The tree of the knowledge of good and bad

I'm writing about the tree of the knowledge of good and bad.

The contrast between good and bad can be described as light and darkness, truth and falsehood, usefulness and harmfulness. It is linked to obeying God or not.

Truth produces only good, while falsehood is harmful and evil.

God is true and there is no falsehood or evil in him. God is the source of every good thing.


Jas 1:13, 17
13 When under trial, let no one say: "I am being tried by God." For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.

17 Every good gift and every perfect present is from above, for it comes down from the Father of the [celestial] lights, and with him there is not a variation of the turning of the shadow.

Teaching tool for all sons of God

The tree of the knowledge of good and bad placed in the Garden of Eden was a teaching tool for Adam and Eve to give them an opportunity to learn to choose what is good, that is, to obey God.
It is also a teaching tool for all intelligent children of God in heaven who have free will.

Keep in mind that before disobedience to God occurred, there was no deception, no suffering, no anxiety, no sorrow.

In other words, there was no evil.
Therefore, Adam and Eve did not know evil.
Before they sinned, Adam and Eve knew only the blessings of life that had just begun.

In other words, they knew only good.
As long as they remain obedient to God, they will know only good and not evil, in other words, they will not experience evil.

The role of Free Will

God's intelligent creatures, both angels and humans, are created in the image of God, and thus are given God-like free will.

Of course, that free will is for good, not for evil.
Adam and Eve were expected to imitate God in the use of their free will.

Following God, the source of good in all cases, is the best use of free will.
This is because God cannot be tempted by evil that does not exist within him, nor can he tempt others by evil.

I think Adam knew this all too well, but he fell into Satan's trap.

The misuse of free will began in the spirit realm.
One angel developed a false reasoning and became the father of lies.
Since there is no falsehood in God, falsehood is an invention of that angel.
It is one of the products of the misuse of free will, and the beginning of a step towards the fall from the image of God, which is truth and goodness.

Humans and angels are not robots controlled by programs, nor birds or animals controlled by instinct.

God's children are given the ability to program themselves by seeing, hearing, and thinking. And we are also given free will to choose what to see, what to hear, and what to think.

It is up to us how to program ourselves whether to protect or destroy the image of God within us.

That is why I think there is much we can learn from the command of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad to Adam and Eve.

Their brains, built in the image of God, must have been accumulating knowledge, judging the consequences, and guiding them to make the best choices.

If they were obedient to God, they could experience only good forever.
If they were disobedient to God, they would experience evil that they did not need to know and did not need to suffer.

Since evil is harmful and destructive to all involved, death is set for those who do evil. Evil ends with death. And death is the end of existence, ending the pain, sorrow, and harm that disobedience to God produces.

Satan is responsible for Adam's failure.

The failure of Adam and Eve was the work of Satan.
The angel who became Satan invented falsehoods and used them to deceive Eve and cause Adam to make an unwilling choice.

Adam's family came to know evil and its harmful effects because of Adam's sin.
Human family suffers from evil that is no need to experience up to now.

The angels in heaven also came to know the tragic consequences of disobedience through the suffering of Adam's family.
This pathetic misfortune was not intended by God.

It began with an angel who did not stand fast in the truth, that is, did not maintain the image of God, but misused his free will and lied about God and His children for his own gain. He destroyed the image of God in him by his own will.

Jon 8:44
44 YOU are from YOUR father the Devil, and YOU wish to do the desires of YOUR father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of [the lie].

God's way of dealing with the misuse of free will.

God promptly respond for the solution of the issue brought by Satan and promised the salvation of Adam's family from sin and death that is effect of bad.

It's just like helping a sheep that has fallen into a pit on the Sabbath.

Mt 12:10-13
10 and, look! a man with a withered hand! So they asked him, "Is it lawful to cure on the sabbath?" that they might get an accusation against him. 11 He said to them: "Who will be the man among YOU that has one sheep and, if this falls into a pit on the sabbath, will not get hold of it and lift it out? 12 All considered, of how much more worth is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do a fine thing on the sabbath." 13 Then he said to the man: "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and it was restored sound like the other hand.

Jesus is called the Lord of the Sabbath, and during His 1000-year reign, He will save Adam's family from their pit of sin.

All will be helped to get rid of the evil they are suffering from, and will know the salvation and good will of the good God.

The miraculous healings performed by Jesus in the first century are a foreshadowing of what is to come in God's Sabbath, Christ's 1000 year reign.

The seventh day of creation is called God's Sabbath, and God blessed that day. In other words, the seventh day of God's creation is meant for all people to know the goodness that God intended for them.

Through Adam's disobedience, the human family has come to know both good and evil by experience, but salvation from sin is a remarkable evidence of God's goodness.

God has already made the greatest sacrifice to eliminate the evil produced by the selfish beings who are misusing their free will to exploit others. There is no evil at all in God.

Satan brought evil, but the good God delivers Adam's family from evil.

Ge 3:15
15 And I shall put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He (Christ) will bruise you (Satan) in the head and you will bruise him in the heel."

Ro 8:20-21
20 For the creation (Adam's family) was subjected to futility, not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Adam's family was left to know evil as it is written "the creation was subjected to futility."
This is because it was their choice and also because they have been given the hope of salvation from the good God.

God has not abandoned mankind in their sin by the misuse of free will.
Adam's family will receive salvation in God's Sabbath and come to know the superior goodness of God.

Ge 2:3
3 And God proceeded to bless the seventh day and make it sacred, because on it he has been resting from all his work that God has created for the purpose of making.

It is written that God blessed the seventh day.
It means that God's intended goodness will be fulfilled on that day.

God's goodness will not be destroyed by the evil that results from the misuse of free will of His children.
God's good and loving purposes will be fulfilled through the 1000-year reign of Christ.


Satan could not destroy the loving purpose and truthfulness of God. No one can interfere with the fulfillment of God's will. Therefore, we are assured that we will eventually know the good that our Creator intended for us.


Re 21:3-7
3 With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: "Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4 And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away."

5 And the One seated on the throne said: "Look! I am making all things new." Also, he says: "Write, because these words are faithful and true." 6 And he said to me: "They have come to pass! I am the Al′pha and the O·me′ga, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free. 7 Anyone conquering will inherit these things, and I shall be his God and he will be my son.

Christ will return the kingdom to God when all evil has been conquered. Everyone will then enjoy glorious freedom as independent children of God under God's authority.

1Co 15:24-28
24 Next, the end, when he hands over the kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. 25 For he must rule as king until [God] has put all enemies under his feet. 26 As the last enemy, death is to be brought to nothing. 27 For [God] "subjected all things under his feet." But when he says that 'all things have been subjected,' it is evident that it is with the exception of the one who subjected all things to him. 28 But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone.

Ro 8: 20-21
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Then comes the end of the seventh day of the blessed creation.
Then God saw the fruit of his saving work, and behold! There was no evil [very good for all eternity]. And it was evening, and it was morning, and it was the seventh day.

The seventh day of creation will end in glory, based on the eternal goodness of God.
From that time on, the creation will not suffer from evil. We will no longer have to know evil through the bitter fruit of our disobedience to God.

The evil of the transgressor falls directly on that person's head, and no one is victimized by the sins of others, that is, the misuse of another's free will.

Those who follow the ways of Satan, who are selfish, who misuse their free will, and who degrade the image of God, will immediately reap what they sow and can no longer harm others.

Satan and his seeds will forever be regarded as despicable fool.