Then They Will Live Forever
Friday, July 25, 2008 at 12:24AM Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had created. And the Lord God planted all sorts of trees in the garden―beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. –Genesis 2:8-9, NLT
photograph by Luca ZaninoniPicking apart the Hebrew text, this scripture says that God put in place a fenced (protected) garden eternally before (in front of) delight, and there He placed the man he had created. God's original home for our species was an eternal paradise on earth.
Two trees are in the center of our paradise: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and the tree of life. Only the fruit of the first tree is off limits to our forebears, Adam and Eve. This must mean that God wants us to have life everlasting; He does not forbid us to eat from the tree of life. Yet once Adam and Eve eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, listen to God’s concern:
Then the Lord God said, “The people have become as we are, knowing everything both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!” –Genesis 3:22, NLT
He goes on to banish us from His garden.
What juicy, good-looking treat did the serpent pass to Eve from the forbidden tree? Evil. Sin. Adam and Eve already knew “good”, but had nothing against which to compare it. Once they “ate” sin, they knew the difference and knew they had to hide from God.
God never forbade Adam and Eve from eating of the tree of life, but once they disobeyed Him and learned to hide from Him, God said to Himself, I can’t keep them safe any longer; therefore I can’t allow them to live forever. By banishing His people, God administers punishment and love together. Adam and Eve are banished from God’s protective custody in His fenced garden because they deserve punishment for disobeying Him. At the same time, God knows they cannot be saved unless He first rejects them for their sins.
If Adam and Eve had stayed in the garden, they would have eaten from the other tree in the center of the garden and gained eternal life. With no incentive to change, they would have hidden from God forever and paradise would have become their private hell.
Why did God take that risk to put the forbidden tree in the middle of paradise in the first place? Two words: free will. God gave us free will to test us. It’s a shallow relationship in which trust has not been tested against temptation, but God wants the deepest relationship possible with each of us.
Since our ancestral rights to residency in the Garden of Eden have been revoked, how do we get a new patrilineal pass to paradise? The answer is in one simple name, the name of Jesus.
Reader Comments (2)
Amen. The last Adam redemeed what the first Adam failed to do.
Jesus is our answer.
Blessings,
Yvette
Hello Diane,
The two trees were Satan (the serpernt) and the Lord (the Tree of Life).
What Adam and Eve ate was the fruit of lies, they had a right to the Tree of Life, but they chose to listen to the Enemy,
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Hosea 10:13 Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men.
They sought what mankind still seeks today--to be like god, minus obedience to God's Word, and the Devil still uses the same modus operandi--1 John 2:16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Good post, thought provoking. Peace and blessings