THREE TREES

THREE TREES

                Adam and Eve were created in the image of God. They had His Spirit and His nature and character, because they were His children. Luke 3:38 in counting back all of the generations leading back to the very beginning, it lists Adam as being the son of God. So Adam was created as a son of God, and if he had remained faithful to God and had eaten only from the tree of life, human history would have been infinitely different than it is today.

                Rarely do we stop to think deeply about the choice that Adam and Even made. This was about more than eating from the wrong tree. This was a choice between remaining God’s son, made in God’s image and managing God’s kingdom here on earth, or believing the lies of Satan and becoming a son of Satan and taking on his nature and living in his kingdom. And this choice was made even though Adam walked and talked with God in the garden.

                When we chose the lies of Satan over the truth of God, we collectively, as a human race, fell from our position as  sons and daughters of God and we became  sons and daughters of Satan. We took on his nature and his spirit… and all of humanity from that point on received the same spirit of Satan and his character and his bent toward evil.

                In John 8, Jesus told them saying: If God were your Father you would love me, for I have come from God.” So the test given in Eden was a choice between God as our father and Satan as our father and when we chose Satan we became his children, with his nature and living in his kingdom of darkness.

                The fruit of that tree had been made to look good, but in the eating of it, there was an infinite and horrible falling from God’s kingdom and into Satan’s kingdom as we became his children, and took on his nature and plunged into his kingdom of darkness with absolutely no means of climbing back into the kingdom of God from which we had fallen.

                1 Cor. 15:22 says: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. So if we are ever to come out of Satan’s fallen kingdom and back into the kingdom of God we are going to have to receive that kingdom through death. It involves partaking from a third tree, the cross of Jesus Christ. In that cross of Jesus we enter into His death. We literally die to Satan’s kingdom, His lineage, his character and his authority and we are born again into the kingdom of God and this is all made possible by entering into tree number three.

                The tree of life represented Jesus. He is our tree of life. It is through Him that we may eat of the fruit of salvation. It is by receiving His Spirit that we are adopted as sons and daughters of God and made citizens of His kingdom. But the way to the Tree of Life was blocked. Our sins and our fallen nature blocked the way back to God. Our return to the tree of life would have to come some other way.

                The tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the Law of God. Its fruit looks good. It looks like it will make us wise. It looks like by eating its fruit we will become sons and daughters of God. It fools us because of its apparent righteousness, but the problem is much more fundamental than that. We have fallen short of the glory of God and as such, no amount of Law keeping will ever restore us to what Adam and Even lost.

                When Moses brought them the Law, directly from the finger of God it looked good and so the people said, “All that the Lord has said, that we will do.” But how did that work for them? Were they not soon dancing naked around a golden calf? Believing that Moses had died on the mountain, did they not immediately look to the gods, the hierarchy set up by Satan to be worshipped? Did they not immediately revert to his nature and his kingdom, even though god had so recently delivered them from Egypt?

                This is why Paul is so dead set against our seeking righteousness through the Law. Its fruit looks good. It looks righteous. It appears to provide wisdom. It appears to provide a pathway back to God and so we attempt to keep it in order to come back into God’s good graces and we fail to remember humanity’s track record. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” There is none righteous, no not one.” So out of the billions of people who have been on this planet, not one of them has ever obeyed the Law and we think, “How can that be? After all it is just 10 simple commandments. You look through them and you think, “I can do this.”

                What we forget is that we have a sin nature. We have the nature of our father, the devil and no amount of eating from the tree of knowledge will gain us access back to the tree of life. The tree of knowledge represents our attempts to attain righteousness apart from God. And Paul says this about that:  “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law to perform them. Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.” However the Law is not of faith; on the contrary He who practices them shall live by them.” Gal. 3:10-12.

                But then Paul goes on saying: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for u for it is written, “ cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree- in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

                Do we see the issue here? There are three trees. We lost access to tree number one, the tree of life. And we fell from God’s kingdom by seeking a form of righteousness apart from God. Adam and Eve didn’t eat from the tree of knowledge because they thought it was evil. They ate from it because they thought it was good… making them wise like God apart from God.

                How many people even to this day, think that the best way to be a Christian is to mix a little of tree number two, with tree number three in hopes of being restored to tree number one? How many still instinctively think that we can add our works to God’s grace in order to complete our salvation?

                We tend to think that the law adds something to our righteousness even though we wouldn’t admit it, but if a person says in his heart, “I keep the Sabbath, therefore I must be one of God’s remnant people” or “I keep the commandments, therefore I belong to God and not to Satan.” But that’s what the rich young ruler thought and yet he went away sorrowful. Likewise Hebrews 4 tells us that in spite of their long legacy of Sabbath keeping, they never did enter into God’s rest. His rest is not entered into by way of tree number two. It is not entered into by keeping the Law, for through the Law no one will ever find rest.

                This is why Jesus specifically said, “Come unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. “ Mt. 11:28. Here Jesus is offering us a new kind of rest, not derived from the Law, but by faith in Him. Only HE can bring us into rest, for only we can give us His Holy Spirit. And just as Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit and gave birth to the Son of God, so also do we conceive by the Holy Spirit and become sons and daughters of God… not by the keeping of the Law, but by death and resurrection.

                The Law was never intended to bring us life. It was always intended to bring us to death… death in Satan’s kingdom and rebirth into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. This is the difference between being a Jew and being a Christian. God gave the law through Moses, because Israel was tasked with bringing the Law with all other types and shadows, so that the whole world would be shut up under sin. All have sinned and the Law has its ministry… not of reversing our sinful natures by keeping it, but by dying.

                The Law leads us to the cross of Christ where we die to the Law… not to become lawless as some would think, but to receive the very Spirit of Christ and the nature of Christ so that the Law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh (which is sold out to Satan) but to live by the Spirit, thus bearing the fruit of the Spirit which is love and it is that God kind of love that both fulfills the law, as well as to remake us into the image of Christ.

                As long as we hold out the Law as a part of our salvation package, we will not be able to enter fully into the spirit. The reason is because the Law was designed to bring us to our death, not to bring us life. So we say in our hearts: “I keep the commandments, therefore I am a child of God.” And in this same manor, the non- Christian will say: “I’ve been a good person… therefore I reckon I will get what’s coming to me in the end.”

                Either way, they are basing their salvation on the Law and by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.

                “Nevertheless, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law shall no flesh be justified.” Gal. 2:16

                And this text leads us right into what I believe is one of the key Scriptures in the entire Bible. It says:

                “For through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and delivered Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for through the Law I died to the Law, that I might live to God. “Gal. 2:19-21

                This was the burden of Paul’s message throughout his writings. Having put the Law to the ultimate test throughout his own life and finding it bankrupt and void of saving power, he considers it all rubbish or dung compared to knowing Christ.  Phil. 3:7-11

                Whenever someone tries to minister the Law to me, I began to feel the weight of guilt as the burden of my own salvation begins to fall once again upon my shoulders. It is not so much that I am breaking the Ten Commandments, but the crushing weight of falling short of the glory of God, quickly leaves me in a desperate situation.  Again I must die to the Law and to place my faith back in Jesus Christ alone who is able to save me and to present me faultless before the throne of God. Again I wash my robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb… again I place His robe of righteousness upon my tattered soul and breathe in the fresh wind of His Holy Spirit. I am a child of God, not because of anything I have done, but because of what He has done. Therefore I will leave both myself and the Law at the foot of the cross and I will live by His Spirit.

                Does this speak to anyone today? Do you find yourself carrying a load that you once entrusted to Jesus? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now continuing to be perfected in the flesh. Who has bewitched you? Who has enticed you back to tree number two? Is it not that old serpent the devil and Satan, inviting you to eat of that tree in order to find righteousness apart from God? Does he not do so knowing that you will fail?

                So I will leave you with a few texts that will help you to put your full faith in Jesus Christ, for indeed it seems to be human nature to begin to shoulder the weight of our salvation once again and it comes in subtly until be begin to feel so burdened with the impossibility of salvation that we want to give up. It is time to place the full weight of our Salvation upon Him, for God alone can carry this load.

                “Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of the water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” John 3:5

                “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Cor. 5:17

                “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 3:26

                That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6

                “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do and it gave him great pleasure. Eph. 1:5

                “The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry ‘Abba Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Rom. 8:15-16.

                “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. “ John 1:17

                In everything that Jesu said and did, He was offering us a New Covenant, and that covenant is found in Him. So as we can see from the above text, the Law is not the truth in and of itself, but rather it points forward to a truth that could only be entered into by death and rebirth into Jesus Christ.

                We are all born as children of Satan in the kingdom of Satan. We are of the seed of Satan and as such we share Satan’s destiny. The only way out of this infinite problem is to enter into the death of the cross and the resurrection of Christ… to be born again into the kingdom of God’s Son. There we receive His Spirit and His Spirit makes us into children of God for the life of the Son is conceived in us by faith.

                There were two trees in the Garden. Tree number one was the tree of life. Tree number two was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Even chose tree number two and suddenly tree number one was hopelessly beyond their reach. But Jesus came bringing us tree number 3, His Cross, and through it we may die to Satan’s kingdom and be born again into God’s kingdom, there to eat from the tree of life once again. Which tree are we living by?     

                Lord, you have offered us eternal life through your cross and resurrection. By placing our faith in You, we can be adopted into the royal family as genuine children of God. Lord, may it be done unto me according to Your Word. (Luke 1:38)