Morality vs. Christianity

And so by commanding Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it becomes clear to us that God didn’t create man to live out of a sense of morality but according to the words of his commandments. Since it is only God who has life of himself, we will live only if we abide by his words and choose to live by his ways. Once we chose our own way, we wither and die, because we have no life of ourselves. We, therefore, conclude that if man, who is of low quality, lives according to his own knowledge, which also is of low quality, then we can be certain that whatever morality he will get from that knowledge will also be of low quality. It is for this reason, beloved, that we are charged to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, to lean not on our own understanding, and to acknowledge him in all our ways so that he will make our paths straight. We must not be wise in our own eyes but must fear God and depart from evil. This indeed is health to our navel and marrow to our bones (Proverbs 3:5–8).

To paint a clear picture for us of a life lived in deference to the knowledge of God rather than based on one’s own morality, we must take a look at Adam’s life before the fall, when he lived after the image and likeness of God rather than according to the knowledge of good and evil. It came to pass then that after God formed every beast of the field and fowl of the air, he brought them to Adam to see what he would call them; and he indeed gave names to all the creatures, which God had created, such that the names he gave them were their names thereof (Genesis 2:19–20). In other words, he called them what God would have himself called them. In like manner, when he saw Eve, who was formed while he was fast asleep, he exclaimed that she, unlike the other animals, was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. He, therefore, called her “woman” because she had been taken out of man. We learn from the story that God was pleased with the names Adam had given to the woman and all the animals he had created, for those were in line with the thoughts of his own mind. God, therefore, pronounced that a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife so that they twain will become one flesh (Genesis 2:21–24).

Beloved, this giving of names to all the creatures God had made is extremely impressive because it shows us that Adam had insight into the mind of God, being created in his image and after his likeness. Remember that God himself had named all the things he had created up until then. It was he who had called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” It was he who had called the open firmament of the sky “heaven.” It was he who had called the land “earth” and the gathering together of the waters “seas” (Genesis 1:5, 8, 10). By allowing Adam, therefore, to name the animals, which he had created, God essentially allowed him to partake in the creation process.

Now, beloved, we know that when God gives names to things, he does so according to the purpose for which he created them. Adam’s ability to name the animals and the woman was, therefore, a reflection of how he could discern the purposes for which all things were made.

Remember that God gave Abram the name Abraham because he was to be the father of many nations; he was to be the one in whom all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 17:5). He gave Isaac his name as the one who would be the true heir of an everlasting promise (Genesis 17:19). He called Jacob “Israel,” seeing that as a prince, he had fought against God and had prevailed (Genesis 32:28). He named his own Son “Jesus,” because he would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).

Jesus exhibited this same tradition of naming things. He renamed Simon, calling him “Peter,” since it would be on him that his church would be built (Matthew 16:18). He also renamed the sons of Zebedee (i.e., James and John) and called them “Boanerges,” referring to them as “the sons of thunder” according to their zeal (Mark 3:17). Even authorities and powers in human societies give names to people according to a purpose they intend such people to perform.

There are ceremonies to appoint justices, judges, doctors, lawyers, and all such kind. These names are given to these practitioners so they can work at their designated offices. And when such people become stripped of their names, they lose the ability to function in their roles. To give a name is therefore not only a thing of discernment but also a thing of authority. And so Adam could give names to all the things God had created not only because he could see into the mind of God but also because he had received authority from him to do so.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:27–28)

This is what life was like before the fall. It was obviously a lifestyle more superior to one lived by having only a mere knowledge of right and wrong. It is truly unfortunate that this was what man sacrificed to get morality. So then morality works death in us because it makes us rely on our limited knowledge (even we who have no life of our own selves) rather than on the omniscient God, who is life himself. Morality cuts us off from the source of the everlasting stream so that in time we all wither and fall.