Knowing good from evil
“So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”
Genesis 3:6
This passage marks the beginning of “The Fall” and records the first sinful act in human history. Adam and Eve made the decision to disobey God and eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From this point on, life would never be the same.
A discussion between Eve and Satan is what sparked this historical event. After a conversation with the serpent, Eve surrendered to not only the temptation of eating the appetizing fruit but also the temptation of the desire to make one wise. She and Adam gave in to their pride and wanted to be like God, knowing the difference between good and evil.
The root cause of this act was selfishness. If we look at most sins, we commit most of them because we’re looking out for ourselves. We do things that are wrong because we want to make things right for us. However, this selfish act caused death and hardship and most importantly, it distanced us from a relationship with God from the day we are born.
However, because of the Grace of God, the consequences of these sinful actions don’t have to be permanent. We have an opportunity that Adam and Eve didn’t have. We have the ability to call upon Christ for forgiveness because of his sacrifice on the cross. Through his Grace, we can have life instead of death. We can ask Jesus into our hearts and he will mend the broken relationship with our Heavenly Father.
Just like Adam and Eve took and ate the fruit, Jesus made a parallel to this at the Last Supper. He told His disciples to take and eat the bread, for it represents His body. Then He told them to drink the wine as a symbol of His blood. Instead of falling into the temptation of sin, we can rise into glory from God.
This week, pray about the choices you want to make in your own life. Look at the temptations placed in front of you and discern what is good from what is evil. Follow after the Lord’s commands rather than fall prey to Satan’s lies and deception.