Our First Parents Chose Lies Over Truth, We Must Choose Truth Over Lies.

 2Jn 1:4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

I've spoken about it before but it bears speaking about again. The truth is so important, without it we have nothing at all. Think about it for a moment. When the first pair of humans were created and placed in the Garden of Eden, they were given truth by love. God is love. God is truth. They were given instructions, much like we might give instructions to someone that needed them. Adam and Eve were told what to do and what not to do. The list wasn't very long.

Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, BE fruitful, and multiply, and REPLENISH the earth, and SUBDUE it: and HAVE dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Gen 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to DRESS IT and to KEEP IT.

Mankind was to take care of the garden he was placed in. In what sense were they to take care of it? There were no weeds in the garden, all was perfection. Man was in a garden with beauty beyond our imagining. He was given leave to do in the garden as he willed. Imagine for a moment that you were in a garden where you could tend to it in such a way that was pleasing and wonderful to you every day. No tools need. A simple, gentle grasp of an exquisite flower tenderly lifted out of the soil. A relocating of that perfect flower into new soil just by setting it down and watching the living roots bury themselves into the dirt. Or possibly something to that effect. You could create such wonders and do so as often as it pleased you. This garden is not at all like our gardens today. We do have gardens that are gorgeous in places all over the world (and sometimes in our own back yard) these take work, hard work and constant upkeep. The Garden of Eden wasn't one of hard work, but of unique creative beauty that our amazing gardens today only hint at. The Creator's hands brought the wonderful garden into existence and then taking the two new creatures, humans, he placed them within that garden. It was teeming with animal life, insects, reptiles, amphibians, you name it and each one was perfect, and wonderful, beautiful. Have you ever been somewhere that took your breath away because of its beauty? Again, that place is only a hint of creation's perfection. So how does one take care of a garden that is perfect in all ways? Through the wonders of perfect imagining and the ability to alter things as the will moves. Through communing with nature in way unknown to us now. In truth, the first humans were able to enjoy and live in that garden in a manner that we can only imagine, and imagine we must.

God didn't stop there. After He told Adam and Eve about their life in the garden He also told them their food would be provided from every tree in the garden….

Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat.

…except one…

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

There was a very special tree in that garden, a tree of something more than the pleasure of tasty fruit.

This special forbidden tree contained the knowledge of good and evil and the pair were told as such. The other trees in the garden were for their pleasure, but this one, this single tree was made of something that should they choose to disobey their Creator's command, would kill them, end them. This tree was very deadly.

Did Adam and Eve know what death was? They had to have been given the comprehension of the outcome of their actions or it would have been meaningless. The word death would have described nothing if it had no meaning as being what it was. When told they would surely die if they disobeyed, they were given the full comprehension of what their actions would mean. Perhaps in a vision of themselves as being lifeless and returning to dust, we don't know. But for God's words to have any sense of caution, they had to know what dying would entail.

Dying would be living without God, not them as spirit beings ascending to heaven. Dying would be their Creators and them separated from each other.

Dying would make them outcasts.

Dying would be horrific and completely undesirable.

This awful thing that would happen should they eat of that tree and willfully disobey God's command, was well known to Adam and Eve or else they've have had no reason to stay away from it.

Some say the test was in them not knowing, just in their choosing not to listen to God. Then what point was there in God telling them there would be consequences if they didn't comprehend those consequences? If I tell my very child not to touch a hot stove or it could burn them, they might look at me in complete incomprehension. If I tell them not to touch the hot stove because it would cause them a lot of hurt, they'd probably understand because what child doesn't get 'owies' when learning to walk from falling down and bumping a knee? Children learn that things can cause them pain, things can hurt them, and if they are told that hot stove can hurt them, then they'd be cautious around that stove. Comprehension has to exist if we speak to our children. Those children must have a sense of what we are telling them or it is useless for us to expect them to understand and not hurt themselves. We don't tell infants not to hurt themselves, we know they have no way of understanding, we protect them and teach them as their comprehension grows as they age and learn. We don't tell an older child or adult who doesn't have the ability to comprehend things not to hurt themselves, we continue to protect them for the rest of their lives.

God did not tell Adam and Eve they would surely die, without their comprehension of death. They were created with that full comprehension. Their Life-Giver, their Creator, the One who was Love, and revealed that Love in creation, was everything to them. They loved in return, how could they not? Separation from those who sustained their very lives, was a thought of pure terror solidifying their desire to abhor that tree and all it stood for.

The first sin was so much more than we truly realize. There have been too many depictions of poor, innocent Eve in all her purity and goodness absentmindedly wandering down the path to the forbidden tree only to be met by the evil villain, as if she hadn't a clue in the world that nothing good would come from that tree. Eve wasn't a sinner, she had no evil intent in her at all, but she had the knowledge that her Creator, her God, had given her that the tree was off limits and that was all she needed to know. She had every bit of knowledge in her that knew better than to do what she did and yet she was seduced into sin. The allure of the tempter overcame her reason, her knowledge. A seed of doubt was planted.

What happened when that fruit was eaten by the pair? They began the process of dying immediately, didn't they? The death sentence was pronounced, they were put on death row in that instant. They didn't have to wait for a trial at all. They knew everything in their entire perfect lives had changed- beginning with the robes of righteousness, the pure robes of the light of God's love disappearing from their bodies so they no longer were clothed in sinless perfection. Separation from God's righteousness, disobeying God, turning from the TRUTH of God's words and accepting SATAN'S LIES cost the pair God's perfection.

They turned away from TRUTH and accepted Satan's deceptive LIES.

Do you not comprehend the importance of being TRUTHFUL? Of accepting TRUTH? Of learning what is TRUTH?

Deception caused the FIRST HUMAN SIN and every sin after is a result of that deception. Tell me that deception isn't insidious, and something we need to guard against by knowing the truth.

Jesus lay claim to being THE TRUTH. Yet we cringe and refuse to accept His truth when it interferes with our traditions. We cringe when we hear that there might be truth that we aren't looking into, because we like the little bit of truth we have, thank you very much. We don't need any more. We grasp hold of one truth to the exclusion of all others, telling ourselves it's enough to simply love without studying Jesus' entire life as the example and following in that example. We take a bit here, a bit there and ignore those parts that clash with our lives.

TRUTH.

Adam and Eve chose lies over truth. We must choose truth over lies.

3Jn_1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children WALK IN TRUTH.

1Jn_1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and WALK in darkness, we LIE, and do NOT THE TRUTH.

1Jn_1:7 But if we WALK in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Mal 2:6 The law of TRUTH was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips…

Eph 5:9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and TRUTH)

Deut 32:4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of TRUTH and without iniquity, just and right is he.

Rev. 15:3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and TRUE are thy ways, thou King of saints.

John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and TRUTH.

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the TRUTH, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of TRUTH; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you

John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and ABODE NOT IN THE TRUTH, because THERE IS NO TRUTH IN HIM. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Every lie is of the Devil. We deceive ourselves when we try to convince ourselves otherwise.

A lie caused our first parents to sin, and lies are still deceiving many. Don't pretend lies are truth. Pray not to be deceived, because the deceived will not see the truth through the lies they believe.

God help us to only ever want all Your truth and nothing less! All through Jesus Christ our Lord now and forever. Amen!