You Will Be Like God

The traditional lens in which we view the Bible begins with the “disobedience” of Adam and Eve.  As a result the rest of the Bible is seen as a battle between man’s disobedient nature and God’s perfect will.

But what if disobedience was not the motivation behind Adam and Eve’s failure rather the method they used to pursue that motivation? 

The temptation presented to them was that by partaking of the forbidden fruit they could “be like God." If the motivation for their failure was to become like gods then it changes how the rest of the Bible is viewed going forward.  Suddenly a string of things fall into place:

The failure of Adam and Eve was to become gods

The fall of Lucifer was his desire to dethrone God.

The builders of the Tower of Babel sought to reach heaven, the dwelling place of God.

The failure of Moses was when he declared himself equal with God when he asked the people, “Must WE bring water from this rock?”

The Israelite people were discontent not having a king to lead them.  A king...a human raised up above others...basically a God.

Solomon built a temple for God before building himself a palace twice as big as the Temple.

Jesus accused the Pharisees of becoming barriers to God with their seeking of positions of honor. (to be worshipped.....like Gods).

The very disciples themselves broke into multiple arguments of who would be the “greatest” in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

It still rages today, we see it in the pursuit of power by dictators, the pursuit of fame and adoration by celebrities, even in our churches where we place people on stages to be worshipped by congregations of thousands.

It’s found in the VIP section where people will distinguish themselves as more important than others.

What if the great fall of man is not rooted so much in disobedience as it is in the desire to be God, the desire to be above others, the craving of adoration? 

Would the position of Christ suddenly become much more profound when we read:
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped...” (Philippians 2)

He did not consider equality with God something to be grasped!!!!   Is that how a man like David in all of his failures could be viewed as “a man after God’s own heart?”   That while he failed in so many ways in reference to obedience, he still never attempted to over throw Saul to claim the throne for himself?  And even while possessing the throne never saw himself on par with God.

Is it possible while obedience is important to God perhaps what He holds above that is simply the ability of a man to know his place?   Is that why the first shall be last and the last first?  That the path to God isn’t by way of climbing to the top of the social structure but descending to the bottom and taking up the role of a servant? 

Is that why God is so hard for us to find?  Because we keep looking for a “God”, an all powerful being, while He presents Himself as a servant?  While we obsess with power He obsesses with love?

Is that why Christ was missed the first time?  That it was a God obsessed humanity that kept taunting Him to use His great power to save himself and upon doing that they’d worship Him?

Is that why we still struggle to find him today?  A God whose primary emphasis is love and humility will be hard to see by a humanity obsessed with power and fame.  And perhaps even obedience is a concept we must be delicate with so as not to subconsciously deceive ourselves that our proximity to God is somehow affected by our actions rather than simply by our existence.