In the last lesson, you may have noticed in Genesis 2:9 that there was another tree besides the tree of life. That tree was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. By eating it, man fell and was completely ruined for God’s purpose. In this lesson, we will learn more about these two trees, how man was deceived to eat of the tree of knowledge, and what was the result.
The tree of life and the tree of knowledge represent two principles in man’s relationship with God. The principle of the tree of life is dependency upon God. To have God as life makes man dependent on God. The principle of the tree of knowledge is independence from God. When we do not take God as our life, but choose to live according to knowledge instead, we live independently from God and are not able to be filled with Him and express Him as He has planned.
While the tree of life represents God’s life or God as life to man, the tree of knowledge represents Satan as the source of death. In Genesis 2:17, God told the man that in the day that he ate of the tree of knowledge he would surely die. This shows that the tree of knowledge of good and evil is actually the tree of death. By taking in the tree of knowledge, man took in the element and nature of Satan, which is the source of death.
In the Bible, we are shown that Satan was originally Lucifer, the archangel of God. Lucifer means “daystar” or “morning star.” Among all God’s creatures at that time, he was the most beautiful and wise. Because of this, he aspired to be higher than God and independent from God. He wanted God’s creatures to worship him. For this reason, he rebelled against God and became God’s enemy, always seeking to exalt himself above God and to frustrate God’s purpose.
Before man could take in God’s life, Satan came to Eve, Adam’s wife, tempting her to eat of the tree of knowledge. He did this by injecting his own devilish thought into her mind. Satan caused Eve to question God, His word, and His intention. Satan deceived the woman into thinking that she could be independent from God and even become like God. As a result of her being deceived, Eve took of the fruit and ate it, and gave some to her husband, who also ate.
This action of man is the greatest tragedy in the universe. The man God had created to contain and express Him as life disobeyed Him and received the satanic life instead. Now, rather than expressing God, the man created by God would express the sinful life and nature of God’s enemy, Satan. As a result of this tragic act, man fell away from God’s original intent and purpose. We call this act and its result the fall of man.
This action caused two major problems for man. First, on the objective side, man transgressed against God’s righteousness by disobeying His commandment to not eat of the tree of knowledge. As a result, man came under God’s judgment and lost his right to the tree of life. Rather than being filled with God, he was separated from God. Eventually, he would die in his sins and face God’s judgment and the lake of fire after death.
On the subjective side, man took in the satanic life and that life became a poison in him, constituting him a sinner with a sinful nature. The man God loved so much and had created to be His unique container and expression had been completely ruined by this sinful act.
This great tragedy is man’s history. It happened about 6,000 years ago, but its effects on man can be seen today. Having taken of the tree of knowledge and having chosen to be independent from God, man has fallen from God’s purpose into a life which is full of sins and constituted with the satanic nature. He is completely ignorant of God and His purpose with man.
We can illustrate these two problems in this way. A child told by his mother not to drink from a bottle of poison disobeys his mother and drinks from it. He has not only disobeyed his mother and gotten into trouble with her, but much more than that, he has taken poison into him and will die unless something can be done.
By eating of the tree of knowledge, man not only disobeyed God and came under His condemnation. He also took into him the poisonous nature of Satan. In His salvation, God has to take care of both the problem of man’s disobedience and the problem of the poisonous, sinful life of Satan which he has taken into him. If He does not do something, man will die in his sins; he will be condemned by God and will be of no use to Him for His eternal purpose.