The Human Conditions

The original sin, watered down into two words the tree. Most of us know that the original sin was that Eve, who was deceived by a serpent ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We can read this in Genesis 3:1-7:

1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

This was the first sin, the fall of man, the point at which we became unworthy to live with God side by side as they did in the garden. See before this point mankind had no understanding, literally no knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve relied on God for that knowledge, and because of that had a deep intimate relationship with Him. Then along came a serpent who deceived Eve into thinking that she too could be like God. She saw that the tree was “desirable to make one wise”. “If I eat of this tree, I will be like God, the serpent told me, I will be wise and I wont have to rely on God anymore.”

The tree thats where this all started, and thats where it all ended when mankind nailed Christ too it. Our sin has always been the same, you can break it down all you want to: lust, jealousy, or pride it all branches from the same thing. Our arrogance, to think that we don’t need God. That with just a little knowledge, a little wisdom, we can do it on our own.

This sin has been repeated throughout all of history. The children of Israel were told by God to flee Egypt and head towards the red sea, but when the children of Israel saw the egyptians coming they lost faith in the Lord. They leaned on their own understanding, they did not trust Him to bring them out like He promised. This is evident in Exodus 14:15 “And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.” This was before he parted the Red Sea. Clearly God’s expectation was that His people would trust His word, instead they fled until they realized they could not do it on their own, then cried out to God.

Following this the Children of Israel were traveling through the wilderness of Shur and could not find any water, they could not drink of the water they found because it was bitter. Again they complained: Exodus 15:24 “And the people complained against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’”. Once again they failed to trust in God’s word. They again wanted to do it on their own, “well if he would just give us something to drink we would be fine!” Again we see the original sin lets keep reading Exodus 15:25-26:

 25 So he cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there He tested them, 26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.”

Notice that it was a tree that made the bitter waters sweet. Just like it was a tree in the Garden of Eden that quenched Eve’s thirst for wisdom and her desire to be independent from the Lord, it was a tree that quenched the thirst of the tribe of Israel and ended their complaining. “If only I had the knowledge of good and evil I could do it on my own”. “If only we had something to drink, then we could continue on our own way.” The Tree.

Even after this we see it again, Israel complaining about not having water, Israel complaining about not having food. Time and time again denying God’s sovereignty. Was the God who brought them out of the land of Egypt not strong enough or wise enough to provide His people with what they needed? Israel complained telling God “We know what we need! we don’t need you! we only need the water!” Instead of trusting and relying on God, they had turned God into someone who just gets them what they think they need.

So in essence, the Children of Israel repeated the original sin, so God gave them the “knowledge of good and evil” in the form of rules, laws, commandments, and strict regulations. Time and time again mankind continued to prove our inability to follow them on our own. So finally God’s plan of salvation comes to fruition. He comes down out of heaven, takes the form of a man so that we can relate to Him once again, and to restore our relationship with Him that we lost. Jesus spoke of how He had come to save, to redeem, to set right. The pharisees were not interested in Jesus, the had their knowledge of good and evil. So taking the point of “we can do it on our own” they denied God, and nailed Him to a tree.

I would like to backtrack a bit just for a moment to point something profound out here. King David was described by God as a man after God’s own heart. Moses had set strict rules and guidelines for the tabernacle. Their had to be a veil separating the Children of Israel from the Holy of Holies, the place where God resided. This veil was because mankind had no right to be in Gods very presence, no right to walk with Him directly, we lost that when Eve decided she could do it on her own. All who disobeyed this would be killed. Yet and its a big yet, King David had erected a tent to house the Arc of the Covenant. This tent had no veil separating him or his people from God. Yet King David did not die, he was blessed! He put down the laws, not in a sense of “I’m saved so I can do whatever I want” but in a sense of “I need you God, I can’t do this alone!”. He was a man after God’s own heart. He did whatever he was told to do, he relied on God. He did not commit the original sin. God hated that veil, and David knew it and he did what God wanted him to do.

When the Pharisees denied God and nailed Jesus to the Tree, often times referred to as a cross, committing once again the original sin, but this time they opened the door to salvation. Christ’s blood, Gods blood was shed as a symbol of His desire to re-establish a relationship with us, because He loves us. To seal the deal the very first thing God did after Christ died on the cross, was he tore the veil in the temple in half. It was no longer needed, our sins had been payed for. Our ability to walk with God had been restored we no longer needed the laws, we had Him.

It’s time we understand that if we are truly walking with Him, we don’t need to pay attention to any rules, or laws. Not because they no longer apply to us, it’s not a “I can do what I want now” freedom. If we walk with God we know what He wants, and we do what He wants. We don’t sin if we do what the Father asks us to do, rely on Him instead of seeking wisdom, A Tree, in a desire to do things on our own. Our ability to do this comes through the blood of Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice for us.

Remember what he did for us and what it represents. God Bless!

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