God is the author of all creation and so the author of what is Good and evil. In Genesis we ate from the Tree of Knowledge and learned of Good and Evil, we now live in a fallen world. God is not responsible, He is Good and unchanging, but when an evil situation occurs, God will use His infinite wisdom to bring Good out of evil. He does miracles! God is Love, Compassionate, Merciful and Gracious and Good to all.
Everything has an opposite. You have Good (Jesus) and evil (satan), Love (Jesus) and hate (satan), Light (Jesus) and darkness (satan), Adam (Man) and Eve (Woman), sin (satan) and Righteousness (Jesus).
When sin is mentioned with Righteousness, I have noticed people seem to mention sin before righteousness. Whereas when mentioning Good and evil, Good comes first, and the same with Love and hate and Light and darkness. I wonder why? Is it because in our subconscious we know that sin and death reigns on this earth for now? Although sin and death has been defeated, it still reigns in our bodies. Whereas God is Righteous and Good and sovereign, Good overcomes evil and His Light overcomes the darkness. Righteousness results in Good. Sin results in evil.
Basically it is not possible to define something as Good without knowledge of evil. Evil existed before the fall but is not part of God’s creation for mankind, but God has the foresight to put evil to use changing it into Good. Evil will only be in the world for a limited length of time, but it is in God’s plan that Love which is Good will reign for all of eternity.
I wondered how can it be that if God created all things Good, how is it possible that God would say it is not Good in Genesis 2:18-20 “18 And the Lord God said, “It is not Good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
It’s not that God’s original creation was not perfect but the situation for Adam was not yet Good, sin was not present on earth and things were not bad. Adam was created Good but being alone was not a Good situation. From the beginning the only relationship Adam knew was with God and it was a Good relationship created by God. But Adam did not freely chose this relationship, what God wants is a relationship by choice, so was it a Good situation? Personally I am with God on saying it is not.
When God created Eve I think much of Adams attention would no longer be directed toward God. He now has to divide his time between His relationship with God and God’s latest creation – being Eve. Adam never knew of a time when he existed without God but he could remember a time when he existed without Eve. I think Adam neglected His relationship with God and proceeded to chose Eve over God when disobeying a direct commandment – by eating the forbidden fruit. The result is Adam chooses to follow His wife over God which put the opinion of His wife above God. Adam lost his position and his relationship with God. The problem here is one we still have today, it is man listening to man (or woman) instead of God! When Adam gained knowledge of Good and evil, confusion set in, Adam was ashamed of being naked and due to the separation from God, mankind lacks the Godly wisdom needed to truly understand.
This is what satan realised and took advantage of. When we listen to others without seeking God we leave ourselves open to listening to the deceit of satan – the father of evil. The deceit of satan continues to have consequences right until this day and beyond. For instance – from the time of Darwin a hundred plus years ago people started asking “Did God really say the earth was made in six days?” but now today it is viewed as stupid to even think that God exists, to even ask “Does God even exist?”. We fail to believe in what we cannot see, but quickly believe lies without checking the facts. Things are nearing a climax because the majority of the world will not believe in our God by whom all things were created and consist. So open to deceit.
Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was Good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Adam was warned to not eat from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil yet he chose to follow in disobedience. The sin he committed is disobedience. If we look at the world today, I think we can describe every sin today as an act of disobedience, satan uttered his deceit and said the words that still reigns today, in saying “Has God indeed said?” Eve had everything, including God, but she listened to another and wanted to be like God. Eve listened to the serpent and Adam listened to Eve, neither listened to God. To be like God is something humans still desire. We are cursed to be sinners and expelled from Eden. But let us not be fooled into thinking we could have done better than Adam. He was made perfect, yet he still fell, and we fell with him.
Genesis 3:9-12 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” 12 Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.”
In an act of further disobedience, Adam who was appointed to be in charge, the responsible person for caring over God’s creation effectively turns his back on responsibility. By pointing to the woman and basically saying “It was the woman you gave me” Adam is not taking responsibility for his actions and the situation he has caused. He is blaming Eve and also blaming God at the same time, basically saying “you God, you gave me this woman and she caused me to do it.” This again is something mankind often does today. But when Adam did this it had a huge consequence. Adam was the one appointed to be in charge, yet instead of seeking God first He followed the lead of His wife then refuses to accept responsibility. In doing so he forfeited his position and passed it on to Eve. Disorder is the result of Adam failing to lead, and now Eve imitates Adam by blaming the serpent. As we know Eve had fallen pray already, infiltrated by satan. So both of them became unfit to serve God. Adam by following Eve instead of God and rejecting responsibility. Eve by being deceived by satan. Satan is now in control and sin reigns.
Genesis 3:22-24 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know Good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
And so, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, into the cursed world that resulted from Adams transgression, if God had not have done this, disobedience and evil would reign forever because without doubt, Adam would have eaten of the tree of life. Paul had said earlier in Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” The whole of mankind is fallen, myself and you. Adam and Eve were the only humans at the time of the fall and without children. We are all of their offspring, we are conceived and born from what is fallen flesh and the result of this is we all sinners. I have never fully understood but I had some thoughts.
Although the six day creation is finished, the world God planned is still being born. It is in God’s plan that we are born again. God has already created the beginning and the end. God has a plan to deal with evil and rid the world of sinful flesh and at the same time restore mankind into a mutual relationship, at least for all of those who have eyes to see and ears to listen.
Colossians 1:16-17 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
God remembers a time before Adam, because Adam is His creation. God does not want to spend eternity without us, God knew the fall will happen but chose to create Adam anyway. God is Love and will always chose us. Ultimately He wants a mutual relationship with all who freely chose to believe and trust in Him – above all, and by choosing Him means we also agree with what He wants and what God wants is what is best for us. Through God we all consist, by Faith alone in Jesus Christ we all have the chance – to continue to exist through Him for eternity.
Let us all look to God, we should all chose to live under Jesus our King. Our God reigns and our God saves…. He has a plan.
God bless
Leon
(All scripture is taken from the NKJV)