TESTING
GROUND
Genesis
2:15-17
“The
Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take
care of it. And the Lord God commanded
the man, ‘You are free to eat of any tree in the garden; but you must not eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you
will surely die.’”
Planet
earth is testing ground for humans. When
children may not touch certain things, what do they usually do? Why do humans want what they can’t have? In the Garden of Eden, God pointed out only
one tree from which Adam may not eat. God
allows people to choose how to respond to commands.
Eve never wanted the fruit from the
forbidden tree…until Satan lied, “you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
(Genesis 3:5b).
That was not the first sin. Do you want to know what really happened? Isaiah
14 is about the king of Tyre (Ezekiel 28).
He was the king of Babylon, and a contemporary of Jesus. But the story fits Satan. Proud.
Arrogant. Thinking that “he’s all
that!”
“How you have fallen from heaven, O
morning star, son of the dawn! You have
been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to
heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on
the munt of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.’
“‘I will ascend above the tops of
the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you
are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-14). The Hebrew
word for morning star is Lucifer,
literally “light bearer.” Proud Satan
brought sin to earth when, like Jesus told His disciples in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.”
God
does not share His glory. “For My own
sake I do this. How can I let Myself be
defamed? I will not yield My glory to
another.” (Isaiah 48:11). People are
born into sin. Only by becoming new
creations when we choose to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior can we attain righteousness
through Him (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21).
See God addressing the king of Tyre,
the devil’s sin and end in the lesson linked below.
Take
Home Nugget
Because
the Lord wants people to love Him—instead of being programmed robots—He gives
people choice. Even when you sin, God
will turn it out for good (Romans 8:28).
What’s your grade on earth’s testing ground?
Thank You, Holy Father, for giving me
the right to choose. I choose to love and
obey You!
J.D. Griffith
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