Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are

by Lysa TerKeurst

Consequences should be for protection not harm. When Adam and Eve were sent out from the garden, they were never allowed to return. As a matter of fact, God put angels at the entry to guard and prevent them from returning. While this may seem cruel or too harsh, there were good and necessary reasons for this boundary to be as distinct as a wall. If Adam and Eve would have been allowed back into the garden, they would have been tempted to eat once again from the other tree in the middle of the garden, called the tree of life. The tree of life would perpetuate their state of being for all eternity. When Adam and Eve were sinless, that was a great thing. But now that they’d eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin had entered in and their beings were no longer perfect. They carried with them the consequences of sin. They were in the process of dying. To eat of the tree of life in that state would have perpetuated them for all eternity in sin, depravity, decay, and therefore eternal separation from God. So, God not only limited but actually prevented Adam and Eve from having access to the garden and the tree of life to protect them—not to be cruel to them. It was the severity of the boundary violation that required the severity of the consequence.