Psalm 117 1Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles! Laud Him, all you peoples! 2For His merciful kindness is great toward us, And the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!
I saw again recently a version of the criticism of God regarding how bad He was for forbidding Adam and Eve from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden. “If He was really good, He wouldn’t have done that!” But of course, this is just a retread of Satan’s argument in that same place. God did tell them they couldn’t eat from that tree and that if they did, death would be the result. But what God’s detractors fail to see is that He was providing for them untold blessings. That’s far more significant than the one thing He kept from them!
Sadly, they did eat from that tree. They did disobey. And what was the result? Well, death. Just like God said. Paul would write much later, “Since by man came death…” If we ever wonder why so much of the world seems broken, we should remember this event, for that is what is at the heart of it all.
If my creation had gone so wrong so soon after I made it, I would have started over. I would have thrown that bit away and just tried again. But God’s merciful kindness is great toward us! He didn’t do that. What He did was talk to Adam and Eve, not to berate them, but to promise them that one day, one of their descendants would come and He would make things right. When He said that disobedience would bring death, that was, sadly, true. When He said a descendant would come one day, that was also true! Jesus did come. God’s Word can be trusted!
Jesus did come and through His redemptive work on the cross, He began the process of reclamation. He began then and is still at the business of making creation new again. Paul wrote, “If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation!” God can be trusted. His word is true. His idea for mankind way back in the Garden of Eden is still His plan. He wants a close relation-ship with people. He wants to walk with us through our lives. He wants fellowship.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
