Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.
Matthew 25:34 (HCSB)
Matthew 25:34 (HCSB)
Many people in the world have the misconception that Eve messed up the plan God had for us. There may even be some who think we would still be in the Garden of Eden if she had not taken a bite from that fruit. However, Eve did not wreck God’s plans. I will discuss why we know that is true in a bit, but I want us to think about this misconception first. You may think this misunderstanding doesn’t really mean much, but there are some important implications to believing this lie.
One thing implied by this misconception is that humans have the power to hinder God’s plans. We don’t. God is far too powerful for that. Thinking we can throw a monkey wrench into God’s plans is simply giving us too much credit. Job had it right when he replied to God saying, “I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2) Later, we will see why Eve did not mess up His plans.
Another thing implied by the misconception that Eve messed up God’s plans is that God did not see it coming. That is not true. God knew mankind would sin and would need to be saved from those sins. The Bible tells us He had a plan to save us from our sins before He even created the world. Paul tells us:
4For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love 5He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself.
Ephesians 1:4-5 (HCSB)
Ephesians 1:4-5 (HCSB)
Before God even created the world, He knew we would need to be adopted back as His children through Jesus Christ. God knew man was too weak to resist sin. I am sure he knew Adam and Eve would sin since no person is strong enough to resist the attraction of sin. Because He knew this, He planned for Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price of our sins before He even made us. Wow, that is love! God wanted us to be able to enjoy Him so much that the Father and the Son were willing to pay that price.
Some people think that since God knew Adam and Eve would fall to sin and since He placed the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil right there in front of them that God was setting them up for failure. That is true in a sense but false in another. It is true that God placing them in the Garden with the tree did guarantee them to fall victim to sin. While this is true, God had already planned to pay the price for their mistake before He put them there. It is kind of like having a teacher giving her students a VERY hard test on purpose. The students fail the test horribly. However, after she grades the tests and informs the students of their grades, she turns around and retakes the test herself and gives each student a 100% on the test. While it is true that Adam and Eve failed the test, they still got to be 100% pure in the end because Jesus took the test too and passed it for them.
God’s plan for mankind was made before the creation of the world and before Adam and Eve’s sin. That sin did not change His plan one bit. The Heavenly Kingdom awaiting all Christians was planned before they sinned and even before this creation was made.
