The Forbidden
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 11:36AM Stop for a moment and think about humanity's first temptation. It wasn't whether or not I should eat a piece of fruit. The first temptation came as a concept, it introduced a thought. What if the forbidden was actually beautiful? What if the forbidden was good?
Prior to that point, that concept doesn't seem to have entered our thinking. But once acted upon, everything that was good became vulnerable to a forbidden application.
Whichever lens you look through when reading the first 3 chapters of Genesis, there are some universal truths that emerge. Some of those truths are discovered by considering the environment of Eden. Everything Adam and Eve saw, was good, pleasing to the eye, useful for food, enjoyed and experienced through a lens of innocence. They knew no shame, fear, or embarrassment.
Genesis 2 “8 LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;... 9 he made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” 16-17And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
22 “Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man... 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.”
Everything Eve desired was what God intended to be good. Then Satan enters the story and tempted her with the thought that the forbidden could also be desirable. Before that point, the one forbidden tree seemed to be only seen through the lens of being forbidden, not appealing. It was a new thought, that the forbidden could be enjoyable, beneficial and preferred. So she eats and nothing is the same.
Genesis 3 “1 Now the serpent ... said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 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."
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked...
Once she ate, everything in the garden looked different. The trees, the animals, her relationship with Adam and life itself had additional characteristics that she and Adam had never seen before.
Genesis 3 16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
Life now took on the option of pursuing the forbidden in every relationship that exists. That tension remains.
1 Corinthians 10:23
All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. (Also 6:12)
There is a side to every relationship that is pure and wholesome and designed by God for that purpose. There is also a way to pursue each relationship that defiles it, shames it, cheapens it. The irony is that our nature, because of that decision in Eden, is prone to pursue the latter rather than the former. Society places value on shady, fringe, off-coloured posture. Even among the people of God, many are ashamed by their “testimony”. They perceive their testimonies as being inferior to those who wandered far from the pure, the purpose for which God created those same relationships.
Pleasure has become interwoven with the forbidden. Even the most moral struggle and are drawn in that direction. The sexual passions ignited by the forbidden cool when they become permissible.
Good girls are characterized as boring. Bad girls are exciting. These boundaries are pushed in every relationship ranging from the environment, civic duty, work ethics, and leisure. What Adam and Eve originally saw and experienced were the opportunities to enjoy these relationships in the life-giving way they were intended to be experienced. Once lost, the foundation was laid for societies to collapse inwardly upon themselves in the pursuit of the forbidden.
Because of this, it is impossible for individuals to redeem themselves. Our perspective is too twisted to ever let go of the options that pull us away from God’s intentions. Purity, honesty, faithfulness are often scorned and guilt is minimized.
It brings us to the place where we discover that we are hopelessly bound by our own sin. The invitation to us is to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). That grace allows the heart and mind to be refocused, reuniting the things that are good with the things that are desirable.
Paul said it this way,
“16Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” Romans 14:16-18 (NIV)
The intention of God is restore us. It is the invitation to value again what God says is valuable. It is warning against pursuing decisions in life that will actually bring you into a place of bondage. Much of what entices, does not end in health and peace and joy. Instead, many in society long for significance, safety and peace. They long for relationships that are not exploitive. They would give up many things if they could simply be released from feeling guilty.
Into that place God intends to bring together the beauty of each thing he created with the moral good that exists within it. The forbidden will lose is appeal. The heart and mind will again understand that forbidden is not beautiful, good or beneficial. We will be released from the battle of wanting what we know is wrong while despising what we know is right. (Romans 6)
That transformation begins with the renewing or your mind (Romans 12). It isn’t something we are able to accomplish. Yet it is by product of learning to live in Christ as a branch lives in a vine (Romans 11 and John 15).
Consider the follow Biblical teaching as it applies to the good and the forbidden.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24, NASB.
“For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.” Galatians 5:17, NASB.
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:2, 3, NIV.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 NIV
If you would like to think through more on this subject visit http://thereforenow.com
Reader Comments (4)
"The invitation to us is to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). That grace allows the heart and mind to be refocused, reuniting the things that are good with the things that are desirable."
I have never seen it like that before, reuniting things that are good with the things that are desirable. It is certainly something very refreshing to think about.
"17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.” Romans 14:16-18 (NIV)"
The kingdom of God is a matter of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit. John 16:8-11 says that the Holy Spirit convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness and judgment. It seems like it's in the ability and job scope of the Holy Spirit to do the convicting and the providing of peace and joy and all the good things. We just stay connect and hang with Jesus. I guess we just live and enjoy the fruit of the Spirit while people around us watch with envy and start desiring the same things for their lives too.
"The intention of God is restore us. It is the invitation to value again what God says is valuable."
I can't help but feel really excited because if this is true, that God is inviting us to value again what He says is valuable, then I can connect with anyone and everyone who values what God values! It's a struggle to get out of that mentality where I have to tell the gospel of Jesus Christ with a bridge and a diagram and a 4 min testimony, it's a struggle but I really want to get out of the religious system and really enjoy the freedom of loving people just the way Jesus loves.
This is a wonderful iteration of the whole idea of the fall being the division of the moral good and the aesthetic good. You brought in a lot of scriptures that I hadn't thought of. I like the scripture also that we should taste and see that the Lord is good -> meaning, aesthetic good. I believe that life under grace hands us this unity, just like the one fruit was forbidden out of all the others, now the one fruit that is of faith is also the one that is desirable above all others.
You are good for me Jim. I am coming to believe that this longing for the forbidden is at the heart of the Fall recorded in Genesis. It ties a lot of loose ends together as to why we struggle so much with pursuing what we don't really want. It summarizes the Romans 6 and 7 struggle. There's a lot more to understand here, but this is a good beginning.
Thanks Dave. I think that is why grace is the only path to true virtue. Principles of good imposed on an unwilling heart can produce a forced obedience through sheer willpower, although the triumph of the will does represent the presence of a desire greater than the desire for the forbidden. However, the reason why grace is the path and not law, is because virtue based on grace appeals to the true desire, whereas virtue based on law presses principles of behavior against the true desire. Grace seeks the transformation of the desire, not just the imposition of lifeless moral conduct. I think this is why Paul ended up making this distinction between life under the law and life under grace, or life under the 'flesh' vs. life in the Spirit, so central. The restoration God seeks is the restoration of the animus for desire to the non-forbidden.
So, with everyone else who is getting this, I'm 'coming out!' I obsess over the things of the Spirit, I can't seem to get enough of it. I revel in being God's pearl, the object of His desire. I'm crazy about His craziness for me! This is real passion.