Genesis 3:22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’
By the fall man had sunk morally, but grown mentally. He had asserted his independence, had exercised the right of choosing for himself, and had attained to a knowledge without which his endowment of free-will would have remained in abeyance. All those qualities which constitute man’s likeness to God—free-will, self-dependence, the exercise of reason and of choice—had been developed by the fall, and Adam was now a very different being from what he had been in the days of his simple innocency. (Ellicott)
Man was sent to a place of toil, not to a place of torment. Our first parents were shut out from the privileges of their state of innocency, yet they were not left to despair. The way to the tree of life was shut. It was henceforward in vain for him and his to expect righteousness, life, and happiness, by the covenant of works; for the command of that covenant being broken, the curse of it is in full force: we are all undone, if we are judged by that covenant. God revealed this to Adam, not to drive him to despair, but to quicken him to look for life and happiness in the promised Seed, by whom a new and living way into the holiest is laid open for us. (Henry)
Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil. – We are now prepared to understand the nature of the two trees which were in the midst of the garden. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil effected a change, not in the physical constitution of man, but in his mental experience – in his knowledge of good and evil. The natural effect of food is on the body, not on the understanding. The moral effect lay rather in the conduct of man in regard to the tree, as a thing prohibited. The result of his conduct, whether in the way of obedience or disobedience to the divine command, was to be the knowledge of good and evil. (Barnes)
Knowing good and evil will continually give man a choice to make. To do good or not. Over time, man has tried to change and define good and evil in terms that justify their actions – good is bad, and bad is good. To truly know good from evil seems like a good thing to know, and it is if the good is defined by God and desired by the person. What happens is we will normally try to define good in terms of what our culture or society or higher education or our personal preferences are. This never is good and will always lead man on paths away from God. We try to make fig leaf-like coverings for our sin and trust in this to overcome the shame we should feel. Following the cultural norms of what is right and wrong does not in any way make them right before God. Likewise, following cultural norms that say things of God are wrong is no excuse either. Each person must choose for themselves, and far too many rely on cultural norms to define good and bad for them.
How many choices are made each day without a single thought of honoring and glorifying Jesus Christ in what is said, thought, or actions taken?
Oh, that we would seek God and the leading of the Holy Spirit for every moment of every day.
