PARADISE LOST
ADAM AND EVE
The very first man was Adam and the very first woman was Eve. Adam was created first, then Eve. (Genesis 2:22) God placed them in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden. A river flowed through it, a wide flowing river that watered the trees, the flowers and the grass. Fruit trees grew along the river side and on the trees grew delicious fruit for them to eat. Adam and Eve were surrounded by friendly animals. They had everything they needed to be happy and live forever. God gave them work to do to care for the garden, to rule over the animals, and to populate the earth with children and families. God made everything good for them to enjoy.
EVIL BEINGS
But there existed evil beings who were called angels, not good, holy angels but wicked angels who did not want God to rule over them. They wanted to be rulers over themselves and the universe. These angels are called devils and their leader is called Satan. He was envious and jealous of Adam and Eve. He hated God and he hated human beings because they were made like God. They reminded Satan of his sins against God for which he was cast out of heaven.
SATAN’S PLOT
So Satan planned to deceive Eve into disobeying God’s command not to eat of the tree in the center of the garden of Eden. The tree was poisonous. God had planted it in the middle of the garden so that there would be no mistake that that was the tree God prohibited them from eating. God had made Adam and Eve holy and good like himself. But they were not machines. Like God they had freedom of choice and might, if they so wished, disobey God.
THE TREE
The tree was called the knowledge of good and evil. It represented a foolish mixed up world of living and dead things, beauty and ugliness, love and hate, peace and war. So God commanded Adam, ‘You may freely eat of every tree in the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you shall eat of it you shall die.’ (Genesis 2:15)
God had made them. He had given them eternal life. He wanted for them only to be happy and live forever in a world that did not have dead things, hatred, anger, fear and unhappiness. He made earth and heaven to be his holy and sacred creation and for his creatures and mankind to be sacred and holy, too. But God knew that if Adam and Eve chose to disobey him they would lose everything because God does not want an evil, selfish and bad world nor does he want human beings to be evil.
CHOICE
Choice is choosing one thing rather than another. Everything has its opposite. So to choose one thing is to not choose another. It is so simple isn’t it? And it is so true that if you choose a good thing you have avoided the bad thing. It is because there is good and bad things that God gave Adam and Eve the power to choose the one from the other. He also gave Adam and Eve the power of mind and spirit to know the difference between the two, the good and the bad. But God did not make them like machines who can only do one thing and have no choice at all. A machine can only do one thing because it is a mechanical creation.
THE FALL INTO SATAN’S TRAP
One day Satan met Eve in the garden of Eden disguised as a serpent. She was walking with Adam but the serpent spoke only to Eve.
‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden,”’ he asked her.
What a clever way of putting a question. He did not say to Eve, ‘Has God told you not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden.’ No, he wanted to appear inquisitive and misinformed.
Eve replied, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’
‘You will not die,’ the serpent replied, ‘for God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.’
The serpent, who was really Satan, and who was trying to deceive Eve by his lies, made God out to be the Deceiver. Satan was really saying ‘God is trying to keep you from knowing what he knows. He is deceiving you and telling lies.’ Satan appealed to Eve’s imagination and curiosity. ‘Your eyes will be opened,’ he said.
Eve had a good look at the tree. This was the first time she had taken much notice of it. When she saw that it was a delight to look at, very beautiful and desirable to make one wise, (Genesis 3:7) she took its fruit and ate it and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate the fruit as well.
The immediate effect of eating the fruit was a dreadful feeling of guilt for they knew that they had disobeyed God’s command. They felt exposed and wanted to hide their nakedness, cover themselves up and hide away in the garden. They were terrified and bewildered. Then they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden about the time when a gentle breeze blew in the evening. They tried to hide from his presence.
God called out to Adam, ‘Where are you?’
Adam replied, ‘I heard you coming and I was afraid because I was naked.’
‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?’
Adam said, ‘The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.’
‘What is this that you have done?’ God asked the woman, Eve.
‘The serpent tricked me and I ate,’ she said.
THE END OF PARADISE
From that moment Adam and Eve began to die. They chose their own destiny and it is from them that we have inherited the world we now live in. We have inherited a world of good and evil, love and hatred, peace and war, which cannot exist together without pain and suffering. Adam and Eve lost the Paradise God created for them and everlasting life. God sent them out of the garden to suffer for their own foolishness and disobedience. But although God is just, he is also merciful and foresaw a time when those who are willing to obey his commands will once again inherit eternal life. Two thousand years ago he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from sin and open our eyes to a new world and a new future. There is nothing Satan can do to stop us from inheriting God’s eternal kingdom for Jesus has opened the gate of eternal life to those who believe. We can still be God’s sons and daughters for he loves us and wants us to learn the the future need not be sad.
The very first man was Adam and the very first woman was Eve. Adam was created first, then Eve. (Genesis 2:22) God placed them in a beautiful garden called the Garden of Eden. A river flowed through it, a wide flowing river that watered the trees, the flowers and the grass. Fruit trees grew along the river side and on the trees grew delicious fruit for them to eat. Adam and Eve were surrounded by friendly animals. They had everything they needed to be happy and live forever. God gave them work to do to care for the garden, to rule over the animals, and to populate the earth with children and families. God made everything good for them to enjoy.
EVIL BEINGS
But there existed evil beings who were called angels, not good, holy angels but wicked angels who did not want God to rule over them. They wanted to be rulers over themselves and the universe. These angels are called devils and their leader is called Satan. He was envious and jealous of Adam and Eve. He hated God and he hated human beings because they were made like God. They reminded Satan of his sins against God for which he was cast out of heaven.
SATAN’S PLOT
So Satan planned to deceive Eve into disobeying God’s command not to eat of the tree in the center of the garden of Eden. The tree was poisonous. God had planted it in the middle of the garden so that there would be no mistake that that was the tree God prohibited them from eating. God had made Adam and Eve holy and good like himself. But they were not machines. Like God they had freedom of choice and might, if they so wished, disobey God.
THE TREE
The tree was called the knowledge of good and evil. It represented a foolish mixed up world of living and dead things, beauty and ugliness, love and hate, peace and war. So God commanded Adam, ‘You may freely eat of every tree in the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you shall eat of it you shall die.’ (Genesis 2:15)
God had made them. He had given them eternal life. He wanted for them only to be happy and live forever in a world that did not have dead things, hatred, anger, fear and unhappiness. He made earth and heaven to be his holy and sacred creation and for his creatures and mankind to be sacred and holy, too. But God knew that if Adam and Eve chose to disobey him they would lose everything because God does not want an evil, selfish and bad world nor does he want human beings to be evil.
CHOICE
Choice is choosing one thing rather than another. Everything has its opposite. So to choose one thing is to not choose another. It is so simple isn’t it? And it is so true that if you choose a good thing you have avoided the bad thing. It is because there is good and bad things that God gave Adam and Eve the power to choose the one from the other. He also gave Adam and Eve the power of mind and spirit to know the difference between the two, the good and the bad. But God did not make them like machines who can only do one thing and have no choice at all. A machine can only do one thing because it is a mechanical creation.
THE FALL INTO SATAN’S TRAP
One day Satan met Eve in the garden of Eden disguised as a serpent. She was walking with Adam but the serpent spoke only to Eve.
‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden,”’ he asked her.
What a clever way of putting a question. He did not say to Eve, ‘Has God told you not to eat of the tree in the middle of the garden.’ No, he wanted to appear inquisitive and misinformed.
Eve replied, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.”’
‘You will not die,’ the serpent replied, ‘for God knows when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God knowing good and evil.’
The serpent, who was really Satan, and who was trying to deceive Eve by his lies, made God out to be the Deceiver. Satan was really saying ‘God is trying to keep you from knowing what he knows. He is deceiving you and telling lies.’ Satan appealed to Eve’s imagination and curiosity. ‘Your eyes will be opened,’ he said.
Eve had a good look at the tree. This was the first time she had taken much notice of it. When she saw that it was a delight to look at, very beautiful and desirable to make one wise, (Genesis 3:7) she took its fruit and ate it and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate the fruit as well.
The immediate effect of eating the fruit was a dreadful feeling of guilt for they knew that they had disobeyed God’s command. They felt exposed and wanted to hide their nakedness, cover themselves up and hide away in the garden. They were terrified and bewildered. Then they heard the sound of the Lord walking in the garden about the time when a gentle breeze blew in the evening. They tried to hide from his presence.
God called out to Adam, ‘Where are you?’
Adam replied, ‘I heard you coming and I was afraid because I was naked.’
‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?’
Adam said, ‘The woman you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree and I ate it.’
‘What is this that you have done?’ God asked the woman, Eve.
‘The serpent tricked me and I ate,’ she said.
THE END OF PARADISE
From that moment Adam and Eve began to die. They chose their own destiny and it is from them that we have inherited the world we now live in. We have inherited a world of good and evil, love and hatred, peace and war, which cannot exist together without pain and suffering. Adam and Eve lost the Paradise God created for them and everlasting life. God sent them out of the garden to suffer for their own foolishness and disobedience. But although God is just, he is also merciful and foresaw a time when those who are willing to obey his commands will once again inherit eternal life. Two thousand years ago he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to save us from sin and open our eyes to a new world and a new future. There is nothing Satan can do to stop us from inheriting God’s eternal kingdom for Jesus has opened the gate of eternal life to those who believe. We can still be God’s sons and daughters for he loves us and wants us to learn the the future need not be sad.