WARNING: The following blog is of a religious nature and intended for those who believe in the one, true God of Heaven, Earth and all creation. If you offend easily at such talk you are advised not to continue. However, if you care to be enlightened, read on!
K, so ... the other night I'm reading to Ellie from her new (to her) Children's Bible; it's written on a 2nd grade level, I'd say. We are reading about creation, Eden and Adam and Eve when all of a sudden, the words just jump off the page at me!
Did y'all know there were 2 trees in the Garden of Eden? Well, technically, there were hundreds I'm sure, but more specifically, there were 2 that God spoke of: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life.
I mean, I was raised in church, cut my teeth on the Church of God (green) Hymnal, was dragged to Sunday school on countless occasions and thus no doubt have heard or read this story dozens of times. Why has this fact eluded me? Why have these few little words never sunk in?
Genesis 2:8-9 "Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground — trees that
were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden
were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." ...
Genesis 2:16-17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'" ...
Genesis 3:4-5 "You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ...
And so we know the rest of the story: Eve eats of the fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and then convinces Adam to do the same ... And here it is: here's the kicker:
Genesis 3:22-24 "And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing
good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take
also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.' So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
Now this is good food for thought! And here's what I'm thinking: God had a plan! No really! Stop and think about that for a minute. Before the fall, God had a plan for all of his creation including (and especially for) mankind!
Drudging through this life at a job we hate and which never satisfies for approximately 60-65 years, then living on average another 10-15 years just to struggle some more was NEVER God's plan for us! The state of our present world is a fallen one -- a result of the choice made by Father Adam and Mother Eve. I know we as Christians already know that, but do we ever stop and think on that?! I mean, what would've happened if Eve had never eaten the forbidden fruit? If she had snubbed the serpent and and went on her merry way, what would've happened if she and Adam eventually came across the Tree of Life and ate from it first?
I don't know the answer, obviously, but some things seem certain. For instance, Jesus would've never been sacrificed -- there would've been no need to make sacrifices for sin because sin wouldn't have existed. Would we have just been born into a world of instant immortality? Was ignorance truly meant to be bliss?
Further ... what would've happened if Adam or Eve had ate from The Tree of Life after the fall? Like -- and I know this sounds like a silly, almost story-book type question -- but would Adam really have become another god? Like, is there a formula for divinity? Ya know what I mean? I don't think there is. I believe there is only one, true God and that if any other gods exist it is only because WE have set them up as such, not because they are really a god. Ya know ... like all other religions of the world that have set their gurus as their god (Ghandi, Budah, etc.) or believe that their god (Allah) is the right god. Or maybe your god is TV, Internet, pornography or drugs. There are plenty of other gods to be had or made, but what I'm wondering is: Would Adam have truly become a universal type god with power and special ability?
Either way it doesn't matter. It's all trivial. I much rather prefer the power bestowed me today -- the power that Jesus said was mine to have before he ascended.
But I just wonder.
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