Photo: Orchids, Maui, Hawaii. United States. ©1998-2023 R. John Anderson
The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,
for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” – Genesis 2:16-17
«Y el Señor Dios ordenó al hombre: «De todo árbol del huerto podrás comer,
pero del árbol del conocimiento del bien y del mal no comerás,
porque el día que de él comas, ciertamente morirás». – Génesis 2:16-17
When God created man, He gave man free will to choose who to believe and obey (Josh. 24:15), for without free will, there can be no love (i.e., a robot pre-programmed to perform a set of commands is not love). Satan, the devil, tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden to disobey God by eating the fruit of the one forbidden “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Gen. 3). Satan tricked them by deliberately misquoting God’s Word, twisting it in a way that creates doubt or invites temptation through “the lust of the flesh” (1 John 2:16); that is how he deceives – for he is described as “the father of lies” (John 8:44, note: he still does this today, by bombarding you with false teachings and attempting to deny the Bible). But it was a deliberate and willful choice by Eve, and then Adam, to disobey God’s rules. Scripture tells us that Eve saw that the fruit was a “delight” to her eyes (Gen. 3:6) – she wanted to have it despite God having forbidden it (she lusted after it). This act of disobedience brought sin, suffering, and death into the world! “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12), “For the wages [payment, penalty] of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23), “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23), and “As it is written, “there is none righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:10). God gives us rules for our good, our protection, and our well-being so we can have life and have it “abundantly” (John 10:10). We don’t always fully understand why some rules are given, but know they are for our good because God is a good and loving God (Isa. 55:8-9, 1 John 4:8, 16). Let us learn to trust in God and obey His word completely. Amen.