In the beginning, God placed Adam in a beautiful garden. This garden was full of delicious fruits, beautiful plants and flowers, precious stones, and rivers. God also planted a unique tree in this garden – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a portal to evil, but it was a beautiful tree. Like the other trees, it was full of delicious fruit. It was part of God’s good creation. But this tree was poisonous: God said if Adam ate of this tree he would die.
Why was this deadly tree even created by God? Why was it put in the middle of the perfect garden?
The tree of knowledge of good and evil was placed in Eden to make sure people had freedom to choose. People could choose to follow God or not. They could reject him if they wanted to. God values human free will so much so that he was willing to risk the loss of Eden in order for people to have free will. Free will was so valuable to God that it was worth the life of his Son.
Eve saw the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and she desired it (Genesis 3:6). Her desire for that tree became so strong that she just had to have it. Finally she ate it.
Free will is powerful. Free will destroyed the garden of Eden. It ultimately killed Jesus Christ.
Our choices can unleash either life or death (Deuteronomy 30:19).
In the New Testament Jesus accentuated the importance of the freedom of our will. It is for freedom that Christ has made us free (Galatians 5:1). Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17). God wants us to choose him so we unleash the cascading power of Life.
But people often choose to fulfill their own desires which brings death instead.
The Israelites in the wilderness really wanted some meat. For years they had only been eating manna, and they were sick of it. It was so boring – the same old thing day after day. They wanted some flesh to eat. They probably cried out to God: “Give us meat! Give us some flesh to eat!”
God had a timing for everything. He was going to bring them into the Promised Land, and then they would have plenty of good food. But they didn’t want to wait. They wanted to satisfy their desire NOW.
God saw their desire and heard their prayer. He gave them what they wanted, but sent leanness into their souls (Psalm 106:13-15). Sometimes a person may get what he wants, but it causes spiritual poverty.
God caused a wind to blow and rained quail down upon them. There was so much quail that it was over a couple feet thick (Numbers 11:31-35). The Israelites were overjoyed. They thought God answered their prayers and gave them just what they wanted. It was an undeniable miracle! They ran out of their tents and were swimming in meat. They gathered up the quail and began stuffing their faces with fat birds from heaven.
But the judgment of God came upon them while they were stuffing their mouths.
They died. Their strong desires killed them (see Psalm 78:25-31).
Strong desire can cause a person to not fulfill his calling. He might fall away from God in order to fulfill his desires.
Once Israel wanted a king. They saw other nations had a king, so they wanted a king too. They wanted a king to fight their battles for them.
God didn’t want to give them a king. He told them they would be oppressed and have many problems if they had a king. But they didn’t listen.
So God sent his prophet and gave them what they wanted. He selected a king for them. God did a supernatural work to bring this to pass. He sent his word and picked out a man to become their king. That person was taller than everyone else. He was good looking. It was a miraculous selection. But it was not God’s perfect will.
God may work miracles to help us fulfill our desires. Surprisingly, there may even be prophetic words to encourage us.
But that doesn’t mean our desires are good.
Esau once wanted some food so badly he thought he would die if he didn’t get what he wanted. “If I don’t get what I want then I’ll die!” Maybe he thought, “If I don’t get what I want, then it shows God doesn’t care about me!” Statements like this show that a person’s desire has become dangerously strong.
Esau sold off his calling for a bowl of soup. Many people today abandon their high calling for something they desire. It may not be a bowl of soup, but something in their life has become too important – higher than God.
After this, Esau became bitter. He knew he had made a bad choice that would block him from fulfilling God’s plan. He became angry. He wanted to kill his own brother! But he couldn’t go back from his choice. It was too late.
Throughout the Bible, we see examples of God giving people what they want – even working miracles to make it happen – but the fulfillment of these desires leads to their own destruction.
Why would God work miracles to fulfill a person’s lusts?
Sometimes a person’s desires may be so strong, that the only thing God can do is give them what they want. The fulfillment of this desire becomes a judgment on them.
Our God is a jealous God. He wants us to have strong desires for him. If a person’s desires for other things are too strong, then God may judge that person through a miraculous fulfillment of his own desire.
God wants us to crucify the flesh with its passions and lusts (Galatians 5:24). We need to kill our overly strong human desires before they lead us away from God and destroy us.
We need to recognize and regulate our desires. We can do this through the Holy Spirit. The Bible will tell us what we need and what we don’t need.
Desire the things of God rather than the things of the flesh. Desire God and his word. Desire to accomplish God’s purpose. Desire to build his church and fulfill your calling. Desire spiritual gifts. As we desire these things and seek first for his kingdom, he’ll give us everything else we need.
In the beginning, Adam’s wife Eve chose to disobey God and doomed the creation. But this isn’t the end of the story. At the end of the age, God’s holy bride will choose him in the midst of a broken and dark world. Through her obedience God’s kingdom will be unleashed, and the creation will be set free from the bondage of corruption.
Then Eden won’t just be a small garden. It will be everywhere.
Lincoln House Churches 