Tree Of Life

 There were many trees in the garden: Genesis tells us that God planted " “Every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden” (Gen. 2:9). However special mention is made of and special emphasis laid on two particular trees.

One tree could be called the Morality Tree: You couldn't have a tree of just good on it's own as good and evil are like 2 sides of the one penny. This tree somehow gave a knowledge of good and evil which of course is morality: The other tree was the Tree of Life.

Little wonder that Adam & Eve paid scant heed to the tree of life: They were already soaked in God's exuberant life. Whereas we have an outer body and an inner soul and an even more inner spirit they were all spirit to the outside, with soul and body in a secondary capacity, and thought it not strange to meet with and talk to God day by day. I imagine them as so full of God's glory that a modern day Paddy would be blinded by looking at them. Glorious life but it depended on being plugged into God as it's source and without Him it had only a 900 + year life expectancy. What an awful shock as that Glory began even on the first day to wane and they knew they were naked.

When they made their choice, which was contrary to God's advice, innocence fled and they became aware of good and evil.I don't think it fled when Eve disobeyed as she was seduced but Adam made  a deliberate decision to disobey and go Eve's way. Adam was not seduced! he made a cool calculated decision to disobey.

Suddenly the body became of prime importance, the blame game began and they lost their joy pace prosperity and longevity expectancy. God of course must have declared this to happen from before Time began. He was not taken by surprise as "Jesus was the lamb slain before the Eons". We were conciliated to God by the death of Jesus so God was conciliated even before the sin occurred: Remember God came looking for Adam (knowing full well what had happened)  

Man was not responsible for the fall in the garden as he was not the one who planted the garden and the two trees and made the law about not eating from the Morality tree. Law was given so sin would increase so God was responsible for it. (Bible never says man is responsible for anything) However man has a mind and a thinking facility which is akin to free will so on that basis man is held "accountable" for his thoughts. God's control then takes over as "The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord" (psalm 37:23)

People take issue with me when i say man has not free will: But if he did then man would be God, determining history and future events and God would be left wondering and hoping that all would turn out well. In fact it is not that God knows the end from the beginning but He actually declares the end from the beginning: (Isa 46;10) In the NT the word used is "designate" or "see-ize" i.e. He sees it as He wants it to be and that seeing is creative and forms it just as he sees it

"Man is not a robot" I hear and they are correct. Robots, especially nowadays with AI..artificial intelligence.. can make many decisions on their own. "Man on the other hand can do nothing outside of God: For in Him we live and move and have our being"  We are like clay in the hands of the potter (Jer 18) and God can mould us in any way that pleases Him. This hurts man's Ego and pride: Theologians and philosophers make very lofty arguments about how mans love for God is meaning less if we don't have free will: But we do have enough will in our hearts to make our Love and worship very meaningfull "For as a man thinks in his heart so he is" God looks at the heart and what it purposes and that is good enough for Him. However God then directs man's ways and often in a different direction to what man planned.


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