ugmug
Member
The Evil of Good
For all those who wonder what the definition of the knowledge of Good and Evil is, especially as it pertains to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, it couldn't be clearer especially when one looks at it from the perspective of God. If we consider that everything that God creates is good then what happens to make it evil? Good becomes evil when it is used against God, especially knowledge!
The knowledge of good and evil is the realization that everything that God makes is good but when God's goodness and perfection is used against God, its creator, to cast doubt upon God it becomes evil.
Consider that when Satan, disguised as a serpent, approached Eve in the garden of Eden he told her that the fruit of the tree of knowledge would make her God. Here we have God's goodness, in the form of knowledge given to both Adam and Eve as a command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge and evil, being used by Satan against God to lure Eve into desiring it, and then eating it. Satan's words were evil for they cast doubt on God's warning and his command not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
Evil then is casting doubt upon God. This doubt creates unbelief which destroys all faith in God. For it is written that it is impossible to please God except through faith. Without faith in God man loses all of his purpose in his existence. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden they took their faith away from God and placed it in Satan. Since man has the image of God, and when Adam and Eve sinned, it was if God himself was now casting doubt on his own being and placing his faith with Satan, his created being.
One must understand that when mankind, who has the image of God, sinned in the Garden of Eden it forced God to look upon himself as if he was in a state of his own disobedience. Man was God's mirror and God was now forced to look upon himself in a state of sinfulness which is why man was forced out of the Garden of Eden, and why man must spend eternity in hell apart from God unless man's sinful image is 'resurrected' back into a state of holiness through a belief in God's son Jesus Christ.
Every unsaved person WILL spend eternity in hell. God cannot look upon himself in a state of sinfulness. It was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that restored God's image back to a state of holiness. We must now believe in Jesus Christ in order to gain the holiness lost in the Garden of Eden.
Each man and woman must now decide whether they want to retain the sinful image of God that Adam and Eve acquired in the Garden of Eden, an image that God abhors and will cast away from him in hell. Or believe in God's son Jesus Christ who has restored God's image back to holiness when he was born sinless and died sinless on the cross. Now whenever a believer in Jesus Christ dies they WILL receive a new body that will reflect this restored Holy image of God that Jesus Christ earned on the cross so God can once again look upon man with trust and favor for eternity in heaven.
God Bless
note:
Jesus Christ said at his trial just before his Crucifixion that this world was not his kingdom. Imagine if Jesus Christ, who was God with the image of God, was seen desiring anything of this sinful world. It would have been as if God himself desired sin more than righteousness. Jesus Christ came into this sinful world to offer himself as a sacrifice to atone for man's sin and restore God's fallen creation back to holiness. Not to possess, or even reclaim, this world's sinful glory.
People all over the world are constantly searching for a new image. This constant craving for a new identity is a reflection of our acknowledgment that we possess sin that has now corrupted the image of God that God gave us at our creation. We have now become just like Satan and try and hide our sinful identity by changing it into something different thinking we have finally shed our sinfulness. But all we have done is put a new mask on our old sinfulness. The only remedy to quiet this endless struggle to acquire a new sinless image, that will be acceptable by God, is to believe in the death and resurrection of God's son Jesus Christ (God becoming man) who will then give the believer a new sinless image (body) in heaven.
When God walked this world as a man, as Jesus Christ Son of God, not only was he sinless but because he had the image of God (as we all do) he took that responsibility seriously. Jesus rejected all of the glory and fame that Satan offered him in the desert which showed Satan that God did not want anything in this world because it was full of sin. Today as Christians carry the image of God along with the spirit of God in the Holy Spirit, and when we follow our sinful lusts, Satan laughs loudly for he sees God chasing the sins of man (especially those committing sexual deviancy such as homosexuality). We all carry the image of God wherever we go and we must not bring that image into moral disrepute, especially in the bedroom.
When we as Christians cry out to God for his help to obtain all the sinful pleasures of this world God sees it as another attempt to get at the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. When mankind desires to chase after the lusts of his heart, with all of its sexual degradations and prideful exhalations, it is seen by God as God himself chasing after the sin of this world since man carries God's image.
Whenever we ignore the 10 commandments and commit sin, it is as if God himself were committing these sins since we carry the image of God with us. Since we have the image of God everything we do can bring doubt, therefore Evil, upon the Holiness of God. It is a burden that we all bear which is why we will be higher in stature in heaven than the angels. Heaven and hell will be a place where sin will no longer be practiced or committed. One will be due to renewed holiness resulting from our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, and the other due to renewed pain and suffering. A place where man cannot, and will not, escape the obligations inherent in having God's image.
Amen
For all those who wonder what the definition of the knowledge of Good and Evil is, especially as it pertains to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden of Eden, it couldn't be clearer especially when one looks at it from the perspective of God. If we consider that everything that God creates is good then what happens to make it evil? Good becomes evil when it is used against God, especially knowledge!
The knowledge of good and evil is the realization that everything that God makes is good but when God's goodness and perfection is used against God, its creator, to cast doubt upon God it becomes evil.
Consider that when Satan, disguised as a serpent, approached Eve in the garden of Eden he told her that the fruit of the tree of knowledge would make her God. Here we have God's goodness, in the form of knowledge given to both Adam and Eve as a command not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge and evil, being used by Satan against God to lure Eve into desiring it, and then eating it. Satan's words were evil for they cast doubt on God's warning and his command not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
Evil then is casting doubt upon God. This doubt creates unbelief which destroys all faith in God. For it is written that it is impossible to please God except through faith. Without faith in God man loses all of his purpose in his existence. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden they took their faith away from God and placed it in Satan. Since man has the image of God, and when Adam and Eve sinned, it was if God himself was now casting doubt on his own being and placing his faith with Satan, his created being.
One must understand that when mankind, who has the image of God, sinned in the Garden of Eden it forced God to look upon himself as if he was in a state of his own disobedience. Man was God's mirror and God was now forced to look upon himself in a state of sinfulness which is why man was forced out of the Garden of Eden, and why man must spend eternity in hell apart from God unless man's sinful image is 'resurrected' back into a state of holiness through a belief in God's son Jesus Christ.
Every unsaved person WILL spend eternity in hell. God cannot look upon himself in a state of sinfulness. It was the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that restored God's image back to a state of holiness. We must now believe in Jesus Christ in order to gain the holiness lost in the Garden of Eden.
Each man and woman must now decide whether they want to retain the sinful image of God that Adam and Eve acquired in the Garden of Eden, an image that God abhors and will cast away from him in hell. Or believe in God's son Jesus Christ who has restored God's image back to holiness when he was born sinless and died sinless on the cross. Now whenever a believer in Jesus Christ dies they WILL receive a new body that will reflect this restored Holy image of God that Jesus Christ earned on the cross so God can once again look upon man with trust and favor for eternity in heaven.
God Bless
note:
Jesus Christ said at his trial just before his Crucifixion that this world was not his kingdom. Imagine if Jesus Christ, who was God with the image of God, was seen desiring anything of this sinful world. It would have been as if God himself desired sin more than righteousness. Jesus Christ came into this sinful world to offer himself as a sacrifice to atone for man's sin and restore God's fallen creation back to holiness. Not to possess, or even reclaim, this world's sinful glory.
People all over the world are constantly searching for a new image. This constant craving for a new identity is a reflection of our acknowledgment that we possess sin that has now corrupted the image of God that God gave us at our creation. We have now become just like Satan and try and hide our sinful identity by changing it into something different thinking we have finally shed our sinfulness. But all we have done is put a new mask on our old sinfulness. The only remedy to quiet this endless struggle to acquire a new sinless image, that will be acceptable by God, is to believe in the death and resurrection of God's son Jesus Christ (God becoming man) who will then give the believer a new sinless image (body) in heaven.
When God walked this world as a man, as Jesus Christ Son of God, not only was he sinless but because he had the image of God (as we all do) he took that responsibility seriously. Jesus rejected all of the glory and fame that Satan offered him in the desert which showed Satan that God did not want anything in this world because it was full of sin. Today as Christians carry the image of God along with the spirit of God in the Holy Spirit, and when we follow our sinful lusts, Satan laughs loudly for he sees God chasing the sins of man (especially those committing sexual deviancy such as homosexuality). We all carry the image of God wherever we go and we must not bring that image into moral disrepute, especially in the bedroom.
When we as Christians cry out to God for his help to obtain all the sinful pleasures of this world God sees it as another attempt to get at the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. When mankind desires to chase after the lusts of his heart, with all of its sexual degradations and prideful exhalations, it is seen by God as God himself chasing after the sin of this world since man carries God's image.
Whenever we ignore the 10 commandments and commit sin, it is as if God himself were committing these sins since we carry the image of God with us. Since we have the image of God everything we do can bring doubt, therefore Evil, upon the Holiness of God. It is a burden that we all bear which is why we will be higher in stature in heaven than the angels. Heaven and hell will be a place where sin will no longer be practiced or committed. One will be due to renewed holiness resulting from our faith and belief in Jesus Christ, and the other due to renewed pain and suffering. A place where man cannot, and will not, escape the obligations inherent in having God's image.
Amen