Christ in Genesis #1: Adam's Tree — Stephen Kaung

Scripture Readings: Creation, the Garden, and Justification

We will please turn to Genesis chapter one. I think it is good in the beginning of the year to read from Genesis. Genesis chapter one, beginning with verse twenty-six. Genesis chapter one, verse twenty-six.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over the whole earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.

And God created man in His image. In the image of God created He Him. Male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the heavens, and over every animal that moveth on the earth.

Chapter two, verses eight and nine. And Jehovah Elohim planted a garden in Eden eastward, and there put man home he had formed. And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Romans, chapter five. Romans, chapter five, verse nineteen through verse twenty-one. Romans, chapter five, verse nineteen. For indeed, as indeed by the disobedience of the one man the many have been cast out, they have been constituted sinners.

So also, by the obedience of the one, the many will be constituted righteous. But law came in, in order that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace has overabounded. In order that, even as sin has reigned in the power of death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that at the beginning of the year Thou dost gather us together before Thee to learn of Thee and of Thy purpose concerning man. We do ask Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt, by Thy Holy Spirit, quicken Thy word to every heart, that Thy word may truly be life and spirit to us, and to Thee be all the glory.

Genesis as the Biography of God's Work in Man

In the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen. The first book of the Bible, Genesis, is a book of biographies. You know, sometimes we think of the Bible as a book of doctrines, a book of teachings, a book of truth.

That's true. But when you open the Bible, you find the first book of the Bible is a book of biographies. It is true there are teachings there, there are doctrines there, there are truths there, deep truths there.

But it is not written as a book of teachings, a book of doctrine, or even a book of truth. It is written as a book of biographies. Now why is it? Because God's interest is primarily not on teaching. God's interest is in man.

God is interested in man. The purpose of God is towards man. The work of God is in man. God is interested in man. God does His work in man until man comes to what God has originally designed for him. Now in this book of Genesis, mainly you find it is the biographies of eight persons.

Now even though there are a number of people mentioned in that book, but actually you will find mainly it is upon the eight people. In these eight persons, God did some work in their lives. And you can see in each person a special feature, trademark as it were, revealing to us what God has done in that life.

And when you put persons together, you get a man at the God's own heart. In a sense you find that all these eight persons are type of Christ. In each of them you see a little bit of Christ there. When you put them together, you find Christ, the man at the God's own heart.

And then you can enlarge it and say God's purpose concerning man is not an individual. God's purpose concerning man is a corporate man. Therefore you'll find whatever God has done in these eight persons, which are just the expressions of what that man is, the same work God will do in each of us.

And together as the body of Christ, we will reveal the same trademarks to the glory of God. And that is what this book is all about. In every one of these eight persons you can see a sign, a symbol, something that stands out.

Eight Genesis Figures and Their Symbols

Now for the purpose of our future consideration, God willing, I would just mention it first, but of course this morning we cannot go into all these eight persons. The first person is Adam, of course. And with Adam it is the tree, Adam's tree.

The second person is Abel. With Abel it's Abel's sacrifice. The third person is Enoch. With Enoch it's Enoch's heaven. The fourth person is Noah, and no doubt it's Noah's ark. The fifth person is Abraham.

And with Abraham it's the altar. The sixth person is Isaac. With Isaac it's the well. The seventh person is Jacob. With Jacob it's the pillar. And the last person Joseph is the throne. So you find that the work, the divine work of God is being manifested in these different symbols.

The tree, the sacrifice, the heaven, the ark, the altar, the well, the pillar and the throne. And through all these you can see how God's purpose is fully realized at the end of this book. Now this morning we would like to concentrate ourselves on the first man, Adam.

Adam Created in God's Image

Adam's tree. God created man in his own image. By that it does not refer to the outward appearance. Because we know image means that inward quality, that inward moral and spiritual likeness or assimilation.

That is what image really means. When God created man, God created man in his own image. That is to say he created man in with the same inward moral and spiritual likeness. And because of this man has a capacity for God.

Man is able to contain as it were God in him. And be united with God in life. That is the beauty of God's creation. You know when God created man, even though he just used the red earth to form the outward body of a man, you know the material is very cheap.

Just the red earth. And yet in Psalm 139 we are told that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. And that's true. Even when you consider the body of man, which God just used the material of the earth.

And if you analyze the earth, analyze your body, you will find it contains the same chemicals. Because God made man with the red earth. And yet he has made it so fearfully and wonderfully made. Our body is a marvel.

But that is just the smallest part of it. Man is not only a physical being. And that physical being is a wonderful being. But man is a moral and spiritual being too. In other words, because man is created in the image of God, he is different from all the other creations.

God used the red earth to form the body of man. And God breathed the breath of life into the nostril of that form. And the Bible said man became a living soul. In other words, you find in the creation of man, there is the body which is made of red earth.

Body, Soul, and Spirit

And with that body we are conscious of the physical world around us, with our five senses. Then you'll find that when the breath of God entered into that form, man became a living soul. In other words, man has a soul.

A soul simply means that he becomes a living being. There is an animated life within him, a created life within him. He can think, he can express himself, he can feel it, he can decide on things. There is the volition, there is the mind, there is the emotion.

And through that soul he is conscious of himself. How do you know that you are? Because you think. You feel it. And you will it. It gives you a self-consciousness. And then you'll find the breath of life that entered into you becomes your spirit.

A human spirit. You have a conscience, you have intuition, you have communion with God. Because God is spirit. And we are made with a human spirit. And with our spirit we can worship God. God is a spirit.

Whoever worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And thank God we have a spirit. And with that spirit it gives us God-consciousness. This is the way that man is marvelously made. A wonderful body.

A marvelous soul. And a tremendous spirit. God creation is concern of man is concern. When man was created he was created complete. So far as God's purpose of creating man is concern, it is yet to be fulfilled, to be perfected.

Now this is very important. So far as the act of creation is concern, when man was created he was perfect. There was nothing missing or lacking. Just like a baby. When a baby is born, he is perfect. So far as all the members of the body is concern, he is perfect.

And yet that baby needs to grow into maturity, into manhood or womanhood. And that is the purpose concerning a birth. And that needs to be gradually developed. So you find when man was created out of the hand of God, he was created perfect and complete.

But so far as God's purpose of creating him is concern, it has to wait to be perfected and to be completed. Now how do we know that? Because when God created man, man actually was created as a vessel.

Man as a Vessel for God

Now a vessel is not an end. A vessel is a means to an end. A vessel is for the sake of being filled with something. And when a vessel is filled with the right thing, then the purpose of that vessel is fulfilled.

Suppose you made a cup, a drinking cup. Now after a cup is made, you may make a very beautiful cup, but if it is not filled with drink, with water, then so far as the cup is concern, his purpose is never fulfilled.

But when that cup is filled with water, then we can say the purpose of that cup is fulfilled. So remember that man is made as a vessel. A vessel for God. Not for any other purpose. Man is made to be a vessel for God.

And only after man is filled with God, then the purpose of the creation of man is fulfilled. And that is the reason why if a person is not filled with God, he is always empty. You may fill him with gold and silver, but he is still empty.

Just like Saint Augustine said, he said, O God, my soul will never find its rest until it rests in Thee, because it is made for Thee. And it is for this reason. After God had created man, God planted a garden, the garden of Eden.

The word Eden means pleasure. God planted a garden of pleasure. Why? Because in that garden God planted all kinds of trees with fruits. They were not only good to look at, but they were good for food.

All the fruits are for the nourishment of the physical body of man. God prepared all the trees in the garden of Eden. And in the midst of the garden, in the center of the garden, God planted the tree of life.

And by the side of that tree of life, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God said to man, God put man in the garden. And God said to man, of all the trees in the garden, you may freely eat except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

For on the day that you shall eat thereof, you shall surely die. Why is it that after God had created man, God should put man in a garden? Well, we will say, well, God wants man to enjoy what God has created.

That's true. But why is it that in the center of the garden God planted the tree of life? Did not man have life already? Man is a living soul. Man has an animated life in him. Man can walk, man can talk, man can think, man can do many things.

Man has life. Now why is it the Bible specifying and saying that in the midst of the garden God planted the tree of life? Because the tree of life is symbolic of the divine life of God. In other words, God, as it were, put His own life in the form of a tree.

The Tree of Life and God's Purpose

Now why does God put His life in the form of a tree? Because that makes His life available for man. You know, man can take the fruit of the tree and eat it. Then man got the divine life into him. God made his life available to man.

God was not satisfied just by creating man, giving him a created life, but God's purpose was that He wanted to give His own uncreated, divine, eternal life to man, so that He and man will be united in one.

Now that is God's purpose. So in the center of the garden there was the tree of life. It shows us what the purpose of God for creating man really is. God created man in order that man may receive God into him and be united with God in life, in love and in purpose.

That is God's purpose. So you'll find in Romans chapter eight, whom He has foreknown, He has predestinated, He has predestinated to be conformed to the image of His own Son. God wants us to receive His life and be conformed to the image of His only begotten Son, to be like Him.

Now that is God's purpose for man. But by the side of that tree of life, God put another tree there. It is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now that's a very peculiar tree. It is not a common tree.

It is not an apple tree, it is not a pear tree or a peach tree. All these trees are good for food, that is, they can supply the need of our physical body, because at that time man did not eat any meat.

The food of man were fruits. So God provided us with a body and God provided us with all the good foods to support that body. All the trees in the gardens are for fruits, all for our physical body. And with all the different tastes there, you know, so that we don't get monotonous about it and feel tasteless about it.

Now God really loved people, you know. And then you'll find the tree of life. It's a different kind of fruit, because it gives us divine life. It gives us a life for our spirit, that in our spirit we may have God's life in us.

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

But then you find the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is a different kind of tree. It is the tree of knowledge. What kind of knowledge? The knowledge of good and evil. Now sometimes people think that in the garden of Eden there was one bad tree and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now do you think God would plant any bad tree in that garden of Eden? All the trees are good. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not a bad tree. As a matter of fact it's a better tree. It is a better tree than all the rest of the trees except the one which is best, the tree of life.

For the tree of life is the food for our spirit. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the fruit for our soul. And the other trees are the fruit, food for our body. Knowledge is for our soul. All the knowledge in the world.

There is no knowledge higher than the knowledge of good and evil. You know today we boast that we are in the age of technology. We boast of all the science and the scientific inventions that we have. We think so much of science as if science is everything.

But remember of all the knowledge in the world the highest knowledge is not science, is not the knowledge of physical things. The highest knowledge is the knowledge of good and evil. It is the knowledge of discerning what is good, what is evil, what is right and what is wrong.

It is moral knowledge. It is ethics. It is logic. It is philosophy. It is rationalism. It is rational knowledge. There is nothing higher than rational knowledge. We call ourselves rational beings. Why?

Because we are so rational, so logical. We can know what is good and what is evil. That is the highest knowledge. As a matter of fact in China, in all our Chinese culture and literature and learning, the highest we considered is rational knowledge.

It is not a bad tree, but it means death if it is taken apart. That God put man in the garden of Eden and in the midst of the garden the tree of life and by the side of the tree of life the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And God said, now this tree of the knowledge of good and evil you should not eat because if you eat you shall surely die. Now why is it so? It is because God created man in his own image. God is a free will.

God is free. He has a will. He has a will he can do whatever he chooses. And when God created man, God created man as a free will. God give us a will and because we have a free will we are free. We are free to choose what we want to choose.

God respects our free will. So God gives man the opportunity to act in exercise his free will to make his own choice. God just does not plant the tree of life in the garden of Eden and tell man, now eat it.

There is no choice. You have to eat it. Now God doesn't do that. Instead he put another tree by the side of it and on the one hand God said all the trees you can eat. Now of course if you are told that you can eat all the trees, no doubt the tree that is in the center of the garden will attract your attention.

No doubt about that. In other words the hint is that is the tree. And God said now don't eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Don't eat that. By saying that in a sense God was trying to tell people why not eat the tree of life.

Unfortunately man didn't get God's hint. Certainly man knew about it. The reason why God put man under a command. You shall not eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because on the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.

Not only because God loves man. God does not want man to die. But another thing we need to remember is man is above all creatures but under. The Creator. Sometimes we forget. We think we are above everything.

Even above God. So God put man under a command. To show that it is true. Man is above all things but there is one that is above him. To whom he should obey. You know so that man might know his place in the universe.

But anyway God did not force man to do his will. God put his will before man. Let man freely choose. If man wanted to choose the tree of life he could do it. And if man wanted to choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that was forbidden he also could do it.

God gave man that liberty to choose. Because man was created a free will. What will a free will be if there was no choice? Or if you could not choose? So here you will find how God respects the man whom he created.

So here you will find man stood before two trees. Here is the tree of life and there is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And God put man before these two trees. And let man choose his own destiny.

Whether he will choose the tree of life, thus receiving the life of God into him and be one with God. Fulfilling God's purpose of creating him. Or he may choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

That is to say he does not want the life of God. He wants to develop his own soul. He wants to increase his own knowledge and make himself a God. Independent of God. Declaring independence of God. I don't need God.

I make myself God. He can do that too. Knowledge is not bad. The knowledge of good and evil is certainly a good knowledge. What is disastrous is this. You have the knowledge of good and evil and yet you do not have the power to do the good and to refrain from the evil that pronounces death.

And that's what it is. Nothing wrong with the knowledge. Nothing wrong with the knowledge of good and evil. It is a good knowledge. You should have it. But unfortunately apart from the life of God, knowledge only brings death and not life.

Because you have the knowledge but you don't have the power to do what you know is good and not to do what you know is bad. You remember in Romans 7 that man cried out and said, Oh wretched man that I am.

Why am I so wretched? Because I know what is good but I cannot do it. I know what is wrong but I do it. I cannot help doing it. And therefore I am condemned. It brings death and not life. With the life of God there is knowledge.

But that knowledge brings life. You remember in John 17 it says to know Him and to know the one who is sent by Him, this is eternal life. What is eternal life? Eternal life is a knowledge too. But it is a living knowledge.

In other words, you are not to do it. That's the difference. And God so loves man. He wants man to have his life. And with his life he will have knowledge but with the knowledge there will be the power to do what he should do.

Two Principles of Life: Divine Life or Rational Independence

But man can choose whether he wants the life of God or he wants the knowledge of good and evil. What's the difference? The tree of life speaks of the divine life of God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil speaks of a rational knowledge developed in man, a path.

With the tree of life, if we take the tree of life, then you will find the life of God becomes the life of our spirit. Because the life of God dwells in our spirit. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil dwells in our brain, in our mind, in our soul.

The life of God in us is a life of faith. The life of rational knowledge is a life of reason. The tree of life in us is a life of obedience. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us is a life of independence.

The tree of life in us is a life of union with God, depending upon God, walking with God, following God. And the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a life of standing apart from God, trying to develop himself to be a God.

One will bring us to eternal life. The other brings us to death. Now that's the difference between these two trees. And Adam was to make the choice. Unfortunately our forefather made the wrong choice.

Instead of accepting the tree of life, man declared independence of God, man was tempted to develop himself and try to make himself a God, and the result was he made himself not a God, but a devil. Instead of conforming to the image of God's son, he was deformed into the image of the devil.

Man was conformed to the image of the devil, and he was cast out of the garden of Eden. And the way to the tree of life was guarded by cherubim with flesh and soul, sword. In other words, the way to the tree of life was completely blocked to man.

The Fall, Sin, and the Sentence of Death

That was the tragedy of human history. By the disobedience of one man, we were constituted sinners. We were born sinners. We were born with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us. In Adam, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the life principle.

People live according to the principle of the knowledge of good and evil, and that is the best you can live. And because of that you find that we are all under the sentence of death. But thank God, God sent into this world a second man, Christ.

The man who came into this world is life. He is the tree of life. And he came to offer life to mankind. God gave us a second chance. Here you'll find on Calvary, Christ was crucified on the cross. Now what is the cross?

Today we think of the cross as if it is something beautiful, something glorious. Use gold and make a cross and hang it around the neck, you know. But you know, when Christ was crucified on the cross, that cross is not that smooth, that beautiful.

As a matter of fact, in 1 Peter 2, verse 24, it says, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. Cut a tree. If you want to crucify a criminal, you do not cut a tree and try to smooth it, make it very smooth and very beautiful before you put that criminal on that tree.

No. It is just a tree cut down rough, rugged, and crucify that person on that tree. Our Lord Jesus was crucified on a tree. Now that tree in the first place is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Because we have eaten the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, therefore Christ tasted death for us on the tree. He died to sin. So that tree in the first place represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

You and I should be crucified there. We ate that fruit and we should be crucified on that tree. But instead you find our Lord Jesus, he tasted death for every man, every creature. He was crucified on that tree in our stead.

Christ's Cross as the Tree of Life

But thank God that tree, after he was crucified there, it turned into a beautiful, beautiful tree. Another tree, the tree of life. Because out of his death, you remember, out of his side came out blood and water.

Blood for the atoning, the remission of our sins. And water give us life, that we may receive a new life. Through his death and resurrection, he releases the divine life, his own life, to a tree of life.

He makes life available to us by the cross. Without the cross, his life is just in himself. He said, when the Greeks came, wanted to see him, what did the Lord Jesus say? The Lord said, the son of man is to be glorified.

But what does it mean? He said, unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it should die, it will bear many seeds. You know? Without the cross, the life, the divine life of God is in Christ.

But it's only in him. Oh, what a beautiful life he lives. He lives a life according to life, to the indissoluble life of God. What a life he lives. But it is only in him. It is through death, through the cross, that that life is made available to all who believe in him.

Through the cross, his life is released, so that we who believe in him may receive his life in us. And dear brothers and sisters, you'll find here the work of his redemption. On the one hand, he has to get rid of the effect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us.

He has to take our sins away. He has to take death for us, that we may be passed out of judgment, out of death into life. He has to do the negative work of clearing the ground. And then he does the positive work of giving his life to us.

The Gospel's Call to Choose Life in Christ

And dear brothers and sisters, through the cross of Calvary, mankind is given a second chance. You may choose. Don't blame Adam and say he made the wrong choice for us. God gives you another opportunity to choose your life.

You may choose yourself. Now whom will you choose? Will you choose the tree of life? Or you still want to remain with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What do you want? In Adam is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

In Christ is the tree. By the disobedience of one man, many were constituted sinners. But by the obedience of one man, many are made righteous. Dear brothers and sisters, that is the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is He came to take away the effect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is death in our life. And He came to offer His own life to us. That whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

So thank God today you have made the choice. You have chosen Christ. You have chosen life. And you have received His life in you. His life in you is today your principle of living. So here we come to the two different principles of life.

Living by Divine Life Rather Than Moral Reasoning

There are two different ways of life. Two different laws of life. One principle of life is you live by the divine life. The other principle is you live by the knowledge of good and evil. Now brothers and sisters, before we believe in the Lord Jesus, we live by the knowledge of good and evil.

And that's the best we can live. What we consider an evil, we say, well don't do it. What we consider as good, we say, well that's something you should do. You know, you just think of it, you reason it out.

And according to what you reason out, you think that's what you should do and that's what you shouldn't do. Not to say your reasoning probably is irrational, but you think you're very rational. Even if your reasoning is rational and it is right, what do you find?

You find that what you think is right, you don't do it. What you think is wrong, you do it. That's what your life was. And that's the reason why you are condemned. You were condemned. But dear brothers and sisters, after we have received the life of Christ in us, after we have eaten the tree of life, we now see that from now on, the principle by which we live should not be the knowledge of good and evil anymore.

It should be the divine life. Do we not see it? Now it doesn't mean that a Christian make light of what is right or what is wrong, what is good or what is evil. Certainly not. It does not, you know, some people become so super spiritual as if they are above any moral standards.

In other words, they can't do the bad things and it's still alright. Now not that, certainly not. You are not pseudo spiritual to the sense that you can neglect even right or wrong or good and evil, of course not.

But as Christians, you should live higher than just good or bad, right. Good is not good enough for you. You live by a higher principle of the divine life of God. That is the principle by which we live.

Discerning Life, God's Will, and Christian Maturity

Now how unfortunate we find Christians today, many Christians today, ask that question. Is it wrong? You know, lot of young Christians will come to you and say, brother, I'm going to do this thing. Do you think it's wrong?

Do you think it is right? Do you think it is good? Do you think it is evil? Do you think it is sin? You know, what does he mean? He means that if it is not sin, if it is not bad, if it is not wrong, if it is good, then he can do it.

He is still governed by the knowledge of good and evil. In your dealing with people, is it still, that is your criteria? If you think you have done something good and people misunderstand you. Now if you have done something bad, you know you are bad, alright, I accept it.

But if you are good, act according to the divine life of God in you, or do you act or react still by the standard of good and evil? Remember, to us Christians, the governing principle of life is the divine life of God.

In other words, our question is not whether it is right or wrong. Our question is, is it of life? Or is it not? It is not a matter of, what about me? It is not a matter of, what does God think? We are living, why?

Because in Christ is the tree of life. This is the principle by which we live. How unfortunate we find ourselves often falling to the level of the knowledge of good and evil. We are still arguing about, I am right, you are wrong, you are wrong, I am right.

This is good, this is evil, as if, that will settle the question. It has to be higher than that. Sometimes it may be good, but it may not be God's will. We have to ask, is it of life? Is it of life? Sometimes you may suffer a little bit, but you feel full of life within.

At other times, you may argue very strongly you are right, but more you argue you are right, the more dead you feel within. Now that's Christian. Because Christians live according to a different rule.

Different rule. So dear brothers and sisters, it is more than just a matter of receiving life. After we have received the life of Christ in us, then it behoves us to live by that. Do not be governed just by the knowledge of good and evil.

It has to be higher than that. We have to be governed by the divine life of God in us. And if we do, then you will find life, the divine life of being us, will begin to take shape. We will be gradually transformed and be conformed to the image of God's Son.

What is the image of God's Son? It is the moral, spiritual. God wants us not only to receive His life, but His life is being followed, is being lived. And as the life is being lived, that life will grow into maturity.

And we will grow into a full grown man, into the measure of the fullness of the Christ. That is God's purpose. So in Adam's tree, you can see God's purpose in man. Even though he fell before that tree, but in Christ, God has offered us the tree of life.

As a matter of fact, the fleshing soul came upon, he was slain. That the way to the tree of life may again be open. And we are invited in. And after we have taken that tree of life, maybe walk in that life.

Closing Prayer: Walking in the Life of Christ

So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee, that even though our forefather failed to receive the life which Thou didst offer to him, and instead receive the knowledge of good and evil, which is death.

Our Father, we do thank Thee, that in Christ Jesus, Thou has offered to us again this tree of life. And Thou has made a way for us into life. And we do praise and thank Thee, that it is Thy grace that has opened our eyes, even given us faith to believe in Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.