Hello friends. In today’s post, we are going to uncover the source of many of our troubles in this life. Understanding this single concept can set us free from striving and help us rest in the finished work of Jesus.
We'll be focusing on the book of Genesis, chapter 2. In chapter 1, we see God creating the heavens and the earth. In chapter 2, God creates man. Let’s look at Chapter 2, verse 8:
Then the Lord God planted a garden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made.
Notice that Adam was not made in the garden. He was not made from the dust of the earth that came from the Garden of Eden. God created man first, and then he created the Garden of Eden. Sometimes we get that backwards.
Then we pick up in verse 9:
The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground, trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit.
There were beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. I wonder what that fruit tasted like. I wonder if these kinds of trees still exist today. Have you ever gone up to a tree, picked fruit off of it, and eaten it? I have. I used to live in an area that was full of orange and grapefruit trees. I love grapefruit. So I've been able to pick grapefruits right from the tree when they are ripe. Man, it doesn't get any more fresh than that. And yes, they were delicious. Maybe the trees in the garden had fruit of which we have never seen nor heard, fruit that has long since vanished from earth. We don't know.
Let’s continue with verses 15 to 17:
The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Can you imagine a world where the is only one rule? As long as you followed this one rule you could do whatever you wanted. And the rule is simple. The garden is filled with multitudes of other trees and their fruit is delicious. All Adam and Eve had to do was not eat from this one tree.
Isn't that just like us? We seem to want what is forbidden, even if it's not good for us. We think, hey, since it's forbidden, somebody's trying to keep it for themselves, or somebody's trying to deny us pleasure. And what happens? We partake of what is forbidden, and it wasn't nearly as good as we thought, and we have consequences. We really are like Adam in many ways. We may think we would have been able to resist eating the forbidden fruit, especially with all the other great fruit in the garden. I doubt it. We would have done the same as Adam. In fact, we do all the time.
Eve ate first, then Adam. Then God confronted them, and Adam blamed his wife. Remember, God said, “Adam, what have you done?” And Adam said, “This woman which you created gave me the fruit.” In that one sentence, Adam blames Eve and God. Let's pick up the story in Genesis 3: 23-24.
So the Lord God banished them from the garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.
See, there was something different about the garden of Eden. That was created for Adam. It was paradise, and God was there to interact with Adam and Eve all the time. There was no faith required to believe in God. They knew him. They spoke with him. They were in perfect union with him in paradise. But the land outside of Eden, the dirt from which God made Adam, was different. It wasn't a lush, beautiful garden, and it was not so easily accessible.
Now faith began to be a thing. Believing without seeing began to be a thing. Verse 24:
After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the garden of Eden, and he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
One of the consequences of our original ancestors’ transgression was that access to another tree, the tree of life, was revoked. God placed a guard at this tree to prevent them from eating its fruit and living forever in their fallen state.
Now, at this point you may be thinking, “Rick, I know this story. What’s your point?” Here it is:
When Jesus died and resurrected, access to the tree of life was restored, metaphorically and spiritually, of course, but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is still available as well.
All too often, today's church is focused on and eating from the wrong tree. Did you ever notice that the prohibited tree represents not only the knowledge of evil, but also the knowledge of good? Consider that in light of what Paul says in Romans 7:7-13.
Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet”.
But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead.
Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
Just like Adam and Eve, when Paul gains knowledge of what he should and shouldn't do, sin rises up in him. Through the commandment, sin in us becomes more sinful. Focusing on good behavior increases sin. That's what Paul says. It was true for Adam and Eve in the beginning. It was true for Paul 2,000 years ago, and it's true for all of us. We spend too much time studying the prohibited tree. We get lost in a sea of muck, trying to decipher which behaviors are good and which are evil.
Can I skip church once in a while?
Can I get away with not reading my Bible for a day or a week?
Can I watch an R-rated movie?
Can I ever have a beer?
What about a glass of wine?
Can I listen to secular music?
Am I getting better?
Am I doing less evil deeds and more good deeds?
These are all questions we ask ourselves as we sit in the shade of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and eat its appealing fruit. We have entire denominations that are formed around what we think is good and what we think is evil. Some denominations focus on holiness and many think that by avoiding evil things and only doing good things, they are more acceptable to God.
But we're eating from the wrong tree when we think like that. Trying to make ourselves holy is eating from the wrong tree. Jesus is the bread of life and he has restored access to the tree of life. When we sit under the tree of life and partake of its sustaining, energizing, life-giving fruit, our thoughts turn in another direction. We say things like:
Thank you God for caring for me.
Thank you Jesus for providing for me.
I feel your life flowing through me and I am energized.
You have provided everything I need and I feel so alive.
I want to tell others about this amazing tree.
I want everyone to experience the life that this tree provides.
This is how God intended us to live. This is the joy of salvation. This is the good news. This is the abundant life. The knowledge of good and evil kills life. Jesus is the bread of life.
If you ask an unchurched person what they think the church is about, chances are they'll say it's a place where rules and behavior are the focus. They'll say it's a place where people are trying to get better in their behavior so they'll be closer to God. Wouldn't it be much better if the church was seen as a place where these crazy people are losing their minds with excitement over this person named Jesus?
We should be obsessed with Jesus. We should be focusing on Him, on His gifts to us, on His amazing finished work. We should be preaching His work from the pulpit. We should be singing about it. Church should be a party. Church should be a celebration feast where we eat from the tree of life. Church should be a banquet where we have our fill of the bread of life.
Pastors, preachers, and teachers - stop taking us to the wrong tree! Quit being afraid of grace. Quit trying to control God's gift. Stop watering it down. Quit serving us a mixed fruit salad from two incompatible trees. Galatians 5:9 says, “a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” Stop mixing these fruits. Just a little bit of legalism ruins everything. You don't have to try to balance grace with legalism, rules, or hyper-vigilant introspection.
One of my former pastors once said, “If you have a vat of sewage and you put a drop of wine in it, what do you have? Sewage. If you have a vat of wine and you put a drop of sewage in it, what do you have? Still sewage.”
That is what happens when we add our works as a basis for our acceptance. We think a little legalism shows that we’re responsible. We think our promises and commitments show we are serious. But they are just sewage and they pollute the whole thing.
We want to “balance” grace with works. Guess what. Grace is perfectly balanced. One one end is my sin and on the other end is Jesus. That is all the balance we need.
Christian, when you find yourself focusing on your behavior, whether you feel great about your behavior or you're worried that your behavior isn't quite up to par, you are eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The answer is to get as far away as you can from that tree because that tree is all about you. Remember, the devil tempted our first parents by saying, “God knows that if you eat this forbidden fruit, you'll be like him. And he wants to keep that fruit for himself, but you deserve this fruit.” And he tempts us the same way. What does that sound like? The devil’s fiery darts say that you could be a better Christian, if you would work at it. The enemy tries to convince us that we are not OK, and that more knowledge or dedication is the answer. Listen, trying to make your life perfectly clean through your willpower or behavior modification is not only futile, but it's prideful and offensive. You are eating from the wrong tree.
The fruit of the tree of life nourishes your soul and spirit. The fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil kills your soul and spirit. The motivation for eating from the tree of life is to have the life of God in you. God wants that too. That's why the tree was created. The motivation for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is pride, the first sin. “I want to be like God.”
Reject behavior modification messages in church that just focus on human willpower and just give lip service to the power of God and the life of God. Those messages are from the devil. Yep, I said it, but it's true. Doesn't Satan say the same thing in some of today's false doctrines?:
“Hey, you're a little Jesus. You can be just like him with no sin.”
“You're a king's kid. So you should have riches, wealth, health.”
Those messages always come with a list of steps that we can't do. So we keep failing and coming back and giving our money and our time and our talent to the effort of getting people to eat from the wrong tree. Instead, we should agree with the Apostle Paul in Galatians 2.20
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.
Christian, that old you was dominated by the knowledge of good and evil, wondering if you're ever going to make it to heaven, if you're ever going to be good enough. There was only one answer for that old you. He or she had to die. When you became a Christian, that's exactly what happened. The verse we just read said that your old self was crucified with Christ. The old you is dead. The devil tries to make you think that the old you is still alive, but not in God's eyes.
In God's eyes, you gained access to the tree of life. You partook of its fruit and you were changed forever. That should be our focus, the life of Christ in us, and our renewed born-again spirit, which is already holy and seated with God in heavenly places. Christian, if you focus on the wrong tree, you will be miserable.
I know this firsthand. I have to purpose to focus on Jesus and look away from myself every day. The looking away is hard, but God has provided ways to help.
Read God's Word. - The Bible says that faith comes by hearing the Word of God.
Pray - The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. That simply means to talk to God all the time. Have a constant conversation with God.
Trying to clean up your outward behavior so you can look clean to others means you're acting like a Pharisee. Stop eating from the wrong tree. Shift your focus to Jesus' finished work and His indwelling presence in your heart, and away from your behavior. Look away from yourself. Look to Jesus. That's how to eat from the tree of life. That is how to have joy as a Christian. That is how to have assurance of your salvation.
Now, if you're not a Christian, if you haven't been saved - born again - regenerated, all you have is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Good luck with that. There's no life there. And you need life. You need spiritual life inside of you. You need to be born in a new way. In Revelation 3:20, Jesus said, “Look, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and we will share a meal together as friends.” If this is resonating with you but you feel uneasy or nervous, that is OK. Jesus is knocking. Do you hear him? If you do, open the door. He will come in and He will never leave you. And He will be your friend.
The source of much of our unhappiness in this Christian walk comes from the wrong focus. This wrong focus comes from bad theology. If we believe salvation is a synergistic work that includes our commitment to “get better”, then we better start devouring the other tree. With that understanding, we have to be hyper-
introspective, because maybe we’re not doing our part anymore. If we have to put our drop of works in the wine of God’s grace, then we better make sure it is the best drop of human effort we can muster. What bondage.
But, if we believe the Biblical concept that salvation is a monergistic work of God alone, our responsibility, our privilege is to eat from the tree of life. Salvation is a gift (Eph 2:8-9). God want’s you to enjoy your salvation, just like he wanted Adam and Eve to enjoy the Garden. Their enjoyment turned to suffering when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. So will ours. Every time.
Nothing but the truth! Thank you for this. Beautifully written as well