In Genesis 1, God creates everything including mankind. He give them one simple command, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground.” In chapter 2, God creates Eden, a beautiful garden and orchard. There were many trees there that were good for food. There were two unique trees in the middle of the garden: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God gave Adam and Eve another command here, “You may freely eat fruit from every tree of the orchard, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

So, Adam and Eve had two commands and two trees in Eden. Two commands were to fill the earth and rule it and to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The other tree in Eden was the tree of life. Let’s take a look at the trees.

The tree of life in the garden was Jesus. He is the life. We are supposed to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” In 2 Peter 1:4, we read that we are “partakers of the divine nature”. So, spiritually Jesus is supposed to be our food. Adam and Eve could have eaten freely from the tree of life. The fruit from this tree would have not only sustained their physical bodies, but would have given them spiritual life to live from as well.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was full of forbidden fruit. It was the only tree that had any rule about eating from it and the penalty was harsh. Death. Why? We will see that as we tell the story.

The serpent enters the picture. The serpent was shrewd or clever. He speaks to Eve, “Is it really true that God said…” The serpent is trying to get Eve (and Adam, since he was with her) to question not only what God said, but the meaning behind it. The rest of his question is “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” Of course, that’s not what God said, so Eve explains “We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard, but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” The serpent then replies, “Surely you will not die, for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil.” The serpent now moves beyond having Eve question what God said, but offers her divinity itself. What was really being offered though? The name of the tree is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat from the tree, you get knowledge. But, what type of knowledge? Good and evil. Hold on a second, Adam and Eve already know God and therefore know good. The only knowledge they will really gain then is evil.

You know the rest of the story. Eve looks at the fruit and sees that it looks good enough to eat, takes some down, eats it and gives Adam some as well.

The first command that God gave was to “rule over” every creature that moves upon the ground. The serpent is a creature that moves upon the ground. So, Adam and Eve shouldn’t have been listening to it. They were meant to rule over the serpent not entertain him and follow him. That was their first mistake. The second command was to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. After listening to the serpent, this is exactly what they did.

This story has a lot for us to learn. Just like Adam and Eve, we have a choice on what we will eat, or how we will live. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is living by laws and rules. It is living by trying to determine what is right and wrong. It’s trying to do the right thing. It’s trying to be good. Unfortunately, this is the way of death.

The other tree that was in the middle of the orchard was the tree of life, Jesus. This is how we, as believers, are supposed to function. We choose life. We live by the life of Christ.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So the life I now live in the body, I live because of the faithfulness of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with him. So put to death whatever in your nature belongs to the earth: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. You also lived your lives in this way at one time, when you used to live among them. But now, put off all such things as anger, rage, malice, slander, abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices and have been clothed with the new man that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Here there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and in all.” (Col. 3: 1-11)

There is a lot of talk in these two passages about being crucified and dying. That is exactly what must happen. We have to be crucified with Christ and thus die, so that we can be raised with Christ and live. We put off the old like a set of old raggedy clothes, and put on the new human (often translated man). If we look at the next verses in Colossians, we would see that we are to clothe ourselves with the virtues of Christ.

Which tree will you choose to live by? Are you going to try to do good, to do the right things? Or are you going to live by the only life that can make you righteous? Choose life. The tree of life is available to you. Take and eat. See that the Lord is good. His life is higher, better than the knowledge of good and evil.