In Genesis 1, God creates the perfect living situation, and He created Man in His image. The garden was designed for Man to dwell forever, have dominion over every living thing, plenty of food, perfect climate, no death, and Man “walked” with God.
In Genesis 2 God caused “every tree to grow that was pleasant to sight and good for food,” and in the middle of the garden he placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God commands that, “Every tree Man may freely eat, but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, don’t eat, or you will die!” Man has now been warned that to disobey Gods command brings consequences, “You shall surely die.”
God did not just choose one tree and call it evil, nor did He grow an evil tree. The tree was Gods tool to give Man a choice to obey His command. If Man truly had a free will, he needed to have a choice to express that free will. If Man eats of any other tree, He lives in the garden and walks with God forever, or he eats of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and dies. Picture a young child who has been warned by his parent not to touch the light socket. The parent understands the consequences of touching the light socket, but the child does not. The child has a choice to trust the parent and not touch, or to touch and face the consequences.
Adam and Eve bear the consequences of their actions. The physical body starts to deteriorate towards death, Adam and Eve are banished from the garden and no longer walk with God. But for the moment we need to return to the garden and look at Gods action before the curse of death and banishment.
In Gen. 3:8, When Adam and Eve heard God walking in the garden, they hid from God out of shame, for their eyes had been opened and they were alienated from God the Father. In verse 9 God came to the garden looking for His children. God in His mercy pursues Adam and Eve, Verse 9 The Lord called unto them. God’s action, while man is still in the garden is demonstrating that He is a God of grace. He could have left us in this situation forever, yet it is the Father’s actions that will provide a way of restoration, not ours. Man’s own efforts to “earn” forgiveness fall short.
The bloodline of man was tainted with what is called The Human Condition, or Original Sin. But a loving Father reached down to His creation, and provided a path of reconciliation. Look at the conversation between God and Man in Gen. 3, and you will see God gives man every opportunity to come clean about his actions at the tree, but instead Adam and Eve attempt to place the blame elsewhere including blaming God and hiding from Him. At this point No matter what man does, the gap of alienation between God and man is getting wider every time Adam and Eve do anything. We all share in this relationship with Adam. Man, to this day, makes the same decisions that Adam made.
The serpent (Satan) in Gen. 3:1 did not force Eve to make the wrong choice, he only pointed out the temptation. It was a choice. That is the problem, and the bloodline of man is now tainted. In Gen. 3:15 God addresses the serpent, declaring there will be hatred between Satan and man, and this means war! This is the division between God and man. Man hates God. “Between thy seed and her seed.” The word seed is a masculine noun that means offspring, descendents. This is referring to the lack of mans seed in the area of offspring. This is known as the seed of the woman. The virgin birth is being foretold! Adam who sinned, his bloodline will be cut off at some point and through a virgin birth, God the Father will provide an escape route for a sinful world.
Through the grace of God, a choice has been given to us. We can attempt to reach God through our own efforts, or accept the Promise that God the Father has provided in the work of Jesus Christ. He reached down to those who were created in His image, and provided a path of rescue from sin, a reconciled relationship with the Father, and renewal, as in the beginning, to a life everlasting.
The choice is ours!
