Removing the Tree (Gen 2 & 3)

Along with so many others my own sister became a victim of the Christchurch Quake with her house being cracked, out of level and yet liveable once power, water and finally we hope sewage restored. Following the second big quake one of her much loved privacy trees began to slowly lean over until it fell against the front door. I volunteered to bring the chainsaw and cut it up so she could regain her freedom to go out and come in to her house. The operation went well and over two hours we turned the offensive tree into a couple of trailer loads ready for the dump and some logs for firewood.

As you do these days communication began to emerge on Facebook about appreciation for our doing this for her and comments about the great influx of light into her house. I made the comment “Could put a whole new theology to the words "Let there be light" in removing one tree…” The offending tree would have to be the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” mentioned in Gen. 2:17 as the only one of all the trees in the garden of Eden Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat of. As I emailed about this to a missionary friend it occurred to me someone needs to cut up this terrible tree once and for all so that the truth of God can shine through His children [ecclesia] once again. This is our task today to dismantle the spiritual tree that inhibits our communion with God in the pure way which the first man and woman enjoyed in the beginning in the Garden of Eden.

At my sister’s I had to work branch by branch until one limb at a time was safe to cut through and drop to the ground in sections so it would not damage even more of her garden and her tender heart, or myself. Not unlike the children of God my sister was grieving the damage to her house and the loss of her tree. Her lawns were as cracked as her emotions, the ground was still shaking and her future was very uncertain. People have set up their lives up on their dodgy beliefs to help control their circumstances but the control they thought they had was an illusion - it never really belonged to them because in the end only God has the control. This is the truth that scriptures set out plainly and whether we like it or not, we cannot change that truth. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a mix of the truth and the lie, which is called syncretism, where man blends true religion with idolatry and comes up with a god who suits them. This is why we are in the mess we are today, because we chose to believe only part of the Gospel.

Look at the temptation of Jesus and what he spoke to Satan.

Mt 4:4. But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” [Life comes from hearing God]

Matt 4:7. Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’” [Adam and Eve tested God and died spiritually]

Matt 4:10. “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” [Adam and Eve served Satan instead of telling Satan to separate himself from them]

Now link that with Jesus "one act of righteousness" where you think of the cross though as in the Gospel quoted above his whole life had to be righteousness to be acceptable as the sacrifice as below: 

Rom 5:12,18-19. When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

Then link to the two views of the fruit of the tree of life in the Spirit and the fruit of the tree of no life in the Spirit [death] which are listed as evil though we may not think of some of them as such listed below:

Gal 5:16-23. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

The tree is the theme of John 15, i.e. Christ the vine in which we are to be grafted and bear fruit from, i.e. in the Spirit. We have this opportunity to be so grafted into the life of Christ through His Spirit coming to abide with us as we are reborn in the Spirit of Life on God, rather than the default setting of being grafted to the spirit of death in Satan associated with grafting to the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil.