Rev Up Ministries

Forbidden Fruit

We all partake of a little forbidden fruit from time to time... don't we? Actually, I'll bet there are a few Christians out there that have managed to refrain from the occasional depravity of sinful produce, in favor of life. Kudos to you... and keep up the spiritual dietary abstinence. But for those of us still struggling with temptation, know that God loves us in spite of our faults. Jesus died to save us from our sins, not from our perfection. He knew we'd have trouble overcoming our weaknesses. He knew we'd all eat forbidden fruit, at least once... probably more. He died for us anyway.

But why do we eat the fruit if it's forbidden? Adam and Eve knew there was a rule. Just one. Don't eat the fruit from "that" tree. That's it. Just one sin to avoid. Just one law to enforce.

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Genesis 2:16-17 NKJV

One rule. One tree. One fruit. (That doesn't make three... it's still just one). And they blew it! So why didn't God just not plant that stupid tree in the garden? I mean, if He didn't give us the option of being able to pick that fruit, then we'd be all right today. Right? He knew we'd eat that fruit. Yet He planted the tree anyway. Why? Any of you "Captain America" fans probably remember the line from the movie, where the good Captain asks, "Is this a test?" Yes. Yes, Captain, it is a test. A test of the heart, a test of the mind and a test of the spirit. All that we are, and are capable of being, requires us to be able to pass the test. Yet, none of us can. We innately want that which is forbidden.

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Genesis 3:1-5 NKJV

It doesn't sound like Eve had any question about the rule. God said don't eat of "that" tree (and it wasn't an apple tree). She even understands the consequences: you'll die! That seems pretty clear and concise. But satan senses a weakness. And with a little encouragement from the serpent, Eve is persuaded to rethink her position. First the serpent questions the rule: "Did God really say you can't eat the fruit of that tree? I heard you can eat the fruit of all the trees." But Eve knows better. So the serpent explains that God is lying: "You're not going to die. The only reason He told you not to eat the fruit of that tree is He knows it will make you as smart as Him... and He doesn't want that."

Satan is constantly trying to convince us that he's the one offering us freedom. In Eve's case, satan convinces her that God is holding out on her. "The 'Man' wants to hold you down! Don't be deceived by God. Open your eyes. You're your own woman. You've come a long way baby. You are woman, here you roar! Eat the fruit and fulfill your destiny, Luke...." Oh, sorry - I fell into some sort of Star Wars writing warp for a second. Bottom line: if you eat the fruit your eyes will be opened and you'll be like God. You'll be like God! Because as it stands now, without that fruit you can't see the really cool stuff. And how great is it gonna be when you're like God! So the only thing between you and true happiness is that fruit. You just have to take a bite.

My experience tells me that miracle fruit, offered in assurance of happiness, is often death in disguise. It didn't work well for Eve. It didn't work well for Snow White. And it led to the fall of Troy. Beware the miracle fruit! Of course, Snow White and Troy are fictitious stories. And perhaps the story of Eve's temptation is a metaphor. I choose to believe it more literally. You can believe whatever you like. Just realize, that left to our own devices, we die. Satan has made death look appealing. Now there's a marketing genius. And we're buying his products at an alarming rate. Eat this to feel better. Eat this to become rich. Eat this to become smarter. Eat this to become more powerful. Eat the "miracle fruit" that will change your life! The only catch is, God tells us not to eat the "miracle fruit". It's forbidden. But don't let a little thing like sin stop you from eating whatever you want.

Come on folks! We're like a bunch of toddlers... anything that's put in front of us, we stick in our mouths. And if we're told we can't have something, that just makes us want it that much more. But watch out. Anything the world feeds you will probably make you sick. Satan would like nothing more than to feed us a diet rich in sin. He does that by making the very things that are the worst for us, look the most desirable. And the more unobtainable something is, the more desirable it is.

We all want what we don't have. Then once we get it, we don't want it anymore... and we need something new. It's never ending desire, that never fulfills our needs. You could think of it as an addiction. I hear heroine is pretty addictive (don't personally know - but in this case, I'm willing to just take the word of more informed individuals). But once an addict gets their fix, they don't need another one... well, at least until the effects of the first fix wears off... which means they don't have what they want anymore. So they need another fix... and another, and another, until all they want is one continual high - which of course, will eventually kill them. Sin is like a drug. It's addictive. You try it because it's forbidden. Once you've had a little taste you want more. And whenever you don't have it, you need to get more. It's a never ending circle that is spiraling you downwards toward hell. It's like riding on Space Mountain, in 160° heat, with a huge fat guy in the seat next to you, who is pressing you against the side of the car while soaking you with profuse amounts of his sweat, with the music so loud that it makes your ears bleed, with attendants that never let you get off the ride... only not as much fun. But it's not packaged that way in life. Here, try a joint, and you'll get high. Hey, let's get drunk and you'll forget your troubles. Or let's just take it to a whole new level of euphoria and pleasure our synapses with a little heroine. And what's wrong with a little extramarital sex or just some good, old fashioned pornography, if it perks up the old lymph nodes (or limp nodes)? People are lining up for that stuff. And it's killing them. But the pleasure they derive from the act leads them to more of the same. In the end they don't become like God. They become like satan - wanting more and never having enough; empty, broken and without life. The promise of more led them into the valley of death. And when they finally obtained all they wanted, there was nothing to fill the void created by the things that killed their soul.

Is this a test?

Yes. Yes it is. You know, there was another tree in the Garden of Eden. Actually there were a whole bunch, but this is the only one that we know Adam and Eve never ate from. It's not that they were forbidden to eat its fruit... because they weren't. It's because they chose not to. But once they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, this other tree was removed from them.

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.
Genesis 3:22-23 NIV

God never told Adam and Eve they couldn't eat of the tree of life. He just told them they couldn't eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (I wish it had a shorter name). And after they do, He removes the tree of life from them. Interesting. Satan doesn't tempt them with a tree that will give them life, which isn't off limits. He tempts them with the tree of death, that is forbidden. And Adam's and Eve's attention seems totally void of any interest in the tree of life. They could have eaten the fruit of that tree and lived forever. But they weren't concerned about death. Without eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they didn't even know what it meant to die. Nor do I think they would have, if they had not eaten the forbidden fruit. So the tree of life wasn't important to them until after they ate the forbidden fruit. At that point God removed it from them. Is this a test? Absolutely. The tree of life has been restored to us. Jesus Christ died to give us eternal life, and to give us victory over sin. We may not be perfect, but Jesus allows us the opportunity to remove our sins and avoid certain death.

This is a test. Will you pass?

Organic fruit only,

Don
©DCrouse 2013

Dark Matter

I recently spoke on the topic of evolution at a church. I won't get into the particulars of the entire message, but one of the scriptures I quoted was Colossians 1:16-17.

For in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:16-17 NIV

Which brings us to dark matter. And I'm a little surprised at how many people have never heard of dark matter. It's all the rage in cosmology these days, and has been since 1998. So for those of you who haven't been keeping up with your astronomy (which is quite a bit different than astrology), let me bring you up to date. But before I do that, I just want to throw this little disclaimer in: I am not an astrophysicist - although I do enjoy it when the sun comes out in Seattle. And for those of you living in Seattle who have never seen the sun, it's a great big, bright, ball in the sky that makes you feel like Disneyland inside. But don't look directly at it or you'll burn your retinas out. True story. So if I get any of this wrong, please know that I'm working off the NASA website, using what little brain power I have. Feel free to send me hate email if I do get something in error... but please be nice about it. Maybe start it off with something like, "Dear Imbecile, you suck!" That keeps things civil and on the intellectual level I know we all strive for.

So back to the saga of dark matter... and it's quite an interesting story, if I ever get to it. But before I do, let me just add one more disclaimer... well, it's really more of a clarification, or addendum, than a disclaimer... but nobody (who is probably everybody) cares. So I should just continue as if nothing has changed, which of course, it hasn't. Are we good? So I'm just going to proceed. In our discussion today, I'll also be touching on the subject of dark energy, which goes nicely with the topic of dark matter... and is also a lot of fun to talk about. It makes me feel all Universal (Studios) inside, which isn't as nice as that Disneyland feeling, but it's better than that Freddy Krueger feeling I get after a bad bout with sin.

Back in 1998 the Hubble Space Telescope made some observations of very distant supernovae that showed that, a long time ago, the universe was actually expanding more slowly than it is today. Well, "big whoop", you say. Well, actually, yes it is. First, if you're not a fan of the Big Bang, this gives you a little ammo to refute that theory. Also, if you're a God-fearin' individual, like myself, that's the kind of information that has the potential to reek havoc with a number of scientific theories, as you're about to see (I love science!). First, an implied consequence of the Big Bang is that the expansion of the universe will slow or eventually stop, due to gravitational forces between matter. Under no circumstances would it accelerate. All of our science told us that this was a fact. Oops. Got that one wrong. The Hubble observations showed that the universe is actually expanding at an accelerated rate... not slowing down! Unless, of course, those observations are wrong. But nobody (who is actually everybody) thinks that this is the case. Everybody believes the Hubble observations are correct. So, Houston, we have a problem. We have just discovered that the impossible is not only possible, it's reality! So how can science explain the impossible? What could possibly explain a universe that is accelerating... other than galactic teen drivers? Well, it turns out the answer is dark energy. What is dark energy? Nobody (which is everybody) knows! (I'm starting to feel all Universal inside). The only reason science knows it exists, is because it needs to exist to explain things. We can't see it (hence the name "dark energy"). We can't measure it. We can't feel or touch it. In short, there is no scientific evidence for its existence, other than what is implied from the Hubble observations. Scientists made it up to explain what they can't explain. And so far, everybody (which is everybody, except dummies like me) believes it. I think I'm actually feeling a little Disneyland inside, over this whole dark energy thing. It makes believing in God look intelligent (which it is). But wait. We're not done. Not only is dark energy imperceivable, it also makes up roughly 68% of the universe (based on science). So the majority of the universe is made of nothing. That sounds about right, from a scientific perspective.

"But what about dark matter?", you ask. Well, dark matter has a slightly different reason for existing than dark energy. But the premise is the same: we (which means science) need something to explain something science can't explain. Savvy? This time the problem is only galactic in nature and not universal. And we're talking about a lot less stuff that has to be made up. Dark matter only makes up 27% of the universe. But now we're talking about "matter", which has mass, and not energy, which doesn't. So we should be able to "touch" and "feel" dark matter. But dark matter is not the touchy, feely type of matter that science longs for. We (meaning science) know a lot more about what dark matter isn't than what it is. It's not stars or planets, or intergalactic dust - or anything else we can see (hence the name, "dark matter"). It isn't dark clouds or black holes (in case you thought dark stuff like that might explain things). We can measure the effects of dark clouds via their absorption of radiation, and black holes bend light to tipoff their existence. I would like to note, it is this bending of light that is the primary evidence that is used to imply the existence of dark matter. However, according to the intelligent folks over at NASA, we do not see the amount of light bending that would be visible if 27% of the universe were dark matter. So the inference of dark matter based on light bending seems questionable. Antimatter is also not a solution for the identity of dark matter. What it is, is a total mystery, that would baffle even the great Sherlock Holmes - because there are simply no clues to determine its identity. It's a fabrication of the scientific community (which scientists call a theory, to make it seem real) that could turn out to be a nightmare if it doesn't materialize. And they pick on me for believing in Jesus? At least I have some historical evidence working for me (although my jury is still out on the Shroud of Turin). Oh, I haven't even mentioned why we need dark matter. To quote the NASA Astrophysics page on Dark Energy, Dark Matter: "Observations show that there is far too little visible matter in the Universe to make up the 27% required by the observations." What? Simply put, what I believe NASA is trying to say is that galaxies, as nice as they are, don't have enough bulk. They're just too light weight (I know a lot of weight watchers that would like to have that problem). And because they don't have enough mass, galaxies should be flying apart, hurling stars and planets out into space - losing their attractive galaxy shapes. So to keep those sexy galactic shapes together, scientists are forced to "pump them up" on dark matter (I here that stuff is bad for them - although they seem to be doing fine). Sounds good to me - just as long as they can get the math to work so those mystified scientists can get that Universal feeling inside.

Now I'm not saying there's not something we can't see holding the universe together (I think I just used a triple negative, so I have no idea where that leaves me). I'm just postulating that maybe the thing that holds everything together is God. Remember that verse I quoted from Colossians to start things off... He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Maybe that verse really means what it says. Maybe galaxies don't fly apart because God holds them together. I know that sounds pretty goofy, especially when you've got dark matter to fall back on - but it's still a thought.

I quoted a couple of other scriptures in my talk on evolution.

They know the truth about God because He has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
2Romans 1:19-20 NLT

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
Hebrews 11:3 NLT

So what have we learned here? Well, maybe nothing. But it seems to me that a lot of what we call science looks a lot like faith. And the only difference, in different faiths, is what they're placed in. Some are placed in false religions. Some are placed in false gods. Some are placed in false science. Some are placed in the one true God (of course, that's coming from a narrow minded Christian).

In the end, science leaves us with "reality" being less than 5% of our universe. That's the stuff we can see, touch, feel and measure. The rest is all dark. So according to science, the vast majority of what makes the galaxies go-round, and the universe accelerate, is stuff we've made up. And maybe that's the answer. But the next time some intellectual teases you for believing in God, you might want to point out there's a lot more evidence to support Jesus than there is to support dark matter.

Enjoying that Disneyland feelin',

Don
©DCrouse 2013