The first humans were created in the image of God to be like Him in character and love with free will... which meant freedom to choose. Adam was given instructions by his Creator regarding all the many fruit trees in the garden. God told him he could eat of any of the many fruit trees in the Garden, except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat because in the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil stood the Tree of Life, both in the center of the garden. One tree represents the world and all its allures, the other, along side of it, represents the Cross of Christ. One belongs to Satan, the other belongs to God. (see Genesis 2:16)
The Test (Genesis 3)Two trees standing in the center of the garden side by side... one you have been instructed by the Creator to not eat of or you will die, the other, the tree of life, is permissible to eat from just as all the rest of the fruit trees are. Only one tree in the entire garden has been prohibited to eat from.
Now comes the first test. Why is forbidden fruit so alluring? It looks beautiful, enticing, it makes you want it. You wonder why it is forbidden and begin to investigate why that might be. You gaze at it too long, you wonder, what is the harm?
Adam and Eve were curious so they purposely went out of their way to investigate. They did not go to the Tree of Life which was standing next to the Tree of knowledge of good and evil, they just lingered up to the one that was forbidden. Adam must have stood back a bit while Eve went right up close because the serpent spoke to her. Check out their conversation...
The serpent (Satan) questioned her, saying "Did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden?" (Satan attempts to confuse Eve).
Eve said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, "You shall not eat of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." (Eve added to God's word what God didn't say).
The serpent said to Eve, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil." (Satan is as much as calling God a liar, then insinuates God is keeping them in the dark about what they could have). It is really Satan who desires to keep people in the dark. He is a liar and deceiver as well as a tempter.
When Eve saw that the fruit was good for food and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate and also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were open and they knew that they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together to make loin clothes.
When God told Adam that if they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would die, God meant "spiritually" first, then only a limited number of years to live thereafter. Adam and Eve, immediately upon eating the forbidden fruit died a spiritual death. If they had chosen the tree of life which was standing right beside the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would have lived forever and not have lost the spiritually pure life and the close relationship with God that they had. They did not know what sin was. Now they found out, and are afraid of God finding out that they disobeyed Him and literally chose Satan over their loving Creator.
How does this relate to us? We see the same choice given to everyone since the beginning of time here on earth. Check out the Israelites in the desert for an example. We are to learn from their mistakes. God always tests everyone's faith, each of us for our own benefit.
There are still two fruit trees to choose from for Christians...the fruit of the world or the fruit of the Spirit, the tree of the world's wisdom and ways, or live in obedience to God's will and way in accordance to His Word and reliant on the Holy Spirit. Christians have chosen to feed on the tree of Life which is the cross of Christ Jesus. (Not yet) or non- Christians, choose to serve idols and false gods (religions), rather than the One and Only living God who went to the cross in our place. They may choose to disobey and be under the curse, or obey and be blessed. For Christians, and all those who will turn in repentance and faith to Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord, our sinless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ took the curse upon Himself and paid the penalty for our sins and broke sins' power over us, then credited His own righteous life to our account, all in order to satisfy the justice of God. He shed His blood and died in our place, as the sinless Lamb of God, so that we could be filled with the Holy Spirit and be given a new regenerated heart in order that we may live a new Holy Spirit empowered life in, to, and for Him according to His will and His way as recorded for us in His Word.
His shed blood covers the sins of all those who will put their faith in Christ Jesus and His saving work on the cross when they are willing to turn away from their sinful life and turn to Jesus believing His shed blood takes away the penalty of our sin, and that through Jesus' resurrection from the dead we have been given the Holy Spirit of Christ to live within us. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live a new life in Jesus' name (character) and to serve the Father through His Son, Jesus, who is our eternal life.
We all have the freedom to choose life or death, blessing or curse, false gods (religions) or the One and Only living God, Jesus Christ. God does not coarse anyone to come to Him through His Son, Jesus Christ. He wants our heart and our loving obedience. He supplies all the grace and Holy Spirit empowerment needed to make that happen when we choose to leave behind false gods (religions) and worship Him. In order to do that, we must first go to the Cross of Christ to surrender our heart and life to Him, forsaking our sinful ways to live for Him and His will.
Before we come to faith in Christ Jesus, we are all living under the influence of Satan even though we do not realize this. At present, this world is Satan's kingdom and we have been under his rule. Just as he deceived Eve he deceives the world with alluring things and tries to make God look like the enemy. He tries to twist God's Word and take things out of context so they will be misunderstood. He tries to put his own evil character traits onto God. He did this with Eve. He as much as called God a liar, a deceiver, and a controller. Yet these are traits of Satan, himself. Do we not hear some people today accusing God of these same things whether in speech or writing? We know who is influencing their attitudes and minds.
How does Satan trick us? Confusion, lies, deceit, twisting God's Word by adding or taking away from it, taking it out of context to serve his purpose, tries to make God look mean, selfish, arrogant, controlling and hateful. Satan tries to paint his character on to God and make himself appear as an angel of light, in order to keep the world's allegiance to him when he is afraid we will turn to Christ Jesus and enter the kingdom of Light, the kingdom of the Son. But Jesus came to set the captives free! Most captives don't fully realize they are captive because they are under the deception of Satan still. We must pray for the eyes to be opened, the ears unplugged, the hearts softened, and the Holy Spirit's enablement to draw them to Christ Jesus. We can see by the world events all around us and, especially on the other side of the world, through the news that Satan knows his time is short and all hell is beginning to break loose. It is time to pray more fervently for all those who do not yet know Christ Jesus to come to a saving faith in Him. We also need to be praying for all our brothers and sisters in Christ all across the world to stand firm in the faith.
( 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:12-14; Genesis 2:16; 3:)
~Annie~
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