16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. Genesis 2:16,17; 3:6,7
Let’s talk about precepts. More specifically, let’s talk here about the very first and most fundamental precepts — good, evil, life, and death. Let’s begin from the very beginning, back in the Garden of Eden. Here’s a Reader’s Digest version.
The “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” represents the freedom to make our own decisions. Eating of the fruit of that tree represents opting for that choice, instead of obeying God. It was the exercise of their God-given free will to be free from God’s own Lordship itself. It was saying “No” to God, and “Yes” to themselves. It was the opposite of Jesus’ prayer in another Garden, called Gethsemene (Luke 22:42). By eating that fruit, they were saying to God, “Father, not Thy will, but mine be done!”
God himself gave us this right to choose. We may say “No” to Him and “Yes” to ourselves at any time. So, the nature of sin has not changed one iota since “original sin” in the garden. Sin is still saying no to God, and yes to me and what I want. The tree of the knowledge of “good and evil” was a huge and steep step down from what Adam and Eve had been given in the first place. From the beginning, they had been given the knowledge of God himself. The Word says,
“And this is LIFE eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” John 17:3
So, they had been given the knowledge of God, and that was “eternal life” itself. Opting for the knowledge of “good and evil” would only serve to set them free from God’s understanding of what was right and best for them to do. (No more Master-servant relationship). They would be free to go their own way and do their own thing based upon their own assessments — based upon what was either good or evil in THEIR own eyes. In other words, they would henceforth make their own plans and decisions based upon their own wisdom. Now, this is indeed the very essence and definition of sin.
In order to get straightened out and serve God satisfactorily, we must come to understand that “good” is that which pleases God. And, nothing pleases him more than for us to trust and obey him. “Evil” is that which displeases God. And, nothing displeases him more than for us to opt to resist his Spirit, and try to rule our own life. Every attempt to do so only ends in death, which is separation from God. And, like Adam and Eve’s experience, that always ends in shame, misery, destruction, regret, and death. May our sole heart’s desire as we sojourn through this world, be only to abide in the knowledge of our God forever. The grace of Jesus Christ impart unto you that blessing.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard… 20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse (Psalm 19:1-3; Romans 1:20).
“I AM God. I love you.” That is the message sown into the very fabric of all creation. The gospel of Jesus Christ adorns, magnifies, and amplifies that message to a volume and degree that even a deaf, mute, and blind man can’t miss it. “I AM God. I love you.”
That message resounds with so much piercing clarity in everything that God has equipped this mesmerizing world to display and communicate to us. It’s in the vast green carpet of the earth, in the shimmering, innumerable stars in their places, and in the artistry of the immense constellations of the night sky. It’s in the great dome of the daytime skies, in the bountiful, fruited plains of the landscape, and in the heightening mountain peaks spiking the horizons. It’s in the teeming, blue oceans blanketing the planet, in the breathtaking, profile of this wondrous and colorful orb that we call home, as seen from the heavens, and it’s in our mutual capacity to love one another with a love that defies even our own will.
I could go on and on. It is abundantly clear. God has architectured and provided us with an incredibly beautiful and lavish world to live in that is designed from the instant of our first sensory awareness to awe, astound, and amaze. The featured image of this article is from a slice of the heavens as mapped by Dr. Margaret Geller of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center and her team of astrophysicists in 1986. The image spans a spectrum of over 650 million light years. Each point represents an entire galaxy. What is revealed at the heart of that picture from the universe, is what is eternally on the heart of God — man. Man is the center of God’s world. Man is the focus of His attention. And, you and I are the passion of His heart. He has created this entire world to speak to our hearts one, harmonious, unified message. “I AM God. I love you.”
WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS MATURE BIBLICAL SUBJECT MATTER. ONLY THE MOST SERIOUS ABOUT THEIR FAITH SHOULD PROCEED.
11 (For the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), 12 it was said to her, “The older shall serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. Romans 9:11-16
Checkmate! Before we even realize the nature of the game of life, God has us whipped. We imagine life to be a simple game of checkers, but God has us all caught up in a match of three-dimensional chess. It’s not fair!! And, he closes in on us from three angles simultaneously — from the flanks, from beneath, and from above. From time, from space, and from matter all at once, God maneuvers. He is the absolute Grand Master at this game called “life” — which He alone is even capable of understanding. Consequently, we are in no way, shape, or form able to match wits nor power with God. Just when we think that we’ve got in all figured out, booyah!!! Then, we learn that God’s strategy is on another level.
In fact, when we begin to see things clearly, we come to understand that we mere mortals have lost the game of life, before we have even begun. Human Nature, the Human Condition, and the Human Predicament – man’s three (3) big handicaps. The foregoing passage from Romans nine (9) is at the heart of what that whole chapter teaches. This chapter is itself at the heart of what the whole New Testament and the entire Bible teaches. And in sum, this explains why we can never expect to be on a par with God. We could never be separate, independent, and apart from Him, and expect to survive. So, we can never take a pedestrian approach to our faith. We can never really hope to have any meaning, realize any hope, nor become anything of what we might aspire to, apart from Him.
Human Nature makes us all the same – messed up when we come into the world. From birth we sin, lie, and transgress. As a pastor once so quaintly put it, “We come into this world ‘toe up from the flo’ up!’” It’s a given. We just won’t do right. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), the Bible says. And, “There is not a just man on earth who doeth good and sinneth not” (Eccl 7:20), it further says. “Mama, I’m messed up!,” we must all confess, if we are honest. Absent the mercy of the Most High, we sin, and do wrong, and act contrary to God so easily and naturally, that we are completely HOPELESS.
The Human Condition renders us all totally impotent to do God’s will, in the first place. Even on a more level playing field, apart from our inveterate sinfulness, the will of God can really only be performed by God himself, as a necessary condition of his eternity, his holiness, and his oneness. (This is so thoroughly deep, I am not even going to try to address it further here). Aside from the grace of the LORD, no matter how hard we try, we just can’t seem to get the will of God done from here. We desire, we hope, we try, and we fail. That’s the chorus of life. Any other outcome is only actually God’s grace masquerading in our humanity. And, that’s the story of all flesh! Even our Lord Jesus confessed, “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). So, since Jesus said that, then we should not feel bad. But, even his confession seems little consolation to a heart that wants to please God, and cannot find a way. We find it so, as Paul explained, “The flesh lusts against the Spirit and the spirit against the flesh, so that you CANNOT do the things that you would” (Gal 5:17). So, aside from the grace of the LORD, we find that we are utterly HELPLESS.
The Human Predicament explains that we all are subject to the purpose for which God alone has created us, and no matter how greatly we may struggle against it, we will end up becoming nothing more, nothing other, and nothing else but what God intended in the first place. There absolutely is a thing in place for the human race called fate, and no one escapes it. In cold, harsh reality, there is no such thing as “rise above,” where God’s purpose is concerned. Through many different conventions, the scripture teaches repeatedly that we all are what we are, we do what we do, and we get what we get, because God willed it so. In other words, from Romans 9, we learn that Jacob had to be Jacob, Esau had to be Esau, Moses had to be Moses, Pharaoh had to be Pharaoh, you have to be you, and I have to be me. And, favor ain’t fair. So, we are what we are, and we can be nothing else. So, outside of the purpose of the sovereign God, we are absolutely HAPLESS.
So, is this fatalism?? Are we just to throw up our hands in exasperation and resignation and say, “Then, I can’t serve God.” Absolutely not, brothers and sisters. Only by this, does God have us exactly where he wants us. This is exactly where fate is met with a thing called faith. Faith responds to the hopelessness of human nature, the helplessness of the human condition, and the haplessness of the human predicament, with the sincerest engagement of a sense of accountability, dependency, and trust in God. Faith says, “Yes, I’m just a sinful human being, but because of Jesus Christ, I do believe You love me, O God.” And, with a right perspective then, true faith is born, lives, and thrives. God does love us, just the way that we are – the way He made us, spiritually “naked” (Gen 2:25). And, he will help us, give us hope along the way, and receive us into his everlasting arms, when we die.
This faith takes the despair out of our human situation, and leaves us deep and wholly engaged in the drama of life. In other words, because I believe in human nature, the human condition, and the human predicament, I begin every day with a true “come to Jesus” moment. I pray with a sincerity, urgency, and a fervency, knowing that without him, I have no hope, no help, and nothing positive happening for me. I wrestle and cry out before the dawning of the day, because I do believe that. In other words, rightly understanding our true utter dependency on God, only establishes a right and proper attitude and platform on which to approach Him. Being fully mindful of our own nothingness before Him, we may enter his presence with the acceptable attitudes of humility, lowliness of heart, contrition, and a meek, quiet, and penitent spirit. These constitute the more godly “spirit of mind” before the Lord — being infected with neither pride, vanity, nor high-mindedness.
This understanding then becomes part of our very solid foundation for serving God. I have simply come to completely acknowledge before God, that without Him, I am nothing, know nothing, and can do nothing — except sin, transgress, be miserable, and die. After my daily prayer sessions end, I am filled with faith and confidence. This is the wonderful miracle of sincere faith. And so, the word says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28). Amen. The Lord GOD grant you abundance of the knowledge of his love, mercy, and peace, as you daily pray and seek to serve Him. Amen, again. Maranatha.
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made… 16 which is Christ. (Genesis 2:16; Romans 7:24-25; Galatians 3:19,16)
In the Garden of Eden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents an everlasting spiritual principle that is of the most vital importance. That tree represents “the law” — both what Paul later refers to as “the law of God” AND “the law of sin” (Romans 7:25). The law is one entity, regardless. It equally exposes in people both good and evil. We were never-never, ever-ever meant to serve the law.
Even the law as “the law of God” was just a spiritual test, a slick enducement, a subtle seduction, and a sweet temptation to step out in life on our own, to try life as noble agents who were separate, independent, and apart from God. Sometimes we refer to that as being a “free moral agent.” That was only a masked invitation to share the pride and downfall of Lucifer the devil. But, God had strictly forbidden that. He said it would lead to certain death. That should have been our first clue that even the idea was evil.
To this very day, we generally fail to apprehend the nature of that seduction. I see and hear all day everyday Christians trying to live, and measure themselves, and perform behavior control by the law, when the New Testament explicitly says, “This I say then, WALK IN THE SPIRIT, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Gal 5:16). To “walk in the Spirit” means to conduct our lives wholly through the agency and resource of the Spirit of God. And, “the Spirit” is God’s very presence. This is God’s command. This is the way He wanted us to relate to him from the Garden until now. This is the way to have both victory and liberty. So, why serve the law? We are invited to know and serve God directly, in an intimate personal relation that Christ makes possible. And, I pray sincerely and fervently that all of you attain to that joyful and unburdened relationship and lifestyle with Him.
Christian Covenant Community Clarion 