Appearing to Eve as a serpent, he cleverly and subtly reasoned with her to eat the forbidden fruit. He lied to her that she would “not surely die” (in other words, that she already had an immortal soul), planted doubts in her mind about God, and convinced her that she could attain greater enlightenment by freeing herself from God’s guidance (Genesis 3:4-5). So, deceived and persuaded, she ate. Then she offered the fruit to Adam and he ate. All choices have consequences, and from the moment they chose to disobey God, everything changed. They could not have God’s blessing of eternal life and live in sin. Imagine their shame when God confronted them with that reality! Created with the most astounding potential imaginable, they had thrown it all away. They found themselves banished from the Garden of Eden and cut off from the tree of life (Genesis 3:24)—t he way t hat would have resulted in a life of peace, joy and, ultimately, eternal life. The gap between God and man had now become immensely greater. Adam and Eve were only the first. Ever since, all humans have rejected
The suffering and evil in the world today result from humans choosing sin. God and opted for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—the way of sin. Our minds are described as carnal by nature (that is, of the flesh)—in opposition to the spiritual ways of God (Romans 8:7). In s t e a d o f b e i n g d r i v e n a n d motivated by God’s love, humanity has been driven by selfishness, greed, lust and many other destructive characteristics.
Humanity has followed the same path Adam and Eve, now removed from the garden, continued living separated from God and suffered the consequences. One of their sons, Cain, murdered his righteous brother, Abel. Society continued downhill as both the Bible and human history document. Because of this choice, man’s mind became diametrically opposed to the way God thinks and lives (Isaiah 55:8; 59:2). The suffering and evil in the world today result from humans
22 GOD’S PURPOSE FOR YOU: DISCOVERING WHY YOU WERE BORN