Genesis 2:9

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil 

God caused pleasant trees in the garden he sank in Eden. Some of these were not only horticulturist’s delight but also for food. Suddenly, a strained note interposes in the narrative: the tree of life ALSO in the garden…. The tree of life speaks of the life of God to which man was expected to migrate and become a fitting palace for the Lord God to dwell. Man’s life wasn’t yet of the perfect nature of God. This desire has, since the foundation of the world, been the desire of man to attain but there has also been the distraction suffered by him from the beginning, eating of the other tree, – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 

Each tree was identified by its fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit (Luke 6:44). The one was identified by life and the other by death. The Lord God didn’t give any instruction concerning the one but told them of what would become of them, partaking or eating the other. God’s kind of life is perfect. But man was created innocent not perfect; man was to move on to immortality from the point of creation, immortality that had the life of God.

The beginning in Genesis is not the first beginning in the Bible. The beginning in Genesis refers to the beginning of the present humanity, There must have existed a beginning before this beginning. For example, in Genesis narrative, we don’t have a clue to how and when water was created. The picture we have is of the earth standing (consisting) out of the water and in the water (2 Peter 3:5). If we are talking of original beginning, nothing else- no element or substance, should be in the picture of existence apart from the Creator Himself. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless (or possibly became formless) and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2). The earth was in place of formlessness before the Lord God said, “Let there be….” It looked like there had been a cosmic disaster of an existence that was before now as a result of rebellion and an attempt to seize equality with God by a being who was not coeternal with the Godhead. This disaster in its reaches and extension didn’t spare the earth. There are glimpses of this in the scriptures though without full details. You were in the holy mount of God…. You were blameless in your ways… till wickedness was found in you, so I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God and I expelled you, o guardian cherub…… So I drew you to the earth  (Ezekiel 28:15-17). When did this happen to the guardian Cherub being addressed by God here? A being of great stature, a cherub, being addressed here once expressed his plan, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of the assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain….. I will make myself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14) it’s evident then that God has an enemy who must get at Him through whatever He created.

The tree of life stands for the embodiment of God or His Christ while the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the enemy of God. Both trees were purveyors of their two mutually exclusive natures. The enemy of God is Satan. Christ’s parable of wheat and tares finds expression here. A farmer and his help planted wheat on his land. The servant reported to his master later that the land brought forth wheat and tares (which resembles wheat). The master told the servant, An enemy hath done this….(Matthew 13:24-28).

Satan, the adversary, is the enemy of God, out to spoil the show. This explains how the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil came to stand in the centre of the garden of God

Father thank You for Your eternal foreknowledge. These things are hard for us to comprehend. But this is the expression of our faith: whatever is the true story, we know that Your wisdom is behind it all. We are Your workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, ordained for us by You that we should walk in them.

Thank You, Lord