Did God Set Us Up for Failure?

We, as people, often look to point the finger of blame away from ourselves when we fail. We don’t like to shoulder that blame. It has been that way since the beginning of time. When you look back in Genesis 3, you find the recording of the fall of man. God had placed Adam and Eve in the middle of paradise. He had given them everything they would ever need. He gave them the responsibility of keeping the garden, naming the animals, etc. He only gave them one rule. Don’t eat of the tree in the middle of the garden that He called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told them if they so much as touched the tree they would die. One tree. One rule. Seems pretty simple. But, as we know, Adam and Eve failed. And when confronted by God, what did they say? Did they say ‘I’m sorry.’? Nope. Adam blamed God and Eve. He said in verse 12 of chapter 3, “The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat”. Eve then turned and blamed the serpent. Neither felt remorse for what they did. They were ashamed of their nakedness and afraid to face God but they were not immediately sorry. Most of time we are the same way. We may be sorry, but it is usually that we are sorry for being caught. We start thinking of how we could have done it differently so that we wouldn’t get caught. It’s called sinful nature. Once the seed of sin is planted, it grows like kudzu.
Who can’t handle adhering to one rule. Who couldn’t refrain from touching and eating from one tree when you have so many choices and options? But the question I raise is ‘Why did God put the tree there to begin with?’. Did God set Adam and Eve up to fail. Wouldn’t it have been easier to not give them the option? Just don’t even put the tree in the garden. Why? We are so quick to condemn Adam and Eve. We think that we would never make the same mistake. We would because the Bible says that there none righteous. So, is it God’s fault? Wouldn’t it have been easier if He had never given Adam and Eve a choice? Was Adam correct in pointing the finger at God? Of course, the answer is no.
What if God hadn’t put that tree in the garden? How would it have been different? Would it have been different? Without a doubt. God, in His infinite wisdom, created us in His image with the freedom to make our own decisions. We refer to that freedom as ‘free will’. What’s the big deal about free will? It would be so much easier if God removed all possible chance of making our own decisions. It would be so much easier to walk around and everything be decided for us. No worries. No anxiety. No responsibility. That is true freedom. Right? If we don’t have the freedom to make our own decisions then God cannot condemn us. If we are not condemned, then God would not have had to send Jesus to die on the cross. God would never be disappointed in us. Everybody would be happy. Right?
God gave us free will out of love. God wants to have a loving relationship with us. He knew that the only way He could have such a relationship with us is if we desire to have the relationship also. He wants us to want Him. It’s similar to a marriage. When I proposed to my wife, I didn’t want her to say yes because her parents made her. I wanted her to want to be married to me. How much love would I feel if she is forced to be with me? None. God has no desire to have a relationship with a robot. A relationship only happens when the people involved are willing to be a part of the relationship. If God had never given Adam and Eve the option to follow Him, that would have been a forced relationship. God does not force Himself on anyone. Revelation 3:20 says, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” We must open the door before God will come in. By opening the door of our hearts, we are showing God that we desire to be with Him as much as He wants to be with us. Free will is God’s way of showing us how much He loves us and wants to be the center of our lives. It wasn’t failure, it was the purest love known.