God's Work with Planet Earth

Because AI image generation doesn’t know how to create a robe of pure light, we’ll have to be satisfied with hotel bath robes. But here’s where we start. The first couple were created and placed in an unimaginable paradise. In this image Christ is walking with them in the Garden, and probably telling them about all the amazing things He spoke into existence for them to enjoy. (Colossians 1:15-16, John 1:1-3)

But He also cautioned them:

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

That might seem like a nasty trap to place in a paradise garden. But it was a test of loyalty and trust in their Creator. This scenario has an application to our lives today, so I’m going to take this next part piece by piece.

The Temptation

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

In the last post we explored the actual origin of sin from the Bible. So we know this “serpent” is one of two things. It could be Satan possessing and controlling a creature as we see in Matthew 8:30-32. Or it could be Satan appearing to be such a creature, since angels are described in various parts of the Bible as appearing as men, and 2 Corinthians 11:14 says Satan can “transform” and appear as “an angel of light”. It’s clear that angels can appear in pretty much whatever form God allows them to.

So what’s he saying to Eve? He knows good and well that God let them eat from every tree of endless varieties, except this one. But he suggests that they can’t “eat of every tree”. Obviously false, it was a bait, to get Eve to correct him and start dialoguing with him.

Eve made two mistakes:

• She wandered away from Adam, and found herself alone. He could have reminded her of God’s warning and guided her away to safety. We need fellow Christians to encourage our faith and obedience to God.
• She started talking with a creature in/at the forbidden tree. The best way to avoid dangerous temptations is not to put yourself in a place where they are likely to influence you.

Of course, that’s easy enough for me to say, in hindsight. But I can’t criticize or judge Eve, especially given my own track record. I can only take lessons from the account given to us in God’s Word.

At this point, Eve took the bait and corrected the serpent for it’s intentional error:

“And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”

Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:2-5

We all would have been so much better off without the knowledge of evil, knowing only the good that God originally created for us to enjoy. But Eve corrected him, “No, we can eat from the other trees, just not this one, because God said if we do, we’ll die.”

Insinuations

Now here’s where the subtly comes in, because the serpent said some things without actually saying them. Very slick!

Statement: You won’t die. Insinuation: God is lying to you, He’s not telling you the truth

Statement: Your eyes will be opened. Insinuation: You will evolve to a higher state of knowledge – you’ll be going up, not down

Statement: God knows if you eat it, you’ll be like Him. Insinuation: He is keeping this from you because He doesn’t want you to be like Him

That last one really bothers me, for multiple reasons.

First, Adam and Eve were already created in God’s Image (Genesis 1:26-27), so they were already like Him in many ways.

Second, does God really NOT want us to be like Him?

“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:44-45

“Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48 (Jesus speaking)

“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

I know that a demand from God to be holy is intimidating when we know that we’re not. But does it seem like He doesn’t want us to be like Him? Not at all! Well, Eve did not have a Bible full of God’s instructions. Instead she had God standing in front of her, telling her and Adam, don’t do this or you will die.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that humans can become gods, and the Bible does not teach that. God is the Creator, we are created beings. One cannot be the other – these two cannot trade places.

Can you imagine the thoughts in Eve’s head? The serpent is in the tree and eating the fruit, and instead of dying, it’s talking to her. Maybe it’s telling her the truth!

“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6

The Trees as Symbols

Now, I want to be very careful to differentiate between my personal belief and what the Bible actually says. I don’t believe the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil had magical properties or power in themselves. They were physical symbols of spiritual reality, and it wasn’t the tree itself that mattered, it was who the humans were obeying.

The Tree of Life did not have in its fruit the ability to make one live forever (just some very good vitamins and minerals, maybe). It represented humans accepting the gifts of life, glory, and goodness from God. It is the power of God alone that gives life, heals diseases, changes hearts and minds. He may do this through trees or through people, but it’s His power, and nothing intrinsic in His Creation. This is very important to understand.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was not poisonous, obviously, because Adam lived 930 years. (Genesis 5:5) This tree represented humans NOT accepting the goodness and glory given by God, but searching for another way to peace, fulfillment, life, using their own logic and wisdom, without His guidance. This is what human beings have been trying to do ever since. And one generation after another, the quest always fails, and ends in death.

Summary

• God made Adam and Eve and their garden home perfect, and only good
• But God gave angels and humans freedom to choose
• At least some of the angels, and the humans, chose to distrust and disobey their Creator
• This put a spiritual separation between God and humans, which the Bible calls “the veil” (we’ll explore in future posts)
• This fallen and separated condition of humans is what God wants to ransom and save us from (1 Timothy 2:5-6, Romans 6:23)

In the next post, we explore God’s response to Adam and Eve’s distrust and disobedience.