Two Trees

There were many trees in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:9). Yet, only two were spoken of
specifically by God: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The
one if eaten would give life forever (Gen. 3:22), the other, instant death (Gen. 2:17). One
was of life; the other was of knowledge and resulted in death. Of all the trees in the
garden, only one was not to be eaten, the one that would cause them to die. Eve, and
then Adam, because of the subtle instigation of the Serpent, chose death.

This act of disobedience was sin. The result, the wages of sin, was death (Rom. 6:23).
Their sin and its consequences have been passed on to the entire human race (Rom.
5:12). Before salvation, we were all dead in our offenses and sins (Eph. 2:1-5). The good
news is that on the cross Jesus nullified death and brought life to all who would believe
and receive the free gift of eternal life (II Tim. 1:10).

Just as in the garden, where the determining factor was related to eating, so also has
been the case for all the generations that followed. Eventually Jesus came as the bread of
life from heaven (John 6:32-35). Bread must be eaten, not studied, for it to nourish,
strengthen, and satisfy. The knowledge of the bread alone will do none of these.

Jesus must also be eaten. He told His disciples that those who eat Him shall live because
of Him and live forever (John 6:51, 57). It was not His physical body that must be eaten,
but His words which are spirit and give life (John 6:63). The Spirit, which is the
resurrected Christ (I Cor. 15:45) can now be taken in as food for nourishment, strength,
and satisfaction. He is the Word of God (John 1:1, 14). He is the bread, the food, of life.
We cannot have true and everlasting life from physical food alone. No, this life can only
be imparted to us by the words that come from God (Matt. 4:4). Christ Himself as the
Spirit is the Word from God given as food for us. We can now eat of this heavenly,
spiritual food by coming to Him and believing and trusting in Him not only at the
beginning of our Christian life, but day by day and moment by moment the rest of our
lives and through eternity.

But there is a problem. Just as the Serpent worked on the mind of Eve to deceive her
and cause her to eat of the wrong tree which brought in spiritual death, he now works on
the minds of the saints (II Cor. 10:3-5; Eph. 6:10-17) to bring them into death and
frustrate their enjoyment of eating Christ, their food of life.

I believe a big part of the deception is to confuse the nature of the two trees. Rather than
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it becomes the tree of good
verses the tree of evil, both of which come from the same tree, the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.

A good illustration of this in the Bible is when Peter, according to his human love and
sympathy, of which to most would seem very "good", strongly exhorted Jesus not to go
to the cross to die. The Lord's response was both shocking and revealing. He called Peter
Satan and told him that he was not setting his mind on the things of God but on the
things of man (Matt. 16:21-23). He was eating from the wrong tree. If Jesus would have
agreed with Peter's advice, we would all remain dead in our sins forever.

As believers in Christ, we should not live and walk according to our knowledge of good
and evil, but according to life, the life of God within us. Our minds need to be renewed
(Eph. 4:17-23). This renewing will transform us to have the mind of Christ (Rom. 12:2).
If we are to truly live a life that is pleasing to God, we must learn to live and walk and be
led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16-18, 25). If not, we will be operating from the wrong source,
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Jesus modeled this living for us. One example that illustrates this truth is the way Jesus
responded to the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45). Contrary to what seemed to be good
and right, Jesus, knowing the sickness of Lazarus, delayed until he died. If He was living
in the realm of the knowledge of good and evil and according to the thoughts of man, He
would have rushed to the scene to rescue Lazarus from death. But Jesus lived and
walked according to the life and leading of His Father. He operated from a different
source then those who saw the situation as needing immediate response. Jesus was not
a man pleaser, but only did what was pleasing to His Father (John 8:28-29). The result
was glory to God and a wonderful testimony of His life-giving, resurrection power!

We are exhorted in the New Testament to set our minds on the things which are above
(Col. 3:1-4). The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and
peace (Rom. 8:6). We are no longer to walk in the vanity of our unrenowned natural
minds as we did before we were saved (Eph. 4:17-18). As believers in Christ, we are to be
partakers of the divine life and nature (II Pet. 1:4). Only then will we be able to both
enjoy and express the fruits of this life, such as, love, joy peace, rest, hope, the ability to
be long-suffering with rejoicing, kindness, meekness, and many others. But, if with our
unrenewed minds we focus on the things of the flesh, we will experience spiritual death
with its byproducts: anxiety, depression, hopelessness, fear, restlessness, jealousy,
dissatisfaction etc.

Therefore, may we all learn to come back to the tree of life and live and walk according
to the life of God in us instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the death
tree. May the Devil, the ancient Serpent, not longer deceive the children of God to be
under the influence and control of thoughts that are not according to God and contrary
to the word of God. To him who overcomes, to him will be given to eat of the tree of life
which is in the paradise of God (Rev. 2:7).

So remember, eat Jesus the bread of life, feed on the life-giving word of God, and live
and walk by His Spirit. Then you will daily defeat the enemy and have life and peace and
live forever! Glory be to God!

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