Though we don't know much about life, neither can we explain much about it, as much as we, the living, have it right now, the Psalmist does explain its source "...O LORD, thou preservest man and beast.....For with thee is the fountain of life..." (Psalms 36:6-9). The wise elaborates a certain law which if one applies will never die; they say, "The law of the wise is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death." (Proverbs 13:14). The wise further clarify the law that sustains life in the living, they say "...The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death....." (Proverbs 14:27). This fear, Yirat in hebrew, is from the Hebrew word yare which means to revere or stand in awe. Therefore for life to flow in us forever, we were created to follow the law of living in constant, sincere, appreciation of the awesome consciousness of goodness of Hashem in us.

In Genesis 2:15-17, this was the very first lesson that Hashem taught Adam and Eve. If they wished to live, they would have to trust Hashem. They would have to trust that Hashem was the best and that the life he was effecting in them was the best for them. If they ever drew from another fountain, then they would have to find out on their own whether that fountain would sustain life. Unfortunately, they never headed and they learnt the hard way that Hashem was correct.

You see, Yahshua who is the very image of Hashem (Hebrews 1:3) reveals that there is no difference between Hashem and life. He explains it as follows, "...I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:6). Of course this quality of Yahshua flows from Abba himself for Yahshua explains where he got this quality life from. He says in John 5:26 "For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself". That is what our parents failed to understand: there is no life outside Hashem; Hashem is the progenitor of true life - Hashem is true life and true life is Hashem.

As long as they remained in Yirat Hashem, (fear of Hashem) they would live forever. For then they would know Hashem alone: who alone is good (Mathew 19:17). Yahshua elaborates it farther that this eternal life is to know the one true Elohim and his Yahshua (John 17:3). This true knowledge of the true Elohim actually means to experience Elohim in all his fullness. It is to experience Elohim as much as Yahshua does right now. 

The preacher sadly observed that we didn't follow the lain down law of life. Though Elohim had meant that we should not learn evil but good/Elohim only, we lusted after evil. He observes in Ecclesiastes 7:29, "...Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions." 

But what exactly happened that caused our parents and still cause us to fall short of this glorious eternal life? 

It is worthy to note that Genesis 2:9, 16-18 embodies this concept of falling short of eternal life as the tree of good and evil. I can't help but wonder the implications of such a concept. For it is clear that such a concept of a single tree bearing a fruit that is both good and evil cannot hold in the matrix of eternal life. Yahshua categorically says in Mathew 7:17,18, "...every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruits. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." 

In the realms of holiness and eternal life, such a tree of knowledge of good and evil cannot sustain life. Yahshua disqualifies it's capability to sustain life in Mathew 12:33 as follows, "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit". There is no room of compromise in the realms of eternal life: for it is either life or death. You cannot have a little life there and a little death here. That is what transpired in the garden. Like gods, our parents knew/experienced both evil and good at the same time. Remember the gods had already discovered evil and some, such as Satan and his creek, had delved too much to be salvaged from it. They were now desperately trying to experiment with naive Adam and Eve whether it was possible to draw life from a fountain of good and evil. Hashem wanted to drive the point home that it was never and will never be possible. Good will remain good and evil will remain evil. Since we humans belong to the family of gods we had to learn it the hard way because we didn't follow the law of trusting Hashem. Good was compromised and could no longer sustain eternal life: that good had fallen short of good.

It is sad that the same concept of a little evil here and a little good there still dogs us to date. We are advised as follows in James 3:10, 11, "...My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh." We sometimes insult the power of grace that Elohim brought us through Yahshua and made it clear that henceforth we should be "....perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect...." Mathew 5:48. 

This compromise is so much entrenched in our system that we sometimes don't even realize what we are doing. We feel we have been too good and need just a little evil. For instance, when making our budgets we set aside a fraction of our earnings for the needy. If any other person comes after we have exhausted what we had set aside for the needy, we feel that we have given too much or even feel that we are not as much obliged to give as at the first giving that fell within the allocation. It's like there is any evil in giving! Or sometimes we read the Bible or pray or bless a person until we feel we need not continue doing the good any longer. It's like too much of good is not good. Or have you ever loved an unlovable person who scorns your love; be it your spouse, or your child, or your parent, or your friend or even your enemy. Then you reach a point and decide that you have been too good or good enough? Nothing could be far from the truth, for there is no better thing than good; that love you were giving was the best but the learning we got from the fall was that it's Okey to mix a little loving and a little "unloving"....or should I just say hatred?

It is due to this sorry state of ours that Yahshua came: to cause us to totally unlearn the concept of a little good and a little evil; to puke that fruit of good and evil. He wants us to unlearn it for he says in 1 Corinthians 14:20 "....Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men..." We must unlearn evil and be like little ones whose brain has not perceived/learnt any evil just like our parents before the fall. Yahshua really wants us to unlearn it. He tells us that he is aware we love that concept of lukewarmness but cautions as follows, "....because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will puke thee out of my mouth...." (Revelation 3:16). It is only in knowing good and good alone that we will drink from the true fountain of life and live eternally.

By Ev. Boniface Muthii