Charis

Thanks Michael 🙂

It was in the Garden where “Self” was born. ME,MYSELF,AND I. The tempation with Eve. The Fruit looked good to ME, To make ME wise/wisdom, To be like God etc.ME ME ME, Me Myself and I.

Jesus said to forsake/denied self! Self: We are our own worse enemy!

That reminds me of something I read regarding the trees being in the CENTER of the garden, and what we choose to be in the CENTER: self or Christ?

The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is a powerful Biblical model of the Law…. it is through the Law that we derive our knowledge of good and evil. We may wonder how knowledge brings death until we see the fruit. The knowledge of good and evil kills us by distracting us from the One who is the source of life: The Tree of Life- Jesus. The Tree of Knowledge causes us to focus our attention upon ourselves. Sin is empowered by the law; not just because evil is revealed but the good as well. It drives us either to corruption or self-righteousness, both of which lead to death.

It is significant that the Tree of Knowledge is found in the center of the garden (see Genesis 3:3). Self centeredness is the chief malady with which it afflicts up. After Adam and Eve ate its fruit, their first response was self-inspection. Before eating they had not even noticed their nakedness; their attention was on the Lord and the purposes for which He had created them. After eating, the good and the evil which they now understood forced them to measure themselves by it. There is no easier way to keep us from the Tree of Life than to have us focus our attention upon ourselves. This is what the Law accomplishes. Because of this Paul called it “the ministry of death” and the “ministry of condemnation” (II Cor 3:7,9)

When we define the Tree of Knowledge as the Law, we are not referring only to the Law of Moses. We often think of the OT as the Law and the NT as Grace, but this is not necessarily true. The Old Covenant is the Letter; the New Covenant is the Spirit. If we read the New Testament with an Old Covenant heart it will just be law to us. We=ll have dead religion with righteousness that is based on compliance with written commandments instead of a living relationship with God.
quoted from There Were Two Trees in the Garden