After their fateful bite the first thing to hit Adam and Eve was knowledge of good and evil. Knowledge…of evil. It broke God’s heart to describe us as “knowing good and evil.”
We tend to gloss over Genesis 3:22, where God describes us as knowing good and evil, and assume the biggest problem was our disobedience. That was a problem, yes, but not the primary problem. The big problem is that we became very much like a toddler spending our first night in a big-boy bed, or a big-girl bed. We assumed that since we were not held back by the restraints that a baby-cage offers that we were ready to come out whenever we wanted. But just because you can do something does not mean you should do something.
I remember when one of my daughters was first in a big-girl bed. Oh how she loved the power. I can get out of my bed anytime I want to. But what she discovered was that her parents liked to celebrate putting children to bed by having a bowl of ice cream. Why can’t I have ice cream, mommy? I want some ice cream.
Likewise, perhaps it wasn't the good God was trying to keep us from seeing. After all, all that is good is embodied in Him, so a relationship with God would reveal all the good we could ever hope for. What God was trying to keep from us was the evil. What we didn't need to know. What would only cause us pain. What would only lead to confusion. Any parent can understand this desire for their child.
So God described us as knowing good and evil. Maybe that’s why the word “know” is so prevalent in describing mankind’s redeemed relationship with God....
We tend to gloss over Genesis 3:22, where God describes us as knowing good and evil, and assume the biggest problem was our disobedience. That was a problem, yes, but not the primary problem. The big problem is that we became very much like a toddler spending our first night in a big-boy bed, or a big-girl bed. We assumed that since we were not held back by the restraints that a baby-cage offers that we were ready to come out whenever we wanted. But just because you can do something does not mean you should do something.
I remember when one of my daughters was first in a big-girl bed. Oh how she loved the power. I can get out of my bed anytime I want to. But what she discovered was that her parents liked to celebrate putting children to bed by having a bowl of ice cream. Why can’t I have ice cream, mommy? I want some ice cream.
~Well, you weren't supposed to see this.
Likewise, perhaps it wasn't the good God was trying to keep us from seeing. After all, all that is good is embodied in Him, so a relationship with God would reveal all the good we could ever hope for. What God was trying to keep from us was the evil. What we didn't need to know. What would only cause us pain. What would only lead to confusion. Any parent can understand this desire for their child.
So God described us as knowing good and evil. Maybe that’s why the word “know” is so prevalent in describing mankind’s redeemed relationship with God....
Kings will be your foster fathers,And...
and their queens your nursing mothers.
They will bow down before you with their faces to the ground;
they will lick the dust at your feet.
Then you will know that I am the Lord;
those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Isaiah 49:23
I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. ~Ephesians 1:17
It’s God’s way of undoing the unfortunate knowledge gained in those garden days. We can overpower our knowledge of evil with knowledge of His Light and Life.
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