“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Gen. 3:7)
We are not told in the Scriptures what the first response of Eve was after she ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, apparently there was a gap in time before Adam ate of it, for the Scriptures say, “And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” (Gen. 3:17)
We can presume it was not shame that she felt, for she did not run and hide from her husband, but stood there and spoke with him, in fact, they did not hide from each other, but from the Lord. Consider this as you read the request of King Solomon, “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?” (1 Kings 3:9)
The knowledge to understand the difference between good and evil is not the knowledge of the two opposites in the sense that Adam and Eve knew it when it first arrived. It is the knowledge, the exhilaration, if you will, that we have the ability to choose, the first sense of self- awareness in our decision-making process, we can choose the evil, that which is against the will of God, or the good, that which is pleasing in the sight of the Almighty. Our first parents did not know shame until the Lord appeared, when they began to experience all the other emotions we do not know, what we are to know though is what to do when they come upon us.
What do you do when the shame of knowing you did not speak to that person yesterday about the Lord comes upon you? How do you react when you see something that causes envy in you, jealousy or greed, what is your response to the lust that rears its ugly head in your life? “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Cor. 9:27) “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:11)
Paul was not saying that he had attained perfection against the wiles of the devil or the desires of the flesh, but that he practiced the knowledge of the good and the evil, he was blessed to be able to see the difference between the two.
The shield of faith has been given to you to stop the fiery darts of our adversary, the Holy Spirit that you have been blessed with offers you not only the best but only defense against your worst enemy, yourself. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.” (Romans 7:25) He convicts us with the wisdom of the truths of the Scriptures, but unless we willingly submit by our own free will to His convictions and promptings, we will continue to fight a battle that apart from Him we will lose.
To be transformed by the renewing of our mind is our choice, we must not only desire to be changed, but in what we have been shown in the knowledge of good and evil, how the Lord would have us to live our lives for His glory.
Consider this, contemplate it well and often, when we are glorified, we will still have the knowledge of good and evil, the flesh as we know it today will be gone forever, “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.” (1 Cor. 15:50) Yet we will still have free will throughout all of eternity. Removing an item from us does not remove the desire for that object, removing our free will would, but personally I do not see the Almighty doing that, we were created in His image, and one cannot offer love without the free will to do so.
Choices have to be made in this life and each one of them will serve one of two masters, either the good or the evil. You have a shield, and you have the Holy Spirit, that is all you need, the decision to use that shield and harken to the voice of God has been left up to you.
Choose wisely.
