Paul Thomas
11-08-2006, 09:46 AM
IMMORTALITY – AT WHAT COST?
It tastes good, it is pleasing to the eye and desirous to make one wise – Eve in Genesis 3
The tragedy of the “fall” in Genesis is that it was about self in total disregard to the effect that it would have on progeny. In fact, Adam and Eve had no Idea that they would have a progeny. They were ignorantly blissful of anything other than the wonderful garden God had prepared for them. All that was required was that they would trust him to be their provider and protector.
We don’t have it recorded but it would not be hard to conclude that God told them, “Adam and Eve, you have been given a life of luxury. I will take care of you and protect you from everything that could be a potential harm to you. All that I ask is that you trust me to do that. A test of that trust is that you cannot partake of this particular tree. You may eat the fruit of any tree or plant in the garden, but you must not partake of the fruit of this tree. If you do you will loose something very valuable and will eventually lose the very life that I gave you.”
Then entered the voice of reason. “Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Reason, called serpent in this account, began to question the voice of God. The woman responded, “Oh no. We can eat any fruit from the tree in the garden. But God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”
Reason continues, “You will not surely die. God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The question is no longer what is right or what is wrong but it is about me – it is about how I can become like God.
The ability to reason is a most powerful thing. We can gather knowledge, assimilate it into an order that makes sense to us, and develop it into a belief system. Reason first questions, then through a process of logic comes to an answer, then seeks proof for its answer.
Eve faced the same problem that most of us face. Reason uses the knowledge we have to discover what we don’t know. We go through a series of searching questions to arrive at a conclusion concerning those things we have not yet discovered. Adam and Eve didn’t know anything except what God had told them and apparently he had not yet told them a lot. So, when reason began to question what God had said, there was only one thing to do. They questioned what God had said.
Why would God restrict us from that tree? What did he know that he doesn’t want us to know? If he really did place create this beautiful garden for us, why would he keep us from enjoying it all? I am sure these were questions reason brought to the minds of Adam and Eve as they contemplated the question, “Why did God…?”
Because our ability to reason is limited by what we know we are constantly on a quest to know more. The more knowledge we have the greater our ability to reason and the more like God we become.
The fallacy of this line of reason is that it assumes everything God knows we can know if we just gain enough knowledge. And, if we can gain enough knowledge to be as wise of God, then why do we need God?
There. It was said. If we can become wise enough, we don’t need God because we will become gods ourselves.
There does seem to be another problem though. Beyond his knowledge and wisdom God also has all power. That is he can speak the worlds into existence. With just the wave of his hand he hurls stars and galaxies into the universe. We can’t do that. Yet.
As man becomes wiser in his own eyes he discovers more reasons why he doesn’t need a god outside of himself. Man says, “Look at what I have discovered. I have found evidence that shows God didn’t create the universe after all.”
Today man is attempting to create man in his own image. We are not far away from test tube babies. Man has already cloned a sheep and is getting closer to this ultimate demonstration of his own deity, the creation of man.
Yes, we are taking our god-hood into immortality. One day, we reason, we will be like God and have in our grasp eternal life. We will be immortal.
But what has this quest for immortality cost?
When Adam and Eve took their first steps toward becoming deity they lost the garden God had given them and were given the sentence of death. There were at least 11 things lost in this first contest of who would be God. From broken relationship with God to trust of fellowman, mankind lost the first round in his quest to become deity. He also lost the luxury of the garden and was sentenced to work the fields for his bread and wrestle with thorns and crabgrass. He lost his health and finally would die, never becoming the god he thought he would become.
The quest to become god did not end with Adam and Eve, but succeeding generations have kept up the quest. And every generation has paid the price for their attempts to unseat God. There was the flood of Noah’s day and the confusion of tongues at Babel. There was fire and brimstone at Sodom – Gomorrah.
Mankind has not stopped paying the price for quest for immortality, to be like god. Reason said we don’t need God in the classroom so prayer and Bible reading was outlawed in schools. Now instead Bibles and the 10 Commandments schools have metal detectors and police. Reason said abstinence from sex is too much to ask for teenagers and what they need is the voice of reason to help them decide about sexual activity. Today we are seeing over 1.5 million abortions a year. Yes the cost of immortality is quite high.
More could be said, but I think you get the picture. Mankind will not stop paying the cost of his quest for immortality until he realizes that the price has already been paid. 2000 years ago Jesus paid the price so that all of us could have immortality. All he asks of us today is what he asked of Adam and Eve in the garden, “Trust me to be your protector and provider.”
What is the cost of immortality? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him would not perish but would have eternal life.”
It tastes good, it is pleasing to the eye and desirous to make one wise – Eve in Genesis 3
The tragedy of the “fall” in Genesis is that it was about self in total disregard to the effect that it would have on progeny. In fact, Adam and Eve had no Idea that they would have a progeny. They were ignorantly blissful of anything other than the wonderful garden God had prepared for them. All that was required was that they would trust him to be their provider and protector.
We don’t have it recorded but it would not be hard to conclude that God told them, “Adam and Eve, you have been given a life of luxury. I will take care of you and protect you from everything that could be a potential harm to you. All that I ask is that you trust me to do that. A test of that trust is that you cannot partake of this particular tree. You may eat the fruit of any tree or plant in the garden, but you must not partake of the fruit of this tree. If you do you will loose something very valuable and will eventually lose the very life that I gave you.”
Then entered the voice of reason. “Did God really say that you must not eat from any tree in the garden?” Reason, called serpent in this account, began to question the voice of God. The woman responded, “Oh no. We can eat any fruit from the tree in the garden. But God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”
Reason continues, “You will not surely die. God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The question is no longer what is right or what is wrong but it is about me – it is about how I can become like God.
The ability to reason is a most powerful thing. We can gather knowledge, assimilate it into an order that makes sense to us, and develop it into a belief system. Reason first questions, then through a process of logic comes to an answer, then seeks proof for its answer.
Eve faced the same problem that most of us face. Reason uses the knowledge we have to discover what we don’t know. We go through a series of searching questions to arrive at a conclusion concerning those things we have not yet discovered. Adam and Eve didn’t know anything except what God had told them and apparently he had not yet told them a lot. So, when reason began to question what God had said, there was only one thing to do. They questioned what God had said.
Why would God restrict us from that tree? What did he know that he doesn’t want us to know? If he really did place create this beautiful garden for us, why would he keep us from enjoying it all? I am sure these were questions reason brought to the minds of Adam and Eve as they contemplated the question, “Why did God…?”
Because our ability to reason is limited by what we know we are constantly on a quest to know more. The more knowledge we have the greater our ability to reason and the more like God we become.
The fallacy of this line of reason is that it assumes everything God knows we can know if we just gain enough knowledge. And, if we can gain enough knowledge to be as wise of God, then why do we need God?
There. It was said. If we can become wise enough, we don’t need God because we will become gods ourselves.
There does seem to be another problem though. Beyond his knowledge and wisdom God also has all power. That is he can speak the worlds into existence. With just the wave of his hand he hurls stars and galaxies into the universe. We can’t do that. Yet.
As man becomes wiser in his own eyes he discovers more reasons why he doesn’t need a god outside of himself. Man says, “Look at what I have discovered. I have found evidence that shows God didn’t create the universe after all.”
Today man is attempting to create man in his own image. We are not far away from test tube babies. Man has already cloned a sheep and is getting closer to this ultimate demonstration of his own deity, the creation of man.
Yes, we are taking our god-hood into immortality. One day, we reason, we will be like God and have in our grasp eternal life. We will be immortal.
But what has this quest for immortality cost?
When Adam and Eve took their first steps toward becoming deity they lost the garden God had given them and were given the sentence of death. There were at least 11 things lost in this first contest of who would be God. From broken relationship with God to trust of fellowman, mankind lost the first round in his quest to become deity. He also lost the luxury of the garden and was sentenced to work the fields for his bread and wrestle with thorns and crabgrass. He lost his health and finally would die, never becoming the god he thought he would become.
The quest to become god did not end with Adam and Eve, but succeeding generations have kept up the quest. And every generation has paid the price for their attempts to unseat God. There was the flood of Noah’s day and the confusion of tongues at Babel. There was fire and brimstone at Sodom – Gomorrah.
Mankind has not stopped paying the price for quest for immortality, to be like god. Reason said we don’t need God in the classroom so prayer and Bible reading was outlawed in schools. Now instead Bibles and the 10 Commandments schools have metal detectors and police. Reason said abstinence from sex is too much to ask for teenagers and what they need is the voice of reason to help them decide about sexual activity. Today we are seeing over 1.5 million abortions a year. Yes the cost of immortality is quite high.
More could be said, but I think you get the picture. Mankind will not stop paying the cost of his quest for immortality until he realizes that the price has already been paid. 2000 years ago Jesus paid the price so that all of us could have immortality. All he asks of us today is what he asked of Adam and Eve in the garden, “Trust me to be your protector and provider.”
What is the cost of immortality? “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him would not perish but would have eternal life.”