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THE TREE
Do you have a strong moral code of right and wrong, and do you endeavor to live by that code? How many of you, by your endeavoring to keep that code, have come into close relationship with God? How many of you feel a strong need to judge yourself and the actions of others? This code and the strong need to judge is nothing more than a result of eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve did it that first time, and man has been doing it ever since; and death has been the result.
Genesis 2:15-17 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.
You may ask, “Why did God put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the garden in the first place?” He didn’t. God saw that everything He made was very good. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was put in the garden by Satan. He was the one that wanted Adam & Eve to eat of it… not God. See Who put the Tree in the Garden?
Genesis 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more wily than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said unto the woman, You shall not surely die: For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
I want you to compare what God said about eating of the trees of the garden, (Genesis 2:16,17) and what Eve said that God said. Do you see any discrepancies? Some people say that I am very specific with my words regarding what the will of God is. I am. Eve was not.
In order to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam & Eve had to consciously walk out of the life of God which was in them, and into the lying promise of the deceiver, the god of darkness and death. Ever since, man has been living by what he thinks is right and wrong, and has thus been alienated from the life of God.
Following is what happened, spiritually speaking, when Adam & Eve ate of the tree.
Romans 1:18-22 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them (the experience of God showed up in their lives); for God has showed it unto them (Adam & Eve). For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made (Adam & Eve), His eternal power and deity (God-ness); so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God (by experience), they glorified Him not as God (they did not allow Him to express Himself in and through their lives), neither were thankful (did not acknowledge themselves as recipients of God’s generosity); but became vain (it was all about them) in their imaginations (logizomai – logical reasonings), and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise (see clearly), they became fools.
Instead of freely enjoying the presence and experience of God, they became “like god” in that they chose to determine what was good and what was evil themselves. Instead of merely enjoying the experience of God, life became about they themselves knowing, in their minds, what was right and what was wrong, thus lifting themselves up to the top of the moral heap… in their own minds!
Of course, instead of making them like God, they lost the presence and experience of God and without this life, they died. Instead of becoming like God, they became lost in their vanity… they became fools!
II Corinthians 5:17, 18a Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things (new) are of God….
Jesus Christ came to restore us to God’s originally intended desire (we got way more than Adam & Eve had, but that’s another study). In the garden, before eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Adam & Eve did not know good and evil, they just knew God. All things were of God.
This is why in Luke 8:19, Jesus says,
And Jesus said unto him, Why do you call me good? None is good, save one, God.
Only God is good. When all things are of God (II Cor 5:17,18), all things are good.
I John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
The new creation we read about in II Corinthians cannot sin. Because that new creation is born of God, and in it, all things are of God.
Romans 8:28a And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God…..
Yes, all things that come out of this new creation. All things of the spirit of God. All these things which are of God work together for good. When we are in Christ, we cannot sin, because everything is of God; whereas the old us cannot but sin, because nothing is of God.
I John 3:8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning (in the garden). For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
The works of the devil, partaken of first by Adam and Eve, are to walk by a personal sense of moral right and wrong, which will never bring us into the presence of God. We will never find Him by living this way, no matter how hard and how long we try. Jesus Christ came to destroy that way of living (which is dying), by giving us a new way to live. A way in which all things are of God.
Ephesians 2:15 (Jesus Christ) having abolished in his flesh the enmity; even the law of commandments contained in ordinances (moral right and wrong); for to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace, And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity (fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) thereby;
Romans 8:1-8
Verse 3 For what the law COULD NOT DO (the law dealt with right and wrong.
Verse 6 For the dwelling in thoughts of the flesh (to be carnally minded….living by right and wrong) is death; but to be spiritually minded (our thoughts are on, about and in Christ Jesus our Lord) is life and peace.
Verse 7 Because the dwelling in the thoughts of the flesh is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be!
Verse 8 So then, they that are in the flesh (are dwelling in their sense of rightness and wrongness in the flesh) cannot please God.
Okay, there are a lot of new thoughts here. Let’s spend some time dwelling on this revelation. Not living by a sense of what we ought to do, what we should do, what we shouldn’t do, but living by faith (trust) in Christ Jesus our Lord, seeking to know him and walk with him… wherein dwells only the righteousness of God, wherein there is no sin, wherein we are restored to a life of walking with God in the garden, like Adam and Eve before they sinned, where all things are of God!
II Corinthians 5:21
For He (God) has made him (Jesus Christ) to be sin for us (in our place), who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him (in Christ).
Jesus has suffered the consequence of right and wrong (no wonder it was religious leaders, who had a very strong sense of right and wrong, who had him put to death), so that we can be delivered into this new creation where all things are once again of God.
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Related studies are:
The God of Death – Part 1
To Judge or not To Judge
The Mystery of Christ
Freedom in Christ
