"No! You will not die!"

Since I've been in a blogging mood recently, I think I'd better take advantage of that. This is something that's been going through my head since I've been reading a book for my Science, Technology, and International Affairs class. The book is called Radical Evolution, and the basic premise is that there will be a singularity - a huge change - brought on by technology sometime in the near future. This change will mean a change in humanity itself - and there are different scenarios in how it can play out - what Garreau calls the heaven, hell, and prevail scenarios.

In one section, he goes through human thought throughout history to explain his thought that, "Our efforts to become something more than human have a long and distinguished geneology. In every civilization, in every era, we have given the gods no peace (106)." Basically, we've been railing against the system, and that's good. Very early, he wrote on the Bible and Christianity and that touched a nerve with me and I couldn't shake it. This is the quote I'm going to worry through in this post: 

"Efforts to transcend our origins begin in the most primitive of times... Barely three pages in Genesis, the serpent is telling Eve that she doesn't have to worry about losing immortality by tasting of the fruit of knowledge. 'No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be open and you will be like gods,' he says. (Not coincidentally, one of the biggest attractions of Christianity, even as an upstart religion, was its promise of eternal life) (106)."

This made me think to myself, "Self, what about what the snake said was a lie? Don't we get to have all knowledge and live immortally as Christians?" Well, this was in the back of my mind until Friday night, when I asked some of my sisters about it. And I'm so glad that I have them, because they told me the obvious truth: yes, we will get those things, but Eve didn't at that time. Instead of getting all knowledge and immortal life, she got death and being separated from the God who would happily share knowledge with her and her descendants. Instead here we are, grasping for the truth, but wandering around (if we are without Christ we are really blind). So on that day, she and Adam didn't become gods at all, but got the hard labor, weakness, and death that define being mortal.

And we also talked about this quote: 

"And then she understood the devilish cunning of the enemies' plan. By mixing a little truth with it they had made their lie far stronger."

--The Last Battle (C.S. Lewis)

So true. When a lie is mostly truth, it's so hard to tell that you're being deceived. And that is how the Devil works in many times. That's why we need to know the truth so well that if someone tries to add in a little extra, or twist it a little, we'll be able to see that it's not the truth and be able to stop it in its tracks.

Cuz this is the truth about what is ultimately in store for those who follow Christ:

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."
And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment." Revelation 21: 3-6

Praise be to God! I can't wait until the time when all of this comes to pass!