Making Relationships Valuable

Genesis 2:8–10 NKJV

8 The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 Now a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads.

Genesis 2:15–17 NKJV

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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 surely die.”

God gave man lots of choices, but man HAD to have a way to CHOOSE God! If man never consciously and intentionally CHOSE God, there was no relationship!

Have you ever had a relationship where only one side was invested? If it was you, you felt hurt. If it was the other person, you felt annoyed, smothered, and pressured by them. It cannot work.

But how could man choose God?

To choose what to eat, you just go look at the various trees! Pick one you like!!!

When God became hidden, then the atheists fantasy became real. We could live and do nothing but pick fruit! Live without ever having to choose or reject God.

The reason every relationship you’ve ever had was meaningful, is because they could reject you and they CHOOSE not to.

God gave you a way to reject Him!

Genesis 3:1–8 NKJV

1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 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.” 6 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. 7 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. 8 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.

The serpent was after God! He knew all of this had been created for God to have relationship with man!!! EVERYTHING including the stars was created for God to have relationship with man.

God put the tree there to DEEPEN His relationship with man! To give it MEANING!!! Once man CHOSE God, he’d invested in the relationship. It had depth and meaning!

SO, the serpent knew that convincing man to disobey was REJECTING God!