Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Why the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?

I know we binge on TV shows but have you experienced a book binge before. It's like when you finish one, you need another. 

And that was when I finished a book last night, I went searching for another and found this. It's now one of the best books I read.

Discovering the Good Life: The Surprising Riches Available in Christ
by Tim Savage

It was so good that I finished it in one night. 

Tim Savage began the book by asking the question, "What is so good about life?", and he got me hooked from there on.

He looked at our lives from the perspective of three trees:
1. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
2. A Shoot from the Stump of Jesse
3. The Tree of Life 

I always have a question about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on why is it there to begin with. Why put a tree there to tempt Adam and Eve? And knowing that they will succumb to it anyhow? 

I think Savage has finally answered the question for me. 

He said that God, in the creation of the universe and the world, has lavished himself on humanity. He poured out and provided it all through his providence and creativity. And the gift of this tree is where God's "generosity rises to unimaginable heights." 

Really? How so? Since it "bears within its branches the forbidden fruit with the power to rain doom on humanity," how can it be God's generosity that rises to unimaginable heights?

It is this very tree that plays an important role in the lives of human beings, Savage said. It is because God is love. And this love of God calls for a response. How will Adam and Eve return it? Will God be enough for them without needing to want "more" than God? 

"By opting for the orchard, humans return God’s love. By opting for the forbidden fruit, they reject it."

Now I am finally clear why the tree is in the Garden of Eden.

Pearlie

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