"Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.'"
When we think of the promises of God, we generally think of the positive promises, or promises that make us feel good. But there are also "negative" promises, or promises that come as warnings. We don't like to look at these as part of the promises of God, but they are promises nevertheless, and probably more redeeming than most promises because they are given out of the love and concern of God, for our eternal protection. This is the great goodness of God toward us, that He would not leave us ignorant of the dangers along the way. We may not note each of these "negative" promises throughout Scripture, but we would be doing an injustice to the Word of God if we didn't at least note a foundational one, that carries the weight of similar promises, coming to us as a divine warning for our own soul's sake. This promise sets the stage for the drama of God's Word: "Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.'" We, of course, know what happened. Man, historically, has not heeded the promise, or the fact, that "the wages of sin is death," and he has paid a huge price for this insistance to have his own way. But the amazing thing about man's plunge into sin, as noted, beginning in Genesis 3, and revealed again and again, in God's Word, is that God plunges in after him. The grand act of salvation is that God seeks to save us from our own destruction. The hymn writer put it well when he wrote, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found...was blind, but now I see!" One more thing. The foolishness of sin is to become obsessed with the one object that is off limits: "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." The wisdom and joy of the Christian life is to focus and feed on the abundance of what is ours in Him: "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely." We have more than enough!
When we think of the promises of God, we generally think of the positive promises, or promises that make us feel good. But there are also "negative" promises, or promises that come as warnings. We don't like to look at these as part of the promises of God, but they are promises nevertheless, and probably more redeeming than most promises because they are given out of the love and concern of God, for our eternal protection. This is the great goodness of God toward us, that He would not leave us ignorant of the dangers along the way. We may not note each of these "negative" promises throughout Scripture, but we would be doing an injustice to the Word of God if we didn't at least note a foundational one, that carries the weight of similar promises, coming to us as a divine warning for our own soul's sake. This promise sets the stage for the drama of God's Word: "Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.'" We, of course, know what happened. Man, historically, has not heeded the promise, or the fact, that "the wages of sin is death," and he has paid a huge price for this insistance to have his own way. But the amazing thing about man's plunge into sin, as noted, beginning in Genesis 3, and revealed again and again, in God's Word, is that God plunges in after him. The grand act of salvation is that God seeks to save us from our own destruction. The hymn writer put it well when he wrote, "Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found...was blind, but now I see!" One more thing. The foolishness of sin is to become obsessed with the one object that is off limits: "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." The wisdom and joy of the Christian life is to focus and feed on the abundance of what is ours in Him: "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely." We have more than enough!
"The foolishness of sin is to become obsessed with the one object that is off limits: "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat." The wisdom and joy of the Christian life is to focus and feed on the abundance of what is ours in Him: "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat." We have more than enough!" -The sanctified life dwells and thrives on this part of the promise. It must recognize that all other things, issues and behaviors - those things that we should not partake of shall find us in a diffused and broken intimacy with the Savior. Thank you Brother Hubert for this encouraging word.
ReplyDeleteDad, I'm so excited you have a blog and that I can now enjoy what you have written for us girls. (I never got a box..:)Thanks for posting these. Can't wait to read them daily...no pressure! Love ya.
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