D30 AND THE TWO TREES
More than a year ago, President Duterte called God “(i)stupido talaga itong p******a” because He “created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work.” He was referring of course to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His comment bothered me because it was something I didn’t have an answer to until now. According to Dr. Michael Youssef, “The tree was there to remind Adam and Eve that they were not their own. It was there to remind them that they were God's own possession. The tree was there to remind them that they were accountable to God and that they could not escape judgment for the moral choices they made.” In short---free will.
God would not be a loving God had He made us mindless robots. He would be a despot, a tyrant, a dictator. He gave us freedom to choose whether to follow, love, and serve Him or someone (or something) else. And it is still the same way today. We still have the same choice. Unfortunately, majority are still taking after our mother, munching on the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
“The moment Eve made her choice, she stopped believing in God as her all-wise Creator and friend…She doubted that her Creator truly wanted the best for her.” For her, God was just being a cosmic killjoy to her desire for independence where she can dictate what is good and evil (cf. Isa. 5:20). The thought of becoming like God made Eve happy and aren’t we all entitled to our happiness? But as soon as she and her husband took a bite, they both realized the spiritual catastrophic consequence of their action. It did not make them like God. It made them more mortal as death made its debut. It did not make them happy either as they found themselves exiled from the perfect garden. They realized that what God has called good was indeed good and evil was indeed evil. They realized that Satan had deceived them with the desire that they join him into eternal damnation because he aspired to be like God (Isa. 14:12-17).
But Satan did not count on God’s love for man when he raised another tree some millennia later. It is that tree from which our Savior, He who is Truth Himself, hung and conquered death. He whom the serpent had tried to steal, kill, and destroy but failed, would one day be at the receiving end of worship of every created being (Phil. 2:10-11) including the father of lies (John 8:44). Truth has won and will reign forevermore. The evil that we still see is on a countdown which explains why Satan and his angels have been working double time to bring as many souls with them to hell.
My dear president, hell is real but it was not made for you and me originally (Mt. 25:41). Unfortunately, Adam and Eve’s disobedience cost millions of souls but please, don’t focus on the tree of knowledge. Go past that and see the Way, the Truth, and the Life before it is too late.
More than a year ago, President Duterte called God “(i)stupido talaga itong p******a” because He “created something perfect and then you think of an event that would tempt and destroy the quality of your work.” He was referring of course to the tree of knowledge of good and evil. His comment bothered me because it was something I didn’t have an answer to until now. According to Dr. Michael Youssef, “The tree was there to remind Adam and Eve that they were not their own. It was there to remind them that they were God's own possession. The tree was there to remind them that they were accountable to God and that they could not escape judgment for the moral choices they made.” In short---free will.
God would not be a loving God had He made us mindless robots. He would be a despot, a tyrant, a dictator. He gave us freedom to choose whether to follow, love, and serve Him or someone (or something) else. And it is still the same way today. We still have the same choice. Unfortunately, majority are still taking after our mother, munching on the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
“The moment Eve made her choice, she stopped believing in God as her all-wise Creator and friend…She doubted that her Creator truly wanted the best for her.” For her, God was just being a cosmic killjoy to her desire for independence where she can dictate what is good and evil (cf. Isa. 5:20). The thought of becoming like God made Eve happy and aren’t we all entitled to our happiness? But as soon as she and her husband took a bite, they both realized the spiritual catastrophic consequence of their action. It did not make them like God. It made them more mortal as death made its debut. It did not make them happy either as they found themselves exiled from the perfect garden. They realized that what God has called good was indeed good and evil was indeed evil. They realized that Satan had deceived them with the desire that they join him into eternal damnation because he aspired to be like God (Isa. 14:12-17).
But Satan did not count on God’s love for man when he raised another tree some millennia later. It is that tree from which our Savior, He who is Truth Himself, hung and conquered death. He whom the serpent had tried to steal, kill, and destroy but failed, would one day be at the receiving end of worship of every created being (Phil. 2:10-11) including the father of lies (John 8:44). Truth has won and will reign forevermore. The evil that we still see is on a countdown which explains why Satan and his angels have been working double time to bring as many souls with them to hell.
My dear president, hell is real but it was not made for you and me originally (Mt. 25:41). Unfortunately, Adam and Eve’s disobedience cost millions of souls but please, don’t focus on the tree of knowledge. Go past that and see the Way, the Truth, and the Life before it is too late.