Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 surely die” . . . Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”  So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Genesis 2:15-17; 3:4-11 NKJV

Jesus was speaking to the unbelieving Jews of His day, the religious leaders, and those who were considered custodians of truth. He said unto them, “you search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (“John 5:39-40).  Prior to the Fall, the first man Adam walked in the knowledge of God. What was lost in Adam is now restored to us in the second Adam, Jesus Christ.

We know that we all have knowledge; knowledge of what is good and what is bad; knowledge of right and wrong, etc. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies (1 Cor. 8:1). The knowledge of good and evil feeds the EGO (acronym for Edging God Out). The world is filled with people whose heads are replete with  knowledge of good and evil, and we still have broken homes, divorces, broken lives and shattered dreams, war-torn countries, destruction and violence everywhere because the knowledge of good and evil are Siamese twins—identical fruit that grows on the same tree.

I believe that God wants us to have a conscious day-to-day knowledge of the Lord, much like the prophet Isaiah prophesized about (Isa. 11:9). We need the knowledge of the Lord to move us away from the memory of a painful past and an uncertain present, into a fulfilled future in God. The knowledge of the Lord (His Word) will energize our dreams and move us into the future; but the knowledge of good and evil will only feed the memories that take us back into our unregenerate past.

When the last Adam, Jesus Christ, came on the scene, He didn’t come talking about good and evil; He came announcing the Good News of His Father. He came in truth and grace, and with unconditional love and acceptance. So, who told you that you are sick, diseased, weak, bound, broke, poor, not enough, limited in some way, or naked in some other way? This is not the Word of the Lord concerning you. Have you been eating from the “tree” of the knowledge of good and evil? Live your life in the knowledge of the Lord—that recognition and consciousness of God, His insight, intelligence, understanding and wisdom as it relates to His plan and purpose for your life; as it relates to who you are, and whose you are, and where you are, and what you have in him. Whose report will you believe?