When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He gave them only one restriction which concerned the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And there was only one restriction concerning it. They were free to enjoy its beauty, to sit under its shade, play on it or whatever they liked. The only prohibition was against eating of its fruit. In other words, they were not to live by it. They, like us, were not to live by their own knowledge.
Jesus says we live “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mat. 4:4) Simply put, we live by the love of Jesus. Numerous scriptures tell us, not only that love is an important ingredient of God’s Word, but that there is nothing in God’s Word that is not related to love. Love is the fulfillment. There is nothing else. (Mat 22:37-39; Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14;1 Tim 1:5;1 Cor 13:13; Col 3:14; 1 Pet. 4:8; John 13:34) This is as we might expect if God himself is described as love. (1 John 4:8)
When we eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we love based on our knowledge. That is, we inspect people to see if they are worth loving or not. If they have enough good qualities we extend ourselves to them. If not, we hold back from them.
But what did God say to Adam and Eve? In the day you eat this fruit, you will surely die. When we love others according to the good or bad qualities we know about them, something begins to die. Loving by knowledge kills love. When we inspect others closely, what do we find? Sooner or later, self-centeredness, lust, pride, greed. No one is immune. The longer we spend with a husband or wife for example, the more reasons we will have not to love them if we base our love on knowledge.
Jesus says to us, “I come from a realm of such inexhaustible, supernatural love that, not only can you overlook your brothers’ and sisters’ faults, you can lavish your love even on those who hate you and who talk behind your back. As incredible as it may sound, you can even love your enemies!”
As an example of this extraordinary love, Kierkegaard asks us to consider Jesus’ love of Peter. He invites us to put ourselves in Jesus’ place the night before his crucifixion. Imagine yourself standing in a courtyard filled with angry people who taunt you, spit upon you, hate you. People who want to kill you. You are desperate to see the face of a friend. You scan the crowd for any sign of kindness but there is none. Then, all of a sudden, you see him, your friend, the one who that very evening swore he would stay with you to the end even if it meant dying with you. Your hope rises, but quickly crashes. Your friend betrays you. In fact, he denies with curses that he even knows you. His primary concern is for his bodily comfort as he warms himself by a fire.
And yet, Jesus loved the person he saw, just as he was.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8) He sees you and me just as we are and loves us anyway.
Let us go forward with the same purpose for all others we meet.
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