Then Yahweh Elohim said: Behold, man has become like one of Us in knowing good and evil. Now lest he should stretch out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for the eon. So Yahweh Elohim sent him out of the garden of Eden to serve the ground from where he was taken.
Genesis 3: 22-23, Concordant New Testament
The prevailing wisdom of Christianity tells us that Adam and Eve were evicted from the garden of Eden because they had partaken from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which the Lord had commanded them not to {Genesis 2:17}. Yet this is but part of the truth of the fall of man in the garden. Yes, Eve was convinced by the deceiver to take of the forbidden fruit, and she then convinced her husband who was with her and he ate of the tree also {Genesis 3:6}. Christian theology stops at this point and laments the consequences of "The fall." Granted, the actions of Adam and Eve went against what the Lord had commanded them, and upon taking of the fruit they knew they had screwed up {Genesis 3:7}. Something happened in that instant in which man took of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In that moment, he knew that what he had done was wrong. In that moment, he knew that he had gone against what the Father had commanded. Yet this was but a consequence of his actions. See, there is a reason that God had commanded His creation not to take of that tree. For in doing so, man would be faced with the knowledge which had been reserved for the Father alone. Think about it, how much better are our lives knowing and living in the knowledge of good and evil? Well, I would suggest that living in this knowledge prevents us from living in the love of the Father. For when we think of good and evil we immediately think of rewards and punishment. A good friend mentioned the other day that man cannot know how to operate in the good vs evil paradox, and I would agree. When we live in the knowing of good and evil, we place ourselves alongside God in the judgement of it. Think I'm wrong? Consider our system of rules and laws which we continue to hold people accountable for. Now, ask yourself, who would you rather have as a judge, God or man? Remember that with God there is no favoritism, emotions or grudges. Can anyone say the same about human judges? So it is that living in the knowledge of good and evil takes away from our life in the love of the Father.
There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me" {Issaiah 45:5}
Norman Grubb ~ No Independent Self
One of the false assumptions made by Adam and Eve in the garden was the deceivers suggestion that they could "Become like Elohim, knowing good and evil {Genesis 3:5}. In reality, man was already like God, having been created in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}. However, since he had yet been presented with an opposite to his one true identity, Adam knew not that truth. The deceiver, perhaps perceiving this, set about to drive a wedge between God and His creation. Satan knew that he could not physically separate man from God, so he did the next best thing. He twisted the truth in a way which enticed Adam and Eve to believe in the lie that they could be like God. Again, Adam could not have known the truth that mankind was already like God. The result of Satan's deception is that mankind continues to have the imaginary belief that we have been separated from God. For their part, the mainstream church continues to proclaim this imaginary lie spoken by the deceiver. So it is that mankind continues to live in the knowledge best reserved for the Father. How often have you wondered about living in the Fathers love, yet were keenly aware of the wrong things you had done? This is how I was raised in the theology of the church. A loving God who rewarded good and punished evil. I had never taken of that forbidden fruit, but I suffered the consequences all the same. To live in the love of the Father is to drop our knowing of good and evil into the arms of God where it rightfully belongs. Ours is not to judge evil nor to reward good. We live in unity with the Father, we don't function in the same way beside Him {Johns Account 14:20}. Trust me when I say that there's a difference. Living in the Father means leaving everything unto Him.
Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time! But he loves you. He loves you, and he needs money. He always needs money. He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing, and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money.
George Carlin
~Scott~
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