It’s All Good

Is it possible that FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) caused the fall of humanity — doubts that caused Eve and Adam to desire something more than the good things that surrounded them? In the beginning, in Genesis 1, it is all good. In fact, it is “very good (Genesis 1:31).” So what could make them want more than what they already have?

The first time evil is mentioned is in Genesis 2:9: “Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (NASB).” Until Eve and Adam ate from this tree, they only knew good — it was all good.

What’s interesting about the tree of knowledge is that it is “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” It is not a tree that gives knowledge or wisdom, yet that was what Eve saw after the serpent plants the seeds of FOMO. In verse 3:5, the serpent tells her, “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” But it was Eve that saw “that the tree was desirable to make one wise (3:6).”

When Eve and Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they introduced the knowledge of evil into their world. Before this moment, all they knew was good; it was all good, “very good.” It was that feeling of missing out, that there’s something more to be had than a world that is all good, that introduced the knowledge of evil into the world.

Satan is crafty. His approach has not changed since the time of Eve and Adam. We are created in the image of God. He gives us good things — it is all good until that feeling enters our mind that there is something more. Instead of seeking wisdom from God, seeking his knowledge, we rely on our own perception of wisdom that pulls us to act on evil thoughts. Like Eve and Adam, those actions do not just impact us, but others for generations to come.