Bella Swan & God

   "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,

thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day

that thou eatest there of thou shalt surely die."

                                                 ~Genesis 2:17

   

       Millions of teen age girls from all over the world have read that scripture verse from a best selling book, but not the one most Christians would automatically think of.

         Stephenie Meyer, bestselling author of The Twilight Saga, starts her first book in the famous saga with Genesis 2:17. Although Meyer's interpretation of that Bible verse was meant to show that Edward Cullen was a forbidden fruit to Bella Swan, the Bible meant it quite literally.

         God had just created the first man, and gave the man only one rule: Don't eat from this tree. You can tell how important that one prohibition was because firstly, it was the first thing God had ever spoken to the man, and secondly, God didn't even give the man the name Adam until after He established the rule. To me, that makes things pretty clear: DON'T EAT FROM THE TREE! I mean really, one of the first things done after a baby is born is give the name. Afterword you establish daddy-daughter rules like no dating until you're 32.

         But yet, here we are today living in a sin filled world as sinners ourselves. So what happened? Let's rewind a little bit. In the beginning there was nothing, but then God created Heaven and the Earth. He took six days to complete His creation of the world. He made the sun and the moon, the land and the water, the sea creatures and the land animals. And on the seventh day He rested. After that He made Adam and laid down the law of the land.

         Adam was given the job to name all the animals. Do you know what a tedious job that must of been? He had to line up all the animals and make up words to name them. "Hmm, this... thing is pudgy and gray. I'll call it a rhino!" But back to the story. So Adam named all the animals and God put him into a deep sleep, almost like a coma. God then took one of his ribs and created the first woman, who was later named Eve. A snake, aka Satan, Came to Eve and conned her into eating of the forbidden tree. She did so willingly, and then gave some to Adam to eat also. They realised that they had sinned and tried to hide from God. They eventually came forward and admitted to their sin. God cursed the snake by making him crawl on his belly. He also cursed Adam and Eve with painful childbirth and tough fields. They would have to work for their keep the rest of their lives. The story does get better, though.

         Romans 5:12 says, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned." Basically what it is saying is that Adam sinned, and the punishment for sin is death. Because we all have sinned then we all die. Pretty picture, huh? But the scripture verse in 1 Corinthians 15:22 says, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall we all be made alive." It literally means that because the death of  Adam was physical, then also the life Christ brings is also physical.

         To have the life Christ brings you must be born again. To quote John 3:3, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." The word 'again' in Greek means "from above". So unless you're born from above you can't see Heaven. 'The kingdom of God' refers to God's rule over His people and to life everlasting. To be born again is a spiritual birth, since going back to your mother's womb is impossible. You must first admit you're a sinner, and then accept the wondrous gift of everlasting life. And as Bella Swan would say, "Don't be afraid. We have forever."