When we tell a little child not to do something, what does that child typically do?
As a Father, God was generous to our first parents,
Adam and Eve. And the Garden of Eden - where they lived - is described
as a place of abundance and beauty. God wasn’t a kill-joy. He wanted
them to enjoy his creation and gave them the freedom to do so.
There was just one thing - just one single thing -
that God told Adam he was not to do. There was a superabundance of trees
providing enough variety and more than enough quantity of food to keep
Adam satisfied and free from hunger. But he was told not to eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). For Adam’s own
good, God warned him of the consequences of any disobedience - death.
But then Satan, in the form of a snake, questioned
what God had commanded. He asked Eve: ‘Did God really say, “You must not
eat from any tree in the garden?”’ (Genesis 3:1 New International
Version).
Satan, questioning God, sowed further doubt in Eve’s
mind. Eventually, she persuaded Adam. They ate the forbidden fruit and
faced the consequences. They were cast out.
Today, little has changed. Satan still questions God, sows doubt, distorts truth and tempts us into disbelief and disobedience.
One consequence is that many people think that God is
all about people not enjoying themselves - that he is a thou-shalt-not
God. But that’s not the case. On the contrary, he wants us to enjoy what
he has given us. Jesus made it clear that abundant life - life in all
its fullness - is what God wants for us. It is what he sent Jesus for
(John 10:10).
Through his sinless obedience, Jesus also showed that
eternal life is not to be found in doing what we prefer or think best,
but in living to please God. We have a choice to make.
Photo credit: The War Cry
