Genesis 2

Genesis 2:9

Chapter 4 TWO TREES “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 of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Genesis 2:9 Among the many things created by God, there were two trees planted in the midst of the garden: “The Tree of Life” and “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Had Adam eaten of the Tree of Life, he would have lived forever (Genesis 3:22-24). We have no way of knowing what The Tree of Life was. God has not told us. But we do know what it symbolized. It symbolized the Lord Jesus Christ who is our life, from whom we have eternal life. Christ is to all who believe a Tree of Life planted in the midst of the paradise of God (Proverbs 3:18; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 22:10). To trust the Lord Jesus Christ, to live by faith upon the merits of his blood atonement and his perfect righteousness, is to eat of the Tree of Life. The fruit of this Tree, the results of Christ’s obedience to God as the sinner’s Substitute, is eternal life. All who eat of the fruit of this Tree shall live forever. However, the Lord also placed another tree in the midst of the garden. It was “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” The moment that Adam ate of the fruit of that tree, he died. He died spiritually, was condemned to die eternally, and began to die physically. These things are recorded in the Book of God by the Holy Spirit for our learning and for our edification. There are several important, spiritual lessons to be learned by contrasting and comparing “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” to the cursed tree upon which the Son of God was crucified. Read Acts 5:30 and 1 Peter 2:24. Some Points Of Contrast. There are six obvious points of contrast between The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is as much to be learned from the disparity between the type and its fulfillment as there is from the comparison of the type and the antitype. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was planted by God (Genesis 2:9); but the tree upon which Christ was crucified was made and set in its place by man (Matthew 27:33-35). It is true - Christ was delivered to death by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God (Acts 2:23). God almighty fixed the time of his death, the means of his death, the place of his death, the object of his death, and the results of his death. But human hands devised and erected the cruel tree on Golgotha’s hill, stretched out the Lord of glory upon it, and crucified him. It is written, “And they crucified him!” The death of Christ was by the will, decree, purpose, and hand of God the Father; but the guilt of it lies entirely upon us. It was by the will, the hands, and the work of men that the incarnate God was nailed to the cursed tree. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was pleasant to the eyes (Genesis 3:6); but everything connected with the tree of the crucifixion was hideous, repugnant, and ignominious. Though it would be idolatrous to do so, were it possible for an artist to capture the scene of our Lord’s crucifixion on canvas, no one would want the picture hanging in his home. The scene was horrible Our suffering Savior looked more like a violently slaughtered beast than a man (Isaiah 52:14; Psalms 22:11-22). Drunks and priests, thieves and scribes, harlots and Pharisees, Roman soldiers and Jewish rabbis joined in a hellish party, taunting, and jeering, and laughing as they slaughtered the incarnate God. For three hours, darkness covered the face of the earth. The Son of God, when he was made to be sin for us, he was forsaken by his Father. Quivering in pain, burning with fever, covered with blood, with the reproach of being made sin for us breaking his heart, the Son of God died upon the cursed tree, being made a curse for us. Thus he redeemed his elect from the curse of the law. 3. God forbade man to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17); but every man is freely bidden, and even commanded, to eat of the fruit of that tree upon which the Savior died. Do not mistake my meaning. There is no value, or merit, in that wooden cross upon which Christ died. We do not value the cross, the physical cross, at all. If I knew I had it in my possession, I would burn it and scatter the ashes to the wind. But there is infinite merit in the sacrifice him who died upon the cross. The fruits of our Savior’s death upon the tree are priceless.

God himself calls sinners to eat of the fruit of this tree. He tells us, “All things are ready, Come.” “O taste and see that the Lord is good.” The leaves of this tree are for the healing of the nations, the healing of God’s elect scattered throughout all the nations of the world. It will be alright to use your imagination a little. Can you see the leaves on the tree? I see in the cross, in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ all that is needed for the healing of our souls from all the consequences of sin. In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, we find atonement made, justice satisfied, righteousness brought in, forgiveness obtained, and eternal life secured for chosen sinners. Satan used every cunning device to get man to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 3:1-6); but he uses every cunning device imaginable to keep sinners from eating of the fruits of Christ’s death upon the tree of crucifixion. The liar from hell deceives sinners, who are all willing to be deceived, by flattering their flesh. He persuades men and women universally that they do not need a substitute, that they are really good enough to meet with God’s approval, that God would not really send them to hell. With cunning craftiness, he makes men and women think they are smart, too smart to believe God, so smart that they imagine all religion to be superstition and hypocrisy, because they are superstitious hypocrites. The eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil brought death to Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:17); but life comes to all who eat the flesh and drink the blood of him who died upon the cursed tree (John 6:53-56). Christ’s flesh, his obedience to God in the body of human flesh, is righteousness. His blood, the pouring out of his life’s blood unto death, is atonement. To eat his flesh and drink his blood is to receive him by faith, thus receiving his righteousness and his atonement. Adam, as a thief, by eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was cast out of Paradise (Genesis 3:24); but the penitent thief, by eating of the fruit of the tree of crucifixion, entered Paradise (Luke 23:39-43). The only time recorded in the Scriptures our Savior used the word “Paradise” during his earthly ministry was in his promise to the penitent thief. It was not accidental. Like the penitent thief, all believers are reconciled to God and shall be brought into eternal Paradise, by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. As he confessed his sin and just condemnation, so do we. As he acknowledged Christ as his Lord, so do we. As he trusted the mercy and grace of Christ the Lord, so do we. As he obtained the favor of the Lord by faith in him, so do we. As he is with Christ in Paradise, so we soon shall be. Some Marks Of Similarity. I have shown you the points of contrast between the tree in the garden and the cross of Christ. Now, secondly, let me show you some of the marks of similarity between these two trees. Both trees were planted in a garden (John 19:41). The first Adam died in a garden; and the last Adam died in a garden. Both trees were planted in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:9; John 19:18). Our Lord Jesus Christ died as our Substitute in the midst of the world, and in the midst of two thieves, dividing the one from the other. So it is the cross of Christ, his blood atonement, that divides all men. The blood of Christ alone is that which distinguishes God’s elect from the reprobate. And our Lord Jesus was crucified in the midst of time. His death was the crisis of the world. When the fulness of the Jews was finished, as the fulness of the Gentiles began, the Son of God died at Calvary to ransom the Israel of God. This day and forever, it is the cross of Christ, which is the Tree of Life planted in the midst of the heavenly paradise (Revelation 22:2), as the center and glory of all things. Both trees were trees of the knowledge of good and evil. There is only one place in all the world where sinners, such as we are, can learn the knowledge of good and evil. These things are learned by divine revelation at the cross. There, as we look to Christ in faith, we see the goodness of God and the holiness of God, the love of God and the wrath of God, the grace of God and the justice of God, the mercy of God and the truth of God. And it is only as we look to Christ in faith, trusting him as our crucified Savior, that we begin to see the evil of sin, the wickedness of man, and the utter depravity of our own hearts. It is looking on him whom we have pierced that melts our hearts to repentance (Zechariah 12:10). And it is only in the light of Christ crucified that we discern good from evil in providence.

For God’s elect all things are good. For the unbeliever, all things are evil (Proverbs 12:21; Isaiah 3:10-11). 4. Both trees are good for food (Genesis 3:6). The cross of Christ - I mean the doctrine of the cross, the Gospel, is the very meat and marrow of the believer’s life. It is good for food for our souls! How pleasant it is to the eyes of faith! In the crucified Christ, in the doctrine of the cross, we see our sins blotted out. We see how that God is, indeed, both perfectly just and the Justifier of every believer. Truly, this is “a tree to be desired to make one wise!” The preaching of the cross is the power of God and the wisdom of God. It makes the believing sinner wise unto salvation. The cross of Christ was to our dear Savior a cursed tree (Galatians 3:13), but to us a tree of blessing, a curse removed. As Abraham’s guest was urged to take water and refreshment and find rest “under the tree” (Genesis 18:4), so in the gospel weary sinners are bidden of God to take water and refreshment and find rest for their souls under the cross. As Abraham and his guest stood together “under the tree” (Genesis 18:8), so the triune God and believing sinners stand together in the cross of Christ. As the tree cast into Marah’s bitter waters made the waters sweet (Exodus 15:23-25), so the cross of Christ cast into our bitter lives makes them sweet. With the inspired apostle, every believer ought to make this firm resolve - “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!”

Genesis 2:18-25

Chapter 3 THE FIRST “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.” Genesis 2:18-25 On the sixth day of creation the Lord God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26), and he did. In chapter two, verse seven we read, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Then, in Genesis 2:16-17, we read that “the Lord God commanded the man.” He did not command men, but “the man”. He did not command the man and the woman. The woman was not around. He commanded “the man”, Adam. The commandment was given to one man because one man was representative of all men. There was a reason for this. God had ordained the salvation of his elect by another Man, the last Adam, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. As we all fell by the act of one representative man, Adam, God ordained that all his elect be saved by the work of another representative Man, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 5:12-19). Why was Eve created? “The Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Why was it not good for man to live alone? He had no one to love. Being created in the image of God, Adam was full of love and affection. That love and affection must have an object. He had no one to talk to.

There was no one like himself with whom he could converse, no one with whom he could discuss the beauties of the garden, no one with whom he could share his thoughts. He had no one to touch and embrace. Companionship, togetherness is essential to those who love. We need to touch and be touched. We need to embrace and be embraced. He had no one to help.

There was no one who needed Adam’s help, and no one to help Adam with his needs, as a man living in the world. The Lord God graciously took care to provide help for fallen, needy man, even before he fell and became needy. There was no one for him, with whom the man could share his blessings. Love must give and delights to give; but Adam had no one to whom he could give what God had given him, no one to whom he could give himself. He had no one to comfort, –no one for him to comfort and no one to comfort him, –no one for him to admire and no one to admire him. He was alone.

Adam had no one with whom to produce others like himself. All the animals of the garden had their mates and their little ones; but Adam was alone. He had neither wife, nor sons, nor daughters (Genesis 2:19-20). Eve was created by God specifically to be “a help meet” for Adam. How was Eve created? We are first told what the Lord God did for Adam (Genesis 2:21-22). “The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.” This was more than a normal rest, or sleep. God himself put Adam into a coma. No one else could do this to Adam. While Adam slept, God took one of Adam’s ribs out of his side and closed up the flesh, so that there was no scar. From that rib which he took from Adam, God made a woman. Then he brought her to the man. God did not create the woman as he did the man, but made the woman from the man. Woman was not the beginning of a new order and a new race. She was the continuation of the race. Adam was the sole head and representative. That is God’s order. She is called “Ishshah”, woman, because she was taken from “Ish”, man. The Lord did not take the woman from the man’s head to reign over him, nor did he take her from man’s foot to be trampled upon by him, but from his side as one who is his equal. God took woman from the rib of man, from under his arm, to be protected by him, from near his heart, to be loved by him. Then the Lord God brought the woman to the man. She was the gift of God to man. This is God’s order. It cannot be changed (1 Corinthians 11:8-9). Genesis 2:23-24 tell us what Adam did. “Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh.” He was saying, –This woman is part of me. She is to be loved and cherished by me, as I would love and cherish myself. We are one person. “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Adam understood from the beginning what very few men understand today. The man who has a wife is the one responsible for the household. He is the head of the house, prophet, priest, and king. He is the provider for the household. He is the ruler of the house and the protector of the house. And the woman who has such a man can rest in his care and love (1 Peter 3:7). “And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed” (Genesis 2:25). They were, as God had created them, holy and upright. They needed no clothes to protect them. They needed no clothes to conceal any part of their bodies which God had made. And they were not ashamed, because they had nothing to be ashamed of. There was no sin in their nature, no guilt in their consciences, and no wickedness in their actions. But they did not remain in this blessed condition. As soon as they sinned, they were under the curse. And as soon as they sinned they were ashamed (Genesis 3:1-7). We are all inheritors of their shame, because we have all inherited their guilt (Romans 5:12). What does the Holy Spirit here teach us? Without question, there is much to be learned about true womanhood in these verses. Blessed is that woman who receives and bows the Word of the Lord and teach your daughters to do so (Titus 2:3-5). Blessed is her family. She alone is a truly virtuous woman (Proverbs 31:10-31). But there is something far more glorious here. The marriage performed by God in the garden of Eden, the marriage of Adam and Eve, is a picture of the marriage performed by God in grace, the marriage of Christ and his church. There is a second representative man - Christ our Savior (1 Corinthians 15:21-22; 1 Corinthians 15:45-49). He is not just the second Adam. Christ is the last Adam, the last representative man. The first Adam sinned. The last Adam obeyed God perfectly for his people. The first Adam brought death to all his race. The last Adam brought life, eternal life to all who were represented by him. As we have born the image of the first man Adam, so all God’s elect must and shall bear the image of the last man, the Lord from heaven, our great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This last Adam shall not be alone in his kingdom. God has declared that he shall have a people to love and by whom he shall be loved, –a people made after his likeness (Romans 8:29-30), –a people with whom he can be in fellowship, –a people with whom he can walk, –a people to serve him, whom he can serve, –a people to admire him, whom he can admire, a people with whom he can share everything, –a people to reign with him forever. The Lord God made a body of flesh for his dear Son (Galatians 4:4-5; Hebrews 2:17; Hebrews 10:5). Woman was made of man; but here is a man who was made of woman by the hand of God, that he might redeem and save fallen men.God caused a deep sleep to come upon his Son. His sleep was death, death for sin. None but God could do this. At the cross, God put his Son to death for us, that we might live by his death. Yet, as Adam, knowing full well what he was doing (Genesis 3:6; 1 Timothy 2:14), died for Eve, so Christ freely, voluntarily laid down his life for his bride. From the side of our crucified Redeemer there flowed out blood to justify and water to sanctify his chosen bride (John 19:34; Ephesians 5:22-27). In the fulness of time the Lord God will bring the chosen bride to Christ, by the effectual, irresistible grace and power of his Spirit (Psalms 65:4; Psalms 110:3). He will make her submissive to him, cause her to adore him, and unite her to him. Christ left all for her and cleaves unto her; and she leaves all for him and cleaves unto him (Ephesians 5:30-32). They are not ashamed (1 John 2:28-29). “He that believeth shall not be ashamed!” Adam and Eve had no outward clothing and they were not ashamed. The righteousness of Christ is a garment to cover us, the garment of God’s salvation, which makes believers unashamed before God. Our Savior’s death has put away our sin and our guilt. His Spirit has given us his nature. By faith in him, we have confidence before God and are not ashamed, for in Christ we are holy and unblamable. Yes, we still have this outward body of flesh that must be covered because of its corruption. But soon we shall lay it aside and rise in his likeness. In that last great day, we shall stand before the bar of God in the perfection of Christ, robed in white garments, clean and white, and shall not be ashamed.