The Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil - Tim Conway

Genesis chapter 2 my desire this morning is that we keep our eyes on the tree of knowledge I want us to follow this tree if you're visiting with us we've been in the midst of a study in Ephesians for a number of years and since coming back from Romania I have determined to take some of these summer months and do a mini study out of the first chapters of Genesis this is the fifth message I believe out of Genesis today the tree of the knowledge of good and evil I want us to track this tree I want us to think about it look with me at Genesis chapter 2 verse 7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living creature and the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east there's a there's a direction in the east like this is a real place it's over there in the east this isn't fiction there he put the man whom he had formed and out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food and then we hit this the tree of life was in the midst of the garden a real tree and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and what's interesting is it says God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food every tree lots of different kinds of tree we can imagine the peach tree was there the apple tree was there what's interesting is of all the trees to get special recognition and attention think about these this isn't just an apple tree or a tree with plums this in fact these trees aren't even called primarily by their fruit there's a tree of life it's it's more what the fruit brings to you if you eat it the Tree of Life the tree of the knowledge of good and evil Genesis 2 verse 15 the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it and the Lord God commanded the man saying you may surely eat of every tree there there that there's that again God made to spring up every tree pleasant to sight good for food well here's the every tree again you may surely eat of every tree of the garden and you know something that includes the Tree of Life but verse 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die now go to Genesis 3 this is the next place we find our tree show up again now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made he said to the woman did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden and the woman said to the serpent we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden but God said you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden neither shall you touch it lest you die but the serpent said to the woman you will not surely die for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and eight and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate verse seven and the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin claws and they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden but the Lord God called to the man and said to him where are you and he said I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself he said who told you that you were naked have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat and then if we drop down to verse 22 then the Lord God said Behold the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever therefore the Lord God sent him out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken he drove out the man and at the east of the Garden of Eden he placed the chair of him and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the Tree of Life now I'm thinking how long did Adam and Eve live alongside that tree that tree that forbidden you imagine you're walking through the garden if there was one thing that stood out in that garden - those two first parents of all of ours we're all related there was that tree that tree was different from everything else because I couldn't eat of it and I just wonder how long that one thing that was different how long did they see it how long did they observe it but the truth is we don't know you know what the time marker is that we have for Adam we have this fact when he was a hundred and thirty years old Seth his third son was born well what do we know happened before that Cain Abel they had to get old enough to be a keeper of sheep one who tended the ground I mean how old do you have to be to be that old twelve fifteen eighteen twenty thirty here's here's the fact if you do the numbers it is possible Cain was born after Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden they could have been in there for a hundred years we don't know but I was just thinking about that tree how do you imagine it I don't imagine it a little sapling do you I imagine it like a great big live oak and you know what it says it was in the midst of the garden God didn't put it out on the edge somewhere it was there in the midst it was there in the middle and I think about them you think God told him everything is open to you but that tree how did they look at that tree I wonder about it how many days did the sunset and the last rays of daylight fell on I'm imagining it almost towering above other trees I'm imagining a prominent somehow and I'm imagining than looking at it whether it was days or whether it was a century that they lived alongside that tree and you know they would walk with the Lord and the cool of the day I wonder if the Lord ever walked them over to that tree and said behold the forbidden tree I mean did he never refer to it after the first day he came and walked with them in the cool of the day there was fellowship they were communing with him that he never mentioned that tree ever again I doubt it why why would he why would he purposely not mention it in fact I wonder if he walked them over to it I wonder if they ever went over when he wasn't there and they ever looked at its fruit or were they afraid of it Eve was even at the place with with the serpent well he told us not even to touch it that isn't what he said I wonder if they got into the place where they just thought it best not to touch it maybe maybe Adam told his wife that he knew that God really didn't say it but he wanted to protect don't even touch that tree you just stay away from it that's we're best off did they even know what death was and the day you eat thereof you shall surely die I mean they could imagine what it was like not to exist but that they really run recognized and some people say wow you see the Bible's not even true they didn't die well they did die they were put out of the garden they were put death doesn't have to do with whether we exist or not death has to do with communion with God and they were put out of the garden and they were put out of that close communion that they had and I imagine them thinking about that tree and looking at that tree and maybe studying that tree and you know what else I wonder how many days did they walk by the tree of life and not eat I mean yet you ever think about that they're prevented God said we don't want them to eat of the Tree of Life because now that they know good and evil if the ate of that they're gonna live forever and we need to stick a cherubim with a flaming sword there to keep them back how many days that they walk by you know what they ate they ate they their days in the garden they ate and I wonder how many days that they walk past that tree what what did that tree look like did that tree not look impressive I don't know don't go don't go pick from that tree why do we want to eat from that tree we've got all these other ones over here I mean if there was any tree in the garden that they should have been eating from you'd think it was that one we don't really know what happened but then here's Genesis 3 not a day like every other day notice verse 8 chapter 3 verse 8 they heard the sound a sound now I'm thinking about that sound o brethren those of us that can say that we pant after the Lord is the deer pants after the water Brooks can you imagine can you imagine if you were told you were gonna go today later today you were gonna be taken out into the woods and you're gonna hear a sound and it's gonna be the Lord Jesus Christ and he's gonna come back to walk with you and talk with you today can you imagine hearing that sound I imagine them hearing that sound in previous days thrilled their heart it caused them to want to run to the sound something's different this day some things altogether different that sound they're experiencing a new feeling this is a feeling they have not had before everything is screaming to them run get away go hide there they are there they're just they're trying to get away they're trying to hide themselves there in this miserable shape filled with a sense of fear and shame they're afraid to show themselves they don't know what to do with themselves and the Lord God is coming that's what the sound is when I read Romans 8 I find the creation is groaning you know what happened when they ate that fruit creation let out a groan something happened you may think it a small thing I mean I I used to be an engineer we looked carefully at the second law of thermodynamics it's a law of entropy basically this universe began to decay people began to age do you realize what happened right at that moment think of hell hell opened its mouth for the first time gaping wide to receive man never before that something happened something's wrong something has changed Adam what have you done I remember one time years back brother Andy said he was in a car he was being taken somewhere in China he said they were driving down the road he said they came to a peasant a man dead in the road he said it was like an armadillo roadkill he said this man was in about 15 pieces and nobody picked up the pieces they just kept driving over him and he said he whispered to himself Adam Adam what have you done do you realize what was set in motion that day the evil we just heard recently they are harvesting the young ladies out of Burma so that people can eat their organs and him what have you done paradise was lost and it produces an aching man's heart but it's lost and what's come in pain and suffering and sorrow and a cherubim with a flaming sword that says stay back from eternal life stay back man you are no longer welcome here and death has taken hold and in all we fear we fear it and there are graveyards out here Adam what have you done what have you done that's all got to do with this tree notice verse 9 of chapter 2 again the Tree of Life was in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and if all the trees to get raised above the others to get this special special identification too prominent above all the others and it's almost like it's said in passing here they are tree of life tree of knowledge and then the author just kind of goes on almost momentarily forgets about them we hear about rivers again I remind you this was a real place we hear about rivers we hear that it had gold and Elam and there were precious metals and precious stones but then in verse 16 our attention gets called back to the trees and the Lord God commanded you might just pay attention to that God didn't suggest God commanded the man saying you may surely eat of every tree of the garden but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die you know what I find when it comes to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil I find that man the world today it's ready to mock and criticize this is a this this tree of life or this tree of the knowledge of good and evil it's it's a it's a joke have you ever noticed that I mean most people are quick to write this off as myth as fiction if it's even entertained for a moment that it could be real or true God is viewed as God is viewed I was thinking three ways typically by the world God is viewed as overreacting I mean all they did was eat an apple what wasn't an apple hey the world likes to say it was but seriously isn't this a little bit of an overreaction they just ate an apple it's a bit trifling on God's part what's so bad about that I mean I and after all Eve I mean she was the weaker vessel she was a woman she was vulnerable she was naked she was you know this serpent comes along he beguiled her he deceived her she was innocent was their first defense is God really gonna get so bent out of shape over such a petty thing as this is it after all is it really so bad to know good from evil I thought God was forgiving I thought God was loving this sounds like a total overreaction on his part or God is viewed as foolish I mean come on the easiest way to have protected Adam and Eve would be not to put a tree right in the center of the garden where they do not touch sign on it why not why not put the tree outside the garden or up on a mountain or on the other side put it in America put it on the other side of the earth why not just create a garden in which it's permissible to eat the tree of knowledge I mean wouldn't that fix everything or God is viewed as sinister like he laid a trap for them he put that tree in the garden and then he let the devil in there what did he think would happen I want us together three facts one God's greatest objective was not to preserve man at all costs you need to recognize that God was teaching us something about himself by putting that tree there and it's something that we need and would do well to learn in our day as well but God's greatest interest has never been preserving man at all costs God is in the business of preserving his glory at all costs but we need to remember we are but men we know that it's not God's greatest objective to preserve man at all costs because the Lord God did not and never has preserved man at all cost to God could have created a thousand trees of life and put them in that garden with no tree of knowledge he could have done that but he did not three there is a word that ought to jump off the page at us that I already called your attention to notice Genesis 2:16 the Lord God commanded the man see follow me your Adam in your Eve and you're walking through the garden before the fall do you know as they awoke every morning they would be reminded God created all of this they would have looked out over the beautiful water of a lake and the streams you can imagine waterfalls and mountains and clouds and birds flying and animals everywhere and it's pre curse the animals are not afraid of them they're not eating the animals animals and people alike they're eating what grows on the plants and it's paradise and they walk through this and they're reminded every single day God is a creator God is a good creator but you know what else they were reminded with every single day they saw that tree you know what that reminded them of God is the lawgiver God is the Creator God creates and God is the commander he has given commandment and those two realities were before their faces every single day God is creator and God is sovereign God is the master think with me here God had made them God had blessed them God had surrounded them with all the beauty all the benefits all the blessings of life in this paradise they didn't have to toil I mean I'm imagining the trees hung with fruit all they had to do was go over and pick it off and what did they do I imagine they explored and then what would happen in the cool of the day there would be that sound they'd be thrilled they'd run they get to walk with the Lord where did he come from what did he look like was it was it like Jesus appearing among the disciples there when they were locked for fear the Jews in that up or in the room I don't know what it was like but all they had to do was enjoy their communion with God God said to them that they could go on living forever that's what would have happened they would have gone on living forever there was only one thing that promised death and what we recognize is this it was almost like the test was which tree are they gonna eat up first I think any of the Tree of Life are they gonna eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because if they we it's obvious he kept them from eating from the tree of life because if they would have eaten from the tree of life they would have lived forever and yet all the days that they had in the garden why didn't they eat of it but all I had to do was pick and as long as they would have stayed away from that tree they would have gone on forever and ever and ever in that paradise enjoying it all enjoying God was all theirs on one condition the condition was that they obeyed God he didn't give them a list of a thousand commandments there was just one and every day that tree declared that one great reality to them God is the lawgiver that tree was there to proclaim God's supreme authority you think about that sometimes we think about the Garden of Eden and you know they're living their life and it's beautiful and you can imagine them swimming and running and climbing and and just life in paradise no death no sin your conscience never troubles you everything is good everything is joyful everything is wholesome everything is complete and we're fellowshipping with God and God is the creator and it's also fresh because you're new whether it was days months or into the years or even decades it was so new and we've been created and God created us just recently and just all this everything and this reality God is the Creator but God is the supreme authority and that tree reminds us we have us a God who commands we have us a God who wants to be obey yes God could have put that tree up on a mountain er on the moon but he didn't no such thing this tree says to us all God is God and we are not God and Adam was not God and Eve was not God and God owns us and he owns the garden and he owns the trees and he owns the fruit and he owns the Sun and he owns the clouds and he owns it all and he can do with his own what he will and what he determined to do was to say to them there is a tree but you know God doesn't give his laws to be restrictive he gives his laws and his commandments for good you know there was safety in his Commandments there always is there's always safety in obeying the Lord this tree speaks to the fact that God really does desire the good of man his commands are always for the best of man this was the position this was the case this is what we're faced with but where is Adam now he's over there cowering in the bushes what's happened why is he over there why does a peasant like dead in pieces on a Chinese road with nobody to pick up the pieces and here's the answer and it's a very simple one man ceased to listen to God there's really nothing more that needs to be said than that that's the truth and that's the severity of the matter disobeying this God is no trifle it through the entire human race into the wreckage of sin it wrecked us there's only on one explanation as to why the world is as it is at this moment but you know as well as I do this fact neither Eve at first or Adam who followed her into sin neither of them ate that fruit in a vacuum something happened in their thinking before they ate it something was going on up here and that's what I want to ask what were they thinking what went on in their brains how do you get to the place where you actually eat this fruit I mean the serpent only said three sentences have you ever noticed that that ever jumped out at you he didn't preach a sermon to Eve he said three sentences that's all that's it Genesis 3:1 did God actually say you shall not eat of any tree in the garden verse 4 you will not surely die verse 5 for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil you know said the devil to our first parents I've been feeling sorry for you for a long time I've been watching you I've seen the way God treats you and I've watched how he's trying to frighten you with this death thing if you eat that tree kind of scare you all along I've been wanting I've been wanting to tell you the truth I hate to be the one to have to tell you this but God's holding out on you he's he's secretly jealous of you he knows what you might become he knows what you could become he knows what you ought to become he doesn't want you to become what you are to being what you might be you could be just like God himself and God knows it and so he's he's bluffed you with this threat of death to keep you from the one thing in the garden that would really do you the most good he's holding out see God's jealous he doesn't want you to become gods like him three sentences what's going on up here what's going on in her brain you see the issue wasn't so much the fruit the issue up here was what she was thinking about God himself that's always the issue every sin comes down to that it comes down to what you think about God it comes down to what you're gonna do with God whether you're gonna trust God you see what happened in their minds before they ever ate and this is the real issue behind sin there's always activity in the head iwase activity in the brain in the mind before the act is carried out the minds are already operating and how did her mind operate she doubted the justice she doubted the righteousness the benevolence of God his goodness his sincerity and that's exactly what the devil went after see it wasn't so much the devil came over and shined up the fruit yes it says that she saw that the fruit was desirable but you know what he did he tarnished the reputation of God that was the big issue and she looked at that and said oh I see God's not so great God's God's small God's jealous God's selfish you know what happened she began to regard God is a monster and someone against her he's against me oh he's withholding from me now I see him you know what she saw him she saw him as someone who delights in spoiling her life and that life plunged the whole human race into destruction and let me just tell you this there is no excuse for Eve or for Adam God gives them no excuse their sin was an entirely inexcusable piece of rebellion why because they knew God they had walked with God they had all that God had given to them the very fact that he was willing to come into that garden and give himself to them and commune with them and walk with them they knew what God had said there was there was no doubt in their mind what happened Eve allowed wicked thoughts about God to come in I don't know what happened with Adam we don't really know all we know is Adam followed Eve into the sin and in fact the Apostle Paul says it wasn't the man who was deceived it was the woman what happened to the man we're not exactly told but I'll tell you this something happened in his mind to whether he loved his wife more than he loved God why he did it whether I don't know all that happened but I'll tell you this they did what God had explicitly told them not to do and it was really foolish this talking serpent shows up in the garden somebody they don't know somebody somebody that hasn't proven himself reliable to them God has they just three seriously three sentences and I'm eating the fruit see that was foolish on her part that was that was there's lots of words we could put there this was a crime of the ages and paradise was lost and the whole human race was lost iniquity and sin and rebellion and all sin comes from this reality it comes from distrusting and Miss trusting God let me ask you this question isn't the whole matter of the gospel exactly this God has given us commandment it's this way today it's this way 6,000 years later God has given us commandment and you know what the commandment pertains to life God has sent His only begotten Son into the world and what does he do he commands all men everywhere to repent change your minds about your sin about how good you are about how bad you need a savior change your minds about all that and there's this commandment this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ and and you know what it is it's the promise of paradise all over again Jesus says to the one who conquers he says there will be paradise paradise that's what this is all about it's the promise of eternal life that Adam forfeited in other words the gospel is not just some pleasant message that says go into anything you like God loves you that's not it it'll be all right no it's always coupled with the blessings there's also the commandment there's the demands and what does God demand what you need to see is this this is amazing if you really think about God's commandments it's like there's a path that leads to life and God commands us to stay within the boundaries of life I mean if you really think about it His commandments he commands you to repent and believe on his son he's basically commanding you to stay within the confines of life it's always to keep you safe he tells us there is a voice I'm going to send a voice into the world and you listen to that voice and that voice will tell you and command you to stay on the way of life have you not heard it this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased listen to him the Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me this is Moses speaking from among your brothers you shall listen to him and whatever he tells you and it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from among the people the author of Hebrews see that you do not refuse him who is speaking for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven and I just wonder I wonder this whether I'm speaking just now teni perhaps young person anybody that's got parents that are Christians here maybe you're maybe you're an adult do you have thoughts this is the question especially you young people did any of you have thoughts in your heart that are exactly like the ones that Eve had right before she ate God's God's holy now you've got some idea guy to some sort of monster he's against you he's against me just feels like he's against me feels like I could never do right it feels like he's always trying to take away the fun he's always trying to take away the fulfillment he's always trying to spoil the enjoyment of life do you think to yourself I'm you know what I'm gonna give up this Christianity stuff I don't like this I don't like it that my parents bring me here I'd I gotta get away do you feel like it's all it's it's holding you down it's so restrictive it's so inconvenient it's robbed you of so much it's so narrow perhaps you dream about life out there oh I'm missing it I mean you can watch the movies or you can watch the commercials and you know young people in all the glory right the beautiful cars and they go to the beach and they climb the mountains and their scheme and you you watch all this and it's like wow I'm being robbed of something I've got to go to that church on Sunday with my parents and AH Christians look so miserable and people out there look like you're having such fun and they're at the bars and no other they've got all these women and then all these men and everybody's beautiful and I come here and that's on the east side and it looks like an old warehouse and we go in there and we hear this and it's just all it is rules rules rules any see the devil Eve just rules you want what you eat of any tree in the garden and you know that's how he put it at first this God said you can't eat of any tree in the garden you stay put that fought in there it's just so restrictive gie restrict me is it won't like eat any tree in the garden but she messed up you don't start dialoguing with him he'll know that's not exactly what he said any of you young people you just you're waiting eager just waiting to really start living yeah by the way you wouldn't be the first one to feel that way David's over here nodding you know what I was sixteen one time I was eighteen one time I was twenty-one one time the sound of the word gospel' like that just sounds kind of religious and more religious than I don't know what all that means but it doesn't sound like good news in my ears it sounds narrow it sounds like it's gonna cramp my style I want the kind of religion where there's a God he smiles on me when I die I'm gonna go to heaven but let me have my sin let me live it up that's that's what I wanted all that stuff that sounds like rattling chains that you're gonna tie me up with and I'm gonna be like a kid and seriously I mean I would have been you you put me in a church on a Sunday more like a caged animal like let me out of here so you wouldn't be the first one that's felt that way lots of us have felt that way we know do you imagine somehow God and this Christian way of life it's against you God is against me you see that's that's what Satan wanted her to feel God is against you God's an enemy God's a monster God's jealous God's law God's selfish it's the real issue isn't how shiny the fruit is the real issue is this is a god you've got to get away from break free from this this is a God who is opposed to your best interest opposed to your joy opposed to your fun opposed to your happiness see God's unfair he wants you to doubt his goodness you see this for what it is it's the same old thing that Adam and Eve did then and it just gets repeated today you say what do you mean do you know what God did for them there's a peach tree no worms try that I don't know how it was but can you imagine the Lord walking with them in the cool of garden he takes them over the peach tree and he says Adam Eve try this one I mean I I designed this one and it's good try this one wow that's really good if you ever had a strawberry what's that come over here try that in spite of all that God had done for them they believed the lie and that's what people go on believing today people look at family I have family I mean I get together with them at Thanksgiving or Christmas I have family I've birthday in the family man gets married God created sex the devil didn't create that intimacy warmth a home place you go in when it's cold and it's warm or you go in as hot and it's cool and there's food I mean we we can walk into an h-e-b or a Costco today and it's the food what God has given to us I see you young people you've got clothing on we have I remember one time we were down at the homeless shelter and we had a Korean family with us and the husband looked didn't do you know what a lot of the homeless people do clothes are so abundant that they get brand new clothes they wear them and when they're dirty they just throw them away that's what that's what a lot of homeless people do because clothing is so abundant and this Korean man looked at that he looked at his shirt that a homeless person just cast on the ground he said in Korea you'd never see that we have so much God has given you so much and you say God's against me you I mean the sunset the pleasures of this world the beauties the comforts but God's against me look at Golgotha here the Son of God my God my God why have you forsaken me God sent his were his son into this world to die for sinners but God's against me God's against me you need to wake up to the facts that's insanity he's not against you God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance it's a lie of a devil he's not against you and his commandments are meant for your safety repent change your mind about the way the mad - you're running to hell is that so bad is that so offensive to you change your mind change your mind about this change turn-turn from running over the cliff that's so perilous that's good leading to your destruction embrace my son he'll take you to paradise he'll be a husband to you oh there are joys and pleasures forevermore at his right hand the devil told our first parents don't believe it don't trust God can't be trusted trust me I'll tell you the truth but it wasn't the truth he murdered them and he's been a murderer from the beginning and they did die he said eat it eat as much as you like you won't die oh but they did die and you see God is bidding you live life eternal life I offer it to you an abundance of life a paradise of life His commandments are the way of safety to refuse to say no to him you will die submit yourself to mercy lay down the weapons of your warfare surrender to God's love stop your insanity face the facts he is good and he is kind and he is a sort of God that will not spare his own dearest son but give him up and crush him for the sake of sinners that's the kind of God that he is face the facts father I pray that you would use your word and do with it something miraculous in the hearts of some young people or older people I pray in Christ's name Amen

Channel: I'll Be Honest

Views: 13,791

Rating: 4.8130841 out of 5

Keywords: Tim Conway, Genesis, Tree, knowledge, evil, good, creation

Id: xHGfd4ge2Vk

Length: 55min 40sec (3340 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 24 2019