TREES IN GOD’S GARDEN
Although God has created hundreds of species of trees to enrich the earth and bless mankind, there are four trees, two literal and two symbolic, to which we call your attention. Consider their significance carefully.
I. THE TREE OF THE CONSEQUENCE OF MAN’S DISOBEDIENCE: THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL!
"And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ’Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 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." Genesis 2:16-17.
There was nothing “bad” about the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God had looked upon all His creation and “saw that it was good.” All God was asking of man was to obey Him.
Anytime anyone disobeys a clear command of God, there is a consequence that follows. Two eternally significant consequences of sin are:
1. Death: Physical and Spiritual:
“The wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23.
“The soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:19.
2. Loss of fellowship with God:
"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear." Isaiah 59:2 (NKJV)
II. THE TREE OF MAN’S REDEMPTION: THE CROSS!
"Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness---by whose stripes you were healed." I Peter 2:24.
"…And by His stripes we are healed." Isaiah 53:5d.
III. THE TREE OF THE OBEDIENT CHRISTIAN’S LIFE AND TESTIMONY: "A TREE PLANTED"!
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in it season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3.
The true Christian is:
1. a nurtured tree ("planted")
2. a watered tree ("by rivers of water")
3. a fruitful tree ("brings forth its fruit in its season")
4. an evergreen tree ("whose leaf shall not wither") 5. a prosperous tree (“whatsoever he doeth shall prosper”).
IV. THE TREE OF ETERNAL VICTORY OF THE REDEEMED: THE TREE OF LIFE!
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14 (NASB)
"These are they [the redeemed] who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Revelation 7:14.
