Two trees and the dynamic duo

Throughout history, we have been witness to famous pairs of two. Bonnie and Clyde, Hatfields and McCoys, Moses and Aaron, Andy and Barney, and SpongeBob and Patrick and the list goes on.

The Bible is loaded with the power of 2’s as well. In the book of Genesis, God details a bit of his creation mentality when he formed 2 people, a man and a woman. He built them a paradise where they would have one-on-one personal unrestricted access to himself. He and the famous pair would spend their evenings together in teaching, conversation, and I would think some laughter time as well. God designed this paradise with a pair of centerpieces located in the midst of the center of the garden. There he placed two trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life. Their relationship was simple, much like a father and child would have today. They had full access of the entire garden, yet the two trees were not to be eaten from. Genesis 2:9 let us know that every tree was good for food and pleasant to the sight. Sooner or later, what is forbidden will always look pleasant and attractive to our temptation. The duo team of Adam and Eve had two choices in life, walk with God in obedience, empowerment and live forever or die in rebellion and disobedience.

Whether we realize it or not, our lives are a daily series of two choices, good with a dash of eternal life or evil with the poison of death. Satan had to tempt Adam and Eve with the tree of knowledge first. Once he had infected the God relationship with sin,, then he could move them to tree number 2. In Genesis 3:22 God pulls mankind from the garden before they had a chance to eat from the tree of life. If they had eaten from the second tree, then they would have eternal life without God. So in one encounter, Satan turned paradise with a God culture to paradise lost with a new sin culture. So the garden was infected and God could not allow mankind to gain eternal life without him, because eternal life without God is eternal torment. God was willing to lose intimacy with mankind rather than lose him forever.

No one knows how much time the original dynamic duo spent in face-to-face conversation with God in the garden. Some say less than a week, and others calculate as much as 100 years. Either way, the enemy turned them in one conversation. If Satan could draw away the ones that looked God in the eye, then we should be careful with the temptations around us. Hey, we’re real people, living real lives, serving a real God. We’re on Liberty Square, in Sparta, and we will see you this Sunday, at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., at Christpoint Church. Welcome home.