Bible says about the first man “Adam.” “Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. He told him, You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die." (Gen 2:15-17)
The tree of the knowledge of good & evil mentioned in scripture only in this verse, largely because its effects have become widespread. But the tree of life reappears again in the book of Revelation.
Let us go back to the Garden of Eden. ”When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; (Genesis 3:6-7)." This moment in time is referred to as the "Fall of Man." Adam and Eve desired to gain "wisdom" and ate the forbidden fruit. In other words, they wanted to be like God apart from Him indwelling them. When they ate the fruit they died spiritually and sin entered the world. God removed His life from them. That life, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, was the life that gives wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Proverbs 2:6 says “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Without it all they had left was their own understanding. The fruit of Adam and Eve's decision has reverberated throughout history. Religions, universities, museums and libraries are full of mans attempts to discover wisdom, knowledge and understanding apart from God. In many ways, they are the futile attempts to explain God and His creation while leaving Him out of the process. It is the best that men without God can attain.
This Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, seems to have had the power to convey immortality to man, and as such is used in Scripture as a symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he "abolished death and brought life & immortality to light through the gospel,” first Corinthians 15:22 and 26 says “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” But what is this "tree of the knowledge of good and evil"? &why did God forbid Adam to partake of this fruit? In Genesis 3:5 Satan misuses the truth, in order to draw women on until she become the victims, of his lie. Serpent said to the woman “You will not certainly die,” “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”That suggests a clue as to what this fruit was and what it did.
God knows evil, not by experience because he cannot experience evil, but he knows it by relating it to himself. That which is consistent & in line with his character and his nature is good; that which is inconsistent and out of line with himself is evil. That is how God knows good and evil. He relates it to himself. God is the only one who can properly do that. God is the only being in the entire universe that has the right to relate all things to Himself.
When a creature (man) tries it, he gets into trouble. The creatures of God's universe are made to discover the difference between good &evil by relating all to the Being of God, not to themselves. When man ate of the fruit he began to relate everything to himself. Yet, as a creature, he has no real ability to sustain this kind of relationship and thus he is constantly Interrupt an unbalanced element into life. When man began to think of himself as the center of the universe, he tried became like God. But it was all a lie. Man is not the center of the universe, and he cannot be. But as we trace the course of human history we can see that this is the seductive lie that the Satan has whispered into the ears of men ever since: "You are the center of life. This is your world, everything relates to you. What you like is right; what you don't like is wrong. You are the center of things." You can find this idea predominant and alive throughout the philosophies of men. That is the curse that fell upon man when he ate of the fruit in the Garden of Eden.
In a sense his mind was twisted, and related all things to himself. But when man does this he introduces a tainted element into life, into creation. That is why everything is always going off in wrong directions. But the glory of the gospel is that when men are redeemed, through faith in Jesus Christ, they resume once again a balanced life, and everything relates once again to God. God now becomes the center of things. The purpose of Jesus is here, to put God back into the center of his world and relate everything in our life and in the lives of others to him and not to us.
Jesus said in John 15:4-5 “Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”(AMP)
This is what the gospel message is all about. Have you crowned Jesus Christ Lord of his empire, where he belongs, and invited him with gladness to sit upon the throne of your heart and rule there? There is coming a day when every knee shall bow, and every tongue confesses that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Then the destruction, desolation, and despair of the Garden of Eden will be reversed, and men shall once again acknowledge the centrality of God in life. Then the world shall be filled with glory and righteousness. Everything shall be what God intended it to be.
"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Corinthians 1:18)." The message of the cross, Jesus Christ dying to take away the sins of the world, is foolishness to those who are pursuing wisdom, knowledge and understanding apart from God. But, what they and many others do not understand is that the death of Jesus Christ was God's attempt to restore Himself to the very people who are trying to figure Him out without Him. As was stated earlier, when Adam and Eve sinned God removed His life. However, God wanted to restore His life, the source of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding, to mankind.
When Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, died on the cross, He paved the way for God to restore that life to all mankind because He took away the very sins that caused Him to remove His life back in the Garden. Now, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God can offer His life as a free gift to all who believe. Now, for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior they have the life of God restored to them like it was prior to the fall. Therefore, we now have the ability to discern God's truth because He will teach us His truth through His indwelling Spirit. Unless you have God indwelling you, the best you can do is increase your knowledge, but you will lack any understanding of what you know because you do not have the wisdom that only comes from God. Remember, ""No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" — but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-10)." If you want wisdom, knowledge and understanding you must have the Spirit of God indwelling you. And you can only have the Spirit of God indwelling you through being born again of the Spirit of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Bible says “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:1-2. And Romans 5: 1 and 5 says “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”.
The more we know the truth; more powerful we are to change our world. There is no excuse for not being the best possible. Now is the time to change our life, regain the power we have given away because we are waiting for someone else to fix things for us, and get what we know we deserve. So what are we waiting for? “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.
