“So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and He sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which He had been made.” (Genesis 3:23 NLT)
When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden they lived in perfect harmony with God and all of creation. They had no fear, nothing to disturb the peace and tranquility that surrounded them. We’re not told how long they lived in the garden before the fall, but obviously enough time passed for Adam to share with Eve the instructions God had given him regarding the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and to consider what that meant.
All they knew was that they would “die,” but death was a foreign term to them. Nothing “died” in the garden. Everything thrived. What was it in having the knowledge of good and evil that was able to destroy them? Obviously, they had a perfect relationship with God and with each other, what would lead them to desire or consider that they might need or want more?
The scene in the early verses of Genesis 3 doesn’t give us a timeline, but days may have passed while Adam and Eve pondered Satan’s words: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” And when Eve clarified what God had said, Satan responded by saying: “You won’t die! …God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.”
Alexander Pope’s old adage, “A little learning can be a dangerous thing,” can be true, as it proved to be in Adam and Eve’s minds, but what is it about knowledge that is so dangerous? What was God concerned Adam and Eve would discover when they ate of the fruit? What would they lose that is so vital in a relationship with God? Could it be their singular focus?
My sense is the greatest loss they incurred when they were expelled from the Garden was their intimacy with God. We’re so far removed from what they had that our intimacy pales in comparison with what they enjoyed but, obviously, based on their choice, took for granted. It’s taken me more than 60 years to begin to enjoy a level of closeness to the Lord that I desire for everyone, thus the reason for this blog.
Adam and Eve had nothing to compare to their oneness and closeness to the Lord. They’d never NOT been one with Him. How could they know the catastrophic results of their sin? But that’s what they chose to lose when they ate the forbidden fruit. And, however we want to think of it, that’s exactly what we forfeit when we sin.
Sin separates us, from God, from each other, from the things God has in store for us, from a sense of purpose, from accomplishment of His will that alone can render peace, harmony, a sense of comfort, and safety in His presence that we can experience in no other way.
In my mind I can “hear” a conversation between Adam and Eve. They’re alone in the quietness of their new surroundings and suddenly Eve says to Adam: “It feels so different here!” For the rest of their lives, each moment of each new day would introduce them to what they “lost” by choosing their way instead of God’s.
What have you and I lost in our stubbornness and insistence on following our own way? I’m quite sure we’ve lost more than we can possibly imagine but will see firsthand when we leave this planet.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 