The Choice

God's Way or My Way?

God’s Way

‘The Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. The Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. The Lord God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.’

Genesis 2:15-25 WMB
https://bible.com/bible/1209/GEN.2.15-25

Consider

Interaction with our heavenly Father is a relationship. The relationship with God comes before all else. He said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.” He lovingly treats His creation as His child as they spend time together. God creates and Adam names. God wants what’s best for His children and provides everything they need. The only rule was given for their benefit. His way results in no shame.

Man’s Way

‘Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. They heard the Lord God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.” God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” The Lord God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. You will bear children in pain. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and have eaten from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life. It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground, for you were taken out of it. For you are dust, and you shall return to dust.” The man called his wife Havah because she would be the mother of all the living. The Lord God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them. The Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.’

Genesis 3:1-24 WMB
https://bible.com/bible/1209/GEN.3.1-24

Consider

God gives us restrictions for our good, not to keep us from enjoying anything. God gives us the dignity to choose whether we will submit to His definition of good and evil, or if we will seize autonomy and decide what is good or evil based on our own preferences. The enemy will twist what you know, or think you know, with the intention of making you believe that it was your idea all along. They both were deceived. Eve did not get tricked and then go find Adam. “she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked.“ God’s response was not improvised, and His plan to redeem His creation was evident from the moment of the fall. He seeks His children. He offers the opportunity for them to be humble, acknowledge what they’ve done, and repent. They didn’t accept His grace, they didn’t seek forgiveness, they convinced themselves that they had done nothing wrong. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake. They rejected the opportunity to change course. Rather than give them over to death, which, they rightly deserved, God set in motion a plan to sacrifice His son’s life to satisfy justice. His love did not waiver. He made the clothing for them before He made them leave. God is just. He is truth and love. Our constantly changing ideas of right and wrong always lead to shame, broken relationships, pain, and death.

Three Crosses

‘There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death. When they came to the place that is called “The Skull”, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. Yeshua said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots. The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Messiah, save yourself and us!” But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” He said to Yeshua, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Yeshua said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” ‘

Luke 23:32-43 WMB
https://bible.com/bible/1209/LUK.23.32-43

Consider

Death and judgement are waiting for each of us. We are all sinners and have earned the wrath of God. Through action and inaction, we choose which cross will be ours. We cannot save ourselves or anyone else, so the position of savior is not an option for us. We can only be in the place of one of the two rightly convicted criminals. We are, therefore, faced with the decision to place our faith in the one and only way to salvation, or forfeit the only way for redemption. Conclusion Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.

John 14:6 WMB
https://bible.com/bible/1209/JHN.14.6.WMB

Read the Bible for yourself and find out what you believe. There are several translations that I would recommend (In alphabetical order):

AMP or Amplified Bible
BSB or Berean Study Bible
CSB or Christian Standard Bible
ESV or English Standard Bible
KJV or King James Version
NASB or New American Standard Bible
NET or New English Translation
NIV or New International Version
NKJV or New King James Version
NLT or New Living Translation
WEB or World English Bible
WMB or World Messianic Bible (Also known as the Hebrew Name Version)

May the LORD bless you and keep you, May He make His face to shine upon you, and give you peace.

-Have a Blessed Day-