Trapping the LORD

Right from the very beginning of human history we see, in Genesis 3, how man went the way of a doctrine which seemed right in his eyes but was so very wrong in its fundamental disobedience to God and His word. Which of us could say we would have done better with the devilish doctrine brought to Eve, and through her, to Adam; and through him to all of us?

Genesis 3: 1-6 shows us how the evil one used human desires and curiosity to sell his false teaching; it says: 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

So what was so wrong with what Adam and Eve had done? The tree was good for food (no doubt as organic as it could be), it was very beautiful to look at, and it was being taught to Eve that it could give her insight and wisdom to make her and Adam just like God Himself. And when we go to verse 22 of chapter 3, Satan had told some truth about the allure of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; that it would make them like God. It says in verse 22 & 23:

Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.

This seems to be a strange sequence of events. It appears that Satan was telling quite a few truths in his tempting teachings with Eve, the biggest truth of all that man had become like God, knowing good and evil. And why then would God not want Adam to eat from the tree of life which He had previously not forbidden? It says because then Adam and Eve would live forever.

So the Bible says God was kicking Adam and Eve out of the garden to prevent them from becoming immortal beings who would be knowing of good and evil, just like God. This would have been a great source of pride for man; to have become just like God by our own strength, knowing good and evil and gaining our own immortality. Creation leapfrogging over the Creator.

So again I ask though, what was so wrong with what Adam and Even had done? What was the matter with Adam and Eve eating healthy, beautiful, organic, brain stimulating fruit that would make them just like the glorious God who had created them?

Perhaps it was wrong because Satan used a lie to tempt Eve? In all, Satan told Eve 3 truths and only 1 lie. Not too bad as far as a human standard goes I suppose. But the original hook he used to catch Eve's attention was to lie and tell her she surely would not die from eating the forbidden fruit. So maybe we could conclude that's what Eve and then Adam did wrong; they bought into a lie in order to get what they wanted.   

The Bible, however, says the reason God had dealt so severely with Adam and Eve in the garden was because they had disobeyed His command. In verses 11 & 17, in God's confrontation of Eve and then Adam, He said the problem with what they had done was they had disobeyed His command. God rejected them and the pride that would come in the demonstration of man's ability in the garden that day.

This is the same pride we see God reject again in Genesis 11 when He confused and scattered the people who with one language were determined to make a name for themselves by building a great city and tower in Babel. God's reaction to their pride was to scatter them because if they could accomplish such a feat as that, as one people speaking the same language, then nothing would be impossible for them. 

By God's grace we are a people living in the time of grace in Jesus Christ. The cross of Jesus Christ has always been the way in which God would redeem sinful, prideful, knowledge loving, sign seeking, people. God has poured Himself out for us through our Lord Jesus Christ. In the new birth God graciously shares His Spirit with us, and this gives life to His word!

Have you in your walk with Christ ever come to a place, however, where you don't want to accept God's word by faith? I know I have... too many times. And when I get to that place where I don't understand God's word, my flesh reaction is to try to get His word under control with some sort of doctrine which would give me knowledge, instead of trusting Him by faith.

Am I suggesting that as an untrained, unschooled man, you should listen to me and we should dismiss the doctrines of our faith which have been handed down to us from men who have toiled for centuries before the Lord? Of course not! But until God teaches a man what is true, the man ought not to claim to have been taught. Please be careful is all I am saying. You might have a very clear doctrine in one particular area of God's character nailed down in your/someone else's knowledge, but if God hasn't given you that truth by His Spirit, then you, like Eve, may have received multiple truths by accepting only one lie.

And it's that one lie which will become the area of contention between you and Christ.; for He is the Truth... period.

Formulas and methods can be very useful tools for all of us; after all, tools aren't bad. The problem is that we still look for answers in our knowing, when God has given us His word which so often contradicts our knowledge. God is a God who desires a people of faith; people who will not and cannot boast of their own abilities. 

Jesus told Nicodemus, "Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” John 3: 7-8

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who would have well known the Scriptures and the proper doctrines of God. Yet Jesus tells him that being born again means to be blown by the wind of God. The need of a diffident person; lacking confidence in one's own ability, worth or fitness. This is what God desires in us. To be confident in Him. To have all our confidence in Christ's work on the cross. To trust His word... even when it contradicts our senses, knowledge, and human doctrines.

If you're like me, and you've spent wasted, religious, time in your life trying to find a way to put God in a box, I hope you can repent and turn back to the Lord by faith. Perhaps you have a nice and tidy doctrinal formula that limits God's sovereignty in your mind? Perhaps you've come to believe you know all there is to know about God the Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, healing, tongues, salvation, election, grace, etc...? Having said that, perhaps there are doctrines you have truly been taught by God which others in the Lord do not understand yet. The word today I want to share, no matter what your situation, is... please be a person of faith before the Lord!

If the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13: 12 admitted he only knew in part (some 20 years into his ministry) then we should say how much less we know, shouldn't we? But now we have faith, hope, and love; the greatest of which is love.  

After all, it isn't in our knowing that we overcome the evil one; it never was. James 4: 7 says, "Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."