A Tale of Two Trees

I. Introduction

a. Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17

And as always, I’m going to ask you to stand with me, if you are able, as we read from God’s Holy, Perfect, Sufficient and inerrant Word.

“And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 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: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

<Pray>

Thank you, and you may be seated.

Now this was not a threat. This was a warning: “In the day … thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”(Genesis 2:17) Parents are not threatening their children when they say, “Don’t touch a hot stove. If you touch it, you’ll get burned.” That’s not a threat; that’s a warning. And God here in the Garden of Eden had created man, and He placed man there in the beautiful garden and gave him absolutely everything he needed for indescribable happiness and for joy and fulfillment. But in order that man might have a will—and a free will—God gave him the moral opportunity of a choice. And so God created a tree and planted that tree in the Garden of Eden. It was called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” (Genesis 2:17) and man was absolutely forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree.

“The Story of Two Trees”: the tree of death—that is, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil … for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17)—and Calvary’s tree, which is a tree of life. For Jesus said, “I’ve come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) And I want us to see these two trees today as we study them in contrast and in comparison.

II. Major Points

The Placing of the Trees

The Purpose of the Trees

The Power of the Trees

III. Point #1: The Placing of the Trees

Explanation Did you notice that both of these trees were placed in a garden? Go back to Genesis chapter 2, verse 8, and you’re going to see that this first tree was in a garden: “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.” (Genesis 2:8–9)

Illustration Now the interesting thing I want to say here is that this tree was planted in a garden. And did you know the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ was placed into a garden? Did you know that Jesus hung in agony and blood in a garden? In John chapter 19 and verse 41—listen to this: “Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid.” (John 19:41) Did you know that the first Adam and the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, both died in a garden? I’m talking to you now about the comparison, the similarity, of these two trees. The tree of death was in the Garden of Eden. The tree of life—the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ upon which He did die, but He died that we might have life—was also in a garden.

Application Now I think there are many things that come to my mind, but one thing that I want to point out right here is that Adam died in a beautiful, perfect environment and surrounding. You know, sometimes we get the idea that man’s problems are basically sociological and that man’s problems stem primarily from his environment. And we’re being told today that if we can simply change man’s environment that we’ll be able to usher in utopia; that if we can get everyone properly fed, properly clothed, properly educated, properly cultured; if we can just get man into a good environment; we’ve licked man’s problems.

Church, I want to tell you that a good environment is fine. And I believe that we, as Christians, ought to do all that we can do to help the environment of our brothers and sisters. I believe we ought to see to it that people are fed, that people are clothed, that people are properly housed. I believe we ought to do all of that. But, friend, after that has all been said and done, even if you get the man out of the slums, you’ve still got to get the slums of sin out of the man. You see, you can put a new suit on a man, but only Jesus can put a new man in a suit. And that’s what people need. Man needs more than environment.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. We ought to do all we can do to help those who are hurting, and we ought to do all that we can do to feed and clothe and educate those who need it. But if that’s as far as you go, you’re missing the whole point. You see, we’re being told today that man really is more like a computer that’s been programmed wrongly, and so what we need to do is just reprogram the computer, and he’ll be all right. Not so—not so. And therefore, if man is like a computer that’s been programmed wrongly, he’s really not to be blamed for his sin. I mean, he’s not to be blamed—he’s to be pitied. He’s not evil—he’s ill. He’s not sinful—he’s sick. He’s not wicked—he’s underprivileged. But oh, my dear friend, the Bible doesn’t teach that. The Bible teaches that there is something inherently wrong in this universe called sin. And I want to tell you, dear friend, that man needs more than a good environment. It was in the Garden of Eden that the first Adam died; and therefore, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, the last Adam, had to die for our sin. So folks I want you to notice the placing of the trees: both of them in a garden.

IV. Point #2: The Purpose of the Trees

Explanation Did you know that first tree—the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil—and Calvary’s tree both had the same purpose in a sense? It was through both of these trees that man was to know good and evil. Calvary’s tree was also a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but there was a vast difference. Let me explain the vast difference. Had man obeyed in the first instance, the second instance—the second tree—would never have been necessary. But yet God knew that man would disobey, and Jesus was “slain [before] the foundation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8) Calvary was in the heart and mind of God before this world was ever created. But, you see, there are two ways that you can know good and evil. You can know good and evil through experimentation, or you can know good and evil by grace and revelation.

Illustration Now man wanted to know good and evil by experimentation. God said, “Here’s a tree. It is the knowledge of good and evil. Don’t touch it.” That should have been enough. “Just leave it alone. Don’t eat the fruit of that tree.” That should have been enough. But, you see, there’s something about human nature that wants to investigate and see for itself.

Have you ever touched the paint when the sign says, “Wet paint—don’t touch”? Nod your head this way. There’s something about us that says, when the sign says, “This is wet paint,” rather than just simply taking what the sign says, rather than just taking the revelation, we want the experimentation. And so we touch, and we have the results there on our fingertips. And the wall is marred, because we cannot just simply believe the sign, obey the sign. We have to see for ourselves. We want to “experience....”

Application

Now, friend, we say that experience is the best teacher. But when it comes to sin, experience is the worst teacher. And those that are deepest into sin are those who know the least about sin. There’s something about sin that blinds and short-circuits the mind and the reason and so forth. But Eve listened to the devil. And she partook and Adam partook. And there did come a knowledge of good and evil, but it was not the kind of a knowledge that a person wants. How did they know good? They knew good as to its absence. And they knew evil as to its presence and as to its powers: death-dealing powers, destructive power, the sin, the anguish, the heartache, the ruin, the moan, the groan, the woe. All of these things that came through sin they knew, not because they could take God’s word for it, but because they themselves had to experiment.

You know, we live in a generation today that wants to experiment. This is the activated generation. It’s the generation who wants to do, experience, taste, feel, see, thrill to everything. In fact they don’t THINK at all anymore…they THINK with their feelings....if you FEEL like a girl even though you’re a boy, well then logically you must be a girl, right? That’s the way they think....experientially....with their feelings.

If it “feels” good....well then it must be....do it! And sin is like that, isn’t it? you see, there is this pull, this attraction, of sin as to where you experiment. You try it. You have for yourself that knowledge of good and evil, and you’re the one who says, “This is good and this is evil,” rather than letting God say, “This is good and this is evil.” Now that first tree was called, therefore, the tree of the knowledge of good and of evil.

But....let’s also look at that second tree: Calvary’s tree, was in a very real sense a tree of the knowledge of good and of evil. And let’s start with the evil first. Friend, you will never understand evil, you will never know evil, you will never see evil, you will never perceive evil as you can when you behold the cross of Jesus Christ. You might tend to say that humanity is all right. You might tend to say that sin is not really sin; it’s just sort of an error, a malfunction. It’s sort of a stumble upward. It’s sort of a malfunction of our glands or something. But when you see the darling Son of God nailed on that cross by human men, you see the hellishness, the hurtfulness, the hatefulness, the sinfulness of sin, that men nailed the Lord Jesus Christ there. And on that second tree is the knowledge of evil. We see sin for what it is. We see the presence of sin, and we 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 it was the cross of Jesus Christ....and God offers salvation through this tree not only to His friends....but to His enemies.

Romans 5:8 NASB95

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Now friends that’s not mercy....it’s grace. Jesus offers salvation, not to friends: but to those that stood against Him: His own enemies....the

V. Point #3: The Power of the Trees

Explanation One last thing: Not only do I want you to see the place of the trees, and not only do I want you to see the purpose of these trees, but I want you to see the power of these two trees. Both of these trees have, therefore, a tremendous power wrapped up in them. This first tree had the power of spiritual death and expulsion on behalf of Adam. When Adam partook of this first tree, he became a thief. You see, that fruit was not his to eat. All of the rest of it belonged to Adam, for God had given it to Adam, and God said, “Of all of this fruit you may freely eat.” (Genesis 2:16) But this one tree did not belong to Adam; it belonged to God. And he was forbidden to take it. And when he did—at the moment he did—Adam became a thief. And before he ever ate, he had stolen; he had taken that which did not belong to him. He became a sinner in the sight of a righteous God; and because of that, he was banished from paradise.

I want you to see here in Genesis chapter 3—look in verse 23: “Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. 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.” (Genesis 3:23–24) Out of the garden goes Adam. Adam became a thief, and as a thief, he was expelled from paradise.

Illustration Now, listen to me very carefully and very reverently, because you’ll misunderstand what I say if you don’t, and there are some people who will be prone to disagree with me. Who crucified the Lord Jesus Christ? You say, “Well, the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus.” Oh, no. They, as a part of humanity, helped to crucify the Lord Jesus, but they are no more guilty than the Gentiles. You say, “Well, the Romans.” Well, they nailed Him to the cross. You say, “Well, Pilate.” Yes, Pilate gave the order. You say, “Well, we all crucified Him.” Were you there when they crucified my Lord? I was there; you were there. Yes, in a sense, He died for our sins, and had it not been for our sins, He would not have been crucified. But when you get right down to the matter—listen—God the Father crucified God the Son.

“Now,” you say, “wait a minute. Why?” Why did Jesus take the sin of the world? To bear the punishment of the world. And who is it that gives that punishment? God the Father. It is God the Father who is the judge. And God is a good judge....

Application

Now let me ask you something church: if a criminal-type of some kind came into your home and were to murder someone you love....one of your family members....and he were to thenget arrested and go before a judge…and that judge were to say “Well I’ll let it go this time...” Let me ask you something: would you call him a good judge or a a bad judge? You see God demands payment for ALL sins....even if that criminal had never broken the law before, we would want justice....and God demands justice for even the smallest sin.

So Jesus was on the cross acting on OUR behalf....even though He had done nothing the Bible says that Jesus “BECAME sin” FOR us…He acted as our substitution…so that sin HAD to be punished....Now if there were ever a time when God the Father would have been tempted to have been lenient with sin, it would have been then, when His own Son was facing the punishment. If there were ever a time when God would have been tempted to say, “That’s all right; I’ll not punish sin this time. It’s all right; I’ll let it go. I will not do it”; it would have been when Jesus Christ, His beloved Son, who was not really guilty, was the One who was paying the sin debt. But now I want you to understand this, friend: The Bible says that God “spared not his own Son.” (Romans 8:32)

And the point I want to make with all the sincerity I can is this: that if God spared not the Lord Jesus Christ when He was bearing your sin, He certainly cannot spare you if you bear your sin and don’t know Christ. You see, if God would have ever overlooked sin, it would have been then. So put it down and put it down big, put it down plain, get it in your heart and never get it out: Your sin will be pardoned in Christ, or it will be punished in hell, but it will never be overlooked. God never has, God never will, God never has—cannot spare sin. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up freely for us all.” (Romans 8:32)

VI. Conclusion

a. Let me ask you this morning: Which Tree are you partaking of? If you have not done anything different, you are still accountable for the tree in Eden....that you are part of the tree of sin.....but if you are in Christ, you are partaking of the tree of Calvary....to true tree of life. I hope you are part of it’s healing power and not the one with the power to judge your sin....and furthermore, that you will live like it from here on out.

b. Let’s Pray