Tree part Two
If the first tree revealed the danger of independence then the rest of Scripture reveals the slow patient work of God to heal that fracture. Redemption is not God trying to get humanity back into heaven. It is God restoring humanity back into union. The story does not move forward by replacing rules or adjusting behavior. It moves forward by re establishing presence.
From the moment humanity leaves the garden God refuses to abandon the project of intimacy. He does not retreat into distance. He begins the long journey of drawing near in ways humanity can survive. The God who once walked openly in the cool of the day now veils His glory in cloud and fire. Not because He desires less closeness but because humanity can no longer endure unmediated light.
Sin did not make God angry. It made humanity fragile.
This is why God does not immediately eliminate the knowledge of good and evil from the human experience. He works within it. He meets people inside their fear their shame their striving and He slowly teaches them again how to listen. Law is given not as a replacement for relationship but as a tutor back toward it. The commandments are not a ladder to climb but a fence to keep people from destroying themselves while they learn how to trust again.
The tragedy is that we often read the law through the same lens as the tree. We turn it into a system of self definition. We use it to measure ourselves and others. We eat again from the tree when we turn obedience into self righteousness rather than surrender. The law was never meant to give life. It was meant to expose the need for it.
Throughout the story God keeps pointing back to dependence. Manna falls daily not weekly. You cannot store it without it rotting. Water comes from a rock only when God speaks. Victory comes when hands are lifted not when swords are sharpened. Over and over God dismantles the illusion of self sufficiency. He is not trying to weaken His people. He is trying to heal them.
Then Jesus arrives and everything shifts.
Jesus does not come primarily to teach better ethics. He comes to model perfect trust. Where Adam reached Jesus waits. Where Adam grasped Jesus receives. Where Adam listened to another voice Jesus lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. In the wilderness temptation Jesus stands again before the same offer. You can decide for yourself. You can take control. You can bypass dependence. And again the answer is no.
Jesus does not redeem humanity by avoiding trees. He redeems humanity by submitting to one.
The cross is not merely an instrument of execution. It is the ultimate declaration of trust. Jesus places His life entirely into the hands of the Father. No grasping. No self preservation. No independence. Even in agony He refuses autonomy. Not My will but Yours.
This is where the story turns.
At the first tree humanity sought knowledge to become like God. At the cross God empties Himself to restore humanity to likeness. The knowledge of good and evil produced shame and hiding. The tree of the cross produces forgiveness and exposure. One tree fractures communion. The other heals it.
And resurrection does not cancel the cross. It vindicates it. Life flows not from self determination but from surrender.
This is why the gospel is not about trying harder. It is about dying deeper. We do not overcome the knowledge of good and evil by becoming more informed. We overcome it by becoming more surrendered. Salvation is not God giving us better information. It is God giving us Himself.
This reframes how we understand holiness.
Holiness is not separation from people. It is union with God. It is not moral superiority. It is relational alignment. The holiest people are not those who avoid failure at all costs but those who refuse to live independently of grace. Holiness looks like listening. It looks like waiting. It looks like obedience that flows from affection not fear.
This is why Jesus says the kingdom belongs to children. Children are not defined by knowledge. They are defined by trust. They do not need to know everything to feel safe. They simply need to know who is with them. The kingdom does not advance through mastery. It advances through dependency.
The tragedy of religious systems is that they often reward the very posture that the tree introduced. Self certainty. Self authority. Self definition. We learn how to be right instead of how to be present. We learn how to argue instead of how to abide. We trade the voice for principles and call it maturity.
But the Spirit keeps calling us back.
Not back to Eden as a location but back to Eden as a posture. A life where God defines what is good. A life where obedience is relational not transactional. A life where trust is valued more than control.
This is why the Spirit does not primarily speak in volumes. He speaks in whispers. He trains us again to listen. To discern. To depend. The Spirit is undoing the damage of the tree one surrendered moment at a time.
And this is deeply uncomfortable.
Because we prefer clarity over intimacy. We want formulas. We want guarantees. We want to know outcomes. Trust asks us to walk without maps. It asks us to release the illusion of control. It asks us to believe that God is good even when we do not understand His timing.
This is where many believers stall. We love forgiveness but resist dependence. We accept grace for our past but cling to autonomy for our future. We want God to save us but not lead us. We want access without surrender.
But the invitation of Jesus is clear. Follow Me.
Not know about Me. Not agree with Me. Follow Me.
Following requires proximity. Proximity requires trust. Trust requires the death of self sufficiency.
This is why the knowledge of good and evil still feels so active in us. We constantly assess. We judge. We categorize. We decide who is right who is wrong who belongs who does not. We think we are protecting holiness when we are often protecting our own sense of certainty.
Jesus did not come to make us right. He came to make us whole.
Wholeness comes when we stop living from separation. When we stop defining ourselves by comparison. When we stop measuring goodness and start receiving it. The fruit of the Spirit does not grow on the tree of knowledge. It grows on the vine of union.
Remain in Me.
That is the antidote.
Remaining does not mean perfection. It means persistence. It means returning again and again to trust when fear rises. It means choosing listening over reacting. It means letting God be God even when we would rather decide for ourselves.
This is the daily cross. Not suffering for suffering sake but surrender for love sake. Every day we choose which tree will define us. Will we live from knowledge or from voice. From control or from communion.
The gospel does not remove the choice. It redeems it.
And grace is what makes that possible. Grace is not permission to stay independent. It is empowerment to return to trust. Grace does not lower the call. It carries us into it. Grace teaches us again how to live as sons and daughters not as orphans managing our own survival.
The story ends where it began. With a garden. With a river. With trees that heal rather than accuse. Revelation does not end with humanity escaping creation. It ends with God dwelling fully with His people. The voice that was once feared becomes the atmosphere of life again.
No more hiding. No more shame. No more separation.
The tree of life stands accessible because trust has been restored.
And until that day the invitation remains present and personal. In every decision. In every moment of uncertainty. In every place where control feels safer than surrender.
Will you trust Me.
Not once. Not long ago. But now.
Because life is still found the same way it always was.
Not in deciding.
But in listening.
If you feel led to partner with what God is doing through this ministry, we invite you to sow into this work as the Spirit leads. Your generosity helps us continue to share His love and truth with others. There is no obligation only an opportunity to join in what God is building. Thank you for considering being a part of this journey.
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