Forbidden Fruit

"Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground - trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of he knowledge of good and evil... The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, " You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 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 1:8-9, 15-17

When I read this passage and connect the relationship to our current state of "reality", the "fall of man" we see in this passage hasn't stopped with Adam and Eve. It happens now - it's a continuous cycle of man being granted free will, but choosing to taste the forbidden fruit and allowing sin to enter in to our lives.

I believe free will is an important ingredient for the creation of man, which further confirms the just characteristic of God, so that we are able to worship Him by choice - out of love, not out of force. Without this ingredient, the purpose of creation would be meaningless to God, but with it, it means everything to God. And although the gift of free will to man has caused terrible heart aches for Him, apparently, He saw it worthwhile and perfect. Similar to a romantic relationship, God wants us to choose to Love Him for who he is, and what he represents.

Free will has great rewards for God when it is carried out the way it was designed to be, but because of its nature, it is inevitable that the contrary would be a part of this package. When we are given the choice to exercise our free will, and it's performed against God's will, we are basically choosing to taste the forbidden fruit. As I meditate on this concept, I can't imagine how much God's heart has been broken over and over again, as we constantly step over our boundaries and slap God in the face - "No I will not respect the line you have drawn for me! I will choose to disobey. I will choose to live my life with my subjective ways." Similar to Adam and Eve, even though we are well aware of the wrong, we often choose to disgrace God. When we disobey and taste the forbidden fruit, we allow Satan to enter in to our lives, and cast a curse on to ourselves - to be tempted by the temporary pleasure of the sin as long as we live. This temptation, however, would never be possible if we were to refrain ourselves from eating the "forbidden fruit," as we would not know of the temporary pleasure it may bring. For example, a person that's never had sex would never truly know the pleasures of it - only the stories heard from the others. However, once we allow sin to enter in to our lives, the temporary pleasure of the sin dominates our lives.

Not only does sin allow the world to invade our spirit, but it also makes us insecure.

“She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 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.” Genesis 3:6-7

As we see from this passage, we were created to be holy and totally secure in God’s glory. However, as soon as we allow sin into our lives, like Adam and Eve, we are immediately separated from God, and become instantly insecure. This curse is our own doing. We keep cursing ourselves to be distanced from God, as He is totally pure in Holiness, and we begin to die – like a plant that dies without sunlight. Death in this matter is caused by the absence of God, Who is the source of security, and we become instantly confused of our purpose, become crushed with insecurity, and begin to seek value (redemption) from the wrong sources.

If we can possible sum up all the ways we have slaughtered God's heart and separated ourselves from His Holiness, it really seems impossible for us to ever be reunited with God. But, that’s where Jesus comes in, and God proves there’s no economy in His kingdom – it is not by merit, but by Grace. Jesus pulls back the gap we created with sin and creates the one and only bridge back to God. Without Christ, all true happiness is destroyed, life is pointless, and we would be eternally doomed. And this eternal damnation for all His creation would have crushed God's heart in to millions of pieces.

Thank you Jesus for the cross. I am sorry for breaking your heart. Help me to live according to your will - Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.