The Test
There are different kinds of test, therefore there are different definitions. In the context of education (perhaps the most popular one) it is a series of questions, problems, or physical responses designed to determine knowledge, intelligence, or ability. Another popular one is the medical test, which is a kind of medical procedure performed to detect, diagnose, or evaluate disease, disease processes, susceptibility, and determine a course of treatment. Other definitions are very similar to these. For example, in quality control and quality assurance it is a procedure intended to establish the quality, performance, or reliability of something, esp. before it is taken into widespread use. In chemistry, it can be a procedure employed to identify a substance or to reveal the presence or absence of a constituent within a substance. Sometimes the word test is used to define an event or situation that reveals the strength or quality of someone or something by putting them under strain. This last definition is used in many circles to define events in life that are stressful in nature and that reveal our character.
Implied in testing is the anticipation of expected results. For example, we know whether the student being tested passed or failed depending on their answers. We expect certain answers. It is similar in other kinds of testing. For example, pregnancy tests are designed to detect a hormone in the woman's urine that would only be present if the woman is pregnant. Depending on the kind of test the results may show up as a line, a color, or a symbol such as a "+" or "-" sign. (Digital tests produce the words "pregnant" or "not pregnant.")
We read in Genesis 2: 15 -17,
Genesis 2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
This was to be a test. You see, unbeknown to Adam, the Son of God was embroiled in a great cosmic conflict with Satan over good and evil. Satan put God on trial. If Satan could have one try at tempting Adam and Eve, they would put God to shame. God does not forcibly push Satan aside in front of all the cosmic intelligences.
God grew "the tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" "in the midst of the garden" (Gen. 2:9). Since God is only good, the source of evil for the tree of knowledge was the serpent (Gen. 3:1).
Satan asserts that holy beings,--both angels and man--do not need to obey God's law. "He [the rebel] reiterated his claim that angels needed no control, but should be left to follow their own will, ... He denounced the divine statutes as a restriction of their liberty, and declared that it was his purpose to secure the abolition of law; ... Satan has continued with men the same policy which he pursued with the angels" (The Great Controversy, pp. 499, 500).
In order to disprove Satan's charges God needs Adam and Eve,--in their innocence of the cosmic conflict,--to make the right choice "not [to] eat of it," i.e., the tree, for "thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17). Their unfettered love for the God of all truth will lead them to worship and obey Him alone.
It was a simple test. It was a transparent test. Implied in it for the whole universe was the anticipation of an expected result. There will be no doubts either way the testers go. You cannot say God manipulated the process or the results. Either they ate or not. Either they believed God or believed Satan. Either Adam chooses to love God above all or Eve above all. Ellen White says that "The sinless pair wore no artificial garments; they were clothed with a covering of light and glory, such as the angels wear. So long as they lived in obedience to God, this robe of light continued to enshroud them" (Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 45). So, if they obeyed they would still have the light covering, but if not they would lose it.
It is the same for us. Who will we believe? Who will we choose? Mankind has not been placed in the same circumstances as Adam and Eve, but we have been given the same standing. Our sins are forgiven through the blood of Calvary's cross and we are given these hours of probation in which to choose which side we shall take in the great controversy. We may choose to accept and wear the robe of Christ's righteousness to cover our nakedness. Yet as free moral agents we are also free to reject it. Apart from that robe of perfect righteousness, the covering from the supernatural source, we shall be ashamed at His coming when we shall have no choice but to stand in our inadequate robes of self-righteousness. By God's grace let choose the gift of righteousness now.
