It was the first crime in history. Perfection was marred, eternal life met death, fellowship
became flawed. In a moment, everything was taken from them due to their choices.
Curses were pronounced: pain in childbirth, toil in labor, a continuous fight with evil.
Then, they were banished from their home. Paradise on earth was lost. Painful living
was what was in store for them. Every generation would suffer the terrible effects of that
fateful day. All of this torment from a moment of a woman talking to a serpent, while a
husband stood silently by.
This woman did not yet have a name. Her husband, after the fall, gave her a name.
Genesis 3:20
Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
Adam named Eve based on who she would be, the good she would do; instead of
the harm and sin of her past. Eve had committed the first of all crimes so he could have
chosen a name to reflect her evil actions. Yet, he bestowed upon her a name based on
what she would become not on what she had done.
How different would relationships be if we “named” each other on the potential instead
of the problem? Or what if we named ourselves based on what God has created us to
be instead of what our choices in the past led us to do? The name “Eve” means “living”
or “life”. Adam called out life, although their choices had created the reality of death.
Eve fulfilled her name and brought life to earth which continues today. Yes, death also
still occurs, but death is not the end. Life continues because of the greatest of Eve’s
descendants, Jesus. Her giving of life ultimately gave us Life Himself, God in flesh. She
fulfilled the name Adam gave her by bringing the opportunity of eternal life for all
through Jesus.
Whatever labels placed on us in the past, even those we created by our own bad
choices, do not have to continue any longer. May we receive a new name today. The
second Adam, Jesus, calls us Beloved, Chosen, Saint, Child of God, Righteous,
Masterpiece, A New Creation, Redeemed, Friend. Let us choose to believe the name
He gives us and we will see new life flow forth from us to others.