Q I learned that the first man Adam, and first woman, Eve, went to the way of destruction by eating the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God is omniscient and omnipotent, so He foreknew that they would eat from it. Nevertheless, He placed the tree there. Why is that?
A Some people say, "Why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and let Adam take the way of death?" Some even say that God may not have known that Adam would eat from it. But it is not right.
God foreknew Adam would eat from the tree and sin in the first place. That is why He had already prepared the way of salvation for humans even before the Creation. He prepared Jesus Christ before the ages.
Let's delve into God's providence and love in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
After Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in their freewill
In the abundance of the Garden of Eden, Adam the first man, learned much of spiritual knowledge such as concerning God, the spiritual realm, the truth, goodness, and the light. He was also given the knowledge sufficient to subdue all things. He ruled over all creatures and all things with amazing knowledge and wisdom as their lord and he multiplied by begetting many children (Genesis 1:28, 2:19, 3:16). However, God forbade him one thing—that was, to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the center of the Garden.
Genesis 2:16-17 reads, "The LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
God created Adam and gave him freewill with which he could make a decision independently. He allowed him to live forever in the abundance of the Garden of Eden. But because he was formed of dust from the ground and then became a living spirit by the breath of life, he was not to enjoy eternal life if he disobeyed. For him to bear it in mind, God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and had him wary of it.
Adam and Eve hadn't eaten from the tree in obedience to God for uncountable period of time. But as time went by, they ended up failing to keep the command of God in their hearts. Eve was tempted by the serpent to which Eve had kept close. Falling in the temptation, she voluntarily ate from the tree and gave the fruit to Adam. Adam also ate it. Consequently, they had to pay for the sin just as God had said they would surely die and according to the spiritual law 'the wages of sin is death' (Romans 6:23).
God said, "The day that you eat from it you will surely die." The 'death' here refers to the death of spirit, the master of man who consists of spirit, soul, and body. Also, the death of spirit doesn't mean its extinction, but it means that communication with God is severed and by this it can no longer play its original role. And if one's spirit dies, his body will end up facing with death.
Adam's transgression caused him to be cursed. Furthermore, it caused his descendants to become sinners and fall in destruction. Even all creatures on the earth under Adam's control were also cursed, which made him cultivate the ground in toil to eat of it (Genesis 3:17). On the cursed ground appeared many unprecedented diseases and detrimental living things. People came to suffer from tests and trials brought to them by Satan. The serpent was cursed more than every beast of the field and came to go on its belly (Genesis 3:14).
The love of God in giving true happiness by allowing us to experience relativity
Then, why did God place the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden? It is to give us true happiness. The Garden of Eden where Adam lived is a very beautiful and peaceful place that lacks nothing, but he couldn't feel true happiness. This is because he had never experienced unhappiness. He had never met with diseases, death, or accidents, and never felt the following sorrow and pain. He didn't know what exactly parting meant because there was no death.
People realize the true value of something when they experience its opposite trait and they are able to sense the relativity between them. Simply put, we can understand true happiness when in many difficulties. In suffering from a disease, we gain awareness of the importance of health from the bottom of the heart and give thanks. Only after we have been hungry can we give true thanks for plentiful food. We can understand the value of goodness when we experience evil and how precious light is when we see darkness. Without knowledge on poverty, one can't give thanks for wealth. Without hatred, one can't be aware of how good love is.
Adam lived in the Garden of Eden void of unhappiness. He had no ability to recognize the value of happiness he was enjoying. Since he had never seen death, he couldn't understand the true meaning of God's Word, "For in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." God loved Adam very much so He provided him with all things. But he didn't feel thankful from his heart.
However, after his transgression, Adam was sent out from the Garden of Eden and experienced many sufferings. He felt hungry, tired, and cold and experienced parting, sorrow, and pain caused by sins. In doing so, he finally became conscious of how happy he had been in the Garden of Eden. Just as explained, creatures can't realize relativity without experiencing the opposite things. That is why God allowed for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden so that people would be able to understand relativity.
We are also descendants of Adam who was formed of dust from the ground, so we can feel how good the heavenly life is only after undergoing the process of human cultivation. Since we feel from our hearts how great it will be to live in Heaven where there is no sin and no sorrow, we will joyfully and happily live forever with thanks to God for giving us Heaven.
Therefore, those who accepted Jesus Christ and live with true faith and hope for Heaven will have thanks and joy in any kind of life on the earth (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). When we realize the love of the Lord who solved the problem of our sin, we can enjoy true happiness in hope for Heaven.
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