“Discern Right from Wrong” (Chapter 4) & “An Intruder” (Chapter 5)

Created to Draw Near: Our Life as God’s Royal Priests

by Edward T. Welch

 

“Discern Right from Wrong” (Chapter 4)

 

Two Trees, Two Paths

 

Genesis 2:17 NIV

¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

• To be fully human, which means to be close to the Lord, we must know that there are two paths.
  • The path that is with God and to God is life and honor. It says yes with his yes and no with his no.
  • The path that leads away from God can feel like pleasure for a moment, but it goes headlong into death. It says yes to his no and no to his yes.

“Moral Discernment… is a premiere feature of our humanity… Obedience, knowing right from wrong are… essential for a fruitful and good life to those who are replicas of the heavenly God on earth.” - Ed Welch

Moral Discernment, True Humanity

• Image of God, Imitating God
• Essential to All Relationships
  • Human Relationships
  • Divine-Human Relationship

• To be human—God’s priest—is to discern what is best and what is deadly.

• To be human is to act on that discernment and obey. This demands confidence in what God says and the humility to place his words above our own understanding and our own desires. It demands faithful love.

• To be human is to teach and encourage others in their discernment.

“An Intruder” (Chapter 5)

 

Keeping Watch

• The world has been filled with danger from the beginning.

“Everyday life was not intended for our relaxation and entertainment.” - Ed Welch

• A part of Adam’s role to keep and care for the garden was to protect it from danger.

• In the Garden, Satan (as the serpent) encountered a spiritually drowsy and unprepared humanity.

Genesis 3:1 NIV

¹ Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 

Satan’s Schemes

• God is not good. (Creating doubt)

Genesis 3:2–3 NIV

²The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

• Sin is not bad. (Creating desire)

Genesis 3:4–5 NIV

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

Genesis 3:6 NIV

⁶When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

“The serpent’s goal is for humanity to be remade in his image and imitate him. His twofold strategy remains his most prominent and effective weapon. Every failed spiritual test can be traced to our tacit agreement with him and these two lies. 'Go ahead,' he says, 'you will like it; rest in your own understanding. Look at the evidence. God is not that good, sin is not that bad. To put it bluntly, God is not good; sin is good.'” - Ed Welch

• You are lost. (Creating despair)

“When we follow him into disobedience, Satan will add one final strategy: 'You are now irredeemably bad, and God could never forgive or love you.' … Shame replaces communion and fellowship, and everything is injected with hopelessness. We are fooled into thinking that we can never regain what’s been lost.” - Ed Welch

“Before priests could protect the holiness of the garden temple, they first had to learn to protect their own hearts.” - Ed Welch

Application of Chapters 4-5

• Drawing near to God as his holy priests requires moral discernment, trusting in and obeying God’s commands.

• Drawing near to God as his holy priests requires guarding our hearts against Satan’s schemes.