James Flanders is WRONG! God Did Not Know Adam And Eve Would Eat From The Tree Nor Was It His Will!

What insane nonsense is it for anyone to claim that God knew beforehand that Adam and Eve would eat from the tree in the midst of the Garden?

What heresy to state that it was part of God's plan and it would ultimately serve a good purpose for the creation of God?

What fool would believe that Romans 8:28 "All things working for the good" would include the "fall" of humanity?

What jackass would believe that when Paul claims that God "works all things according to the council of His will" that "all things" would include the creation of the adversary, the planting of the tree, and the "fall of man."

What ignorant individual would claim that the work of Christ and His obedience, and bloody death on the cross would ultimately carry more weight than the rebellious work of the first man Adam?

The answer? James Flanders!

This fool and those like him (people like Dan Sheridan, Martin Zender, Clyde Pilkington, etc.) have the audacity to teach that church tradition and popular doctrine is wrong.

Imagine the hideousness of such teaching? To even imply that the majority view could be incorrect is sheer folly of the highest degree.

In an article by one of these foolish idiots, the author actually implies that the first man and woman had no way of truly appreciating or understanding the goodness which they were surrounded in when placed in the glorious garden. What nonsense! Of course they would have understood the good within which they lived. How could they not? I know I certainly would!

James Flanders heretical view is that since the tree was called the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil"  the first people actually had no knowledge of either one. Have you ever heard such stupid theological thinking? How is it possible to have no knowledge of good?

Tradition teaches us that the tree was about having their eyes opened to evil. They already had the knowledge of good. They must have. It's all they had experienced. That author whose name I hate to even mention again, but whom this blog is named, insists that the tree and the events that resulted in the eating of it's fruit, was a necessary part of the plan of God (he talks much nonsense about contrast in his audio teachings on the topic of evil). Not only did it not take God by surprise, but that in God's wisdom he had a good purpose in it. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD SUCH NONSENSE, implying that God was and is in control and has full and complete plan as the author and finisher?

What foolishness to believe that God is actually the creator of all  that exists? God having a plan and a purpose for all? How could God have a purpose for the creation of evil?

The fool-hearted author of the article below things he has an idea why evil exists, all I can say is that it could not have been the will of God, which in no way would mean God's will was thwarted.

Although we within the church often use the phrase "God is in control" we know that that can't possibly apply to the creation of evil, or the painful, difficult things that have brought sorrow into our lives.

God's will could not possibly have been carried out in the events that transpired in Eden. I don't care that over and over the author of the previously mentioned article which you can read below repeatedly reminds his readers and listeners that Scripture tells us that God works all things according to the council of His will. That cannot be true.

There must be many things that happen in the universe that have not been part of God's plan or will. What kind of God would God be to have created things as they are?

James Flanders (whom I consider to be a chief among sinners, theological fools, and idiots) has the audacity to claim that Scripture is true regarding it's claims of God's so called sovereignty and God truly being the author and finisher or everything including our faith. Scripture can't possibly truly mean those things, regardless of what it says.

Fools such as this elevate God to too high a position. They raise Christ to a dangerous level of goodness and sufficiency that gives too much hope to a lost and depraved world.

Let me repeat teachings such as those presented by James Flanders elevate GOD to TOO HIGH A LEVEL and raise CHRIST to too high a level in regard to his sacrifice on Calvary.

Those who exalt the love of God, the grace of God, the purposes of God, and the power of God to the level that this man does are a threat to our religious institutions and what we hold so dear.

As I stated in my previous post, our loving and merciful Father who sent his only begotten Son to die for the sins of the world most certainly have a special place of torture where he will forever make these ministers of pure evil writhe in agony as their flesh as eternally seared in flames and as worms devour them without end. This is their just do. For the blood of Christ (though it cleanses of all sin) cannot possibly cleanse of such great sin as taking literally the words of the Apostle Paul when he fool-heartedly claimed that Christ is the Savior of all.

Paul may have called himself the chief of all sinners, but those who claim that Christ will truly reconcile all things in heaven and on earth (even through Scripture teaches it), must surely dethrone Paul from his position of chief of all sinners and place themselves there. These fools who claim it is all about grace an the love of God are making the gospel far better than God ever intended.

Read carefully the article below to get a taste of the bitter fruit of these false doctrines of Christ being greater than our dearly loved institutions give Him credit for.

I pray that your eyes and ears will be open to the truth as you read the following. Try not to gag.
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Who Planted That Tree?

Imagine what it would be like for you right now to be whisked away to The Garden of Eden.

For you and me living where we live, in this age, having experienced all that we have experienced, seeing all that we have seen, the thought of Eden is mind blowing.

If we found ourselves there, we would so very much appreciate it. We'd be giddy with delight and singing songs of praise! Since we would be able to contrast it with where we are, right now, we would understand and appreciate Eden as a paradise.

On the other hand, if you've ever read the first few chapters of Genesis you have probably noticed that not even once do we see Adam expressing any appreciation, thankfulness, or praise to God.

Adam was surrounded by absolute goodness, but had no knowledge of that good. He didn't know that perfect health was good, He didn't know that having wonderful tasty fruit readily available was good. He didn't know that having Eve by his side in all of her beauty was good. Because he had nothing to compare it to he could not comprehend the goodness of Eden. So in that Garden, God planted a tree.

It was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Although that's what it's called, typically we don't see it or understand it as being what GOD calls it. We tend to see it as being the tree of the knowledge of evil, But that's not what it was called. It was the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and evil.

The name of that tree helps us to see that Adam although he was surrounded by goodness, had no clue, no understanding, no appreciation, and no knowledge of it. Because Adam had nothing to contrast good with, he could not comprehend it and therefore had zero thankfulness.

We tend to imagine Adam and Eve being in perfect bliss, totally giddy with joy over their living conditions, but that's because in our imaginations we have a point of reference. We have experienced hardship, pain, sorrow, and grief. But Adam and Eve had no clue.

So God planted the Tree to serve a purpose.

When you begin to understand the purpose, you will begin to see the greatness of God's ultimate plan, and where all things ultimately lead at the end of the ages... the end of the eons. You begin to see that in every respect God's plan was good, and works for the good of all His creation.

The Apostle Paul tells us that God works all things according to the council of His will, which means that what happened in Eden, including what the Adversary would do was part of God's plan from before the beginning. Satan, in his attempts at making a mess of things, which he did from the temporal human perspective, would actually be accomplishing the ultimate will of God. In the same way that later when the Adversary would work so hard behind the scenes to take Christ to the cross, which from the human perspective seemed to be a victory, was actually God accomplishing His redemptive will.

Was God's will thwarted when Christ was crucified? Nope. God's will was accomplished.

Christ Himself prayed in the Garden, "Father if there is any other way, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not my will but yours be done."

God's will was done. Christ was crucified. The adversary and his scheming actually fulfilled God's purpose and I'm convinced it was the same in the Garden. Adam having his eyes opened, knowing good and evil, and death entering in was not God's plan gone awry. It was not God's will being thwarted. It was not creation slipping through Father's fingers. It was all part of His grand design which would will eventually take all of His creation in the heavenlies and on earth to a place of appreciation, joy, happiness, and praise that could not otherwise have been experienced.

How could Adam appreciate perfect health when he had no understanding of disease? He couldn't! He had an abundance of food but it meant nothing to him because he had never felt deep hunger, much less a famine.

What we looking back at and imagine as pure pleasure between Adam and Eve who were the perfect physical specimens of manhood and womanhood, apparently it didn't mean much to them. They could not truly appreciate pleasure because they had never known the pain which you and I have known. In Scripture we don't read anything about them expressing thankfulness or having an appreciation for the amazing blessings that they were surrounded with.

The goodness of GOD was not even acknowledged by them. Even though they were immersed in it, it was meaningless.

Adam was incapable of love, adoration, and worship because of what he did not know. So, in the wisdom of God, He planted the tree. The tree didn't just spring up and take God by surprise. The adversary didn't plant it. God planted the tree. True, the serpent came and tempted them and they ate of the tree, but who created the serpent? If his very existence was not part of God's plan, then who or what thwarted the will of God All-mighty? Would not God's will being thwarted make God less than All-mighty?

My friend, what is commonly referred to as the "fall of man" actually set in motion the very forces that would remedy the defect which caused them to eat from the tree in the first place.

The goodness, love, mercy, and grace of GOD could be known through the events that took place.

God is light. However, light can never be known or appreciated without the existence of darkness.

Think about the stars. They are constantly shining. Yet, we can only see them when darkness comes. If it weren't for the darkness we would never see their beauty.

How does this work? It's simple. All things are known through contrast. Contrast is a necessary part of knowing. Without contrast there is no knowing.

Something else, it's obvious, but I have to say it. God did not plant two trees. There was not a tree of the knowledge of good and separate which was for the knowledge of evil. It was one tree because the one cannot be known without the other. We only know good when it is contrasted with evil and vice-versa.

How can a God who is good, who is called love, reveal Himself without contrast? Apparently He can't, so He did things as He did, created what he created for the good of all His creation with the ultimate goal of fully engaging the affection of all His creation.

That's what Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians chapter 15, although He words it a bit differently than that. See if you can find it.

Imagine how much of a drudgery might it have been to forever experience perfect goodness but to never know it. God wants us to know it. That's why He planted that tree knowing exactly what the result would be.

James Flanders is a student and teacher of grace who after many years of Bible study now believes in the absolute sufficiency of the work of Christ which ultimately results in the salvation of all (universal reconciliation).https://www.facebook.com/james.flanders1

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