Yahweh-God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work and watch over it. And Yahweh-God commanded him: “You may freely eat of every fruit of the garden. But you must not eat of the Tree that gives the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will most certainly die. But the snake said to her, “You certainly won’t die. God knows that the moment you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, . . .
— Genesis 2:15; 3:4-5 (TPT)
After being placed in the garden, Adam and Eve experienced only the goodness of God. They were happy, joyful, full of peace with only pure thoughts and conversations. They were clothed in God’s glory, completely unaware that they were naked. There was no fear, anxiety or worry. They lived in a perfect environment.
Then satan comes in and says, “Wait a minute, there’s something you don’t know. If you eat from this tree, you certainly won’t die. Instead your eyes will be opened and you will be like God”. He put doubt of who God was in their minds and said, “Eat and you will be like God”.
You will be like God. Satan said turn inward to yourself and you will find the vast oceans of power and wisdom and knowledge. Oh yes, your meaning and the blueprint for your existence is in yourself. You don’t need God. You can be independent. That was and is the great lie! Because when man turned inward to himself to discover within himself the meaning and the center and the focus of life – all he found was terrifying darkness and ignorance and was totally lost. The most magnificent creature in creation sat there and said, “who am I?”
He doesn’t know who He is because He doesn’t know who God is. His picture of God changed.
All of a sudden, Adam forgot who God was. He didn’t remember the fellowship they had or the joy and laughter they shared or the blessings God had given them or His goodness. He didn’t remember the faithfulness of God or His kindness.
And that is the problem today. When you have a wrong picture of God, you have no way of knowing who you are because God made you in His image and likeness. If you picture God as angry, mad and condemning, then to be accepted by this god, you have to perform – please him – and you begin to feel unworthy and incapable and fearful.
God did not change – only their view of Him changed. So God made a plan to reveal Himself to mankind through His Son, Jesus, who said, “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”. Look at who I really am – LOVE – always giving – always pursuing you. It takes a revelation to see who God is and that revelation is Jesus!
“LOVE came into my humanity to wrap his arms around me.”
God Desires Relationship With You