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Van Sprague

God placed Adam in Eden to take care of it and commanded, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen 2:16-17, Unless otherwise stated: Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Used by permission. All rights reserved). Adam’s wife, Eve, knew the rule, but she picked the fruit of the tree, ate it, and gave some to Adam, and he ate it (3:6). The rest is, quite literally, history.

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned… But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. (Rom 5:12, 15)

The consequences of Adam’s sin are suffering, death, and the death of the Son of God so that we who have sinned can be redeemed from it. Considering this, it is understandable that you may ask, “Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden if He knew it would be the center of so much trouble?” The answer is found in God’s perfect character and His purpose for creation.

First of all, God is flawless. “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He” (Deut 32:4). While it might not be a satisfactory answer to some, it is important to recognize that not understanding why God does something does not make it wrong. In fact, there are some things we are not meant to know, and we go astray when we try to delve into them. But our heavenly Father has told us what we need to know so that we can seek and find Him (Deut 29:29; Col 2:18).

That’s the purpose of this creation. We aren’t here to be comfortable and happy until we die. Everything is established in such a way that we will have a desire to search for God (Acts 17:22-28). From ancient times He communicated that He wants a relationship with His people (Deut 30:11-20). To have such a relationship, two things are essential: The ability to choose God and the information to know God.

Without free will, we cannot love. Therefore, having the capacity to love God with all we are (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37) necessitates that we are also capable of choosing not to. Had God not made rebellion and separation an option for Adam, the first man would also not have had the ability to adhere to and adore Him. Before He created the world, God knew the consequences. He knew people would choose their own way rather than His. Nonetheless, He would choose to shed divine blood to lovingly deliver sinners, so they could choose to return to Him (Eph 1:3-10).

He has told us about this plan in the Bible. Have you obeyed the gospel of Jesus Christ? The choice is yours.

Van Sprague is an evangelist at the Church of Christ at Houston Park. He has a wife and three children. Come Visit! Sunday morning Bible class is at 9, with worship at 10 am and 5 pm. Wednesday night Bible class is at 6.