Footnotes
*3:24: cherubim are powerful angelic creatures, messengers of God with wings. See Ezekiel 10.
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God did NOT set out to test Adam and Eve
Many people thought that God deliberately place the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden to test Adam and Eve’s obedience. In reality, if you search the bible, you will discover that there is no scripture in the bible that states that God set out a test to test Adam and Eve.
Genesis 2:9 is where the tree of life and the tree of knowledge were first mentioned. Then in Genesis 2:16, God gave a commandment to Adam that he shall not eat of the Tree of Knowledge. It was a commandment. It was not a test.
It is just like in our house, we have knives, hot oven and stoves with fire in the kitchen. They are required for cooking. We cannot do without those appliances. So we give instructions to our children not to play with fire and knives. It was not a test but an instruction to protect them.
It was a subtle lie
Over the past thousand of years, the devil had subtlely planted a lie in the minds of millions of people that it was God who set out to test Adam. It aroused in many, an anger towards God. People thought that God deliberately set out a test knowing that Adam and Eve will fail. If one day someone tell you, you have just been tested and you failed. Would you not be angry that you were put to test? This is how the devil wants you to feel towards God — to believe that God is all out to set you up for failure.
The truth is God loves you
God loves you. He created you and He is proud of you. No one else thinks so well of you as God does. In God’s eyes, you are beautiful, you are wonderfully made by Him and He wants you to be successful. God is gracious and God loves you deeply regardless of what you mistakes you have made. His plans for you are always to give you a hope and a future.
God will not withhold any good things because He loves us
If you are a good parent, you will know that you will not withhold any good thing from your child. You will give what you believe is the best for them. You would always want to lavish good gifts to your child. This is how God loves us (Matthew 7:11).
Eve fell into the trap of the serpent because Eve did not give a deeper thought to think that a God who had custom-made the entire earth so perfectly for her would not have withheld a fruit from her if that fruit is good for her.
God is not against you
God is not against you in any way. If He is, He would not need to waste time testing you. With just a word, you would have been destroyed.
When you do not believe, you hurt God
Imagine if you love someone and you are always planning the best gifts for that person and there is never a time you will ever withhold any good from that person. However, that person do not believe you are that good and would even think that you have kept the best for yourself, would you not feel very hurt?
This is the reason why the devil will always want you to doubt God’s goodness towards you— it is the way to hurt God.
Despite Adam & Eve's sin, God established a redemptive plan for mankind
When Eve did not give a deeper thought, to ponder on the fact that God has custom-made the entire world so beautifully and perfectly for them and will not withhold any good thing from them, Eve ended up falling into the trap and believe the lies of the serpent. That act of believing the serpent’s words instead of believing God’s love and goodness, hurt God deeply.
Yet, while God had to pass the curse, God established the redemption plan from that moment. From that very moment, God had made the painful decision that His Son will one day come to this world to die for mankind and to redeem all who believes in Him.
Did you notice…
The redemption plan was decided at the moment the curse was passed
The result of eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge is that mankind will know all sorts of evil and will die. When God had to pass the curse, that very moment, His love and compassion for mankind had also driven Him to decide that His one and only beloved Son, Jesus, will come and be a Man to destroy the devil. In the NKJV version, Genesis 3:15 stated “her Seed”, referring to Jesus:
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NKJV)
The tree of life was in the garden
In Genesis 2:9, it was stated that the tree of life was already in the midst of the garden and in Genesis 2:16, the LORD God said that Adam may eat from any tree in the garden (inclusive of the tree of life) except for the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The fact that God provided the tree of life right from the start is proof that God did not withhold any good thing from Adam and Eve.
God made garments of animal skins for Adam and Eve
In Genesis 3:21, it was stated that the LORD God made garments of animal skins for Adam and Eve and clothed them. This again tells us that despite their sins, God loved Adam and Eve and He clothed them.
To make garments of animal skins, it means that some animal has to die. This gives us a hint that there was already an animal sacrified to become the sin offering for Adam and Eve so that their sins can be forgiven.
Are you wondering…
Does God test people?
In the bible, the first person to be tested was Abraham (Genesis 22:1). But God watched over Abraham and did not permit him to harm Isaac.
In Exodus 16:4, it was written:
Then theLordsaid to Moses, “Behold, I will rainbread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gathera certain quota every day, that I maytest them, whether they willwalk in My law or not. (Exodus 16:4)
If you read Exodus 16, you will discover that the LORD’s testing was not to set the people for failure and disaster but to guide them into knowing that He is the LORD who will provide for them and that they will have no lack.
Similarly, in Exodus 15:25-26, we read about the LORD tested the Israelite and said that if they heed His voice and obey His commandments, He will not put the diseases of the Egyptians on them for He is the LORD that heals.
When God test His people, He was not setting them up for failure and tragedy. Instead, He was guiding them to learn to rest in God, to know that He is the LORD that provides and the LORD that heals.
So you see, God’s objectives are to shape us to know Him so that we can be led by the Holy Spirit and live a life of power and authority, blessed with every spiritual blessings. It is for our good and never to set us up for failure.
How to become a believer?
You can be a believer simply by saying this prayer:
Dear God, thank you for so wonderfully make me and thank you for sending your Son, LORD Jesus to die for me so that I can have the blessed life that you intended for me — a life of leadership and fruitfulness. Now I believe and accept Jesus as my LORD and Saviour. Fill me with the Holy Spirit of God. I believe that from this time forth, I am a new creation, I am born again and I have the eternal life that Jesus came to give me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
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