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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Knowledge of Good and Evil, #6
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams." (I Samuel 15:22 NIV)
God did not blame Adam and Eve because they were naked any more than He blames us because we are spiritually naked.
What God is concerned about is our obedience to Himself. If we are obedient to God He will lead us along until we are totally free from sin. But if we are not obedient to God, then we will be punished for our disobedience and also for the sinful acts we have committed because of the sin dwelling in us.
Thus Adam and Eve died because of the sin of disobedience and then fled from God's Presence because of their guilt and because of the shame of their nakedness.
If we would understand the way God deals with the sin in us we must keep clearly in mind that God is not condemning us because of the sin over which we have no control. God does not condemn us unless we refuse to receive Christ in the first place, or else having received Christ refuse to follow the Spirit of God as He enables us to put to death the sinful deeds of our flesh.
Notice carefully what God said:
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." (Genesis 3:22)
"The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil." Being in the image of God requires that we know good and evil.
I think sometimes today Bible teachers imply that eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil causes a person to practice evil. This is not the case. It is not the tree of evil but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that is, the tree of the ability to judge right from wrong.
Growth in Christ is actually growth in the ability to judge good and evil, and to be able to embrace the good and renounce and reject the evil. Otherwise we are as babies needing milk. Apart from the ability to exercise Divine judgment we are not able to eat strong meat.
Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:13,14 NIV)
The problem with Adam and Eve, and the problem with all of us, is that if we know we are sinning, and yet do not have the ability to get rid of the sin, we are worse off than if we did not know we were sinning. God warned Adam and Eve, but they would not listen. They clothed themselves with aprons made from fig leaves until they looked ridiculous.
God intended to cover them with His own righteousness at a later date. They picked the wrong tree to eat. They should have eaten of Christ, of the Tree of Life. Then He could have covered them with His splendor and He would not have had to cover them with His blood. He would not have had to die on the cross.
To be continued.