Gen 2:7-17 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Why was there a tree of the knowlege of good and evil? If it was death to touch and eat, why was it there?
What was God thinking?
Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.
Why did I put this in here? The point is obedience is pleasing, and how much more so unto the LORD!
[Gen 6:5-7] And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his
heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and
the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
Imagine, God himself being sorry He made us, because... (I think parents can relate.)
Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned:
And this is why. Up to this point, all that is proven is the consequences
of the fall of man. But why the tree? You'll find out!
Acts 2:38-41 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God
shall call.
And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three
thousand souls.
Thousands were preached to, but only 3000 chose to obey(looks like the verse above!).
-We have a choice of good and evil, because of free will.
-When we chose not to obey, it does not show love, but contempt.
-Obedience=love, disobedience=sin.
-Without a choice of good and evil, there is no love.
Suppose God hadn't created a tree of knowledge. There would be no choice, no showing of love. We would not have free will, the choice being made for us. There was trust in the man, that he would do what is right, with the chance to do wrong.
Love, therefore, is a choice, a decision. "Do not eat from the tree..." God doesn't want us to be harmed. He will discipline, for your own good.
Bottom line is, unless you meant to, it isn't love. It doesn't mean God can't use you, only bless you.
MAKE A LOVE CHOICE TODAY!