Context
God is mean, cruel, and oppressive, right? He piles rules upon rules on humanity to keep us in line and make us mind. That's what the enemy would have us believe, at least. But is that the truth?
In Genesis 2 we see the creation of Adam and Eve and we learn the heart of God for humanity - what he wanted for us before we turned our backs on him and embraced sin.
Devotional - Life as It Should Have Been
Life can be frustrating, stressful, sorrowful, even depressing, leaving us wondering if God really loves us or if he has forgotten us. But when we examine the beautiful truths of Genesis 2, we see the world that God meant for us to live in and the life that he meant for us to have.
It's nothing like the rat-race, fast-paced, high-stress, joy-stealing world we live in.
The world God made was beautiful. I have seen beauty at the top of mountains and in ocean deeps. I've hiked deserts and jungles. But I've never seen anything like the Garden God made. It was a place of joy and peace as well. There was meaningful work there, but it was not the kind of frustrating, empty labor we have today. Marriage was a partnership of joy, a man and a wife complementing each other, completing one another not competing with one another.
But there are three key life principles we learn from life in the garden. First, God is the source of life - real life. he provided beauty, joy, pleasure, companionship, and contentment. God is not an ogre who gains joy from human suffering. He is a good God, a giver of life.
But he is also a Lord. God gave Adam a rule in the Garden. One rule - a simple rule, almost a symbolic one. All the trees of the Garden were available for food to Adam and Eve, but there was one tree, the one in the middle of the Garden, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, that was forbidden. One tree belonged to God.
The ratio there is significant. How many trees were there? A thousand? A million? We don't know. But God said they could enjoy them all. But one tree was held back and they were not allowed to eat of it as a sign of obedience and respect to God. As long as they did this small act of obedience they could continue not only to live in God's paradise, but God would walk with them and talk with them - there would be fellowship with God and joy with one another.
But there is one more truth to remember. God is serious about obedience. He warned Adam that if he disobeyed if he ate of the tree, he would surely die. Disobedience to God brings judgment - eternal and infinite judgment.
So, from this passage, we learn three key lessons that lay the groundwork for the story of redemption.
1. God created us to have a beautiful life and a life of fellowship with him.
2. Obedience and submission to God is essential to experience that life.
3./ Rebellion separates us from the life god intends for us to have and it brings judgment.
Father, I know you love me and you want for me a life of greater blessing than I can imagine. But I know that my sin is what stands in the way. May I walk in obedience, fully yielded to you that I may experience all that you have for me.
Think and Pray
Are there areas of your life that you must submit to him so that you may experience the life God has prepared for you?
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