Two Trees: Part 2

Gen 2:8-9,  9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 2:16-17, 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” ESV

The Book of Genesis is the Book of Beginnings.  I believe in the literal interpretation of creation.  I believe the Bible teaches exactly what happened in creation.

Yet I believe there are some metaphoric lessons that we could gain from if we could look into the First Family.

  • In the account I have just read we see two trees.
  1. One produces life
  2. the other produces death

I want to continue the conversation concerning these two trees…

When we choose the Tree of Life, we are choosing all God has to offer in Christ.  Walking and talking with God, living in His provision, protection, fellowship, and friendship.

But innocence is destroyed when we eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Gen 3:1-7, 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 4  But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7  Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. ESV

  1. Misconception About Women (Eve)
    1. Have you ever thought about Fire Ants…they are pesky and they are so difficult to get rid of…the reason is, they are not native to our area…they are from another part of the world so therefore there isn’t a natural enemy of Fire Ants here. So as gardeners and lawn care specialist…we are forced to deal with them in this constant never ending battle.
    2. So it is with Sin
      1. Sin enters the world
      2. For sin to enter the world it had to have legal access or a right of legal passage…
      3. This brings in the first couple…Adam and Eve
    3. In theology we have something called the Law of First Mentioned
      1. This law sets the standard that follows through the rest of the Bible, unless God specifically changes it and it is recorded as changed in Scripture…such as I said last week…Leaven being redefined as a metaphor of sin, to a metaphor of the Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew 13
      2. So whatever the blood was in the Beginning, it will be the same thing in the end.
      3. God in the beginning is the same God in the end
      4. Whatever Satan is in the Garden, he will be in the book of Revelation
    4. Now Opinions have hurt the Word of God and often times stripped the Word of its ability to work in our lives.
      1. “You Shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free…”
      2. If you allow truth to be distorted or tainted…you may potentially believe a lie.

We are in a fight, spiritual warfare from the book of Genesis to Revelation…

  • Enemy can use anything or anyone that is subject to him
  • Scripture says, “He is subtle, cunning, slick, wise tricky…” but we are not ignorant to his devices.
  • Like I said last week…this is a thought war…”You cannot afford to come into an agreement with a lie about God’s nature, Character or His thoughts toward you…” Your agreement is where the enemy gets his authority.
  1. The Big Lie
    1. “Did God Really Say?”
      1. The enemy still does the same today
      2. Led to a contradiction of God’s Word
    2. Satan Appealed to Eve’s Love for God
      1. He did not say:
        1. Rebel
        2. Become your own person
        3. Find yourself
        4. Go your own direction
        5. He said:
      2. It will open your eyes
      3. It will make you like God
        1. His appeal was to something that appeared Godly, but in reality was void of life.
  • The enemy studies Eve…
    1. The enemy of our souls knows what pushes our buttons…
    2. After Jesus was tempted of the Devil…Luke says, “He waited for a more opportune time…” He’s always looking for an opportune time…
    3. In Genesis 3 “Eve passes the test initially”
      1. She knew the word
      2. She even spoke the word
    4. Then the enemy begins to dilute what she knows about God
      1. When the enemy comes against you…he will come against what you know about God
      2. 2 Cor.10:4-6, 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, 6  being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete. ESV
  1. Against the Knowledge of God
    1. The enemy is after the knowledge you have about God…
    2. Bible says, “Satan is as an Angel of Light.” He changes himself and distorts the truth…to try and get you to believe a lie.
    3. You are in a thought war….

Satan puts a NOT in the word…

  1. Revelation
    1. In Gen.3:4 it says, “you shall NOT surely die…”
      1. The interjection of the NOT changes everything…
      2. I have seen peoples hunger for NEW lead to strange
    2. Anytime your Revelation or Rhema is contrary or in direct contradiction to the Logos…the written word of God…you better throw your revelation out the door and bring your thoughts back into obedience to what God has said in His word.
      1. Matthew say, “not one jot or tittle of this word will pass away till all be fulfilled…”
    3. Examples
      1. Tithing – “well Pastor that isn’t what God meant…”
      2. Lust of the flesh
      3. Celibate till marriage
      4. Etc.
    4. “You will be like God…”
      1. Satan told Eve and Adam for that matter…the moment you eat from this tree, the moment you partake of this…you will be like God
      2. That’s so strange to me…”Genesis 1 says, “Adam and Eve were created in the likeness and the image of God…”
      3. They were already like God but didn’t know who they were in God…
      4. So Satan had them believing a False Identity about themselves…that was contrary to what God had said about them.

The enemy begins to use all these little subtleties to tear down and destroy what you know about God and what you know about yourself…

  1. Dealing with Darts
    1. How do I Deal with these attacks of the enemy…if my weapons are not carnal…and they are spiritual weapons…what do I do and how do I fight this fight.
    2. Eph 6:12-18, 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, ESV
  1. Shield of Faith…
    1. Without faith it is impossible to please God…it is also impossible to defend against the attacks of the enemy.
    2. Faith is a huge shield…
    3. It was also important for a Roman soldier to be around other Roman soldiers when fighting…because each other’s shield protected on all sides and over the top.
  2. Helmet of Salvation
    1. To guard your eyes
    2. To guard your ears
    3. To guard your face…because according to Genesis…”The spirit hovered over the face of the deep…”
      1. The spirit still wants to hover face to face, even over the deep things in your life and in my life…
      2. Communion is “face-bread” where we get face to face with God…
    4. To guard also your mind, thoughts and your will…the Hub of Choice.
  3. Sword of the Spirit
    1. Interesting about this sword…
    2. When we think of sword we think of William Wallace’s of Braveheart sword…this huge piece of steel flying in the air to kill the enemy…
    3. This sword spoken of in Ephesians…was actually a little dagger and it was used to dig out the arrows that got through the shield of faith…
    4. If an arrow got through the covering, or got through and somehow hit you…then the soldier would take the sword of the spirit and dig out the dart….
    5. You need to know the word because it is the dagger that is used to Dig out the darts, the thoughts, the offenses, and the hurts of the enemy.
  4. Closing
    1. Movie “Vantage Point…” the premise is that several different people saw the same thing from a different perspective or vantage point…
    2. So it is with attacks of the enemy…and you and I better get God’s vantage point, heavens vantage point.
    3. Revelation 4: “come up here for there are some things I need to show you…”
      1. Heaven’s Vantage Point

 

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