Chances are, if you're American and a Christian, you are familiar with the Garden of Eden story. You likely associate it with two bits of information you consider indisputable facts. In doing so, however, you're glossing over the most important part of the story.
American Christians are taught from the first three chapters of Genesis that God created everything (and therefore biological evolution is a myth of science) and that Adam and Eve ate an apple (or some unidentifiable fruit) and, because of that, we are all as sinful as the devil himself. This post isn't about affirming or criticizing those beliefs, but Christians who emphasize those points often overlook other details in the story that give us better insight into their purpose. In short, the first three chapters of Genesis were not intended to be science or history lessons.
If they're not about how the universe came to be and how we all came to need a savior, what are these verses about? I'd like you to consider that they're all about the trees.
The Two Most Important Trees in the Garden of Eden
In Genesis 2:8-10, we learn that God planted two trees in the Garden of Eden (amongst an entire forest, mind you!).
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Emphasis mine)
These two trees are central to understanding the message of the early chapters of Genesis (and I would say the entire Bible). Allow me to explain.
In verses 16-17 (same chapter), the text reads:
And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
The previous verse tells us that God appointed Adam, meaning "mankind", to "cultivate and keep" the Garden. The idea is to protect and preserve the natural order of things. Alas, like Adam, we have all failed to do so.
But what is that natural order? It has to do with the nature of those two trees. You see, the one tree (the tree of life) bears the fruit of life. The other tree bears the fruit of death. That death does not come about by man's living. Rather, it comes about by man's focus on the knowledge of good and evil (again, emphasis mine).
What is that knowledge?
What Is the Tree of Life?
In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul talks about two laws. The first law is the law of the spirit of life. The second law is the law of sin and death (emphases are mine). The Apostle Paul conveyed the same notion those two trees in Genesis represent without mentioning the trees. The Tree of Life is the Law of the Spirit of Life while the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is the Law of Sin and Death. Why do I think that?
I think that because Paul connects the law of the spirit of life to Jesus Christ. In Romans 8:1-2, he says this:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.
This is one of the most profound statements in the entire Bible. In Jesus Christ, there is no condemnation. In other words, Christ has defeated sin and death and their consequences. If that is true, then Christians should never fear what they have to offer. As long as we feast on the fruit of the tree of life, Jesus Christ, then sin and death have no hold on us. That doesn't mean we won't physically die, but it does mean that our spirits will not die. They will have eternal life because the life that Christ offers is eternal.
There is no other source for eternal life than Jesus Christ because He is the author and giver of life. Multiple New Testament texts tell us that all things were created by and for Jesus Christ. That alone makes Him the author of life.
I could say much more about that concept, but I'll leave it there for now. Jesus Christ is life. And because He is life, and the author of life, the giver of life, the defender of life, and the destroyer of death, we who believe in Him can never be condemned because He does not condemn. He preserves, protects, and defends what is His. He is the Tree of Life and the second Adam.
In Revelation 22, we see the Tree of Life again. The first two verses read like this:
Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
The Revelator uses the tree of life as a symbol to convey that Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, is the source of all life, the provider of eternal life, and the restorer of peace. In the end, He will restore all things to their pristine glory. The City of God that descends from the heavens is Christ Himself and all who remain in Him, uncondemned and glorified.
What Is the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil?
In contrast to the Tree of Life, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil offers nothing but condemnation, death, and hell. But what is it?
The name should give us a clue.
For brevity's sake, I will refer to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil going forward as the Tree of Morality. Now, it isn't the morality itself that is the issue. Rather, it is the knowledge of morality that is the problem. It was a problem for Adam and Eve, and it's a problem for us. We think we are wise because we understand what is good and evil, right and wrong, moral and immoral. But God never intended for us to have that knowledge.
God wanted an innocent humanity that looked to Him for substance, sustenance, and provision. That's why He provided a Tree of Life and a Tree of Morality. Then He gave man (Adam) a choice. That man made the wrong choice, as do we.
One must ask this question: If the Tree of Life is the standard by which God measures man's standing before Him, why do so many Christians focus so heavily on what is moral and immoral? Why does much of our conversation center on good vs. evil, right vs. wrong? He has given us another paradigm, one centered on eternal life, and that paradigm is built on the shoulders of His Son, the eternal heir to God's throne, the last Adam. When we feed on Christ, we have the only tree we ever need.
Which tree are you living by? Are you living by the promises contained within the Tree of Life, or are you living by the law of sin and death as represented by the Tree of Morality?
Allen Taylor is the author of I Am Not the King and the editor and Publisher of the Biblical Legends Anthology Series, the first of which is Garden of Eden Anthology.
This post was first published by Author Allen Taylor at Paragraph. Image from Unsplash.
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If you go via that route then you become a slave to your blood.
That is correct, a slave to all things flesh. We humans are good at putting ourselves into bondage.
I find it hard to look at Genesis without looking also at Exegenesis of the Soul, The Jubillies or some of the Coptic scripts such as Origin of the World.
I need to read some of those. I have a big book of apocryphal writings, but ... Time!
It can be a slog even with a good translation. There are some "Oooo" moments but also adds more questions as it is obvious that they are referring to texts that are missing. Mind you the whole of Genesis does that for me.
There are definitely some missing parts, for sure.