I was reading Creation story in Genesis and one thing caught my attention.

God commanded something to Adam. Here is what He said.

Gen 2:16  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
Gen 2:17  "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."

God was clear in His instruction. God's purpose for this instruction was to guard Adam to the Highest Spiritual/Moral standrad he had. It was intended to be a spiritual instruction and should have been interpreted spiritually.

Now the devil comes and interprets it for Eve. Here is devil's interpretation.

Gen 3:4  Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.
Gen 3:5  "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."

God said "the day that you eat of it you shall surely die"

Devil said "You will not surely die"

Fact is both statments are true and the difference was God was talking about spiritual death and Devil was talking about physical death. Spiritual death is when a person committs sin and it seperates that person from God that is called eternal death. God is more concerned about our spirit and Devil is more concerned about our body.

God said that the tree was of the knowledge of good and evil. And God judged that the kind of knowledge Adam will get out of eating the fruit will be harmful to Adam.

Devil said "and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Again we see the difference of interpretation. God knew that if Adam eats the fruit it will be in rebellion to God and the result will be Adam will fall from the glory exactly like Devil had fallen from glory. Again for God it was important that the glory He had given to man be preserved. Devil had his own interpretation. For Devil gaining knowledge was more important than holiness.  For Devil carnal things were more important than spiritual things. So Devil persuaded Eve saying you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Today many people try to interpret Bible exactly the way Devil interpreted.

Recently I heard an interpretation of following verses

Luke 4:18  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
Luke 4:19  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."

Person who was preaching interpreted this passage in terms of helping poor people, fighting for justice etc. While this passage really meant that Jesus was going to liberate people from the clutches of devil. Many people still concentrate on the troubles in this world instead of concentrating on the bigger trouble that is sin. Adam has fallen from glory and because we have all sinned we have also fallen short of glory.

Rom 3:23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Jesus came into this world to liberate and to restore each and every person from this state of fall. But many people are still concerned about worldly things. They are concerned about social justice and social work instead of bringing people to the justice of God i.e. to help them come out of their sins and live a holy life.

Mat 18:11  "For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

If you have not accepted the Lord as your savior. If you have not asked the Lord forgiveness of your sins. You can ask Him to forgive you of your sins and give you a holy life.

May God bless