It was a beautiful garden. A place of peace, calmness and order. All was perfect, in complete innocence. There was no fear of rejection or retaliation for inadvertently doing something wrong, no shame that comes with the loss of innocence. Adam was completely vulnerable: naked but unashamed because of the robe of light that enshrouded him and his wife.

Suddenly, a different melody is heard: Sounds of derision. A voice brings a new language, contempt and accusation. Perfection is broken; now there’s an enemy in the picture. Shockingly, God is the One thought to be the enemy. He’s not viewed as innocent anymore. He is falsely accused of stealing Adam’s power and knowledge.

​The accusation once received and believed leads to action: God’s words—as supposedly not trustworthy anymore—are broken, and Adam eats the fruit. Judgment, once embraced, pervades. The light is now gone and nakedness now is shame. Adam covers himself and hides. Man accuses the woman, the woman accuses the serpent; in essence, all accuse God.

​Actions bring results. God is sadly compelled to distribute consequences to all parties involved. However, He doesn’t play the blame game. Although accused, He follows a different path, the path of love, of grace. Adam is ashamed and scared, waiting for the moment God will bring retaliation for his failure at the tree. Instead of that, the Creator prepares garments and covers the shame. God strips His Son so that Adam’s shame could be covered.

​We often read the Eden story, knowing it is factual history: That’s how sin entered into the world. It’s true, however, that history in general—and especially the book of Genesis—is not only factual history, it also narrates our personal story. It tells us not only the dynamics of the past entrance of sin in the world but also shows us how that same dynamic is replayed in the life of every human being, including us.

​There’s innocence and the forbidden, unnoticed fruit. A voice appears with accusation, trivializing our innocence and planting seeds of dissension and injustice in our hearts. The fruit becomes alluring to the eyes. The idea is fostered that simplicity is not enough, and that our liberation is exactly based on what’s forbidden—and so, the fruit is abruptly eaten. Innocence is lost, shame dominates, and we embrace the path of accusation. Accusation against others, accusation charged against us and ultimately accusations against God. As that which was broken is irreparable, the consequences and  guilt are too weighty to endure. It is better to find a scapegoat. Once we give entrance to the accuser’s voice, we ourselves become accusers.

​So, we need to deal with two questions: Where and what is the accuser’s voice? The accuser’s voice is that which skews God’s creation and words. It’s the voice that comes and plants contempt toward us or others. It’s the voice that accuses God of not providing enough for happiness and invites us to seek for it outside of His will. It’s the voice that bring distrust to God’s actions and His will.

​We are part of God’s creation. We are His beloved children. He looks to us with love. Even when we fail and hurt Him, He still looks to us with love and tenderness. There’s no retaliation, no contempt from God towards us. There’s abundance of acceptance.

The voice of the accuser is that who comes and calls us unworthy, hinders our value and is immeasurably harsh on our mistakes. This is the voice brings shame, rejection, unneeded retaliation, unnecessary and unkind criticism. All of this is part of that voice.

​Where’s that voice? It can be everywhere. The devil allured the beautiful serpent and used it as the means to speak so he could allure people, even good and well-intentioned people. Wasn’t that voice present in the God-fearing Peter when he reprimanded Jesus? That voice can speak to us through friends at school that judge our actions, making us feel weird and ashamed for who we are. That voice can speak through brethren in church when they, many times with good intentions, see each and every one of our faults and may criticize us in an overzealous expectation to correct us, to make us better. That voice can speak also through our parents, who are not perfect and sometimes demand too much from us or are too critical, too hard to please. . . . That voice can be everywhere. And surely we must beware lest—woe to us—that voice spring from within us, too!

​Once the voice is heard and believed, it makes room in the heart, making itself the measuring rod for oneself and others. But Jesus tells us not to judge others, lest we likewise be judged. He doesn’t mention here God as the judge. He only mentions judgment. My guess is that He’s referring not to God, but instead to that accuser’s voice which pervades when accepted.

​It’s interesting how often revolutions, such as the French and Bolshevik Revolutions, raised up with violence against violence and injustice, end up perpetrating even more violence and injustice. It’s interesting how when you enter in contact with marginalized, bullied groups, you often find a repetition of the same pattern towards others and themselves. Hurt people hurt people. Judgment leads to judgment.

​Maybe someone in church, family or school was the instrument for that voice speaking to you. Maybe harsh words, judgments or intolerant behavior hurt you, stole your pleasure in sharing at the church or enjoying friendship or even in religion itself. Maybe this resulted in shyness, fear of rejection and retaliation, apathy or some other things. Maybe you listened to the voice and that seed brought bitter fruit to you.

​“Can’t they see the beam in their eyes?” You may have asked yourself, remembering Luke 6:41, 42. “They speak this way to me, but they also do their own thing. They’re hypocrites. Hey—take first the beam out of your own eye and then come to talk with me.” I can say that one of the things that most angers me is hypocrisy, when people come and try to demand from me or others things that they themselves don’t follow; when they come to “biblically” attack the faults of others but they do it with a harshness that’s opposed to all that’s truly biblical. As a result, I tend to judge them. And, it doesn’t take long before I’m replaying the same pattern and using their “beam” to deviate from the beam in my own eye!

​The accuser’s voice is not the only voice in the Garden. God is also speaking. It’s a voice of honesty but full of grace. The consequences are there—what’s wrong is wrong—but there’s also an abundance of grace. Having a beam in the eye is extremely painful, seeing the speck in others’ eyes is a way to divert from the pain and guilt oneself faces. When attacked, instead of retaliating, God looks beyond what’s on the exterior and sees the despair, guilt and abandonment on the interior. When He sees that, He can’t but respond with an abundance of love, even in correction.

Did you ever stop to see the pain behind those who hurt you? Maybe, behind all the critiques and harshness, there’s a cry for help, for grace. The same cry that’s inside you. The voice of grace is calling. Once the other voice is heard and believed, it pervades everything. When you decide to love and forgive your accusers, you also forgive the second harsh accuser of your soul, yourself.

​Let us look to God and hear His voice. Instead of making us pay the price, He pays the price. When He sees our shame, instead of ridiculing us He dresses us with His Son’s clothes. He justifies us. Justification by faith is not only accepting that we are pardoned but is also hearing God’s pronouncing us worthy in the Beloved voice. That’s the only voice that matters.

To accept and live what the other voice says is to deny God’s voice. When we allow others’ critiques to diminish us from being what God made us to be, ourselves, we are denying God’s voice, coming back to the fig leaves, changing justification by faith to justification by works and failing on it.

My invitation for you today is to stop judging others and yourself and accept God’s embrace. Stop listening to what the other voice says of you and others and listen only to what God’s graceful voice speaks. Only when you do that will you be able to help others and yourself!