Two Trees

In the Garden of Eden, there were two special trees. One was the tree of life, and the other was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life represented fellowship with God. Before the Fall, Adam and Eve ate of this tree. They partook of the life of God. As long as they ate of this tree they had eternal life. 

The other tree was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This tree represented independence from God. It represented abandoning God and going in their own way. God commanded Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of this tree, for if they ate it they would die. 

Like everything else he had made, God said the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was very good. It was good because it preserved humanity’s free will. It gave Adam and Eve an option to leave God and his garden if they wanted to. They were not forced to be in Eden. Adam and Eve were not robots, forced to follow God. Instead, they were free to choose him or reject him. This freedom meant they could truly love him.

Adam and Eve chose to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were immediately separated from God, and they became slaves of Satan. They could no longer live in the Spirit, but became mired in the flesh. Their way was blocked to the tree of life, and they no longer had eternal life. They were kicked out of the garden and had to die.

The tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil represent two different ways of living. 

We can still eat of these two trees today.

We eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when we live independently from God. We decide and calculate what is right or wrong, and we make decisions based on our own wisdom. Almost everyone in the world is eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They are doing whatever they want to do, living in their own way, independent of God’s guidance. 

This way of living seems wise. It seems knowledgable and good. But eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is living in the flesh, not in the Spirit. It is living according to lies and not truth. It leads to slavery to Satan and ends in sin and misery. It leads to death.

We eat of the tree of life when we live our lives according to Christ. Instead of doing what we want to do, we do what God wants us to do. Our lives are about him and not ourselves. When we eat of the tree of life, we enter into God’s rest. We stop doing our own thing, and we do what God wants (Hebrews 4:10).

Jesus is the tree of life: “whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life” (John 6:54). When we trust in Christ, the way is opened up for us to eat of the tree of life.

Jesus showed us how to live based on the tree of life. We are called to follow his example.

Jesus never ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He could only do what he saw his Father do. He could do nothing by himself (John 5:19). Jesus was never independent from God. All he did originated in God. 

By dying for our sins and rising up again, Jesus restored the possibility of us eating from the tree of life. This means we no longer need to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Because of Jesus, we can live in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

God is raising up people who are weaned off the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They will not calculate and decide what to do based on their own minds. Instead, they will live by revelation of the Holy Spirit. They will eat of the tree of life, who is Christ, reflecting God’s kingdom into the world.

To live according to the tree of life, make God number one. Read the Bible and see what God says. Pray and hear from him. Be in fellowship with strong Christians who will encourage you to follow God. As you grow in your faith, eating from the tree of life will become more normal, and you will leave the tree of the knowledge of good and evil behind.