I like to believe there was some time between chapter 2 and 3 of our Bible. A time when Adam and Eve both walked in union with God and knew the immense joy and the indescribable peace of being one with Him. I also imagine that, every time they passed the middle of the Garden though, they stopped for a second, then two, then perhaps longer, and stared at that Second Tree. The Bible says God placed two trees right there in the center of these human’s world: the first was the Tree of Life…notice how there were no commands that forbade them from helping themselves to the fruit of that tree…the second though is what I call the Tree of Discernment, the knowledge of the difference between good and evil. These first two innocent children had no idea what evil was. They could not understand what death would do to them…but they did not have to understand because God gave them that one command not to eat from this Second Tree’s fruit, yet they chose not to obey.
God, of course, knew what would happen. But if we humans are not given a choice to trust God, are we trusting Him? Along with the gift of life, God also gave us the gift of Free Will. It is like that amazing verse in Dt 30:19 “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live”…God gave them a choice, we know what they chose, it is the same thing every human chooses: Creation over the Creator. We choose to trust humanity instead of the God Who made us…this was the risk when God made us in His Image…and this is why I believe God paused and consulted amongst Himself before He created humans. I also can see Jesus already understanding what He would need to sacrifice for us humans. And do you want to see a picture of true and deep love? Even knowing all this, God created us anyway!
2023’s Got A Minute? Book Club
January: The Bible
<>< Peace, Diane
