Imagine only having one rule in life?
I mean, that is essentially what God did with Adam – He gave him one command to not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and Adam broke the rule. Some people ask why God had to “test” Adam? Or if God is all-powerful, then why not stop Adam from sinning? Or why create the tree at all?
In essence, the tree was placed there to give Adam and Eve a choice to obey God or disobey Him. Adam and Eve were free to do anything they wanted in Eden – except eat from that tree, but if God had not given Adam and Eve the choice, they would have essentially been robots, simply doing what they were “programmed” to do
God created Adam and Eve to be “free” beings, and that meant that they had to be able to make decisions (or, to put it another way, be able to choose between good and evil). So, for Adam and Eve to indeed be “free”, they had to have a choice
If we think about it, essentially, there was nothing evil about the tree or its fruit. However, the act of disobedience meant Adam’s and Eve’s eyes were open to evil. This is because, for the first time, they knew what it was to be to feel shame and to want to hide from God. Their sin of disobeying God brought corruption into their lives and, ultimately, into the world
God never wanted Adam and Eve to sin. Yet, God knew ahead of time what the results of sin would be – evil, sin, suffering, sickness, and death, and unfortunately, these things have plagued the world ever since
Since Adam and Eve’s disobedience, we can see three ways in which sin affects us:
Spiritually – when we sin, our spirits are essentially dead until we find Christ
Temporal – Adam and Eve had the ability of eternal life, but sin caused the body’s death. Now when we die the body decays
Eternal – as mentioned, we were created to live with God, forever, yet, the only way, now, for eternal life is through Jesus
Adam and Eve’s decision is what ultimately required Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us. Yet, by faith in Christ, we can be free from sin’s consequences and ultimately free from sin itself
Categories: Genesis
