After giving Adam great freedom, God gives one clear warning.
There was one tree Adam was not to eat from: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The command was plain. The consequence was certain: “thou shalt surely die.”
This sentence is clear. If Adam ate of that fruit, death would come. That death included spiritual death - separation from God.
Ephesians 2:1 says: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
Spiritual death is the worst kind of death. It is not merely separation of the soul from the body; it is separation from the Creator. Sin brings death, and God warned Adam plainly.
Galatians 6:7 says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
We must always take God at His Word. God’s warnings are not suggestions. His commands are not optional.
We should not despise the negative commands God gives us. When God says, “Thou shalt not,” He is not withholding good from us. He is protecting us from destruction.
Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a
help meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to be done for life. Our first parents needed no clothes for covering against cold or heat, for neither could hurt them: they needed none for ornament. Thus easy, thus happy, was man
in his state of innocency. How good was God to him! How many favours did he load him with! How easy were the laws given to him! Yet man, being in honour, understood not his own interest, but soon became as the beasts that perish.
After giving Adam great freedom, God gives one clear warning.
There was one tree Adam was not to eat from: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The command was plain. The consequence was certain: “thou shalt surely die.”
This sentence is clear. If Adam ate of that fruit, death would come. That death included spiritual death - separation from God.
Ephesians 2:1 says: “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;”
Spiritual death is the worst kind of death. It is not merely separation of the soul from the body; it is separation from the Creator. Sin brings death, and God warned Adam plainly.
Galatians 6:7 says: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
We must always take God at His Word. God’s warnings are not suggestions. His commands are not optional.
We should not despise the negative commands God gives us. When God says, “Thou shalt not,” He is not withholding good from us. He is protecting us from destruction.
Power over the creatures was given to man, and as a proof of this he named them all. It also shows his insight into the works of God. But though he was lord of the creatures, yet nothing in this world was a help meet for man. From God are all our helpers. If we rest in God, he will work all for good. God caused deep sleep to fall on Adam; while he knows no sin, God will take care that he shall feel no pain. God, as her Father, brought the woman to the man, as his second self, and a
help meet for him. That wife, who is of God's making by special grace, and of God's bringing by special providence, is likely to prove a help meet for a man. See what need there is, both of prudence and prayer in the choice of this relation, which is so near and so lasting. That had need to be well done, which is to be done for life. Our first parents needed no clothes for covering against cold or heat, for neither could hurt them: they needed none for ornament. Thus easy, thus happy, was man
in his state of innocency. How good was God to him! How many favours did he load him with! How easy were the laws given to him! Yet man, being in honour, understood not his own interest, but soon became as the beasts that perish.