The Three Trees

I was reading a book the other day and if that was not interesting enough. I came across this three tree idea. There are three key trees in the Bible. Now one of them is not really a tree persay but the bible still calls it a tree. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil reminds us of our desire to be like God and therefore sin. The Tree of Golgatha or the Cross of Christ reminds us of God becoming like us and being accursed for us. Then there is the Tree of Life which reminds us both of Life in the garden of Eden without sin and Life eternal with God without sin.

I found this interesting because it brings us full circle. You go from the Tree of Life back to the Tree of Life. It reminds us the tree of Life is there and this is the plan of God for all of use to live with God. It is more that these other two trees become the path from one tree of Life to the other Tree of Life. The Tree of Life is therefore an example of living our life with God and as God has designed us.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden was the one tree from which Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat. It first appears in Genesis 2:9 along side the Tree of Life. You can see the parallel to Moses standing before the people and saying, "I have set before you Life and Death." (Deuteronomy 30:19) God tells Adam in Genesis 2:17, "for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." This tree therefore could be called the tree of Death, but there is another tree.

The Tree of Death could also be used for the Cross of Christ. In Acts 5:30 the Apostles say, "The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree." And even later in Acts 10:39-41 Peter says, "And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead." In both places the cross is called a tree on which Jesus was hanged. Parrelleled with Deuteronomy 21:22-23, "22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance." St Paul even makes this connection in Galatians 3:13, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”"

Thus Christ's cross becomes the tree that brings the dead to life. His Cross becomes a life giving tree through his sacrifice for our forgiveness. Therefore, you go from the tree of Life to death by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But even while we were still sinners Christ gave himself to hang from this tree and make it a tree of redemption. So when Christ returns we will be under the tree of Life once more with God for eternity. Thank you.

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