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Was There A Curse On Helen's Romantic Life?

The Third Man by Angela Sheffield is based on a true story. Read chapter one now!

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¿Qué tiene que ver conmigo? por Teófila Gottfried

Lo que leemos en la Biblia tiene que ver con todos los seres humanos, sean cristianos o judíos, ateos o agnósticos, budistas, musulmanes o adherentes a alguna de las filosofías o nuevas religiones que surgen en el mundo. ¿Por qué? Ver mayor información sobre este interesante libro.

Scripture of The Day - St. John 14:6

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Escritura del día - San Juan 14,6

Jesús le dijo: Yo soy el camino, y la verdad, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre, sino por mí.

Bibelstelle des Tages - Johannes 14,6

Jesus spricht zu ihm: Ich bin der Weg und die Wahrheit und das Leben; niemand kommt zum Vater, denn durch mich!

The Story of Adam and Eve: Did Satan Really Tell a Lie in the Garden of Eden?

Genesis 3:4 reads, "...and the serpent said unto the woman, 'ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.'"

The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden is recounted in Geneses 3:6-7 where it's recorded that this couple ate from the forbidden tree. Notice that later in the same chapter, verse 22, it's stated that, "...the Lord God said, 'behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...'"

Although scripture plainly affirms that indeed both Adam and Eve died (KJV, Genesis. 5:5), revealing Satan as a liar, scripture doesn't deny that they became gods. It should be remembered that "Adam" refers to Adam and Eve as one unit(Genesis 5:2).

Is man therefore divine, being descendants of gods? The answer to this question cannot be given without first explaining what one quality must be present to identify any living being as a god.

The serpent's words in the garden of Eden to Eve were, "...Ye shall be as gods knowing good and evil." Later, even God said, "...the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil...." Scripture can't teach any plainer that to know good and evil is to be a god. But, what does it really mean to know good and evil? It's very important to notice that scripture says that Eve sought wisdom from the tree. Wisdom is knowing what is right, or good, and what is wrong, or evil, what should be done and what should not be done, what is righteous and what is unrighteous.

To decide what's good and what's evil, one must have a system of laws by which he operates. If one steals in a land where theft is against the law, he has done evil, or wrong in the eyes of that judicial system. He is also subject to the penalty carried out against thieves.

God told Adam not to eat from the forbidden tree. This was the only law to obey in paradise. God created the law based purely on what he determined was good and what was evil, what was right and what was wrong. There were no other systems of law in the world. Therefore, the knowledge of good and evil rested only on what God called good and what he called evil. This was the only wisdom Adam and Eve possessed in the beginning.

The serpent offered Eve another wisdom that was represented by the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of what is good and what is evil, outside of God's viewpoint. Their newfound wisdom allowed them to decide for themselves what to call good and what to call evil. It is the attainment of this knowledge that opened their eyes to the fact that their disobedience gained them a certain independence from God's moral law and freedom to establish their own, to be a god unto themselves, wise in their own eyes, not God's. This state of mind brought on terrible confusion leading to man deciding to call good what God called evil and vice versa. The serpent truly told them these things would happen, and they did. However, the new wisdom and knowledge of good and evil, outside of God, the opening of their eyes, and their new independence turned out to be horribly distorted, twisted and warped from how nice the serpent had made it sound.

Perhaps they didn't know that God would say, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3). This command condemns a man being a god to himself. Perhaps they didn't know scripture would say, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight" (Isaiah 5:20-21)!

What went wrong with Adam and Eve becoming gods, having a wisdom and knowledge of what to call good and what to call evil independently of what God thinks? Everything, for them and all of mankind whose punishment was to be tormented by inevitable death and to remain confused over the meaning of life, which simply is to serve God and enjoy his glorious presence (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

One question remains. How were Adam and Eve to know God would say such things since the scriptures had not yet been written? How could they have possibly understood the consequences that would come from their disobedience? Didn't God fail to explain to them the awful trouble into which not only they would fall, but all of their posterity? Isn't this unfair on God's part? Obviously, God doesn't see it that way according to what's recorded in scripture. But, does man agree with him?

When one judges something that God does as fair or unfair, what is he doing? Is he not using his wisdom and his own reasoning to decide whether God is being good or evil? Is this not exactly the new wisdom to challenge God that Adam and Eve received and passed on to their children?

To look at it another way, consider that God truly did not go into detail with Adam and Eve on the horrors that would result from rebellion. However, could two people who were born in paradise, perfection, purity, and total innocence, never having seen anything bad, really imagine the ugliness of the world today, even if God had told them? It defies common sense to believe such. Is God not a parent? Are there not times when parents forbid their children from doing things without explaining to them why? The parent that tells his young child not to go off with strangers cannot make him understand the evil that the stranger may inflict on him. Sometimes when children question why they cannot do something, the parent responds with, "simply because I told you not to."

Christians, if they are going to abstain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, must learn to grow up to be obedient little children in the Lord, obeying him in understanding and in confusion. This is their protection. This is their wisdom. This is the only knowledge of good and evil they need. This is their righteousness.

Did the serpent in the garden of Eden really tell a lie in the story of Adam and Eve? Yes, he lied about them not dying, but he did tell them the truth regarding their eyes coming open. It's also what he did not tell them that counts. In conclusion, the serpent deceived Eve, just as he continues to deceive all of her offspring that listen to his distorted messages.

©2008 All rights reserved

Recommended reading:
Maintaining a Right Attitude When Questioning God

Based on true events, The Third Man by Angela Sheffield, brings the Bible up close and personal as the characters face real issues of life: Betrayal, deceit, romance, bitterness, anger against God, hopelessness, will power, perplexity, triumph, unforgiveness, mental illness, and the "Alcohol made me do it" excuse. Read chapter one FREE now.

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Comments/Comentarios:

If in the beginning there was only God, and God is good, where does evil come from? I thought evil equals disobidience to God. But evil goes further. It has visual forms (sightings of ugly demons) and physical expression (sreaming, crying, fear, depression).... So, who created evil and the ugglyness and terrible emotions that come with it?
Kind regards!
by: Anne
Posted on 2011-02-22 19:36:59

To Anne:

The fact that evil has "visual forms" does not make it go further than disobedience to God. Is not disobedience itself acted out? Yes, it is and it always takes a form. We have just published, "What Is the Origin of Evil According to the Christian Bible?" You can locate it here on the site simply typing "evil" in the search box and clicking on the link of the exact title. It is currently on the home page, but will drop off soon as more articles and studies are added.
by: Heavenly Manna
Posted on 2011-02-26 07:48:53

but did they really die though? don't they live on by the passing down of their genes to us? if god was as a parent to adam and eve, then couldn't u say that adam and eve became gods by bearing children and having to parent them? and by that, I mean sharing in gods experience. sorry, im not a religious person, but I am trying to figure all this stuff out for myself. it seems I suffer from a case of the new found wisdom.
by: roger
Posted on 2015-10-06 02:25:07

To Roger:

The fact that Adam and Eve became parents, like God is a parent, doesn't make them gods. BEFORE Adam and Eve ever ate from the forbidden tree, God had already said to them, "Be fruitful, and multiply" (Gen. 1:28). This was God giving them the ability to become parents. Animals have offspring; they become parents. But do we think of them as gods simply because they have babies? No. Adam and Eve have never held true divine power, which includes two extremely important attributes: 1. Creation power 2. Power over death. Had Adam and Eve become true gods equal to God, they would have possessed creation power. Even scientists acknowledge that man cannot create or destroy matter. And, had Adam and Eve become gods equal to God they would never have died. And we know they did die (Gen. 5:5). The true and living God has no beginning and no end. He never dies, and He has power over death. Adam and Eve had a beginning, and an end to their life. They died, which shows they have no power over death.
by: Heavenly Manna
Posted on 2015-10-08 16:38:19

Adam and Eve lived on, how else could they have had children? Eventually Adam died, perhaps Eve also. They did not die immediately after eating the fruit. We all die eventually. What about my siblings who never had a chance to live long enough, what was their sin?
by: Jay
Posted on 2020-10-17 12:08:11

To Jay:

Thank you for sharing your comment and question, which are important to us. Your comment and question reveal lack of understanding of the difference between spiritual death and physical death. The article explains what it meant that Adam and Eve became gods. That was their death. They first died spiritually, then physically. They developed their own righteousness OUTSIDE of the righteousness of God, which is why we read that they became gods. Gods are who determine what is right and what is wrong. Having our own righteousness (being our own gods) moves us to do what is right in our own eyes, NOT in God's eyes. When we do that, we sin. When we sin, we die. Everyone has sinned, because everyone inherited a sinful nature being the descendants of Adam. Therefore everyone dies. The scripture of Romans 5:12, among others, explains this: "Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon ALL men..."
"And be found in him (Christ), NOT having mine own righteousness...but...the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection." (Philippians 3:9-10).
If your siblings died as babies or very young children, they did NOT die with sin. They are with the Lord. That is according to scripture, not according to our opinion.

by: Heavenly Manna
Posted on 2020-10-17 19:05:41

Is God not omniscient? Did not God know in advance in his perfect wisdom that Adam would sin. Could God had been fooled by Satan (the serpent) while He wasn't looking so that he ruined the whole entire work of His love so that now God has to come up with plan "B", a plan of salvation as a result of what Satan did?
by: Marcelo Gaye
Posted on 2022-08-20 02:33:37

Dear Mr. Gaye:

The Bible reveals that the death of Christ on the cross for salvation was ordained BEFORE Adam and Eve were ever created. Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God of whom we read: "...the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." (Revelation 13:8). Yes, God knew man would fall from grace in the garden before he ever created him. That is why the plan of salvation was in place even BEFORE they fell. This is biblical proof that salvation was NOT a plan B.

Also, keep in mind that Adam was NOT fooled. Eve, the woman was the one deceived (1 Timothy 2:14).
by: Heavenly Manna
Posted on 2022-08-22 22:15:19

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