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First Human ParentsThe Bible names our first human parents Adam (Hebrew, "man") and Eve (Hebrew, "living"). God created them "in His own image," meaning that they were "very good," capable of relating to God and one another in love, and able to reflect the character of God in unique ways through the uniqueness of their personalities and individualities. Genesis 1:26-27,31 That Adam and Eve might experience love, God created them with freedom of choice. Freedom and love are risky. Genuine love cannot be forced, it must be wooed and won. Because God loved them and wanted their love in return, He granted them the right to say No as well the right to say Yes. |
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To remind Adam and Eve that He would not force them to love Him, God created a voting booth of sorts in their Garden home–"the tree of knowledge of good and evil"–and forbade them to eat from it. To eat from that tree, God warned, would represent a choice to separate themselves from Him, the Author and Sustainer of their lives, and would result in death. Genesis 2:15-17 Satan was given access to our first
parents at the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He met Eve there
one day in the form of a serpent. He told her that God had lied to
her, that she couldn't trust Him, that God knew that if she ate from that
tree she would become as wise as Him, become like God herself, and therefore
He had warned her away from the tree because He was just plain jealous
and selfish, wanting all the glory for Himself. Genesis
3:1-5 This tactic had worked for Satan in the original "war
in heaven," and he employed it skillfully against our first parents.
Eve took the bait. And once Satan got her to doubt God, it was a small step to get her to disobey Him. Adam followed suit. They joined Satan in rebellion against God. Genesis 3:6-7 And just as God warned, the human race plunged into a litany of destruction, devastation, divorce, despair, disease and death. And every child born to their lineage has joined in that same rebellion against God. Romans 5:12 Why didn't God just kill Adam and Eve and start the whole thing over? For the same reasons God didn't kill Satan when he rebelled. God does not desire a forced obedience or mere dutiful compliance from any of His children. He desires only a voluntary allegiance based on love and trust. He created all of His children to experience the wonder and joy of eternal life in a climate of loving relationships based on trust. But to all He grants the freedom to choose such a relationship with Him, the Author and Sustainer of life, or to reject it. 1 John 5:11-12 Would you like to make contact
with God right now and experience a relationship of love and trust
with Him?
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