THE GOSPEL OF TWO TREES

 

 

                                                                                                      

 

TWO TREE’S – IN PERSPECTIVE

 

“The gospel of two trees?” you may ask. You may say that you have heard of the ‘gospel of Jesus Christ’, of the ‘gospel of grace’, the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ – but the “gospel of two trees”?

My answer is YES – the gospel of two trees! In fact the gospel of two trees is the only true gospel – the eternal gospel. The gospel that is preached from genesis to revelations – the gospel preached throughout the bible.

“But I have never heard of this gospel”, you declare.

Then my answer to you is this –

Maybe you have heard it, but have only understood it from a different perspective.

Many times things which appear to be different are in fact exactly the same – they are only being viewed from different perspectives. And I am sure you will agree with me –

perspective is everything!

Situations which appear to be insurmountable problems in one instant can be seen as incredible possibilities the next – merely through the change of perspective. When facing the challenges of life our outcomes are often determined by our attitudes to these problems – and our attitude is determined by our perspective. What should our attitude and perspective be? The word of God often encourages us to have the attitude of Christ and the perspective of God. In Phil 2:5 and 1 Peter 4:1 we are encouraged to model ourselves on Christ – we are called to be like Christ and to be like-minded, to have the same attitude as Christ.  

Phil 2:5 Let this attitude be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus

1 Peter 4:1 So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin,

Christ was our role model for our attitudes – he came in the flesh as a human being facing the same problems and obstacles that we face. He was wholly human facing the same temptations and problems that we face, and he overcame all the obstacles. He became our role model on right attitudes.

Just as we need the right attitude so we also need to have the right perspective. This is especially true in light of the fact that our attitudes are largely determined by our perspective. What should our perspective be then? Psalm 39:4 gives us a little insight into perspective.

Psalm 39:4 ​​​​​​​“O LORD, help me understand my mortality
       and the brevity of life!
       Let me realize how quickly my life will pass! 5 ​​​​​​​Look, you make my      days short-lived,
       and my life span is nothing from your perspective.
       Surely all people, even those who seem secure, are nothing but vapor.
      6 ​​​​​​​Surely people go through life as mere ghosts.
       Surely they accumulate worthless wealth
       without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”
      7 ​​​​​​​But now, O Lord, upon what am I relying?
       You are my only hope!

Oftentimes we think too much of ourselves and too much of our problems – the more we worry and gloat over our problems the bigger they seem to get. But these verses put things back into perspective, when we see things from God’s perspective - from the perspective of eternity. Verse 4 gives us perspective in terms of time – how short our life on earth is in terms of eternity. My life is barely a breath in the expanse of time, barely a blink in the eye of a God who does not even exist in time but in whom time itself exists. We serve a God who measures eternity using the breadth of his hand. When we have the right perspective of how big God is then we can have the right perspective on how small we are and how small our problems are. The psalmist concludes in verse 7 – “upon what am I relying? You are my only hope”. When our perspective of God is right we realize that there is only one upon whom we can rely – only one in whom we can put our trust.

We see a good example of this in Numbers 13: 16-33 where Moses sends out ten spies into the land of Canaan – to spy out the land that God had promised to give over into their hands. When the spies return we find the truth that we stated earlier was very evident – all ten of the spies looked at the same thing – the land of Canaan – but they did not all see the same thing. What they saw was determined by their perspective.

Two spies came back with the report of a land flowing with milk and honey and the desire to go in at once and possess it. The other eight came back with the report of how strong the inhabitants of the land were and how impossible it would be to overcome their strongholds. Two spies saw how great their God was and how small their enemy was – the other eight saw how big the enemy was and how small their God was. Two looked at God and His resources; eight looked at themselves and their resources. The simple problem is this – the more we look at our problems the bigger they become. The more the eight spies talked about the problems the bigger they became until in verse 33 they refer to their enemy as ‘giants’. The more you focus on your problems the bigger they will become – the more you focus on God the smaller they will become. If the problems in your life seem to you like giants then maybe you need to change your perspective! 

The question then is what should our perspective be? The only answer i can give is this – God’s perspective is true perspective.

When i align my perspective with God’s perspective then i am able to see things as they really are – then i am able to see truth. God’s desire is that i see from His perspective. When i see myself as he see’s me – forgiven and righteous in His sight - i am set free by the truth to love myself. When i see other people as God see’s them i am set free to love them unconditionally. When i view the problems in my life from God’s perspective then i am able to see victory in the face of defeat.

So then as you study this “Gospel of two tree’s” my challenge to you is this, be prepared to change your perspective – to look at things from a different angle, and in so doing to maybe see things in a way you have never seen them before. What i am asking here is not a change of your theology or a change of your beliefs, not a change in your doctrine – but simply to be prepared to change your perspective – the position from which you are viewing things. To look at things from a different angle and maybe discover things that you have never seen before. To understand that although truth itself is not subjective - our experience of it certainly is.

But before we proceed into the gospel of two trees we are going to look at a passage of scripture that reveals God’s perspective. We are going to look at how the same situation can be seen from totally different perspectives – and how knowing God’s perspective influences our understanding of situations.

This we will do from a brief study of Exodus 17 -the battle between the Amalekites and the Israelites – and looking at the different perspectives of Moses and Joshua.

Exodus 17:8 Amalek came and attacked Israel in Rephidim. 9 So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”

 10 So Joshua fought against Amalek just as Moses had instructed him; and Moses and Aaron and Hur went up to the top of the hill. 11 Whenever Moses would raise his hands, then Israel prevailed, but whenever he would rest his hands, then Amalek prevailed. 12 When the hands of Moses became heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side and one on the other, and so his hands were steady until the sun went down. 13 So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword.

 14 The LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing; for I will surely wipe out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.

 

And so in this text we find one battle but two different perspectives of the same battle. We have the perspective of Joshua, in the heat of battle engaged in hand to hand combat on the battlefield and the perspective of Moses, overlooking the battle-field. In my minds eye i can picture Joshua arriving back weary from battle – dirty, tired and sweating with blood splattered all over his garments, his sword dripping with the blood of the Amalekites.

As he see’s Moses his face lights up, he lifts his sword victoriously and cries “We did it – we defeated the Amalekites!”. And Moses would reply “Yes, i held my hands up and we won the battle”. Joshua would look a little confused but he would continue excitedly “There were times when the Amalekites were getting the better of us, but we persisted and we won the battle!”. And Moses would continue “Yes, when i held my hands up you were winning the battle, but when my hands got tired and i dropped them you were losing the battle”. Joshua would finally lose it and shout out “What are you talking about! What do your hands have to do with the victory we just won!”

Then Moses would sit Joshua down and do what God commanded him to do in verse 14 – “write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing”. He would gently explain to Joshua that as long as he was standing on the hill overlooking the battle-field with his hands extended left and right in the shape of the cross - then God was fighting the battle with them, but when his arms got tired and dropped down - God could no longer see the cross-and they were fighting on their own.

The only perspective that Joshua had was in the heat of battle – but when he understood the perspective of Moses he was in a place to see the truth. The battle was the Lord’s and when God fights with you the victory is certain. Victory does not lie in the strength of man but in God’s strength. The victory was not won on the battlefield. The victory was won on the hill overlooking the battlefield, where Moses stood with his hands extended in the shape of the cross. Moses was commanded to write this lesson down and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing:

EXODUS 17:14 The LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in Joshua’s hearing

God was preparing Joshua to lead His people into the promised land – and to do this he needed him to have the right perspective. He needed to have God’s perspective. He needed to know that the battle was not won by his efforts in the battlefield it was won on the cross overlooking the battlefield!

The battle is the Lord’s and the victory is the Lord’s!

God’s perspective is true perspective!

 

 

TWO TREE’S – THE BEGINNING

 

Genesis 2:8 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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.

Genesis 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

And so we find this gospel of two trees originates from the very beginning – from the time of creation. We find that in the beginning God caused two trees to grow or sprout up. It is important to notice that God caused both of these trees to grow – to spring up. Both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were created by God. Some people may be under the perception that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was itself evil and could therefore not have been created by God - for God is good and in Him there is no evil. But we find no support for this in scripture and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil itself is never referred to as evil. And so the first perceptual change for some might be the realisation that both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were created by God and were good.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is therefore not evil itself but rather brings the knowledge of good and evil. Certainly to know evil is not to be evil, just as God knows satan- the personification of evil – but does not by knowing evil become tainted by it. The other issue which creates the perception of evil around this tree seems to be the fact that when you eat of this tree the result is death. There might therefore also be the temptation to surmise from this that since eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil led to death that this tree itself is in someway evil - and that since God created this tree He therefore created evil. This reasoning is also incorrect, as just as God created satan who was himself once an angel of light - his subsequent fall does not detract from his original creation self – which was an angel of light and not of darkness. No! - creation which was created good and perfect cannot turn its finger at the creator to place blame for its fallen state. The testimony of creation is this – God created …….and it was good.

So both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were good, but just because some thing is good does not mean it is good for you. To one a slab of chocolate may be good but to someone with a sugar problem it may not be good. To know something may also be good while the experience of that knowledge may not be. To know a stove plate is hot may be good but to touch it may not be so good. There are two ways to learn something – you can learn from your mistakes or you can learn from the mistakes of others. Some things are good to know and some things are good to experience – but it is knowing the difference which is important. 

So then both of these trees were created by God … and it was good.

Although both these trees were created by God and both were good – they are clearly not both the same. If anything these two trees are contrasted as opposites. The one you eat of and receive life and the other you eat of and receive death. Why then are these two trees not simply referred to as the tree of life and the tree of death? If you eat of the tree and you die then it is the tree of death. Clearly then the words“the knowledge of good and evil” are portrayed as synonymous with “death”. The words “the knowledge of good and evil” simply elaborate, make known or clarify the manner in which or the form in which death will come. Death will come in the form of or through the knowledge of “good and evil”. Scripture therefore seems to indicatethat the “knowledge of good and evil” is synonymous with “death”. The writer then is taking care to ensure that you understand from the beginning what death is and the manner in which it comes – it comes through the knowledge of good and evil. When your eyes are opened and you know what good and evil is – you will surely die.

Gen 3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

How then can knowing good and evil – knowing what is the right thing to do and what is the wrong thing to do – cause me to die? The first truth, which is born out daily in our human experience, is this – just because you know what the right thing to do is, does not mean that you can or will do the right thing!

I am sure you are well aware of the story of the cookie jar. Little Johnnie’s mother puts a cookie jar on the top shelf of the kitchen cupboard. Everyday little Johnnie wanders in and out of the kitchen blissfully unaware of its existence. Then one day Johnnie’s mother say’s to Johnnie “Do not touch the cookies in the cookie jar on the top shelf– I am saving them for when Granny comes to visit”. Johnnie’s blissful trips to the kitchen come to an abrupt end. Now every time he enters the kitchen he stops and stares longingly at the cookie jar – he imagines all the wonderful cookies that must be in the jar, how wonderful they must taste. This continues until one day he can take it no longer and he steals and eats one. Now he finds himself overcome with guilt and the fear that his mother will find out what he has done.

We all know this ‘cookie jar’ experience and the resultant guilt and fear which closely follow. Like Johnnie we know what the right thing to do is – but there is an intervening factor – the desires of the flesh which war against our mind, our knowledge of what is right and wrong.  As long as Johnnie had no knowledge of the cookie jar there was no problem but as soon as he became aware of its existence powerful desires started to arise within him until they overcame his resistance.

And so it was with Adam and Eve. They knew what the right thing to do was – but everyday as they passed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – they would stop and stare at its wonderful fruit and wonder how lovely it would taste.

Gen 3:6 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.

If you really stop and consider this story of Adam and Eve then you would have to agree with me that this is not just the story of Adam and Eve – this is the story of you and me! Have you ever been in this situation – knowing what is the right and wrong thing to do but ending up unable to stop yourself from doing the wrong thing? If you are human then your honest answer would have to be “yes”. When viewed in this light it becomes very difficult to pass any judgment on Adam and Eve. If we were there would it really have gone down any differently? – I suspect not. And this is the next perspective change that I would bring to you – that the story of Adam and Eve is not a story of “them”- not the isolated story of the two people who caused all of our problems today. No. it is the story of ‘us’.  And it is the story of us ‘today’.

We are human just as they were. We face the same temptations and the same choices – and largely make the same bad choices that they did. If truth be known we face exactly the same choice that they did! As we walk through the garden of our lives we find that these two trees – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life have been reestablished in our lives today and we face the same choice that Adam and Eve did.

Have you perceived the presence of these two trees in your life today?

Are you going to choose to eat of the tree of life or the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

But let me not get ahead of myself – let me first change your perspective concerning these two trees.

  

 

THE TREE OF LIFE

 

The first tree we find mentioned in the book of Genesis is the tree of life.

Gen 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.

The word tree is the Hebrew ‘ETS which is defined as - tree, wood, timber or stock.

The word life is from the Hebrew ‘CHAY’ which means ‘alive’, and is from the root ‘CHAYAH’ which is to have life, live forever, sustain life, be quickened and be restored.

From the Hebrew then we have this very rich understanding of the nature of this ‘tree of life’. Not only does it give life, it also quickens and restores life and sustains eternal life. We see within this tree then not only the provision for giving life but also for the restoration of life – for quickening and sustaining eternal life. And so we see within the garden that God provides two trees - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil , the eating of which brings death – and the tree of life, the eating of which restores and sustains life. The tree of life therefore was Gods provision to give life, to restore life and to sustain life.

In the creation of these two trees then we have to arrive at the inevitable conclusion that God had already provided for the restoration of man even before the fall – even before he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Many people have looked at Gen 3:15 – Gods reaction to the fall of man and the promise of restoration through the woman’s seed - as the first reference to His redemptive plan.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

From my perspective however I see a God who provided for the restoration of man even before the fall of man. God was not taken by surprise by the fall of man and did not hastily have to put together a plan of restoration. No, the tree of life was Gods provision for the restoration of man from the beginning, even before the fall.

Genesis 3:22 confirms that the tree of life was God’s provision for mans restoration:

Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, “Now that the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil, he must not be allowed to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.”

God confirms that by eating from the tree of life man would live forever. So God cuts off man’s access to the tree of life. If the tree of life then was the provision of God for the restoration of man why was he not allowed access to the tree?

I believe man could not have immediate access to the tree of life as Gods plan was bigger than Adam and Eve – Gods plan was for Adam and his seed, you and me, a chosen people, a holy nation. God’s desire was a people – a nation after his own heart. And so man is cut off from the tree of life until the appointed time, the moment in history when He would restore the tree of life – and allow man access once more to the tree.

And so man in his fallen state is cast out of the garden. His access to the tree of life is cut off and the way protected by Cherubim’s.

Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

 

 

THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

 

As we turn our focus to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the understanding of what this tree really was, we will begin by looking at the original Hebrew text in order to really understand the true nature of this tree. The word tree is ‘ETS the same word used for the tree of life – meaning tree, wood or gallows.    

The Hebrew word defined as knowledge is DA’ATH and is from the root word YADA which carries the meaning ‘to know’ or ‘to ascertain by seeing’. From this we find reference not only to the possession of knowledge but also the way it is acquired- to know or ascertain by seeing. Crouched within this word then we find reference to the ‘opening of eyes’ - to acquire by seeing – the manner in which this knowledge is acquired. This is the opening of eyes alluded to by satan in Genesis 3:5 when he tempts the woman:

Gen 3:5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.”

Here the word ‘know’ is the same word ‘yada’. So we see that there was to come a change in perception – they were to have their eyes opened to perceive something they had not perceived up until that time. This knowledge was to come through a change in perception – through the opening of their eyes to something they had not seen before.

What was this knowledge they were to acquire? – it was the knowledge of good and evil. The word ‘good’ is the Hebrew ‘towb’ and from its root we find reference not only to ‘good’ but also to ‘bless or blessing’ (H2896). So we find within this word reference not only to ‘good’ but also to the result of doing good – which is blessing.

The word evil is ‘ra’ meaning ‘bad or evil’ and is from the root ra’a’ meaning to ruin or spoil – ie curse. So here too we find reference not only to evil but the result of evil – curses. So we find that the words good and evil carry within them this understanding of blessing and curses – when you do good you receive blessing, when you do evil you receive curses. And so this knowledge of good and evil brings an understanding or perception not only of right and wrong, of good and evil but also of the repercussions thereof – blessings and curses. So we find that this tree brings with it a new understanding, a new perception that Adam and Eve did not have up until that time. An understanding of a new way of perceiving, a new way of interaction with God – through their acquisition of the knowledge of right and wrong and the understanding of the repercussion of doing right and wrong – blessing and curses.

And so this tree holds within it a new understanding– the knowing or becoming aware of right and wrong, good and evil, blessing and curses. This becoming aware of right and wrong will be the birth of man into a moral awareness and will bring with it the responsibility to act in terms of that awareness. He will have the choice of doing good and receiving blessing or doing evil and receiving curses. When He eats of this tree man will find that he has indeed become like God knowing good and evil – but will also find that unlike God he is bound by his flesh and lacks the power to act in terms of his newfound appreciation of right and wrong. Death will be the result as the full weight of moral responsibility falls on weak human shoulders – and the realization dawns that knowing right from wrong is of no benefit when you lack the power to act in terms of that appreciation. This dilemma will be worsened by the awakening of another powerful force within man – the flesh. Having become aware of right and wrong he will find that his knowledge of right and wrong fires passions within his own flesh which militate against his desire to do that which is right. He will now be at war with himself – fighting his own desires and passions which have an unquenchable appetite for that which is evil and wrong. Man will eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – and the result will be death!

 

THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

 

In order to really understand the nature of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil we are going to take a close look at the effect it had on Adam and Eve when they ate of the fruit. By looking closely at the result of eating of this tree we will be able to identify this tree when we encounter it in the course of history as well as in the course of our daily lives, for encounter it we will. And in encountering it we will have to have our perception changed to the fact that the command of God not to eat of this tree was not only for Adam and Eve it was for Adam and his seed – for all the nations – for you and me today.

As we journey on we will find that this command is for us today because God restored these two trees in the course of history, and we encounter these two trees everyday in the course of our daily lives.We face the choice everyday as to which tree we are going to eat from. Have you recognized these two trees in your life – and have you made the decision as to which tree you will eat of? If you have not recognized these two trees in your life you are in a dangerous position – and may well be eating of the wrong tree!

Let us begin by looking at the account of the fall in Genesis 3:6-22 and we will analyze the results that eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil had on Adam and Eve.     

Let us begin at Genesis 3:7 -

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked;

The first effect of eating of the fruit was that their eyes were opened and they realized that they were naked. Satan had told them that when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil their eyes would be opened and they would know good and evil. What he failed to inform them was that they would also know (yada- to know or understand by seeing) that they were naked. The truth is that before they even ate of the fruit they were already naked. Genesis 2:25 tells us that they were naked – but they were not ashamed.They were not ashamed because they were unaware of their nakedness – their covering was their innocence.

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

With the opening of their eyes to right and wrong their covering of innocence is removed. The coming of age and your awareness of what is right and wrong brings with it the responsibility to act in accordance with that knowledge. Everyone who has a child is well aware of this distinction. When a child is born we do not expect them to have the knowledge of acceptable and unacceptable behavior – they are covered or protected by their innocence – their lack of knowledge of right and wrong which excuses their behavior and releases them from punishment. As they grow and develop however they acquire the knowledge of what is right and wrong and with it comes the expectation from the parents that they act in accordance with this appreciation. The covering of innocence all too quickly disappears and any wrong action becomes subject to discipline.

So it was with Adam and Eve. As soon as their eyes were opened they lost their innocence – and were immediately aware of their nakedness before God. The bible says they became aware of their nakedness – the word here is ‘eyrom which means ‘nudity’ and is from the root ‘aram which is ‘to be (or make) bare’. Their nakedness was not from the perspective of God – it was from their perspective. They had always been naked before God but now they have become aware of their nakedness before God. With the realization of his nakedness man quickly moves to the next result of the fall – the need to cover his nakedness. Man is now naked and exposed – his covering of innocence removed and his guilt exposed - now he must find a new cover for himself.

Gen 3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

The next result of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the need to make a cover for nakedness. With the awareness of the holiness of God and the newfound awareness of there own sinfulness and fleshliness – came the desire to cover their nakedness from God. So they sew together fig leaves and make an ‘apron’. The word “apron” is chagowr which is defined as ‘girdle, belt or loin-cloth', a covering for the lower extremities.

Man’s best attempt to cover his nakedness before God was to cover only the wobbly bits – the physical manifestation of his new fleshly nature and sinful desires. For Adam this was undoubtedly the awaking of the flesh and fleshly desires within him – and the need to cover his flesh. Man is now in a fallen state –becoming aware of good and evil – having his eyes opened to his own sinfulness and shortcomings, losing his innocence, and the awakening of fleshly desires and passions within him.

From here it is a very small step for Adam to go from hiding his nakedness to hiding himself.

Gen 3:8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

Adam could not hide his nakedness from God so he hides himself from the presence of God. The word defined as the ‘presence’ of the Lord from which they hid themselves is the word paniym which refers to the face – literally they hid themselves from the face of God. Every parent knows this stage well – when their child cannot look them in the face because of the guilt they bare. This hiding from the presence of God reveals the final and saddest result of the fall of man – the birth of fear. Adam declares to God that when he heard His voice he hid away because he was afraid.

Gen 3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

 

In the eyes of man, God the father has in one bite gone from a loving creator and friend to an object of fear. Man’s relationship with God is now marked with fear – fear of judgment. With the knowledge of right and wrong comes the knowledge of blessing and curses. Man fears that he will no longer be dealt with in terms of his innocence but in terms of his actions. The perfect creation of God has been subjected to sin and decay.

Having eaten of the tree of knowledge Adam is cut off from eating of the tree of life. And so we find that just as Gods command not to eat of the tree of knowledge was not only for Adam but also for his seed, so also the promise of restoration and access to the tree of life is not only for Adam but also for Adam’s seed. Gods plan was greater than the restoration of Adam and Eve; it was for the creation of a new nation – a people after God’s own heart, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people called after his own name, a righteous people. And so before Adam is cast out of the garden God does something very significant – he reveals his plan to restore the tree of life in the course of history and restore mankind to himself. And so before man is cast from the garden God gives two amazing promises of restoration to Adam. The first promise is given in Genesis 3:15 -

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

God foretells a time to come when the seed of the woman will crush the serpents head – a time when the serpent’s headship over man will be ended and man will be restored.

The second promise we find in Genesis 3:21 -

Gen 3:21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.

 

In this verse we find a wonderful picture as well as a wonderful promise of restoration. God covers Adam and Eve’s nakedness with coats of skin. The first thing we note here is that this covering is made by God himself. The Hebrew here is ‘asah’ which is defined as – to do, fashion, accomplish, make. God fashions this covering himself and accomplishes what they could not – He covers their nakedness. What man could not accomplish with his own hands – cover his nakedness before God – God accomplishes Himself.

 

This covering is a coat. The word coat is kthoneth meaning a tunic, a long shirt like garment and the word clothed is labash meaning to wrap around. So we find that God, unlike man, does not just girdle the wobbly bits – He covers him, clothes him, wraps him around completely. God declares that he is not in the business of patching – he makes a complete new covering for man. God is not the God of patching wine skins he is the God of new wineskins.

 

We also have this wonderful visual display hinted at by the fact that the covering was made of skins. The Hebrew is ‘owr which is defined as skin – so God makes this covering from animal skin. Here we have this picture played out before Adam where an animal is sacrificed to provide a covering for him – a picture of the sacrifice to come when Jesus would be sacrificed to provide the covering for the sins of the world. So God allows Adam a glimpse of His plan to restore man – to cover his sin through sacrifice. We also have this poignant moment when these coverings of skin are wrapped around him – as God lovingly wraps his arms around Him and covers him.

 

A quick reading of the account of the fall of man in Genesis made lead some to believe that an angry God expelled Adam and Eve from the garden and from his presence leaving them to fend for themselves. This is clearly a wrong perception and could not be further from the truth. We do not see a God turning his back on Adam – we see Adam hiding from Gods presence as God seeks out Adams presence. God goes looking for and finds man hiding in his fear. He then promises to do whatever it takes – to make the sacrifice he knows must be made to restore man. He then lovingly wraps him around with the covering made with his own hands. He covers the nakedness of man so that their relationship can continue.

And in this covering we find one more promise – the promise of new flesh. Mans eyes have been opened to his nakedness – to his fleshly sinful nature. God covers his sinful flesh temporarily so that he can continue to commune with him, but this tempory covering of flesh is first and foremost a promise of new flesh. God’s ultimate purpose is not to cover mans sinful flesh but to give him new flesh. To give him a new glorified body. To do away with the body of sin subject to sinful desires. This is the great mystery spoken of in 1 Corinthians 15:51. God’s ultimate purpose is a new creation – men and women that are born again – not of the flesh but of the spirit. This is the final victory that will sound across the earth at the final trumpet sound – we will receive new flesh - DEATH WILL BE SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY! 

 

1 Cor 15:50 Now this is what I am saying, brothers and sisters: Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I will tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed –52 in a moment, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.54 Now when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will happen,

       “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
     55 ​​​​​​​“Where, O death, is your victory?
            Where, O death, is your sting?”

 

The word “put on” immortality is the Greek word “enduo” which is to invest with clothing – literally to be clothed with immortality. This was God’s promise in clothing Adam – that he would be completely restored. Not only the removal of sin but the removal of his fleshly nature.

 

And so we see Adam and Eve leaving the garden of Eden not weighed down with guilt but full of the wonderful promises of God and a picture of His plan of restoration implanted in their minds.

 

Gods plan is to restore the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life in the course of history, for like Adam and Eve all mankind must make the same decision –which tree am I going to eat from?

 

 

THE RESTORATION OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

 

Are you aware that God restored the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Are you aware that you have access to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and God has again allowed you to decide whether you are going to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or to choose rather to eat of the tree of life?

I believe that you have seen the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – I believe you have not only seen it but have eaten of its fruit! Yes I believe you (and i) have done exactly what Adam and Eve did – eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We have eaten because we have failed to perceive the tree and have failed to perceive the results of eating of the tree.

Do you take offence at my suggestion that you have eaten of this tree, that you have proved yourself as much a sinner as Adam and Eve? Allow me the opportunity to clarify my statement – allow me to open your eyes to perceive the very real danger posed by the presence of this tree in your life and the danger posed by your failure to recognize the tree and the results of eating of this tree.

The restoration of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not occur quietly or out of the public eye, no - it arrived with much fanfare, with lightning and thunder and the sound of a very loud trumpet. Its arrival was announced with fire descending from the sky and smoke all around – all within the sight of thousands of people - the entire Israelite nation. If this setting sounds familiar to you it may well be because you have read of this account in the bible many times but have never perceived that what you were reading about was in fact the restoring of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The setting to which I am referring is that recorded in Exodus 19 and 20.  The account to which I am referring is the giving of the law to Moses. Yes - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was restored at Mount Sinai! Yes – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the law!

I will allow a moment for this statement to sink in.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the law!

At first glance this may appear to be a shocking statement to make. A statement which is unfounded and without any scriptural basis. Some may even consider it blasphemy to compare the holy and perfect law of God to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But before you burn this manuscript allow me to lay the basis for my assertion. Allow me to show that what I am suggesting is not my own doctrine but is the very clear doctrine declared by the word of God and by the apostles.

Your first thought may be this - the law was from God – it was perfect holy and just – how can you relate this perfect holy and just law to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which brought evil results and led to the separation of man from God. My response would be this –as we established earlier - the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not evil, it was created by God and it was good.

Gen 1:12 The land produced vegetation – plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.

Scripture confirms that God created all of the tree’s, including the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and scripture confirms that God saw that it was good. Gen 2:9 also reveals to us that God made the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to grow.

Gen 2:9And 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.

Scripture therefore reveals that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was created by the hand of God. No-where does scripture suggest that the tree was evil in any way – God does not create evil. How then does this parallel with the law given at Mount Sinai? Firstly we note that the law also came from the hand of God.

Exodus 31:18 And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.

Ex 32:16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.

And so scripture clearly reveals that both the law and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were created by the hand of God.

Secondly, the law, as with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was not evil in any way.

Romans 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law.

Paul declares that the law is not sin/evil but rather through the law we come to the knowledge of sin – the knowledge of good and evil. And so here we find another parallel between the law and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – both bring us into the awareness of what is right and what is wrong – both bring us into the knowledge of good and evil.

But if the tree of knowledge of good and evil was good then did that which was good bring forth death in Adam and Eve? Again the answer is no. It was not the tree which lead to their death but sin. The tree simply brought or awakened their knowledge of their sin. And herein we find another parallel with the law. Paul asks this same question concerning the law in Rom 7:13– if the law is good how could it produce death in me?

Rom 7:13 Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.

 

Here Paul is contemplating the law and asks the question - if the law produces death in me does that which is good become death to me? He concludes with the same conclusion we made concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The law/tree of knowledge does not produce death in me, rather it reveals my sinfulness and sin results in my death. In both cases it is the realization of my sin and my sinfulness which produces death in me. So knowledge of the law (good and evil) does not make me sin rather it reveals my sinfulness – it uncovers or diagnoses a preexisting problem – that is my sinful nature. So too the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not make Adam and Eve sinners it merely revealed their preexisting sinful nature – for surely if their sinful nature did not already exist they would never have eaten of the tree. So both the law and the tree of knowledge of good and evil serve the same purpose – revealing or bringing to light the sin which already exists in me.

Rom 7:12 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good.

And so we find that the law is holy, just and good – but through the revelation of what is holy, just and good my eyes are opened to the fact that I am unholy, unjust and evil. The law brings to light the sinfulness that is residing in me. The law then does not make me sin but rather it reveals my sinfulness.

And so we find another parallel between the law and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Just as eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil opened Adam’s eyes – so too the law also opens my eyes to good and evil. Eating of the law - God’s perfect, holy, just and good requirements - opens my eyes to the fact that I am unholy unjust and sinful.

And through the opening of my eyes to Gods perfect standard revealed through the law I am brought to the realization that I am naked. Just as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought the realization to Adam that he was naked so the law reveals my nakedness before a perfect just and holy God. As with the tree of knowledge the law removes my covering of innocence. Before the coming of the law the Israelites were innocent before the eyes of God. As they left Egypt and travelled through the desert God’s blessing was on the Israelites. Despite all of the Israelites rebellion and complaining as they travelled through the desert God’s judgment never fell upon them, instead they experienced Gods blessings. God provided food and water through various miracles – and not one Israelite perished through the whole journey up until Mount Sinai. God dealt with them in terms of their innocence. But on the same day that Moses came down the mountain with the tablets of the law – on that very day the judgment of God fell and three thousand men died.

Ex 32:28 The Levites did what Moses ordered, and that day about three thousand men of the people died.

Before the coming of the law the Israelites received only provision and blessing from God, with all of their wrongdoing no judgment came upon them. This all changed at Mount Sinai – at the coming of the law. God said of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil “in the day you eat thereof you will die”. On the day the Israelites ate of the law three thousand men died. With the coming of the law God could no longer deal with the Israelites in terms of their innocence but now dealt with them in terms of their actions. With the coming of the law – the knowledge of good and evil – came the responsibility to act in terms of that knowledge, to act in terms of the law. The Israelites are now dealt with in terms of right and wrong and blessing and curses. Before the coming of the law they received only blessings now they are subject to blessings and curses.

And so as with the eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so also the coming of the law brings a change in the relationship between God and man –that change is fear. Just as Adam feared God because of his nakedness so the Israelites relationship with God becomes marked by fear.

Ex 20:18 All the people perceived the thunderings, the lightnings, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled, and stayed at a distance.

 The law brings with it fear – the fear of curses and the fear of judgment. As with Adam and Eve the Israelites realize they have entered into a covenant of fear. Because of their nakedness before God – their sinfulness and sinful nature – the Israelites are exposed and naked and require a new covering. Once again God provides a covering – a covering for their sins until the tree of life is restored. Once again as in the Garden of Eden a sacrifice is required to provide a covering for the sins of the people. Together with the law God provides for a system of sacrifices to cover their sins. As was the case in the Garden of Eden God leaves man with a promise. The system of sacrifices was Gods promise – a picture of the sacrifice to come that would remove their sin forever – a promise that the tree of life would be reestablished and that all things would be restored.

Yes – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was re-established, replanted at Mount Sinai. The law is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Have you perceived it? Have you eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – the law? Have you entered into the covenant of fear – is your relationship with God based on fear? Are you trying to please God, to cover your nakedness, by your own efforts, by your own good works trying to live in accordance with the law – the knowledge of good and evil?

If you are in this place there is good news – the tree of life has been restored, replanted in history and all people and all nations have access to its fruit. Fruit to restore life, quicken life, sustain life. Fruit of forgiveness and fruit of love. Fruit for the healing of the nations.

Journey with me to the tree of life. 

 

RESTORING THE TREE OF LIFE

 

As stated earlier the word “life”from the book of Genesis is the Hebrew “chay” which means alive and is from the root “chayah” which is to have life, live forever, sustain life, be quickened and be restored. 

The word “tree” is the Hebrew ‘ets which is defined as tree, wood, timber or stock.

 When we are looking for the tree of life then we are looking for the tree or wood which restores life, quickens life, sustains life and brings eternal life. As with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil the tree of life was not restored quietly or out of the public eye. No - it occurred in Israel, before crowds of people, before the Roman authorities of the day. It was accompanied by a violent earthquake, the splitting of rocks, the darkening of the sun, the opening of graves and the rising of dead bodies. An event so monumental that it became the center point of history – the event by which we measure the passing of time. Yes - the event to which I am referring is the crucifixion of Christ. Yes - the tree of life is the cross of Jesus Christ!

When the cross was dropped into place, planted in the ground – it became the tree of life. The significance of the fact that the cross to which Christ was nailed was a tree is not missed by the apostles. Acts 5:30 declares:

Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.

And Galatians 3:13 :

Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:

The word ‘tree’ here is the Greek xulon defined as wood or (by extension) a tree. The word xulon used here is the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew word ‘ets which is used for the tree of life in Genesis 2:9.

This passage in Gal 3:13 is in fact a direct quote from the Old Testament Deut 21:23 :

Deut 21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;)

Here the Hebrew ‘ets is used and Paul in Galatians 3:13 uses the Greek word xulon to translate the text. There was no doubt in the apostle’s mind that the cross was a tree.And not just any tree - the tree of life! The cross was the tree of life re-established in history, man once again was given free access to the tree of life – to eat and live.

But if the cross is the tree of life it must fulfill our definition of the tree of life – and should fulfill the purpose for which the tree of life was provided in Genesis - to have life, live forever, sustain life, to quicken and to restore life.

In John 14:6 Jesus declares the following:

John 14:6 Jesus replied, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus declares not only that he has life but that He is life. He is the tree of life, he is your provision and he is your life!

Col 3:4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him.

When we eat of the tree of life we not only receive life, we receive eternal life!

John 6:54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

Not only does He have life – He sustains life

Hebrews 1:3 The Son isthe radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

Not only does he sustain life, he also quickens life:

Eph 2:1 And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;

Not only does Jesus bring life, eternal life, not only does he quicken life and sustain life – but he restores life. He is the tree of life who has been provided for the restoration of all things and appointed by God for the restoration of all things.

 

Acts 3:20And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

 

Jesus fulfills all things for which the tree of life was provided for in the garden of Eden. He is the tree of life declaring “come and eat of me and live!”

 

God has restored the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life – He has given you free access to both. As Adam and Eve you are wandering through the garden of your life and you have discovered that God has provided two trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (the law) and the tree of life (Jesus). Which tree are you going to eat from?

 

As you ponder this question let us consider the fruit – the result – of eating of the tree of life.

 

 

 

THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF LIFE

 

 

As we study the fruit of the tree of life keep in your mind the fruit that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil produced – their eyes were opened, they realized they were naked, they tried to cover themselves and when they could not cover themselves they hid themselves in fear. Keep this in mind for the fruit of the tree of life is the restoration of all things lost at the fall.

 

After the crucifixion of Christ we have this account in Luke 24:13-31 of the first appearance of the risen Christ to a couple walking on the road to Emmaus.

 

Luke 24:13 Now that very day two of them were on their way to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and debating these things, Jesus himself approached and began to accompany them.

 

As Jesus walks with them the scripture says that their eyes did not perceive that it was Jesus who was with them.

 

Luke 24:16 But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.

 

When Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil their eyes were opened – opened to the flesh nature and closed to the spirit nature. This couple had not yet eaten of the tree of life and did not have spiritual perception to recognize Jesus.

 

As they walk along Jesus begins explaining to them all the scriptures and prophecies that had to be fulfilled – how he had to die to restore all things.

 

As they arrive at their destination Jesus pretends that he is going to journey on – but they compel him to stay so that they can talk further, so they can continue to hear his voice. At the fall of man Adam hid from the voice of God – but this couple seek out his voice and constrain him from leaving.

 

Luke 24: 29 But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us:

 

The word abide here is ‘MENO’ which is to remain or stay. They do not hide from the presence of God but seek out his presence compelling him to remain or stay with them. In the Garden of Eden God sought out Adams presence while Adam hid himself, in this account they seek out Gods presence while God hides himself – constraining their eyes from seeing that it is Jesus.

 

As they then abide in his presence they are able to eat of the tree of life. Jesus breaks bread and they eat of the tree of life and something amazing happens – their eyes are opened!

 

Luke 24:30 When he had taken his place at the table with them, he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 At this point their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

 

 

So in this account we find that this man and woman are a type of Adam and Eve. As they receive the bread from Jesus – as they eat from the tree of life – their eyes are opened! Just as Adam and Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and had there eyes opened to the things of the flesh – so when this man and woman eat of Jesus, the tree of life, their spiritual eyes are opened – their spiritual sight is restored.

 

Corinthians 15:45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

 

Just as our fleshly eyes were opened by the first Adam – so our spiritual eyes are opened by the last Adam (Jesus).

 

This couple on the road to Emmaus are restored as their eyes are opened and they perceive that Jesus is the tree of life –that he has removed their sins and restored them. With the opening of their eyes comes the awareness that once again they are naked before God – and not ashamed! With the removal of their sins comes the removal of their shame.  

 

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

 

With our spiritual eyes opened by the tree of life we are restored to our original position before the fall of man. With the removal of our sin and our shame comes the removal of our fear. Under the weight of the law – the knowledge of right and wrong – there was always the fear of sin and judgment from God. With the removal of our sin the weight of fear is removed from our shoulders and is replaced by the wonderful knowledge of the love of God towards us.

 

Man is once again declared innocent in the eyes of God. Man is restored to his original position of innocence – not now the innocence of being unaware of sin but the innocence of righteousness – our sins having been fully paid for and forgiven.  

 

Rom 5:17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!

 

And so we find in this Tree of life – the cross of Jesus – provision for the restoration of fallen man. Once again the Tree of life is available to all, once again life is available to all.

 

 

I hope that by this stage your eyes have been opened – that you have perceived the dangerous position you are in. You have two trees before you – eating of the one brings death, eating of the other, life. Your spiritual life – indeed your eternal life – hangs in the balance. Having perceived these two tree’s demands a choice – not only a choice – but an action. Life comes not from the knowledge of the tree of life, not from gazing upon the tree of life, not from touching the tree of life – but from eating of the tree of life.

The mere mental assertion, the acknowledgment of its existence cannot save you. You see, as Adam’s seed we all ate of the tree when he ate of the tree. He ate and we have all been infected. The poison of sin flows through us all.

 

Rom 5:12 Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.

 

Sin infected us all. We were all made sinners.

 

Romans 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous.

 

We were all made sinners but the good news is that the antidote was provided. But we must reach out and take it. Eat it. All of mankind is already infected by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You have already been infected by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You do not have the luxury of sitting on the fence and saying – I will eat of neither. You have already eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Adam. In Adam you ate of the tree and in the day that you ate thereof you died.

 

1 Corinth 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

 

In Adam you ate of the tree and in Adam you died. And until you come and eat of the tree of life – eat of Jesus – death will continue to reign in your life. But do not look too harshly upon Adam because as we stated earlier the story of Adam was the story of us. If we were there it would not have gone down any differently because we are also sinners as was Adam. Yes, death came through Adam, but it spread to all people because all sinned. 

 

Romans 5:12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned

 

And so we all find ourselves in the same place, we have all been infected by the law – by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But before you decide whether you are going to continue to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or to rather eat of the tree of life - there may be one more question that arises within you. If the law, the knowledge of good and evil brings death then what was its purpose? Why did God create the law if it brings death? What is the purpose of the law?

 

 

The purpose of the law

 

 

The question then is this, why did God create the law – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?

If the law brings death then why was it created - what was its purpose?

 

The answer to this question we find in scripture. This very question is the one which Paul addresses in the book of Romans.

 

In Romans 7:7 he states:

 

“I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."

 

And in Romans 3:20 :

 

Romans 3:20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.

 

So here Paul highlights the first purpose of the law -the first purpose of the law was to expose sin. Here Paul says that if I was coveting something (to set the heart upon, i.e. long for) belonging to my neighbour but there was no law that said “do not covet” I would not be aware of my sin – that what I was doing was in fact sin. But when the law comes – I am then aware that what I am doing is sin. So before the law comes I am sinning but I am unaware of my sin – but when the law comes I am made aware of my sin, my sin is exposed as sin. So the first purpose of the law is to expose my sin. The law brings the knowledge of sin and exposes the sin within me.

 

But a side effect of the law – and indeed its next purpose – was to increase sin.

 

Romans 5:20 tells us that the law was given so that sin would increase:

 

Romans 5:20 “ law was added so that the trespass might increase.”

 

So here we find another purpose of the law – to INCREASE sin. You may find this rather startling so go and read it for yourself! The law was meant to increase sin! The reason why law increases sin is revealed by Paul in Romans 7:8

 

Romans 7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

 

Paul says that when the law comes, all kinds of sinful desires arise within you. The law increases sinful desires. This can be illustrated by the “white wall” example. You may walk everyday past a clean white wall and not even notice it. But place a big notice on the wall saying “do not write on this wall” and see how long it is before it has writing all over it. The law not only reveals sin it also causes sinful desires to arise – increasing sin.

 

So the purpose of the law was to expose sin in your life – to bring it out so that it could be dealt with. Through the law my sin is exposed and I realise my sinfulness, and having realised my sinfulness I turn to Christ to set me free from sin. God’s law removes all of the pretence we may have concerning how “good” we are and places all of mankind squarely in the same box. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

 

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

 

Having exposed all of our sin the law points us to Christ – from whence our salvation comes!

 

 

And so the ultimate purpose of the law is this –to lead us to Christ!

 

 

Galatians 3:23-25 puts it like this:

 

“Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. 24 So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.25 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.”

 

Verse 24 tells us that the law was put in charge of us to lead us to Christ – that was the purpose of the law. And once we have come to Christ we are no longer under the supervision of the law. The ultimate purpose of the law is to lead you to Christ – the ultimate purpose of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was to lead you to the tree of life. Only when Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did he realise his need for the tree of life.

 

When you come to Christ you are justified by faith and are set free from the law. The tree of life sets you free from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Paul puts it this way :

 

Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

 

When I eat of the law I die – which leads me to Christ, the tree of life, and when I eat of Him I receive life!   So through the law I realise that I cannot be declared righteous under the law. The purpose of the law was never to make me righteous – the purpose of the law was to expose my sin and my unrighteousness and thereby to lead me to Christ where I receive righteousness. Not a righteousness of works through the law but righteousness by faith apart from the law. For when I come to Christ he sets me free from the law. Free from its endless demands and standards. Righteousness does not come through the law – the law leads you to Christ where you receive righteousness through faith. Righteousness apart from works – apart from your own efforts.

 

Galatians 2:21 affirms this as follows:

 

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

 

Paul tells us here that if it were possible for you to fulfil all of the requirements of the law and thereby be declared righteous by God, then Christ died for nothing! The purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross was to remove your sins and set you free from the law! If, once you are saved, you place yourself back under law by trying to fulfil its requirements you have nullified the work of Christ on the cross. If through eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you have realised your nakedness and sinfulness and have then been led to the tree of life to be restored – and you then return to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – then Christ died for nothing. Christ died to set you free from the law – how can you then return to the law, to that which exposes and increases your sin. Peter refers to this as a dog returning to its vomit.

 

2 Peter 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

 

How dangerous is the law – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Dangerous enough that God should declare – “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”.

 

At Mount Sinai – at the restoring of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – God again issues this command, but to an even greater degree.

 

Exodus 19:12 You must set boundaries for the people all around, saying, ‘Take heed to yourselves not to go up on the mountain nor touch its edge. Whoever touches the mountain will surely be put to death! 13 No hand will touch him – but he will surely be stoned or shot through, whether a beast or a human being; he must not live.’

 

At Mount Sinai God declares not only that you are not to eat of the law – but that you should not even touch it. This is undoubtedly a reference to Eve’s confusion of Genesis 3:3 where she quotes God as saying they are not to touch the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God did not instruct them not to touch the tree; his instruction was to not eat of the tree.

 

Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

 

Her misunderstanding of God’s instruction opens the door for Satan to declare that they will surely not die. The misunderstanding of scripture opens the door for satan to bring confusion and lead people astray from the truth. On this point of our relationship with the law God wants no confusion. And so this leads to this clear instruction at Mount Sinai – not only are you not to eat of the law - you are not to touch the law.

 

And then in verse 13 God goes even further  and says not only are you not to touch of the law but you are not to touch anyone who has touched the law – they are to be stoned to death.

 

Exodus 19:13 No hand will touch him

 

On this point God wants no misunderstanding, when you come to Christ, when you eat of the tree of life, you have been set free from the law and are not to return to the law. You are not to touch of it – and you are not to touch anyone who has touched of it. In Christ God has cancelled the law and removed it. 

 

Colossians 2:13b-14:

 

” He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code(law), with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is uprooted, removed and cancelled at the cross. When you come to Christ the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the law, is uprooted from your life.

 

 

There is another great danger in the law, and that is the way in which the law changes our relationship with God. An example of this change is reflected in Exodus 3 and Exodus 33. In Exodus 3:6 we have the narrative of Moses’ encounter with God in the burning bush, before the restoring of the law. Moses hides his face from God because he is afraid.  

 

Exodus 3:6 He added, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Then in Exodus 33:19 after God gives Moses the law we find reference to another encounter between Moses and God – but there is a distinct change. Moses now asks to look upon God’s face but God hides His face from Moses.

Exodus 33:19 And the LORD said, “I will make all my goodness pass before your face, and I will proclaim the LORD by name before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” 20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can see me and live.” 21 The LORD said, “Here is a place by me; you will station yourself on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover you with my hand while I pass by. 23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen.”

 

In this we find an amazing truth – sin and shame cause me to hide my face from God, but law causes God to hide his face from me.

 

The law it would appear is more damaging to my relationship with God than sin is. This is the opposite view to the world. The world believes that sin is the biggest problem, that God is hiding his face from them because of their sin. The truth is they are hiding their face from God because of their sin which causes them to fear God. God’s grace however is smiling down on them and inviting them to come and eat of the tree of life, because he has dealt with sin on the cross.

 

Those living under the law though think that God is smiling down on them because of their good works and self righteous acts under the law, but God has hidden his face from them. The greatest sinner on earth finds a gracious loving God awaiting them with open arms – but from the self righteous God hides His face.

 

And so in Christ we find that all things are restored – but there is one thing that is not restored.

In the new Garden of Eden – the New Jerusalem – we find one thing that is not restored.

 Can you guess what that one thing is?

 

THE NEW JERUSALEM

 

In the book of Revelation we have this picture of the New Jerusalem –the city of God coming down out of heaven. But as this city is described it becomes clear that something is missing – something has not been restored from the original Garden of Eden. This is revealed in Revelation 22:2 -

 

Revelation 22:1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month.

 

What is missing is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Verse 2 tells us that on this side of the river and on that is the tree of life. The tree of life is on both sides of the river – there is no tree of the knowledge of good and evil – there is no law. In the New Jerusalem there shall be no tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

This is confirmation of what was stated in Colossians 2:13-14

 

” He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code(law), with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

 

The removal of the law is confirmed by the next verse in Revelation 22:3

 

Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

 

This verse declares there will be no more curse. The curse referred to here is the curse of the law -

 

Gal 3:10 For all who rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”

 

There is no more curse because Christ the tree of life has redeemed us from the curse.

 

Gal 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

 

In the New Jerusalem there is no law – for the law of God is written on our hearts. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is our law. We live according to the spirit. Our sinful flesh has been removed, we have received new flesh, glorified bodies. No longer subject to sin – we are set free from sin, free from the law, free from the flesh. The throne of God and the lamb will be with his people and there will be no want. It will be – heaven on earth!

 

Have your eyes been opened to these two trees – to this gospel of two trees. This gospel of two trees is the gospel of law and grace. Eating of law brings death, eating of grace – Gods abundant provision of life through Jesus – brings restoration and eternal life. The choice before you may be represented like this:

 

 

Tree of the knowledge of good and evil                or          Tree of life

 

Old Covenant                                                    or           New Covenant

 

Self righteousness                                             or           Righteousness of Christ

 

Earned favor                                                     or           Undeserved favor

 

Curses and blessing                                           or           Blessing upon blessing

 

Ministry of condemnation                                   or           ministry of righteousness

 

Law                                                                 or           Grace

 

But if we break it down to the lowest common denominator I think it would be this:

 

Man’s way                                                               or           God’s way.

 

The law is mans way of attempting to restore his relationship with God. It is trying to please God through our own efforts and good works.Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is trying to live a life in accordance with the commandments of the law – trying to live an ethical and “good” life in the hope that your efforts – your good works – will earn you enough points in Gods score book to get you into heaven. This approach is completely opposite to that desired by God. God requires you to eat of the tree of life – which is to rely and trust completely in the fact that at the cross Jesus accomplished everything required for your complete salvation. And that he gives you this complete salvation freely – without cost or effort on your part. It is completely by the grace of God. It is a free gift.

 

Under the law you are serving God in the hope that you will receive salvation – if your efforts are good enough. Under grace you receive salvation freely because the efforts of Jesus at the cross were good enough. The one is reliant upon what you can do the other is reliant upon what Jesus has done. These two approaches are diametrically opposed and cannot be reconciled. You have to choose one or the other. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil – your own efforts at earning salvation by trying to comply with rules and regulation or the tree of life – accepting that salvation is a free gift and that your efforts at earning salvation are diry rags in Gods sight.      

 

This is summed up perfectly in Galatians 2:15 –

 

“We who are Jews by birth and not 'Gentile sinners' 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.”

 

No one will be justified by observing the law!We are justified by faith – trusting in Him who justifies us – Jesus Christ! When you move from trying to become justified by complying with the law to believing in faith that you are already justified by Christ you are suddenly set free – the weight of the law is removed from your shoulders, the weight of your own efforts at earning salvation.This is the gospel of grace! Salvation through the work of Christ apart from any effort on my behalf.

 

 I could not restore my relationship with God but he restored our relationship through the cross. I could not earn forgiveness for my sins but Christ bore my sins on the cross so that I could receive forgiveness. I could never fulfil all the requirements of the law but Christ fulfilled the law on my behalf. Everything has been accomplished at the cross. As Jesus died on the cross his final words were “it is finished!” Everything that needed to be accomplished was accomplished on the cross! There is nothing left for us to do but to appropriate all that he has already accomplished on our behalf. To eat of the tree of life. This is salvation through grace apart from any work or effort on our part.

 

Ephesians 2:8 says it this way-

 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works , so that no one can boast”.

 

So we see that that we are no longer under law but under grace. Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon himself and bore the wrath and judgement of God. Jesus was condemned so that we would never have to be condemned. Jesus was forsaken so that God would never have to forsake us. All the punishment that was due to us was placed on Jesus. Our sins have been judged and we have received forgiveness. We are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! We are adopted as sons and daughters of the most high God, the favour of God is upon us and all the promises and blessings of God are ours in Christ.

 

If you have been eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you should by now have realised that you are naked. If you have been living under the influence of the law, trying to please God by living a good life, trying to live according to the rules and regulations of the law, you should be well aware of your nakedness - aware of the fact that you will never be able to comply with God’s holy and righteousness requirements in your own strength, by your own efforts. You are trying to achieve the impossible – in all of history only one man has ever been able to live in accordance with the law. Only one man in all of history has lived without committing sin. The man Jesus Christ. It is for this reason that Jesus fulfilled the law on your behalf – because you could not. He fulfilled the law and then he removed the law. He removed the old covenant requirement of rules and regulations and replaced it with the new covenant requirement of life by the Spirit.

 

 When you come and eat of the tree of life he fills you with his Spirit. When you live under the law you are seeking righteousness through your good works, when you turn to the tree of life, Jesus, he declares you righteous through faith and fills you with the Spirit of righteousness. When you live under the law you are seeking righteousness, when you come to Jesus you are living from righteousness. Whilst living under the law you can never fulfil the law because you are weakened by the flesh. When you come to Christ you are empowered by the Spirit. In Christ you can achieve what you could not achieve under the law. Living under the law is a place of weakness and condemnation. The law does not empower you; it empowers sin because of the weakness of your flesh. Herein lies the difference between law and grace – and why the law could never achieve the aim of making you righteous:

 

The LAW empowers sin and condemns you – GRACE condemns sin and empowers you.

 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.3 For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 

Come and eat of the tree of life! This is the gospel of two trees – the eternal gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of grace.

 

Leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – and come and eat freely from the tree of life. Come and eat and receive life freely and without cost! The life that Jesus offers is a free gift, without cost to you. It cost Him everything – but he offers it to you without cost. Come and eat at the tree of life!

 

Isaiah 55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 3 Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

 

Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say: “Come!” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wants it take the water of life free of charge.

 

Jesus is the tree of life, and he is also the river of life. His word to us is come and eat of me and come and drink of me. In John 4:5-13 we have the wonderful story of the Samaritan woman who came to draw water from the well.

 

John 4:5 Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6 Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. It was about noon. 7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone off into the town to buy supplies.) 9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you – a Jew – ask me, a Samaritan woman, for water to drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who said to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said to him, “you have no bucket and the well is deep; where then do you get this living water?12 Surely you’re not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock.”

 13 Jesus replied, “Everyone who drinks some of this water will be thirsty again.14 But whoever drinks some of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again, but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.”

 

When the Samaritan woman arrived at the well she had an encounter with Jesus – and she encountered two wells. The first well she encountered was the well dug with human hands which supplies water for our physical thirst – a well to which she had to return day after day to quench her thirst. The second well she encountered was the well of life – Jesus Christ – who supplies living water.

 

We have two wells from which to draw water in our lives. The well dug by human hands – human wisdom, human knowledge, human effort –  the well of human history , advice from our friends, our own beliefs, intuition, spiritual guides, fortune tellers, mediums – the list is endless. But there is only one well from which we can draw living water. A well dug not with human hands – the living well – Jesus Christ.

 

Verse 28 tells us that the woman left her water pot and went into the city to declare the wonderful news – “the saviour is here!”. She went to draw water from the well but after encountering Jesus she became a well. A wellspring of life.

 

From where will you draw your water, from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, wisdom drawn from the well of human experience – or will you draw your wisdom from the tree of life, from the creator God, your creator who knows you completely, who counts every hair on your head – who formed every cell in our body?  The God who not only knows you completely but who loves you completely. The God who allowed himself to be crucified on a tree for you – that he could become a tree of life for you. Come and eat of the tree of life. Leave the tree of self effort, pride, self-righteousness and human wisdom and come and eat of Him – the tree of life!

 

 

 

 

A PICTURE OF TWO TREES

 

 They say a picture paints a thousand words, and so I have created the following illustration of these two trees. I often find it easier to grasp concepts when they can be visualised – and so it is hoped this illustration would add another dimension to your perception of these two trees.

 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil

 

There are three major components in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The soil, the roots and the fruit.

The soil is the law, the roots are sin and the fruit is death. The soil (the law) provides the sustenance and nutrients to the roots (sin). The roots (sin) cause the tree to grow and produce fruit (death) for the fruit of sin is death. In other words, the law empowers sin and sin results in death.

 

Scripture puts it this way :

1 Corinthians 15:56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

 

So the law empowers sin OR provides the nutrients for sin.

 

Romans 7:8 But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment (law), produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead.

 

And the fruit of sin is death.

 

Romans 7:9 And I was once alive apart from the law, but with the coming of the commandment sin became alive 10 and I died. So I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life brought death! 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it I died.

 

And so the law empowers sin, and sin results in death!

 

The tree of life

 

 

The tree of life also consists of the three components – the soil, the roots and the fruit.

The soil is Grace, the roots faith and the fruit is righteousness.

 

Grace provides the environment in which life can grow or flourish. It also provides the nutrients required for life. These nutrients are accessed through the roots of faith.

 

Romans 5:2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory

 

It is through faith that we gain access to the grace of God, and through faith we remain established in grace. As long as we are accessing the provision of Gods grace through faith we continue to grow – receive life.

 

Eph2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 

Salvation through Grace is accessed through the roots of faith, and being established in grace produces the fruit of righteousness. The aim of the law was to produce the fruit of righteousness but this could not be achieved because it was based on my efforts. The tree of life however is able to produce the fruit of righteousness in me because it is not based on my efforts but on Christ’s efforts on the cross.  

 

WE HAVE ENTERED REST BUT ARE NOT AT REST

 

In the first chapter we looked at the battle between the Israelites and Amalek, and we found that the Lord had sworn that He will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.

 

Exodus 17:16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation

 

God’s war with Amalak is from generation to generation and God will not be satisfied until they are completely wiped out from remembrance. Why this animosity with Amalek you may wonder? The answer is in the fact that Amalek represents the law, and the law is at war with the Grace of God. Amalek is a descendant of Esau – and Esau is also a type (picture) of the law. This war – this animosity between Law and Grace is wonderfully illustrated in the story of Jacob and Esau.

 

Gen 25:22The children struggled together within her. She said, “If it be so, why do I live?” She went to inquire of Yahweh.

 

Rebecca was pregnant and had twins within her womb, Jacob and Esau. But it seemed like these two babies were fighting within her womb. So she asks God what is happening and God reveals the following:

 

Gen 25:23 Yahweh said to her,

 “Two nations are in your womb.

 Two peoples will be separated from your body.

 The one people will be stronger than the other people.

 The elder will serve the younger.”

God reveals to her that there are two nations, two people types that are contending within her womb. As the story proceeds we find that these two people groups are the children of the Law and the children of Grace. Esau (a type of the law) is born first. The law came first – the old covenant of the law came before the new covenant of grace. Esau was red or ruddy.  

Gen 25:25 The first came out red all over, like a hairy garment. They named him Esau.

His red complexion relates to the color of blood because the law is a covenant of blood. The law demands the shedding of blood, for under the law there is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.

 

Heb 9:22 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

 

Jacob was born second and was a type (picture) of the new covenant of grace. As the second born Jacob did not have the birthright as this belonged to the firstborn Esau. As the first born Esau had the birthright and was first in line to receive the blessings of his father. However we find that Jacob makes an agreement with Esau and takes for himself the birthright of the first born.

 

Gen 25:29 Jacob boiled stew. Esau came in from the field, and he was famished. 30 Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am famished.” Therefore his name was called Edom.

 

Here again we find the reference to blood in the red stew which Jacob prepared. Jacob, a type (picture) of Jesus feeds Esau (the law) his own blood (red stew) which satisfies the laws demand for blood. In exchange for his stew (the blood of Jesus) Jacob(Jesus) receives the birthright. The blessings of the father now pass from Esau (the law) to Jacob (Jesus). 

Gen 25:34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

 

Gods blessing (the birthright) now falls not on the children of the law (Esau) but the children of grace (Jacob).God’s prophecy to Rebekah is fulfilled that the older will serve the younger. The older covenant of the law is now subservient to the younger covenant of Grace. The blessings of the father are no longer due to those under the law (old covenant) but are due to those under Grace (new covenant). And so these two peoples, these two nations are at war with one another from generation to generation. Throughout the bible we find this eternal conflict between the children of Jacob, the children of the promise saved by faith, and the children of Esau, the children of the law, saved by their own good works (their own sacrifices). 

 

Therefore we are at rest but are not resting. We are at rest because we have entered the rest of God – no longer working to attain salvation but resting on the finished work of the cross. We are however not resting our hands because the eternal conflict between law and grace continues. As we saw in the first chapter - when Moses rested his hands Amalek (the law) prevailed. We cannot rest our hands or Amalek – the law – will prevail. We have to continue to fight the good fight. In the bible we find that when it comes to our battles with sin and temptations, battles with the old man, we are encouraged to stand firm, to resist the devil. But in the battle with the law/Amalek we are required to advance, to annihilate every remnant of the law. 

 

Exodus 17:11 And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.

We have entered God’s rest but we are not at rest. Our hearts our minds our spirits are at rest but our hands are not yet at rest. We need to fight the good fight. To advance the gospel of grace. This battle will be from generation to generation until Christ comes. We cannot rest from proclaiming the gospel of grace because when we do – Amalek will prevail!

Ex 17:13 So Joshua destroyed Amalek and his army with the sword.

 

So Joshua (Jesus saves), the Grace of God, destroyed Amalek – the law, with the sword. We have been given the sword of the Spirit to destroy arguments and strongholds – to pull them down and lay new foundations of truth – to establish new foundations of the grace of God.

2Corinth 10:3 For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, 4 for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments5 and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.

And so to all those who are eating at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil we say “come” come and eat of the tree of life, Jesus Christ. Forsake the old covenant of the law and enter into the new covenant of grace. The law was just a shadow of the amazing work of salvation (Grace) that was to come through Jesus.

Hebrews 10:1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. 2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 4 For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins.5 So when he (Jesus) came into the world, he said,

       “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.
      6 ​​​​​​​“Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.
      7 ​​​​​​​“Then I said, ‘Here I am:I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’”
 8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offeringsyou did not desire nor did you take delight in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then he says, “Here I am:I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first to establish the second.

 

Jesus does away with the old covenant of law to establish the new covenant of Grace.

 

Heb 10:10 By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.11 And every priest stands day after day serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again – sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”17 then he says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

 

Jesus was the final offering for sin – there is no more offering required. You can offer nothing for your sin except to receive by faith the offering He has made for you. Your salvation depends entirely upon the work of Jesus on the cross and not upon any work you have done or ever will do. Salvation can no longer be earned through sacrifices and offerings it can only be received as a free gift from the Grace of God.

Heb 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.

Draw near to Jesus and eat of the tree of life, have your heart sprinkled (cleansed) from a guilty conscience and have your body washed in pure water. In Him is the forgiveness of sins and the removal of all guilt. His desire is to totally remove your guilt conscience and replace it with a righteousness conscience. Jesus has come so that you no longer have to be aware of your sin but that you can become aware of you righteousness in Him. He has come to set you free – free from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – free from your guilt and free from your nakedness.

In the air of righteousness is the breath of freedom!