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We know, from Christian legend, what happens next: The Lord God discovers that
Adam and Eve ate from the Tree, he curses them, and expels them from Eden. But
why does he do this? Genesis 3:22 suggests an answer: "And the Lord God said,
Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest
he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
for ever:" YHWH was afraid that Adam and Eve were now as gods, as the serpent
claims. He then cast them out of Eden to prevent them from having eternal life.
The dichotomy of the Christian faith is that Christians believe that Christ
gives us this life eternal. Why? If Christ is YHWH, is it not true that He
would have no reason to give man eternal life?
I claimed earlier that generations had passed between the creation of man and
the counterfeit of Adam and Eve. Genesis 6 demonstrates this: "And it came to
pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were
born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were
fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose." [6:1-2] The
descendants of Adam and Eve mated with the descendants of the true man which
God created in the week of Creation.
The resulting children offended YHWH: "My spirit shall not always strive with
man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty
years." [6:3] Going on, Genesis 6:6 states, "And it repented the Lord that he
had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart." YHWH planned to
do what any jealous and powerful man would do: Kill the rivals to his attention.
He didn't like the fact that "his spirit shall not always strive with man",
given that his counterfeit was intermingling with the true Creation.
Yet YHWH found favor with Noah. Why, we don't know. It's clear that Noah is
also a sinner; his drunkenness was offensive to YHWH in the days after the
flood. Through Noah, YHWH established the Covenant. A Covenant, as our Mormon
friends would tell us, is a two-way instrument. YHWH gives something, and in
return he expects something.
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So, what does YHWH expect? Let's first examine what he gives. Most Christians
believe that YHWH gives eternal life. Yet this is not so: "And I will establish
my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the
waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the
earth." Nothing there about eternal life. There's not even technically any
promise that YHWH will refrain from destroying the earth: Premillennialists
believe that the earth will, in fact, be destroyed by fire upon Christ's
return. Rather, the Covenant is clear: Do what I want, and I won't flood the
earth with water. It's interesting to note the present theory of global
warming, with its potential of flood for the great cities of the world. Is
YHWH preparing to declare the Covenant in a state of default?
To the question of life eternal, YHWH proposes the Law. This is, of course,
an extension of the Covenant. The Law circumscribes the behaviour which YHWH
finds fit for man. What many Christians recognize is that the Law is impossible
to uphold in thought, word, and deed. It is also important to note that the
Law not only includes the Mosaic commandments, but the Levitican Law and all
the codes of Rabbinical Law which the Pharisees and Saducees used against
Jesus. Taken collectively, I believe the Law condemns man of his imperfection,
and enslaves him to YHWH.
The Law is our part of the Covenant. To uphold it, we must promise to snuff
the Divine spark within us, and never again try to be as gods, knowing good
from evil. Such terms are YHWH's to adjudicate, not ours; and YHWH gives the
Law to judge whom is good and evil. Of course, by the Law, we are all found
wanting.
Nowhere, I repeat nowhere, is eternal life shown to be the reward for the
Covenant. YHWH's answer to the question of life eternal is as it always has
been, from the day Adam and Eve stood before YHWH: NO!
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