Eat And Live

Genesis 2:15-17 (NIV)
¹⁵ The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.¹⁶ And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

Genesis 3:6-7 (NIV)
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

This story brings forth the creation of a different sort: that of self. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil represents man deciding for himself what is good and evil. No longer are Adam and Eve to trust God as His children and obey this one “must not” command. They become self-aware and self-conscious in a way that becomes their downfall. No longer will they be walking in the fullness of life that is only possible with God, but they will find themselves expelled from the garden of life, which is the presence of God.

Their eyes are opened but they see shame and fear. We see this repeated in our own children as they become aware of their own body and self-consciousness grows. We learn to hide and cover-up, making coverings for ourselves. We take pride in our adulthood. We place trust in ourselves. When we are young we tend to think we know it all and will live forever.

In the New Testament Jesus tells us that the kingdom of God belongs to those who accept it like little children. Far from being a step backward, it is speaking of the return to what we were meant to be. We regain fullness of life. We are on our way to becoming all that we are capable of being. It is then possible to begin seeing that the wisdom of man often sounds like childish chatter.

Jesus came and made that possible. He is the tree of life that Adam and Eve left behind. The fruit from that tree is desirable for wisdom and life. Come, eat and live.