Dear all,
I guess, most of you will know the parable of the prodigal son, at least from some early visits to the church in your childhood (to remember, you can read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_Prodigal_Son).
However, the story is not new. It already starts in the first book of Mose, the book Genesis (citing):
[…]
[2:8] And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
[2:9] Out of the ground the LORD God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[…]
[2:15] The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
[2:16] And the LORD God commanded the man, „You may freely eat of every tree of the garden;
[2:17] but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.“
[…]
[3:1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, „Did God say, ‚You shall not eat from any tree in the garden‘?„
[3:2] The woman said to the serpent, „We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden;
[3:3] but God said, ‚You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die. ‚“
[…]
We see, the serpent tried to confuse the woman completely, for it lied on the command of God.
However, the woman was already a bit confused (probably by the man), for she thought the fruits of the tree in the middle of the garden should not be eaten (that would comprise both trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), but God had never forbidden to eat the fruits of the tree of life!!
We see: God had two plans for mankind.
Plan A: Mankind would eat from the tree of life, evolution of mankind would end (for everybody lived for eternity), and all would live happily and eternally without any sin in the garden.
Plan B: Mankind would eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mankind would have to leave the garden and hence the tree of life would be unreachable for mankind, until they got smart enough to ask for forgiveness.
Mankind was too stupid to take the fruits of the tree of life. So God sent the serpent to teach mankind and to activate Plan B.
Now, when mankind was far away from home to learn the „rules of life“ – like the prodigal son – mankind kept to be stupid and did not learn and did not return home.
Hence God activated Plan C and sent his son to settle the bill and to bring mankind the fruits of the tree of life.
We – nowadays – are still experiencing a high level of stupidity, so we wonder: Will there be a Plan D?
I do not know.
Says
Yours Christoph
Christophs Blog 