Truth Matters-31

Dr. Cheryl Davis begins a new series today on Truth Matters entitled, Suffering, The Horrible and Tragic Consequences of Disobedience, that affect not only our relationship with God, but negatively impact the mind, soul, and spirit of mankind. Dr. Davis commences the series with Adam and Eve's life-altering mistake of disobeying God, and how their decision to touch and eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil has led to much suffering in the world. In the garden, God had planted many trees, and among them were two special trees, the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam was told by God that he and Eve could eat from all of the trees in the garden except for one, that one being the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The two special trees were both real and symbolic. The tree of life represented perpetual life and the blessing of the Lord, while the tree of knowledge of good and evil represented a two-fold purpose. The first purpose being God granting them free will, freedom to choose, but desiring that they would be wise to love, obey, trust, and serve him in total submission and in total obedience.

The second purpose was to allow them the freedom to reject, resist, and rebel against God and his word if they chose to do so. Everything up to that point in time had been perfect, pure, holy, and righteous. The relationship with God had been impeccable and beautiful. Until that sad and tragic day, Eve disobeyed God by touching and eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

In that split moment in history, everything instantly changed in creation. Eve eating the fruit first and then encouraging Adam to eat produced what is known as, in Christian doctrine, original or ancestral sin. Before continuing our lesson on suffering, let me stop and briefly explain what original sin means. It means that because our first parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God, that sin entered the world because they were the first people. Because of this, the sin nature from parent to child is passed from one generation to the next. While infants born do not have any collective guilt at the time of their birth, meaning that they have not sinned, but they are born into a predisposition or tendency to sin.

Let me clarify this by giving an example. A pregnant woman with a contagious disease can pass the disease to her unborn child because she is a host for the disease. Because the mother is infected, the child will likely be as well. Sin works much like a contagious disease.

It is infectious. Because our first parents, Adam and Eve, sinned against God, their sin nature then became transmittable to their descendants. With their sin, they lost their innocence and the purity of body, soul, and spirit. Their eyes had been opened to what was good and what was evil. Evil was the forbidden fruit that God didn't want them to touch or to taste.

In Genesis chapter 3 verse 8, Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. They hid from God because in their hearts they knew they had sinned against him by eating the fruit.

They felt naked as their sin had been exposed. While they did not die a physical death at that time, they did die spiritually. And through the remainder of their natural lives, they did suffer the consequences of their sin. Sin separates us from God and the separation kills our spirit. That is why Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3 verses 3 and 4 that he had to be born again, not physically, but spiritually. Because his sin nature and his sin had rendered his spirit lifeless. When God created you and I, he created us in his image, giving us body, soul, and spirit. When we are born, the body and soul are born alive, but the spirit is dead because our sin nature and sin has separated us from God, who is the source of life to our spirit. Our spirit is what connects us to God, as water gives life to a fish and earth gives life to a tree. When we sin, it separates us from God, much like a wife who would separate from her cheating husband because of his unfaithfulness.

She cannot stand to be in his presence because his sin is a reproach to their marriage. It is also an agonizing experience for God to have a relationship with us if we are living a life full of sin. I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis, telling you the truth of God's love. His heart is tender toward you and your suffering matters to him. God did not intend for man to suffer, but suffering is the consequence of our actions when we willfully disobey the Lord. When we sin, we step outside of the purpose for which we were created, violating God's moral law.

We all have sinned, but God is willing to forgive us of sin simply by confessing it to him. Dr. Davis would like to help you. You can reach her by email at CherylDavis at ProjectTruthMatters.com or connect with her on Facebook at Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis. Truth Matters is a production of The Truth Project.