well, its been awhile since i've joined u guys for cell meetings, and i also realized the blog suddenly gone silent for awhile... so here's a little to share, a little for us to ponder about. i must apologize that the structure is a little hay-wired, cos i'm basically just brainstorming as i write along - pardon the spelling and/or grammar errors if u spot any.
*back to basics*
sometimes there're just too many irritable skeptics around that simply cant understand, bcos they're not filled in the spirit, hence, they try with their own limited wisdom to decipher, while reading the bible as it was a fictional book. to date, many who lack the basic intellect never seem to make any sense of the simplest yet most profoundly written book - Genesis.
in chapter 1v 26 [...Then God said, "Let
us make man in
our image, in
our likeness, and let
them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [
b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground." ] - i guess it already suggests that God was not just a solitary being, but the fact that plural suggests there's more than 1. and man was referred as "them", which also suggest there wasnt to be only 1 man, but many... to be.
after the deed was done, when adam n eve was created, He gave a simple & specific instruction - which was open ended & suggests freedom of choice.
chapter 1 v29 [... Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so. ]
later in chapter 2 v 9 [... And the LORD God 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. ]
readers literally assume that the tree of life was literally a fruit bearing plant, and so it was forbidden to literally consume of the fruit it bears.
in chapter 3, the temptation - [ 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He 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." ]
to the laymen, they continue to assume that it was literally a fruit that caused men to sin, but little do they realise that it wasnt the fruit, but it was a badly conceived CHOICE, the act of DISOBEDIENCE that was the cause for downfall
to put it all in a nutshell, God gave us the more important of Cs, as opposed to the material world of Cs... cash, credit card, career, car, condominum... etc. it is clear that at the beginning, he gave us, the 5 major Cs; Circumstance, Conscience, Choice... and what follows was Consequence - which was to evolve into another Cycle starting with Circumstance again.
1. Circumstance - in the garden of eden, everything that was ever needed was provided. while the T&C was to refrain from 1 particular tree. (a simple command, a test of obedience)
2. Conscience - trust & obey, nothing will go wrong.
3. Choice - try to play God? suffer the consequence!
4. Consequence - too bad, so sad... be banished from eden, and u provide for yourself
5. Cycle - the chain of actions connect & evolve into a whole new cycle (permutation/ algorithms)
skeptics say, it is unfair that we should all suffer the fate of 1 undeserving couple who disobeyed. then again, they fail to see themselves in the mirror, that they too might 1 day disobey God's command, 1 way or another.
as it is said, christians arent saints, and we too r sinners. hence, the church is not a museum of saints, but actually a hospital of sinners. we need to be reminded to reflect upon ourselves, be responsible for our own actions. hold ourselves accountable for how many times, we've unknowlingly/ habitually; turned a blind eye, turned a deaf ear, offered venom with our tongue, offered grime to those fallen, and in need of a helping hand...
not to mention, we shouldnt forget the more important Cs that God gave us, since the beginning of time. just like choose your own adventure, 1 wrong Choice can lead to many more troubles that will permutate down the road.
the next time we encounter some bad characters in life, perhaps we shouldnt judge (for we too will be judged), Jesus said to the crowd "let he who's not sinned, cast the 1st stone". but instead, pray for discernment & wisdom to do the right thing. it's never too late to lift a finger, there's plenty more to be reached... plenty more to be saved.
CHEERS!
