Like One of Us

Like One of Us

Genesis 3:22 – And the LORD God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23 – So the LORD God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 24 – When he drove the man out, he placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

The tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The serpent was right about something.  Remember what he said: “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” – Genesis 3:5.  The lie was “Surely you will not die…”  Access to the tree of life would have made that part true too but God would not allow it: “he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” – Genesis 3:22.  If God had allowed Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life and live forever, then God Himself would have been lying and not the serpent.

Adam and Eve became like gods knowing good and evil, but they gave up being like God in living forever.  Knowing good and evil came at a terrible cost – they were going to die.  Death, however, was not without hope.  The Seed would come and crush the head of the serpent and redeem the believers from the condemned race.  Humanity knowing good and evil was also going to bring death to the Creator “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” – Titus 1:2.

Without access to the tree of life we will all die – “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – 1 Corinthians 15:22.  God made a way for us to come back from death.  He gave us Jesus. “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20.

On our own, none of us will return from the final death.  With Christ, however, not only will we return from death but we will be the only people in all creation who will regain access to the tree of life after having died from eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil, “On each side of the river is the tree of life producing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month of the year. Its leaves are for the healing of the nations. – Revelation 22:2.  The devil is a liar and a cheat.  He will tempt us to think we can gain all knowledge of good and evil and become gods – but becoming gods is not synonymous with life.  The price to be paid is life itself.  The path to life is only through Jesus.  Let’s choose Jesus today!