Paradise Lost

Previously we discovered that Eden was not a perfect place. Both Adam and Eve had to deal with temptation even before either did anything wrong. Adam was warned by God not to eat a certain fruit and Eve was warned by Adam of the consequences of eating from the forbidden tree. Not only did the first couple have to deal with temptation they also had to deal with the possibility of death.

"And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die."

Even though Eden is described as a paradise both Adam & Eve faced the possibility of death even before giving into any temptation. Death isn't very appealing even in theory, but the first couple faced even more difficulty in paradise, Evil. Evil was allowed to lurk through the Garden in the form of a serpent and the serpent was able to leverage the temptation Eve was laboring under by catching her alone.

Evil said to the woman, "Did God say, 'You shall not eat of any tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"

We all know that Eve did succumb to temptation and Eve, in a sort of role reversal, was able to convince Adam to eat of the fruit also. Paradise was good before the fall, but after the fall humanity suffered greatly. Now, part of our struggle is a struggle to deal with the consequences which resulted from the act of Adam & Eve. One of the consequences deals with work:

"... in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth to you... In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground..."

The challenge to us then is to overcome the curse of Adam & Eve and attempt to live in peace and prosperity. This challenge has been met by individuals throughout history and it can be accomplished by you. Creative ways to overcome difficulties have been described in many articles on this site and we will continue to explore this theme in the days ahead.

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