Stories of the Bible, Podcast 10, “The Fall Pt 9.”

Stories of the Bible, Podcast 10, “The Fall Pt 9.”

Now we can see what is at stake in the Garden of Eden. The command to not eat of the forbidden fruit was not a moral law. Moral law applies only in a fallen world. The world had not yet fallen. For example, apply the Ten commandments to the Garden of Eden. None of the ten commandments could make any sense to Adam and Eve who are entirely naked but not ashamed because they don’t even know what nakedness is.  They can’t kill. They are immortal. Everything in the Garden of Eden is immortal. They can’t commit adultery. First, they were married by God himself, but most of all they didn’t even know what desire was. You may as well tell a two-year old not to commit adultery. They can’t steal or lie or cheat or bear false witness. Everything was free for one thing and for another they were unable to comprehend any of those terms. They can’t even love God because they don’t know what hate is; therefore, the first four commandments would mean nothing. The fifth commandment would mean nothing as they have no mother and father nor do they have children. Besides they don’t know what love is. How could they? They don’t know what joy or sorrow is. 

Satan cannot use any earthly temptations against Adam and Eve. They wouldn’t comprehend what he was talking about. They couldn’t practice any virtues or commit any vices. We take passions for granted because we live in a passionate world. Imagine living in a world without any passion. The Garden of Eden would have been a very boring place if they had known what boredom was, but they didn’t. It could have continued forever with no change.

There is another dilemma in the Garden of Eden. They are immortal but they don’t know what immortality is since they have never known anything else. Their immortal spirits were placed in an immortal body. They are stuck in the Garden of Eden forever. What would happen, for example, if God simply took them back to heaven in their present immortal state? What would they do in heaven? They would never know the difference between good and evil. Their bodies are immortal yes, but they are not exalted and could never be exalted, meaning they could never become as the Gods. Death was necessary to the plan of eternal progression. Exaltation requires a resurrection. 

For the resurrection to occur, there must first be death. Every step in God’s plan means either progression, going forward, or digression, going backward. By keeping the commandments, we move forward. By breaking the commandments, we regress backwards. How could they keep the commandments if they didn’t understand the commandments. After t

he fall, Christ introduced the principle of repentance thus giving Adam and Eve and all their posterity even greater agency. Adam could not repent of the fall. It was irreversible. It was only after the fall that the law of mercy was introduced. It was only after the fall that the law of mercy was necessary. In the Garden of Eden, they could do neither. Time had no arrow.

Christ forgave Adam and Eve for the fall. Now, that was a free gift. Christ had to sacrifice his life to reverse the effects of the fall, but he did that willingly. Christ did not hold us accountable for the fall because it was not our fault.  That is another example of free grace. The resurrection is another. The list is actually quite long, but that does not excuse us from the conditions the law of justice placed on mercy.

The sons of perdition can never be saved by the law of mercy because they live forever at odds with the law of justice. That is because they willfully rebelled against God while in the presence of God. They live forever outside the law of justice because they live forever outside the conditions placed upon the law of mercy by the law of justice. All commandments of Christ are conditions placed upon the law of mercy by the law of justice.