The Tree of Knowledge
Copyright © December 1, 2021 by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E.
All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden they both knew that if they ate the fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" then they would die.
But the serpent told Eve that she would not die, and that she would become like God, and that she would become wise. Everything the serpent said was a lie. The serpent implied that Eve should not believe what God said. Instead she should do whatever seemed reasonable to her. Therefore Eve ate some of the forbidden fruit and then she gave some to Adam and he also ate some of the forbidden fruit.
At that moment they became aware of many things. And they knew they had disobeyed God and that God had said that the punishment for eating the forbidden fruit was that they would die. After sewing some leaves together to cover their bodies, they hid themselves when they heard the LORD walking in the garden because they were afraid.
When they came out of hiding they told God that they were hiding because they knew they were naked. This was only a half-truth. The real reason they hid was because they knew that God was going to punish them and they did not want to die. When God asked if they had eaten the forbidden fruit Adam said that his wife had given it to him. And then Eve said that the serpent had tricked her into eating the fruit. One of the reasons God asked them if they had eaten the forbidden fruit was to give them a chance to confess their sin. And they both told God the truth and that they had done what God had told them not to do.
The immediate consequences were as follows:
- The Serpent (or the Devil): God cursed the serpent and condemned it to crawl on its belly and to eat the dust of the earth.
- Eve: God told Eve that she would experience pain in childbirth. But eventually one of her offspring would crush the head of the serpent but the serpent would bruise the heal of her offspring. This was the first prophecy about Jesus and His death on the cross, and that His feet would be nailed to the cross. But His death would result in the defeat of the devil.
- Adam: God told Adam that the ground would be cursed because of his sin and that he would have to do hard work to earn his daily bread for the rest of his life. And God also told Adam that he was made from the dust of the earth and that he would eventually die and his body would return to dust.
Then God immediately killed an animal and made leather clothing from its hide for Adam and Eve to wear. This was the first animal sacrifice and the shedding of its blood temporarily covered the sins of Adam and Eve. This was possible because Adam and Eve had told the truth and they confessed that they had sinned by disobeying God. Therefore God could pardon their sin by killing an animal and making a blood sacrifice to temporarily atone for their sin. (Note: Their sin would be permanently atoned for when Jesus, the Son of God, died on the cross.)
Then God cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden to prevent them (and their future children) from eating from the "Tree of Life" and living forever in their fallen condition.
The above is a very brief summary of Chapter 3 of the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible.
The bodies of Adam and Eve were now going to gradually grow old and their bodies would eventually die. But first they were going to have many children and grandchildren in order to fulfill God's first commandment to mankind: "Be fruitful and multiply." (Genesis 1:28)
Discussion
The Holy Bible contains additional information about the consequences of eating from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." This additional information is included throughout the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The purpose of this short article is to consolidate some of this information so we can better understand the consequences of what Adam and Eve did.
People have a body, a soul, and a spirit.
- Body: The body refers to our entire physical body and to our five senses of taste, touch, seeing, hearing, and smelling. The physical body is mortal and it will eventually die and the body will return to dust.
- Soul: The soul refers to the intangible components within our bodies. The soul consists of our life force, our thoughts, our memories, our emotions, our conscience, and our will. We control our body through our will. The soul is the spark of life that keeps our mortal bodies alive. The soul will live forever, either in heaven or hell.
- Spirit: Our spirit is how we communicate with God and it is how God communicates with us. In the beginning God created birds, and fish, and animals by speaking them into existence. But God didn't speak man into existence. Instead God carefully formed a body for the man and then God breathed His Spirit into the man and the man became alive. (Genesis 2:7)
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit three things happened:
- Body: The human body lost its immortality. The human body was condemned to gradually wear out and eventually die.
- Soul: The human soul rebelled against God. The human soul will live forever but each one of us will determine whether our eternal soul will go to heaven or hell when our mortal bodies die.
- Spirit: The Spirit of God departed from the bodies of Adam and Eve when they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit. God's Spirit cannot be in opposition to God the Father and therefore the Spirit of God could not remain in the bodies of Adam and Eve. However, the good news is that God's Spirit will return to us and dwell inside us forever if we will personally invite Him back into our bodies.
Angels and Demons
Some people do not believe in any type of invisible spirit. But some people do believe in invisible spirits.
Some people who believe in God do not understand why evil spirits exist and they do not understand why God tolerates evil spirits.
In the beginning God created all the angels and all the angels were with God in heaven. However, the devil (Satan or Lucifer) led a group of angels astray and they made war against Michael and the good angels in heaven. Satan and his band of angels were defeated and they were cast out of heaven to the earth. In order to clearly distinguish between the good angels in heaven and the evil angels that were cast out of heaven, the Holy Bible refers to the fallen angels as devils, demons, and evil spirits. (Isaiah 14:12-14 and Revelation 12:7-9.)
Demons are very powerful and they should not be underestimated. Demons can lead people into sin and they can cause bad things to happen to people.
Demons can enter into a person's body and take control of the person, and they can make the person really sick, both mentally and physically. However, some illnesses are the result of natural causes and the illness is not the result of demon possession.
If one or more demons enter into a person then the demons can cause the person to do really bad things. However, some people do really bad things just because they want to and these evil people are not possessed by demons.
When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden the Spirit of God departed from their mortal bodies. This left a vacancy within their bodies that a demon can enter and the demon can take control of the person. People do not have the ability to prevent an evil spirit from taking control of their body.
However, when a person puts their faith and confidence in the God of the Holy Bible, and the person accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior, then the person receives an eternal pardon from God and all of their sins are eternally forgiven (past, present, and future sins). And the Holy Spirit immediately enters into the person's body and the Holy Spirit will remain a part of the person forever. A person who has the Holy Spirit of God inside them no longer has a vacant spot inside their body that a demon can enter. Therefore a true Christian cannot be demon possessed.
However, evil spirits can tempt everyone even if the person is a Christian. For example, an evil spirit can tempt you to eat a cookie that you know you shouldn't eat. But it is up to you whether or not you will yield to the temptation to eat the cookie. The evil spirit cannot force you to eat the cookie. The evil spirit can only tempt you with the cookie. However, if you do not have the Holy Spirit living inside you then an evil spirit can enter your body and take control of your body and force you to eat the cookie.
Adam and Eve originally had the Spirit of God inside them. Therefore the devil could not enter their bodies and force them to eat the forbidden fruit. The devil simply tempted them to eat the forbidden fruit and Adam and Eve both yielded to the temptation and they both ate some of the forbidden fruit because they wanted to and not because they were forced to do it by the devil.
The devil will promise us whatever he thinks we desire. But when we die we will enter eternity without any of the things we acquired while we were alive here on the earth. If we follow the devil then our souls will spend eternity in hell. But if we accept Jesus as Savior then we will spend eternity with Jesus in Glory.
One day God will cast Satan and all the bad angels (demons, devils, evil spirits) into the lake of fire where they will be tormented day and night forever. And people who do not have faith in the God of the Holy Bible will also be cast into the eternal lake of fire.
Conclusion
In order to receive eternal forgiveness for all our sins there are several things we need to do while we are still alive here on the earth.
- Believe the Gospel Message: Jesus is the only Son of God and He was conceived in the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. As an adult Jesus healed sick people and He also cast demons out of people. Jesus said He was the Son of God, and He said He had the power to forgive sins, and He said He was the Only way to heaven. Jesus lived a sinless life but He was condemned by the Jewish leaders of His day and He was sentenced to die on a cross by the Roman government. He shed His Innocent Holy Blood on the cross as the full and eternal payment for all our sins (past, present, and future). He gradually bled to death while hanging on the cross. After He was dead a Roman soldier pierced His side with a spear to verify He was really dead. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb and a seal was put on the stone that covered the tomb and the tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers. On the third day an angel rolled the stone away and Jesus rose from the dead. He appeared to many people over the next few weeks and He told them to preach the good news about Him to everyone everywhere. Then He ascended up into heaven and He is alive today at the Right Hand of God making intercession for everyone who believes in Him.
- Repent of Our Sins: We need to acknowledge that we have sinned and that we deserve to be punished for our sins. We need to be sorry for our sins and we need to ask Jesus to forgive our sins. Jesus has the power to forgive sin and He is just waiting for us to ask Him for forgiveness because He won't forgive us without our permission. When we repent we will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will help us to live better lives in the future compared to how we lived in the past. For some people this will only be some small changes because they were already reasonably good people. But for other people it will be a drastic change because in the past they did a lot of things that they knew were wrong. Even though our eternal salvation is instantaneous, our lives and our behavior will gradually change for the better with the passing weeks, months, and years.
- Confess Jesus Christ as LORD and Savior: We need to publicly take a stand for Jesus and we need to publicly acknowledge Him as our Savior before others. If we will confess Jesus before men then Jesus will confess our names before His Father in heaven and we will receive forgiveness for our sins and we will receive the gift of eternal life in Glory. There is great rejoicing in heaven when a sinner repents. The angels rejoice and all our ancestors all the way back to Adam and Eve also rejoice. And we will spend eternity in fellowship with them and with God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Salvation is forever. When we are saved our sins are not only forgiven but God makes the intentional choice to never remember our sins at any time in the future. After we are saved we should desire to live better lives and we should desire to do good deeds that will benefit other people. When we die we will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to receive rewards for the good deeds that we did while we were alive here on this earth.
Mark 1:15 - New King James Version
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
2 Corinthians 6:2 - New King James Version
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
When should you become a Christian? Today. Right now. Don't put it off another minute. Unlock the door to heaven with the only key that will fit -- faith in Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of the Living God.
May God Bless,
Grandpappy.
Grandpappy's e-mail address is: RobertWayneAtkins@hotmail.com