Explain Genesis 3:22 (NIV), "And the LORD God said, 'The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'"

Who is the “US”? 

The LORD God is the architect of all creation. He designed and planned  it. Then God begat the Logos. The Logos (Jesus) is the only begotten Son of God (John 3:16), the first born (Colossians 1:15) of all creation. Through the Logos, God’s plans were carried out. Colossians 1:16 (NKJV, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers…” Additionally, during the creation of the earth, “the morning stars (the chief angels) sang together and all the sons of God (the rest of the heavenly beings) shouted for joy…” as they, too, helped the Logos. (Job 38:7). Thus, in Genesis 3:22, the LORD God was talking to the Logos and to all the heavenly beings who were working together to create Earth.

How did God and the angels know good and evil? 

The principles of good and evil have always existed. However, in heaven, only the principle of good is active. So how did the angels know about evil? 

There are four ways to learn. First, a being could know by intuition. But only God, who knows all things (1 John 3:20), knows through intuition. Second, we can learn through instruction. God taught His heavenly beings about good and evil. They were created perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4) and were able to understand that evil was the opposite of God’s loving goodness. Third, we can learn through experience. Mankind is presently learning about the grief and pain of evil by living in this “present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). Fourth, we can learn by observation. The heavenly hosts are watching (1 Corinthians 4:9) mankind and learning the full extent of evil’s horrors.

Thus, when God said man has become like one of us to know good and evil, He was saying that man was now learning (by experience) about evil.

Finally, Genesis 3:22 teaches that man could have lived forever by eating from the Tree of Life. But that was not God’s design. God had told Adam, “in the day (the 1,000 year day, 2 Peter 3:8) that you eat of it (the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil), you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)  When Adam and Eve disobeyed the divine command, they were cast out of the Garden and could not continue to eat from the tree of life. Eventually they died. 

But God has provided another opportunity for life for all of mankind through his beloved son, Jesus. “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22. This promise will be fulfilled when Christ establishes God’s kingdom on earth.