This Week's Scripture and Reflection: Genesis 3:1-8
Christianity, as well as many other religions, is primarily viewed through the lens of the actions and behaviors it prohibits, which creates tension and ultimately fosters rebellion among people who esteem self-gratification and liberality at the cost of godly morality. Likewise, when we as believers and followers of Jesus Christ are primarily focused on biblical prohibitions as opposed to the pure and protective intentions of the God who instituted those prohibitions, we can find ourselves foolishly lusting after a life that is driven by sensual gratification and subsequently forfeiting the more abundant life Jesus came to give us. Moreover, when we pursue something that God has forbidden, we trespass, or violate, the boundary He has set around it, and not without experiencing the sorrow that accompanies the commission of the trespass.
Genesis 3 contains a well-known account that captures this principle. In the previous chapter, God commanded Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and warned him that he would surely die the day he ate from it (cf. Gen. 2:16-17), a joint command and warning that Eve also clearly received as well despite us not knowing for certain whether God or Adam told her directly (cf. Gen. 3:1-3). However, having animated the serpent, Satan in his craftiness convinced Eve that neither she nor Adam would die from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, insinuating that God instituted this prohibition because He did not want them to become like Him in the sense of knowing good and evil (cf. Gen. 3:4-5).
Having contemplated Satan’s words, Eve looks at the forbidden tree and notices its already existing pleasant attributes, particularly that it was “desirable to make one wise” (cf. Gen. 3:6). Ultimately, Eve eats the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and gives some to Adam, who also eats it. Upon Adam eating the fruit, the eyes of both him and Eve were opened to see that they were naked. And although they had been naked and unashamed up until that point (cf. Gen. 2:25), their nakedness had now become a source of shame due to the trespass they committed against God. God's knowledge of good and evil was and is rooted in His omniscience, not in any experience in actually committing evil. Conversely, the only way Adam and Eve could have gained knowledge of good and evil was by committing evil, which they did by trespassing the boundary God instituted.
If we have to trespass a boundary God has instituted in order to obtain something that we desire, that desire is not worth pursuing or possessing. Negative consequences, and more importantly sorrow, will accompany our possession of what God has forbidden. Oftentimes, the things that God restricts from our possession are pleasing to the eye and can certainly possess the capacity to satisfy our flesh. However, if God has told us not to pursue it, we need to trust the intent of a holy, sinless, and perfect God when He says no. When He tells us no, it is not without reason, and oftentimes is accompanied by a warning of the consequences. And even if we don’t comprehend the reasoning, we need to trust even more in the fact that He not only knows better but knows all.