Lesson 17

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Bible Study 1 - Genesis 2

 

SERIES 2:       GOD AND THE GARDEN

LESSON 17:     GENESIS 2:8-17 THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE TREE OF DEATH

 

Genesis 2:8-17 (KJV) "9 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. 10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads. 11 The name of the first is Pison: (a Babylonian word meaning: the current, broad-flowing. One of the “four heads” into which the river watered the garden of Eden.) that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, (means the sand region, the name of two Biblical places and two people.) where there is gold; 12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium (a type of crystal.)  and the onyx stone.  13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: (Means a stream that bursts forth. It was the main water source of the original City of David located at the base of the eastern slope of the city in the Kidron Valley.) the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.  14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: (The river which Daniel called the Great River in Daniel 10:4.) that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. (Means the Great Stream of Sweet Water that is 1,740 miles long, the most important stream of Western Asia.)  15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 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."

INTRODUCTION:

 

This was not a threat, this was a warning. "...in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."  Parents are not threatening their children when they say, "Don't touch that hot stove, because if you touch it you will get burned."  That's not a threat that is a warning.  God had created man and He placed man there in that beautiful Garden of Eden and He gave man absolutely everything he needed for indescribable happiness, joy and fulfillment.  But in order that man might have a free will, God gave man the moral opportunity of a choice.  So God created a tree and planted that tree   in the Garden of Eden, and it was called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."  But man was absolutely forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree.  That was not a threat, that was a warning.

 

I want to take a few minutes of your valuable time to show you A COMPARISON OF TWO TREES, THE TREE OF DEATH: "...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."

 

I ALSO WANT YOU TO NOTICE THE TREE OF LIFE.   This is Calvary's tree for Jesus said, in John 10:10  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." I want you to see these two trees today as we look at them and study them in contrast and in comparison.

 

INTERPRETATION:

 

NOTICE THE PLACING OF THE TREES.

Both of these trees are placed in a Garden.  Genesis 2:8-9 says, "And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 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 interesting thing here is that this tree was planted in a garden.  But the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was also placed in a garden.  Jesus hung in agony and blood in a garden.             John 19:41  "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid."  The first Adam and the last Adam (the Lord Jesus) both died in a garden.

 

Now remember I’m talking about A COMPARISON OF TWO TREES.  The tree of life was in the Garden of Eden.  The tree of death (The cross upon which Jesus died) was also in a garden.  There are many things that come to my mind as I think on this, but there is one thing that I want to point out here: I WANT YOU TO NOTICE THAT ADAM DIED IN A PERFECT ENVIRONMENT. 

 

Sometimes we get the idea that man's problems stem primarily from his environment.  We're being told today, that if we can just change man's environment we will be able to usher in utopia.  If we can get everyone properly fed, if we can get everyone properly clothed, properly educated, and properly cultured, we can take care of man's problem.  But a good environment is well and good, and I believe we as Christians ought to do all we can to help the environment of our brothers and sisters.  We ought to see to it, that people are fed, clothed, housed, educated and all of that.  But after all has been said and done, even if you get the man out of the slums, you've still got to get the slums out of the man.  You can put a new suit on a man but only Jesus can put a new man in a suit. Man needs more than a good environment, because if that is as far as you go, you've missed the whole point.  The Bible teaches us that there is something very wrong in this universe and that something is called sin.  I want to tell you, dear friends, man needs more than just a good environment because it was in the Garden of Eden that the first Adam died and you can’t get any better than that on this earth.  Therefore the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, had to die for our sins.  So it's important to: NOTICE THE PLACING OF THE TREES because both of them were in a Garden.

 

EXPLANATION:

 

NOTICE THE PURPOSE OF THE TREES.

Did you know that first tree (the tree of knowledge of good and evil) and Calvary's tree, both, in a sense, had the same purpose?  It was through both of these trees that man was to know good and evil. Calvary's tree was also (the tree of knowledge of good and evil), but there was a vast difference.  If man had obeyed in the first instance, the second tree would never have been necessary.  Yet, God knew that man would disobey, and Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world.  Calvary was in the heart and mind of God even before the world was ever created.  But there are two ways that you can know good an evil.  You can know good and evil through experimentation.  You can know good and evil through grace and revelation.  But man wanted to know good and evil by experimentation rather than revelation.

 

I.          LET'S BEND OUR MINDS FOR A FEW MOMENTS TO THINK ABOUT THAT FIRST TREE.      That first tree was (the tree of knowledge of good and evil).   God said, "Here is a tree, and it is the knowledge of good and evil, so don't touch it, just leave it alone."  That should have been enough for Adam and Eve.  But there was something about human nature that wanted to experiment and investigate and see for himself.

 

Have you ever touched paint when there was a sign on it that says "Wet Paint, Don't Touch?"  When we touch, we have the result right there on our fingers and the wall is marred because we just cannot believe and obey the sign, we have to touch and see for ourselves. 

 

The Bible teaches us that "the Devil was more subtle than any beast in the field," and so when the Devil came to Eve he said to Eve, "Hath God said, that ye shall not eat of the fruit of every tree of the Garden?"  Of course you know, God didn't say that, so the Devil was already twisting the Word of God.  God said "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:” But Gen 3:1 says,  "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"  Then "the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."  Gen 3:4  "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:"  If you've been around some of these supper sophisticated people, you probably know how he said that to Eve.  I believe he said, "Oh, surely not!  Ye shall not surely die!   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."  Now this is very, very important that you understand what the appeal of the Devil was to Eve.  Let me tell you how I think he might have really said this.  The appeal was, "Eve, you can become your own little god, and you can choose for yourself what is good and what is evil. You will become just like God!  Try it Eve!  Don't knock it until you have tried it."  "Sure, I know God says you're not to do that, but after all Eve, maybe God is wrong.  Maybe God is withholding something from you Eve."  "Now Eve, the thing for you to do is to taste this fruit for yourself and then if it is good you can have some more, and if it is bad, then don't eat any more."  "But you'll never know whether it is good or bad            for sure until you have tasted of it Eve."  "Eve, all you have is God's Word over here, but you've got your own experience over here.  "Eve, only take God's Word for it and you don't see for yourself, then God is forever God and you will always be totally dependent on listening to Him." "But, if you experience it for yourself, then you can be just like God and you'll be the one that says what is good or what is evil and you can make up your own mind."  “After all Eve, experience is the best teacher."

 

We sometimes say that "Experience is the best teacher" and sometimes on life's journey that is true, but when it comes to sin "Experience is always the worse teacher."  Those who are the deepest into sin are those who know the least about sin.  There is something about sin that short-circuits the mind and blinds the reasoning of a person.  But Eve listened to the Devil and she partook and then Adam listened to Eve and he partook and there did come a "Knowledge of good and evil.”  But this was not the kind of knowledge a person wants.  They came to know good because of its absence.  They came to know evil because of its presence and death-dealing power.  They didn't come to know it because they took God's Word for it.  They came to know it because they had to experiment.

 

I.          LETS NOT ONLY BEND OUR MINDS TO THINK ABOUT THAT FIRST TREE, which was (the tree of knowledge of good and evil).

 

II.        LETS LEND OUR MINDS TO THINK ABOUT THAT SECOND TREE, Calvary's tree, - also (the tree of knowledge of good and evil). Let's begin with the evil in the tree of knowledge.

 

ON THAT SECOND TREE WE CAN SEE THE PRESENCE OF SIN.

You will never understand, know, see, or perceive evil like you can after you behold the cross of Jesus.  You may have a tendency to say that humanity's all right. You may have a tendency to say that sin is not really sin.  You may have a tendency to say that sin is some kind of error, a malfunction, a stumble upward, or some dysfunction of our genes.  But when you really envision the darling Son of God nailed on that old rugged cross by men, and when you see the hurtfulness, the hatefulness and the sinfulness of sin, then you can see sin for what it is.

 

ON THAT SECOND TREE WE CAN SEE THE POWER OF SIN.

Sin has power, awful power, hellish power, death-dealing power.  It was sin that murdered the Lord Jesus Christ.  Sin is so powerful that the only way that God could deal with sin was the cross of Jesus Christ.  Paul said, in Rom 1:16  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation..."  That means that even God is powerless to do anything with sin apart from the cross.  Sin is so powerful and hurtful that Jesus Christ Himself had to die to deal with sin.  I'm telling you that you have a knowledge and evil when you behold the cross that you could have no other way.

 

ON THAT SECOND TREE WE CAN SEE THE PENALTY OF SIN.

When Jesus died upon that cross, He was paying the sin debt for the whole human race.  The Bible describes what God the Father did to Jesus in 2 Cor. 5:21 where it says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." Jesus was absolutely and totally without one speck of sin and yet the Bible says, "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin."  That does not mean that Jesus became a sinner and that does not mean that Jesus practiced sin, but that does mean that all our sins were laid upon the Lord Jesus Christ because He became our sin-bearer and then Jesus carried those sins to Calvary.  So we first see the evil in the tree of knowledge.

 

BUT LET’S GO ON TO SEE THE GOOD IN THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.

Rom 8:32 says, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all" Who was it that delivered Jesus up to be crucified?  God the Father delivered up God the Son Isa 53:10  "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief:"  Who was it that bruised Jesus? Who was it that put Jesus to grief?  It was God the Father! Why did Jesus take upon Himself the sin of the world?  To bear the punishment of the world!  Who is it that gives that punishment?  It is God the Father! It is God the Father who is the judge!  It is God the Father who has sworn in all His holiness that sin must be punished!  When Jesus Christ said, "I will take upon me the sin of the world," God the Father said, "My Son, do you know that when you take the sin of the world upon you, you must also take the punishment they would have taken?  Do you realize that with that sin comes the punishment?  Do you realize that the vials of My wrath will be poured out upon you?   Do you realize that I will have to deal with you as I would have had to deal with them?"  Jesus said, "Yes Father, I know.  Not my will, but thine be done." Then Jesus took my sins, and your sins, and their sins,             to the cross and there God poured out His wrath - God spared Him not!

 

Listen closely to me now!  If there was ever a time when God the Father would have been tempted to be lenient with sin it would have been when His own Son was facing the punishment the world deserved.  If there was ever a time when God the Father would have been tempted to say, "That's all right, I'll not punish sin this time, I'll let it go, I'll not do it" it would have been when His own Son who was not guilty of any sin was the one who was paying the total sin debt.  When you see Calvary's cross, there and there alone you will behold the goodness, the grace, the glory, the righteousness, the majesty of God the way you have never beheld it before.  The heavens declare the glory of God, but the Cross declares the grace of God.  You see the goodness of God, when you see Jesus upon that cross.  God loves us that much!  What a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Rom 5:8 says, "But God commendeth his love toward  us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  That is the marvelous, matchless, wonderful, glorious, indescribable grace of God.  You see the evil of man at the cross, but you also see the goodness of God at the cross.

 

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO NOTICE THE PLACING OF THE TREES.

IT’S IMPORTANT FOR YOU TO NOTICE THE PURPOSE OF THE TREES.

 

APPLICATION:

 

I WANT YOU TO NOTICE THE POWER OF THE TREES.

Because wrapped up in both of these trees is a tremendous power.  This first tree had the power of spiritual death and banishment on behalf of Adam.

 

A THIEF ATE OF THE FIRST TREE AND WAS DRIVEN FROM PARADISE.     Strangely everything in that garden belonged to Adam because God had given it to Adam.  God said, "Of all of this fruit you may freely eat," but this one tree did not belong to Adam, this one tree belonged to God.  Adam was forbidden to partake of this tree, and that moment when he did partake of it, Adam became a thief.  Before he had even eaten the fruit of it, Adam had stolen because he had taken that which did not belong to him.  Adam became a sinner in the sight of a righteous God, and because of that, he was banished from paradise.  I want you to see this in Genesis 3:23-24  "Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.  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."  Adam became a thief and was banished from paradise.

 

A THIEF ATE OF THE SECOND TREE AND WAS INVITED INTO PARADISE.

In Luke and I want you to see something that has been a blessing to my heart.  We'll begin at Luke 23:39 because this is the story of another thief at another tree, Calvary's tree, the tree of life.  Luke 23:39-43  "And one of the malefactors ( an evil doer - a thief) which were hanged (were crucified) railed on him (Jesus), saying,  If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.  40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?  41 And we indeed justly; (in other words, we are being condemned because we deserve it, we are receiving the just reward for our sin) for we receive the due reward of our deeds:  but this man (Jesus) hath done nothing amiss.  42 And he said unto Jesus, (Now listen to this) Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.  43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee,  Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."  A thief, a man who didn't deserve it, a man who was literally shut out of paradise as Adam was shut out, sees Jesus there upon that cross.  Then by the revelation of the Holy Spirit, he understands that Jesus is the sinless Son of God and says, "this man (Jesus) hath done nothing amiss."  This man realizes that Jesus is Lord because he says, "Lord, remember me."  This man knows that He was a King because he said, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom."   This man placed his faith in Jesus Christ, and the doors of paradise swung open again through that second tree.  Then Jesus said, "Verily I say unto thee,  Today shalt thou be with me in paradise."

 

That's the power of both of these trees.  One tree had the power to put a thief out of paradise.  One tree had the power to bring a thief into paradise. The difference is the grace of God, for this man was saved by grace and grace alone.  This man couldn't give - he had nothing to give. (He's hanging naked on a cross.)  This man couldn't work - his hands are nailed to the cross.  This man could not be baptized - he is there dying on a cross.  (Baptism from a spoon, a spring, or a tank, cannot take away your sins!)  But this man could say, "Lord, remember me."

 

INVITATION:

 

You know, if you haven’t ever said that, you can do that today also.  It is the grace of God that man needs today.  Oh, the marvelous, matchless, grace of God!  Today there are still people who are sitting under the shade of that first tree  of the knowledge of good and evil.  There are people today who believe in culture rather than Calvary.  There are people today who believe in education rather than regeneration.  There are people today who believe in tradition rather than redemption.  There are people today who believe in popularity and authority rather than sovereignty.  There are people today who believe they are their own little god deciding what is good and what is evil.

There is the TREE OF DEATH  "...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."

 

There is the TREE OF LIFE: This is Calvary's tree for Jesus said, in John 10:10 "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  Which tree do you want?

 

I want to tell you that the God of this world is the Lord Jesus Christ who hung upon a tree and through tasting the fruit of THAT TREE - THE TREE OF LIFE that you can have life everlasting.  Do you want that today? Do you want the mercy that God showed to that dying thief?  Well, He will show it to you and He'll save you today.  "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."

 

IN THIS COMPARISON OF TWO TREES God has shown us the way from death to life. Everyone must choose for himself which tree is for you.

 

DO YOU NEED SOME HELP?

To find more help in receiving Jesus Christ as your personal Savior please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE.” Please send me an email and let me know about any decision for Christ you make so that I may pray for you. Feel free to send me any questions, comments, or responses you may have as well. For those who are already Christians I invite you to also please let me know of any decisions you make in your Christian life for Jesus. Please send me your questions, comments, or responses and let me know if the Bible Studies are helping you. <rfdenning1951@gmail.com>

ALWAYS REMEMBER!

The support of your local Church ministry and the ministry of your Pastor should be the first priority of your Christian life and your service to the Lord. Be faithful to prayerfully prepare and attend Sunday School and Worship Service this Sunday and participate in worship as your Pastor preaches the Word. Do not forget to give the Lord at least your TITHE through your local church from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Any other other giving is an offering to a ministry unto the Lord. Honor the Lord in all you do and with all that you have. Always remember that everything you have and all you are belongs to the Lord. It is on loan to you – so manage it well! There will be an audit one day! Make sure the Books Balance!