To Err is Divine?

God does not make mistakes. So they tell us. But did He? When He made Adam in the garden of Eden, we saw a sinless human being. Since the tree from which he couldn't eat was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it would appear that Adam had no knowledge of good and evil. So we saw a sinless human being who was incapable of sin because he had no concept of sin. And we're all set for an eternity of perfection. Then God erred. He put a tree in the garden, that tree from which Adam was not allowed to partake. At that moment, Adam gained the capacity to sin because, at least at this point, he did have the knowledge of one evil -- eating of that tree (Gen 2:17).

I always enjoyed science fiction stories and when I was younger I imagined that tree in the garden. What if I had been able to build a time machine, go back to before Adam and Eve had eaten from it, and cut it down? What if I had made it impossible for them to sin at that point? It is, of course, a mindless exercise. That kind of "what if" has no answers. I imagined that the tree would drift down the river and wash ashore someplace and its fruit would provide seed for more of the tree and eventually, some time later, someone else would introduce sin to the world. No win. So the only answer would be for God to have never made it. Isn't that His error?

It would be, I suppose, if you believe that Man's sin was a mistake. It would be an "oops!" on God's part if you thought that Christ coming to save us was Plan B. If God's eternal plan from the beginning to have a perfect and sinless relationship with His creation for eternity, He goofed. But I don't believe that was His plan. I don't think Man's sin was a mistake. I don't believe that Christ was Plan B. I believe that it was God's plan all along. God didn't tempt Adam to sin nor did He cause Adam to sin, but He understood Adam's weaknesses and, knowing his intent to sin, planned what He would intend -- something better than a sinless human race.

Why would I think this? Because I read that God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11) and I believe it. I read, "Our God is in the heavens; He does all that he pleases" (Psa 115:3) and I believe it. (See also Psa 135:6.) And then I read a passage in Romans and see it.

What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He has prepared beforehand for glory? (Rom 9:22-23)

There it is, plain as day. God's will -- His desire, His purpose, His counsel, what pleases Him -- was to show His wrath and power. At the same time, He also willed to "make known the riches of His glory." In fact, I'd say the two were the same thing, where His wrath and power are part of the riches of His glory. As is His love and His mercy. But neither justice and wrath nor mercy and grace could ever be made known in a world where there is no injustice or sin. No, if God intended to build the best possible world in which His glory is displayed, it would necessarily include sin in order to more fully show His glory.

As it turns out, then, I would say that the tree was not an error on God's part. The error would be ours, thinking that we were the primary concern. It is, I suppose, a product of that sin problem of ours, where we tend to usurp God's authority and subjugate Him to our ends. But, of course, He won't have it, because He is the only Sovereign (1 Tim 6:15) and all He does is for His glory first ... because that's what's best.