| A Tale of Two Trees - Part 2 |
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(Gen 2:9 KJV) And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in
the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Why do you think God placed these two trees in the Garden of Eden? Leaving the tree of life aside for the present let us focus on the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Nothing that God does is without purpose so it stands to reason that this tree was there for a reason. Obviously eating the fruit of this tree
gave the eater something and that something is the knowledge of good AND evil. This word ‘AND’ signifies that the knowledge of one cannot come without
the knowledge of the other, if it were otherwise the tree would have been called the tree of the knowledge of good OR evil. Good and evil are opposite and
opposites are teaching tools par excellence. We teach kids the meaning of words by using opposites such as big/small, short/tall, near/far etc. This is how
the knowledge of good and evil comes to us by comparing one to the other. For instance we know that kindness is good because cruelty is evil. How would
we have ever learnt the meaning of kindness unless we knew what cruelty meant?
Why is it important to have the knowledge of good and evil? The short answer is that without the knowledge of evil, it is not possible to have the knowledge
of good and since God is good it is not possible to know him or understand him without it. For example how would we know that God is forgiving unless we
had done some evil that necessitated judgment? So without the knowledge of evil, we can know God only on a superficial level, only on the outside not his
inner self. And until evil arose in the universe God had no opportunity to reveal his inner character such as his mercy, his loving-kindness, his gentleness,
his patience, his forgiveness, his grace and above all his love. Even the angels and archangels who stood in his very presence possibly for eons had no
inkling of his inner person. Had this not been the case none of these angels including Lucifer would have rebelled against him. The very purpose for which
Lucifer was created was to become Satan, the opposer and the opposite of God. The word Satan in the Greek means an opposer, an adversary, one who is
an opposite to the true God. Thus after his fall the archangel Lucifer became Satan and it was by comparing the character of Satan to that of God that all
creatures including man came to know who God is by understanding that which he is not. Just as God came in the flesh in the form of his only begotten Son
Jesus so will Satan come in the flesh in the form of the antichrist. The antichrist will be the exact opposite of the true Christ. (2 Th 2:4 KJV) Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God.
God created man to become a perfect being even as God is perfect.
(Mat 5:48 KJV) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Eph 4:13 KJV) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ.
In Matthew man’s perfection is compared to that of God and in Ephesians to that of Christ. That’s as high a standard as any creature can attain, the question
that begs to be asked is this - Was Adam such a man before his fall? Many a preacher has suggested that he was, that he was a perfect creature and then
the fall happened, his spirit died and now all that’s left is an evil carnal person closer to being a beast than a human living only by his senses. They go on to
say that Jesus came to restore man to his original perfect state and that is the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice. Does the bible concur with this analysis? Far from
it, on the contrary the bible makes it abundantly clear that Adam was anything but a spiritual perfect creature. Adam and Jesus, flesh & blood and flesh &
spirit are two entirely different species of beings and were so even before the fall of man.
I Cor. 15 makes a clear and concise distinction between the first man Adam and the last Adam Jesus.
(1 Cor 15:45 KJV) And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
(1 Cor 15:46 KJV) Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
Without the knowledge of good and evil it is not possible to be spiritual. Since Adam did not have this knowledge he was more or less a robot for robots lack
the ability to make moral choices. It is one’s ability to make a clear distinction between good and evil and then follow that which is good that makes one a
moral person. So was Adam a moral person before the fall? How could he be – he did not know what good and evil meant? Does this mean he was immoral?
No he was not immoral either, he was an amoral being which is exactly what a robot is. Likewise he was neither mortal or immortal, he was amortal – he could
have lived forever yet he was subject to mortality. This was not a flaw in his design, on the contrary God specially designed him in this fashion. To cut a long
story short man had to eat that fruit for then and then only would he able to understand the meaning of good when he compared it to his own evil.
Furthermore it is the eating of the fruit that brought death into this world and death it is that made it possible for God to reveal to us the full and complete
measure of his love.
(Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV) Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death. Death is the full and complete
measure of God’s love, this is the only enemy that is equal and opposite to His love; without death it would not be possible to understand how strong and
infinite God's love truly is. Without evil, there would have been no death and without death we would have never understood the unconditional love of our
God. Unconditional love can only be displayed to those whose condition does not warrant any love – therefore Adam had to eat that fruit - firstly to
understand the difference between good and evil and secondly to be the recipient of the immeasurable love of God which has taught us how to love him as
he loves us. The story of the fall is glossed over by preachers as if it was an accident that God set out to rectify after the fact but nothing with God is an after-
thought, everything is planned right down to the last jot and tittle including the fall of man. Did God plan the fall? Yes he did. Did he cause the fall? No he did
not? Man fell by his own choice as did Lucifer but both these falls only served to fulfill the purposes of God.
The scope of this plan is absolutely breath taking and its flawless execution is awe inspiring to say the least. Yet there is so much more to this story that it
can honestly be said that we have hardly scratched the surface until this point. The tree of life in the Garden was planted to show man that though God knew
what was coming he had already planned to make a way out where there was no way. Death is a permanent state and an implacable enemy but God’s love
would overcome even this unconquerable foe and once again open the passage for man to the tree of life (everlasting.) Here’s a summary of the first three
chapters of Genesis:
God creates man as a robotic creature with no understanding of good and evil but with every intention of making sure that he did not stay that way. Since
God himself is not evil nor can ever become evil, he created Lucifer for the purpose of becoming the evil one who would bring man the knowledge of evil
making it possible for God to bring to him the knowledge of good. In due time God would put on display for the entire universe to see how infinite his love is
by giving his only begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross for man. (There is a great deal of confusion as to who Jesus Christ really is - in short, He is
God in the flesh, the invisible made visible - read my article Who is Christ Jesus for a detailed explanation of the Trinity of God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit.) God would then raise Jesus from the dead since death had no right to him and thereby conquer death. This made it
possible for man to go into life everlasting not as a flesh and blood creature like Adam but rather a flesh and spirit being like Jesus. It must be plain to see by
now that this process had to be followed, man had to start off as a flesh and blood corruptible creature who would be transformed through his faith in Jesus
the Son of God into an incorruptible flesh and spirit being. He had to learn good and evil which can neither be programmed into a person nor taught in
school. This knowledge comes only through experience; it was imperative that man experience evil first hand so that God could bestow upon him his infinite
goodness and then in the process of time would man finally become a perfect being capable and deserving of inheriting God’s eternal Kingdom.
In conclusion God has created man to become a perfect being. Adam was not that man; the first man who became perfect and the express image (identical
in character) to God is Jesus Christ. Yet this perfect man had to arise out of corruptible flesh and blood, he could not be created perfect from the beginning.
What exactly is a perfect being? A perfect being is one who has a perfect conscience; who has complete knowledge of evil yet he himself is absolutely
incapable of becoming or doing evil. Until Jesus arose from the dead, there was only one perfect and absolutely good person in the universe and that
person is God. (Mat 19:17 KJV) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Jesus is only the
second person in the entire universe who is absolutely good or perfect. But there is a whole army of such beings that God has prepared who are awaiting to
be revealed to the entire universe in the not too distant future. (Rom 8:19 KJV) For the earnest expectation of the creature (all of creation) waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God. After the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, this will be the next major event in the universe. Even angels are
in awe of this new creation whose nature, in conscience is identical God himself. If God had not set the bar so high when he set about to create man, there
would have no need for evil to arise in the universe nor for Jesus to suffer and die a horrible unnatural death. If all God wanted was robotic creatures to
follow his every command, he would have programmed them as such. No, God wanted much more than that. He wanted a new breed of beings who would
understand him perfectly and in so doing, they would love him just as he loves them. This new creation in Christ not only understands evil and therefore
understands good, he has become incapable of ever again becoming evil. This earth is an immunization camp, God has allowed us to be exposed to evil so
that some of us may become immune to it. Without a complete immunization to evil there can be no freedom. Wherever there exists a capability for creatures
to be evil, there exist laws to curb their freedoms. Absolute freedom means an absolute absence of all laws. Even one law is one too many. Even in the
New Testament there are at least two laws.
(Mat 22:37 KJV) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Mat 22:
38 KJV) This is the first and great commandment. (Mat 22:39 KJV) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Mat 22:40 KJV) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
But in the age which is to come there will be no laws, not even one because there will be no need for any laws. A being who is perfect in love can never
cause any harm to his fellow beings and therefore requires no law to dictate his behavior since it is dictated by love. This then is the difference between the
first Adam and the new creations in Christ: The first Adam might never have been jealous or covetous in the Garden but that would be because he just did
not know what jealousy or covetousness meant. The new man, of whom Jesus is the prototype, will never be jealous or covetous because he is incapable of
these actions although he knows exactly what jealousy and covetousness mean. Had we never been exposed to evil we would always have had the capacity
to become evil and that type of creature can never inherit the kingdom of God. This is the reason why the world that is to come has not been deeded to
angels or any other creature because they do not possess this God like capacity of knowing evil but never being capable of becoming evil. This is why David
said: (Psa 8:4 KJV) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Do you really think God would want to have his mind full of the thoughts of the evil corrupt human beings that walk this planet? No he thinks about the
potential he has given to each one of us to acquire his very nature and become absolutely good even as he is good. These are the creatures who have
been made worthy of judging angels (would one not have to be higher than the angels to judge them? Yet speaking of the 1st Adam, David said that God
had made him a little lower than the angels. Can a lower being judge a higher being?) No the new creations, the begotten sons of God are so far above
every other creature that all of creation is in awe of these beings. All the more the tragedy when one observes life on this planet and realizes what these
creatures could become and what they have become. Nonetheless those whom God has called and chosen will be there in that age and in that world which
is even now upon the horizon. I earnestly pray to God my Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that everyone who reads these words will believe in Him and will
be counted worthy to have citizenship in the eternal kingdom that is soon to come. Amen.
the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Why do you think God placed these two trees in the Garden of Eden? Leaving the tree of life aside for the present let us focus on the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. Nothing that God does is without purpose so it stands to reason that this tree was there for a reason. Obviously eating the fruit of this tree
gave the eater something and that something is the knowledge of good AND evil. This word ‘AND’ signifies that the knowledge of one cannot come without
the knowledge of the other, if it were otherwise the tree would have been called the tree of the knowledge of good OR evil. Good and evil are opposite and
opposites are teaching tools par excellence. We teach kids the meaning of words by using opposites such as big/small, short/tall, near/far etc. This is how
the knowledge of good and evil comes to us by comparing one to the other. For instance we know that kindness is good because cruelty is evil. How would
we have ever learnt the meaning of kindness unless we knew what cruelty meant?
Why is it important to have the knowledge of good and evil? The short answer is that without the knowledge of evil, it is not possible to have the knowledge
of good and since God is good it is not possible to know him or understand him without it. For example how would we know that God is forgiving unless we
had done some evil that necessitated judgment? So without the knowledge of evil, we can know God only on a superficial level, only on the outside not his
inner self. And until evil arose in the universe God had no opportunity to reveal his inner character such as his mercy, his loving-kindness, his gentleness,
his patience, his forgiveness, his grace and above all his love. Even the angels and archangels who stood in his very presence possibly for eons had no
inkling of his inner person. Had this not been the case none of these angels including Lucifer would have rebelled against him. The very purpose for which
Lucifer was created was to become Satan, the opposer and the opposite of God. The word Satan in the Greek means an opposer, an adversary, one who is
an opposite to the true God. Thus after his fall the archangel Lucifer became Satan and it was by comparing the character of Satan to that of God that all
creatures including man came to know who God is by understanding that which he is not. Just as God came in the flesh in the form of his only begotten Son
Jesus so will Satan come in the flesh in the form of the antichrist. The antichrist will be the exact opposite of the true Christ. (2 Th 2:4 KJV) Who opposeth
and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that
he is God.
God created man to become a perfect being even as God is perfect.
(Mat 5:48 KJV) Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
(Eph 4:13 KJV) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the
stature of the fulness of Christ.
In Matthew man’s perfection is compared to that of God and in Ephesians to that of Christ. That’s as high a standard as any creature can attain, the question
that begs to be asked is this - Was Adam such a man before his fall? Many a preacher has suggested that he was, that he was a perfect creature and then
the fall happened, his spirit died and now all that’s left is an evil carnal person closer to being a beast than a human living only by his senses. They go on to
say that Jesus came to restore man to his original perfect state and that is the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice. Does the bible concur with this analysis? Far from
it, on the contrary the bible makes it abundantly clear that Adam was anything but a spiritual perfect creature. Adam and Jesus, flesh & blood and flesh &
spirit are two entirely different species of beings and were so even before the fall of man.
I Cor. 15 makes a clear and concise distinction between the first man Adam and the last Adam Jesus.
(1 Cor 15:45 KJV) And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
(1 Cor 15:46 KJV) Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
Without the knowledge of good and evil it is not possible to be spiritual. Since Adam did not have this knowledge he was more or less a robot for robots lack
the ability to make moral choices. It is one’s ability to make a clear distinction between good and evil and then follow that which is good that makes one a
moral person. So was Adam a moral person before the fall? How could he be – he did not know what good and evil meant? Does this mean he was immoral?
No he was not immoral either, he was an amoral being which is exactly what a robot is. Likewise he was neither mortal or immortal, he was amortal – he could
have lived forever yet he was subject to mortality. This was not a flaw in his design, on the contrary God specially designed him in this fashion. To cut a long
story short man had to eat that fruit for then and then only would he able to understand the meaning of good when he compared it to his own evil.
Furthermore it is the eating of the fruit that brought death into this world and death it is that made it possible for God to reveal to us the full and complete
measure of his love.
(Song of Solomon 8:6 KJV) Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death. Death is the full and complete
measure of God’s love, this is the only enemy that is equal and opposite to His love; without death it would not be possible to understand how strong and
infinite God's love truly is. Without evil, there would have been no death and without death we would have never understood the unconditional love of our
God. Unconditional love can only be displayed to those whose condition does not warrant any love – therefore Adam had to eat that fruit - firstly to
understand the difference between good and evil and secondly to be the recipient of the immeasurable love of God which has taught us how to love him as
he loves us. The story of the fall is glossed over by preachers as if it was an accident that God set out to rectify after the fact but nothing with God is an after-
thought, everything is planned right down to the last jot and tittle including the fall of man. Did God plan the fall? Yes he did. Did he cause the fall? No he did
not? Man fell by his own choice as did Lucifer but both these falls only served to fulfill the purposes of God.
The scope of this plan is absolutely breath taking and its flawless execution is awe inspiring to say the least. Yet there is so much more to this story that it
can honestly be said that we have hardly scratched the surface until this point. The tree of life in the Garden was planted to show man that though God knew
what was coming he had already planned to make a way out where there was no way. Death is a permanent state and an implacable enemy but God’s love
would overcome even this unconquerable foe and once again open the passage for man to the tree of life (everlasting.) Here’s a summary of the first three
chapters of Genesis:
God creates man as a robotic creature with no understanding of good and evil but with every intention of making sure that he did not stay that way. Since
God himself is not evil nor can ever become evil, he created Lucifer for the purpose of becoming the evil one who would bring man the knowledge of evil
making it possible for God to bring to him the knowledge of good. In due time God would put on display for the entire universe to see how infinite his love is
by giving his only begotten Son Jesus to die on the cross for man. (There is a great deal of confusion as to who Jesus Christ really is - in short, He is
God in the flesh, the invisible made visible - read my article Who is Christ Jesus for a detailed explanation of the Trinity of God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Spirit.) God would then raise Jesus from the dead since death had no right to him and thereby conquer death. This made it
possible for man to go into life everlasting not as a flesh and blood creature like Adam but rather a flesh and spirit being like Jesus. It must be plain to see by
now that this process had to be followed, man had to start off as a flesh and blood corruptible creature who would be transformed through his faith in Jesus
the Son of God into an incorruptible flesh and spirit being. He had to learn good and evil which can neither be programmed into a person nor taught in
school. This knowledge comes only through experience; it was imperative that man experience evil first hand so that God could bestow upon him his infinite
goodness and then in the process of time would man finally become a perfect being capable and deserving of inheriting God’s eternal Kingdom.
In conclusion God has created man to become a perfect being. Adam was not that man; the first man who became perfect and the express image (identical
in character) to God is Jesus Christ. Yet this perfect man had to arise out of corruptible flesh and blood, he could not be created perfect from the beginning.
What exactly is a perfect being? A perfect being is one who has a perfect conscience; who has complete knowledge of evil yet he himself is absolutely
incapable of becoming or doing evil. Until Jesus arose from the dead, there was only one perfect and absolutely good person in the universe and that
person is God. (Mat 19:17 KJV) And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God. Jesus is only the
second person in the entire universe who is absolutely good or perfect. But there is a whole army of such beings that God has prepared who are awaiting to
be revealed to the entire universe in the not too distant future. (Rom 8:19 KJV) For the earnest expectation of the creature (all of creation) waiteth
for the manifestation of the sons of God. After the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, this will be the next major event in the universe. Even angels are
in awe of this new creation whose nature, in conscience is identical God himself. If God had not set the bar so high when he set about to create man, there
would have no need for evil to arise in the universe nor for Jesus to suffer and die a horrible unnatural death. If all God wanted was robotic creatures to
follow his every command, he would have programmed them as such. No, God wanted much more than that. He wanted a new breed of beings who would
understand him perfectly and in so doing, they would love him just as he loves them. This new creation in Christ not only understands evil and therefore
understands good, he has become incapable of ever again becoming evil. This earth is an immunization camp, God has allowed us to be exposed to evil so
that some of us may become immune to it. Without a complete immunization to evil there can be no freedom. Wherever there exists a capability for creatures
to be evil, there exist laws to curb their freedoms. Absolute freedom means an absolute absence of all laws. Even one law is one too many. Even in the
New Testament there are at least two laws.
(Mat 22:37 KJV) Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. (Mat 22:
38 KJV) This is the first and great commandment. (Mat 22:39 KJV) And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
(Mat 22:40 KJV) On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
But in the age which is to come there will be no laws, not even one because there will be no need for any laws. A being who is perfect in love can never
cause any harm to his fellow beings and therefore requires no law to dictate his behavior since it is dictated by love. This then is the difference between the
first Adam and the new creations in Christ: The first Adam might never have been jealous or covetous in the Garden but that would be because he just did
not know what jealousy or covetousness meant. The new man, of whom Jesus is the prototype, will never be jealous or covetous because he is incapable of
these actions although he knows exactly what jealousy and covetousness mean. Had we never been exposed to evil we would always have had the capacity
to become evil and that type of creature can never inherit the kingdom of God. This is the reason why the world that is to come has not been deeded to
angels or any other creature because they do not possess this God like capacity of knowing evil but never being capable of becoming evil. This is why David
said: (Psa 8:4 KJV) What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Do you really think God would want to have his mind full of the thoughts of the evil corrupt human beings that walk this planet? No he thinks about the
potential he has given to each one of us to acquire his very nature and become absolutely good even as he is good. These are the creatures who have
been made worthy of judging angels (would one not have to be higher than the angels to judge them? Yet speaking of the 1st Adam, David said that God
had made him a little lower than the angels. Can a lower being judge a higher being?) No the new creations, the begotten sons of God are so far above
every other creature that all of creation is in awe of these beings. All the more the tragedy when one observes life on this planet and realizes what these
creatures could become and what they have become. Nonetheless those whom God has called and chosen will be there in that age and in that world which
is even now upon the horizon. I earnestly pray to God my Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that everyone who reads these words will believe in Him and will
be counted worthy to have citizenship in the eternal kingdom that is soon to come. Amen.
| | | | | | | | | | |
| Genesis 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. |