Just as man could receive the tree of life by eating, so also he could receive the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by eating. Hence, in this covenant, God especially warned man to reject the tree of the knowledge of good and evil lest the evil, poisonous element of Satan enter into man and be joined and mingled with man, thus damaging the upright and pure man whom God created for His eternal purpose.
Although God longed that man would take the tree of life by eating, man acted contrary to God’s covenant and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, receiving Satan’s evil essence into his body. This is the greatest tragedy in the universe.
Because of the serpent’s temptation, man violated God’s covenant and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The serpent, the tempter, was the incarnation of Satan. Satan hid himself in the crafty serpent to tempt and deceive man, causing man, on the one hand, to doubt God’s word (Gen. 3:1, 4) and, on the other hand, to doubt God’s heart (Gen. 3:5). He caused man to think that because God was afraid that man would be like Him, knowing good and evil, He lied to man and prohibited man from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As a result, man was deceived by the serpent and cheated by Satan. Thus man misunderstood God’s love, doubted God’s heart, ignored God’s word, and thereby ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
After man was tempted by the serpent and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he received Satan’s evil life and nature into his body; that is, he received Satan. Hence, man became a child of the Devil (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8). Being subjected under Satan’s authority and obeying him as the ruler of the authority of the air (Eph. 2:2), man became a son of disobedience. He was blinded by Satan in his mind and could not see the illumination of the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4). Moreover, he lay under Satan’s hand (1 John 5:19b), being oppressed and controlled by Satan, being slaughtered as Satan pleased, and having no freedom. This was the pitiful and tragic condition of man after he acted contrary to God’s covenant to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thereby receive Satan.
After man ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and received Satan, he had sin and death. As Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin; and so death passed to all men....” Sin entered into man and dwelt in man’s body (Rom. 7:17), causing man’s body to become damaged and transmuted into the flesh (Gen. 3:7; Rom. 6:6; 7:18). Thus sin reigned (Rom. 5:21) in the fallen man, lorded it over him (Rom. 6:14), tempted him, and killed him (Rom. 7:11). Moreover, sin dwelt in man, causing man to do things against his own will (Rom. 7:17, 20). Sin is living (Rom. 7:9) and is very active. Hence, it must be the incarnation of the evil one, Satan, living, walking, and reigning in the fallen man. At the same time, death came through sin (Rom. 5:12), and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a). Therefore, the wages that man earned for his sin was death. First his spirit was deadened, and then his body also died. Thus, when man violated God’s covenant and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he had sin and death.
Having been seduced by the serpent, man ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, received Satan, and had sin and death. Hence, man was driven out of the Garden of Eden and was kept away from the tree of life. Since there was a charge of sin against man before God and there was also the nature of sin in man himself, if man had eaten of the fruit of the tree of life, he would have lived forever with his sinful nature. God could never allow such a thing to happen. The tree of life, signifying God, must not be touched by the sinful man. Thus, before the redemption of Christ was accomplished, God had to close the way to the tree of life. Therefore, the result of man’s fall was that he was driven out of the Garden of Eden and was kept away from the tree of life.
After man was driven out of the Garden of Eden, God caused the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3:24). The cherubim signify God’s glory (Ezek. 9:3; Heb. 9:5). The way to the tree of life being closed by the cherubim means that it was closed by God’s glory. Since man had sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), God closed the way to the tree of life by His glory, not allowing any sinful person, who was short of His glory, to contact Him.