Why Did God Put the Tree in the Garden of Eden?

When God created Adam and Eve, he wanted them to truly love him. Instead of forcing them to obey him, he gave Adam and Eve a choice. God commanded them not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He wanted to give them a real choice with real consequences.

Adam and Eve chose to disobey and sin against God. When they ate the fruit, God punished them by cursing all of creation with sin and death. Now all of us are born with sinful natures—but we also have a choice. We can choose our sin and be separated from God, or we can choose salvation through Jesus Christ and live forever with him.