asked how to make things right. However instead they denied responsibility. Adam and Eve fall flat on their face and break their noses, each blaming another as the responsible party. This is the true fall: the denial of responsibility associated with refashioning God into a serpent god.

We accuse ourselves of falling short of perfection and realizing we never can reach the perfect imitation of God, we place our disappointment on God creating the serpent god. The serpent god is responsible for creating us as limited creatures yet always demanding perfection. The serpent god is responsible for accusing us when we never attain perfection. Yet God does not call us sinners. God does not set himself as a standard for which creation and more specifically humanity is to be judged by. This is what the serpent does. God is not the accuser. God is not Satan.