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“And the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, and that the tree was pleasant to the eye, and that the tree was praised for making one wise; then she took from it and ate, and gave some to her husband who was with her, and he also ate” (Genesis 3:6).
Mankind, created to grow and develop within the boundaries of God’s will, has not been satisfied. We have been deceived into believing that the truly good life lies outside those boundaries. When Eve and then Adam disobeyed God, they did so because they lost confidence in God’s goodness. Satan suggested that God’s restrictions were unfair, and that, in fact, God was being selfish in keeping them from their desired knowledge. They were deceived by Satan’s lies when he actually said, “Take away what is yours. Take what you have a right to enjoy. Break the rules and be your true self.”
Well, we are not fully developed, that much is true. But if we believe that there is some true “selves” that we were meant to be, and that “realizing” that dream requires disobedience to God, then we have accepted the same lie that destroyed Adam and Eve. God created us with great potential (we hardly have enough imagination to understand it), but everything that is possible for us needs to remain to be fully formed. Inside Creator’s will. No matter what Satan says, there is nothing else at the end of the road of disobedience Death.
The truth is that we are not our own. Created by God, we are His. We exist for His purposes. Any declaration of independence on our part is an act of rebellion, the more serious because it is an abuse of the freedom granted to us. God wanted us to use this freedom to obey Him – not as robots but as beloved children – but we have chosen to have our own way against His will. How sad it must have pained our Father that we not only do not see our sin, but are even proud of it. We think we are creating heaven on earth. We are masters of our destiny, and we are “fulfilling our human potential.”
But if we don’t turn, we’re going to spend eternity in a place where, without any interference from God, we will be completely “free to be ourselves.” And it is our little “self” (now fully “realized” and “real”) that will create hell, hell.
“The sin that offends God is that which is highly esteemed among men – self-conceit, pride, mastery of oneself” (Oswald Chambers).
Gary Henry – WordPoints.com AreYouaChristian.com
