So the LORD God sent him away from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove man out and stationed the cherubim and the flaming, whirling sword east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life.     Genesis 3:23-24 HCSB

The result of the first sin ever committed was Adam and Eve being driven out of the Garden of Eden and being kept away from the tree of life. This was the first act of disobedience in the Bible, but it certainly would not be the last. From this point forward, we would all be sinners (Romans 3:23). Even some of the greatest men of the Bible messed up.

Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land after all he had endured with the Israelites in the wilderness. He disobeyed God by striking the rock when God told him to speak to the rock in Numbers 20. After all the work he had done, he had approached Pharaoh, was given the Ten Commandments, had met with God and because of his act of disobedience, he was denied entry into the Promised Land.

Samson disobeyed God and was brought into slavery, blinded, and died killing the Philistines.

We serve a loving God who wants to bless us, protect us, and take care of us. But we must never forget that we can provoke God to wrath. We can grieve the Holy Spirit. We don’t want to do this.

Our sins or our disobedience will not be overlooked. God does not hand out free passes to sin. God does not tolerate disobedience.

David was a great man of God. God used David as a mighty warrior who became king. In 1 Samuel 16:7, we are told God looks at a man’s heart. In 1 Samuel 13:14, Saul disobeyed by offering a burnt offering Samuel was supposed to offer. Saul got impatient and he got scared and did it himself.

Samuel told him because he disobeyed God, his reign would end with his death. His descendants would not continue to permanently reign over Israel. Samuel told Saul that God had found a man after his own heart to rule. He was referring to David.

David was a man after God’s own heart according to 1 Samuel 13:14, but still, David fell into sin and suffered the consequences. He lost his newborn son and “the sword never left his house”, meaning there was turmoil between him and his children for the rest of his days.

We learn from the Bible that sin has consequences. God knew that Adam and Eve would sin and there would be a need for him to send Jesus to save us from our sins. I just can’t help but wonder what it would be like if none of these people had sinned.

What would it be like if we were able to be obedient and not sin? I suppose we would have all dwelled in this Garden of Eden-type place for eternity. We would be given access to the Tree of Life and could eat freely from it and never die. Revelation 22:2 speaks of the Tree of Life in heaven. I suppose it would have been heaven here on earth with no tears, no suffering, and no death.

But it’s not that way. Romans 3:23 clearly states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. Jesus is our only hope. But praise God, in Him, we have hope. We don’t have to die and go to hell for eternity because we sin.

We can be redeemed. We can trust in Him. We can confess our sins to Him and repent and trust in Him as our Savior. We can go to spend eternity with God the Father in heaven. I guess then we will know what life would have been like if all of us had obeyed.

Have a great day!