Grace or reaping what you sow...or both?

How the fall played out is an overview of how all rebellion towards God plays out.

When we rebel, we violate God's will and our design. As a result, consequences happen (Gen 3:13-19; 3:23-24) but grace is right there and also happens (Gen 3:9,15,21).

For us today as than, the love expressed through grace is no less, even though the consequences are there and so destructive. And the consequences are no less even though the love is so great i.e. one does not diminish the other (If consequences are ever removed, it is only because of God's mercy i.e. His not letting us get what we deserve).

In fact the greater the consequences the more loving it is for us to experience the full brunt of them (Usually, unless God in his wisdom deems it best to show mercy). Experiencing the full consequences of our rebellion demonstrates to us the fallacy and destructiveness of seeking to operate our way verses God's way. In short it shows us the importance of total dependence and trust in God and the destructiveness of not depending on and totally trusting him.

Because God is the source of all life, all goodness, all wisdom and all love, dependence on him and trust in him is not just the only way but also the best way to operate. It is operating according to who we are and who God is i.e. according to how God designed us and the world. 

All the pain and suffering that we see all around us today is a grand object lesson of the foolishness of distrusting God and seeking to be our own god. Yet it is also an even grander object lesson in the greatness of his love. 

Even though we seriously messed up, God himself, took all the pain and suffering we caused, upon himself in Christ and made a way for us (and eventually the creation itself) to be fully restored back to all the fullness of His love again.