As a Child- Luke 18:17

Luke 18:17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.

Jesus said unless we become as little children we shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.  Many theories have been put forth as to the meaning of this statement.  Most folks automatically think of the innocence of a child when they refer to this passage.  I have no disagreement with this theory.  But I’d like for you to consider this statement in light of the story of Creation in Genesis.

When man was first created there was no sin.  The whole of creation was perfect and God called it very good (Gen. 1:31).  It wasn’t until Eve and then Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, breaking the only commandment God had given them, that sin entered the world and all Creation was forever changed.

Before sin entered the world, Adam and Eve were perfect.  They had no knowledge of shame (Gen. 2:25).  Shame, according to the Webster’s Dictionary, is “a painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt, or of having done something which injures reputation; or by of that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal. Shame is particularly excited by the disclosure of actions which, in the view of men, are mean and degrading.”  Shame is something felt when one realizes they have done wrong.  The first instance of shame and guilt was experienced by Adam and Eve after eating the fruit (Gen. 3:10).

Before eating of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve were completely innocent.  They had no shame, no guilt, no knowledge of good and evil.  They were what we would equate as “child like” in there innocence.

I believe that Jesus was inferring to us that we ought to strive to be as man was meant to be in the beginning.  We know that we are on a path in our Christian walk of faith.  The longer we walk this walk the closer we should get (though while in the flesh we will never completely attain) the “child like” innocence of out first parents and the way God meant us to be.  In a way, I reckon that our’s is a journey back, not forward.

Greg Wolford

©2009