“For every tree is known by his own fruit.” Luke 6:44
There was a time when there were two trees that stood out above all trees. Back in the Garden of Eden, You created the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And these words of Jesus were just as true then as they are now. Each of those trees was known by its fruit. I bet you could have looked at the trees and distinguished their fruit, one from the other. But it seems that there was something more “desireable” about the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Was it just the forbidden-ness? Did You make it more beautiful? What was the lure? Did you set Adam and Eve up for failure?
I really want to know what happened that day. How can I? Maybe I can see if I go back and read. Why? Because I think all of this relates to me being the kind of tree I was created to be and bearing the fruit I was intended to bear from my heart. And if I understand what happened with Adam and Eve, then I can correct that problem in my own life. So, I’m going to look back to Genesis.
If I stick with the facts, I see that the “mandate” to not eat from the tree of knowledge was given to Adam before Eve was yet in existence. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat: but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’” (Genesis 2:16-17) Now, I don’t know where part of the breakdown occurred, whether Adam didn’t relay that info precisely to Eve, if he added a clause about “not touching,” or if Eve just misheard or mistranslated, but somewhere along the line, Eve comes up with this command: “We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” (Genesis 3:2,3) That innacuracy may cause her a problem here.
I don’t think she really had a desire for that fruit to begin with. I think it was the subtlety of the serpent that drew her attention to it and created that desire in her. He started with an “innocent” enough question, right? “Has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” “Oh, how ridiculous,” laughed Eve, “Of course not, we can eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, silly serpent. But , this one tree in the middle, this one here, we can’t eat this fruit. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Boom. That added caution, “neither shall you touch it,” maybe that’s the door.
“Oh, You shall not die just like that. Test it and see. Touch it. See. No death. God knows that when you eat it, your eyes will be opened and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” “Could this be true?” thought Eve. After all, He did name it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That’s true. And He did say we could eat all of the fruit of the trees of the garden. Why not this one? What’s so special about this one? Is God holding back something from us?”
All it took was working some doubt into Eve’s mind. But this wasn’t just happening to Eve alone. Genesis 3:6 says her husband, Adam was with her. Why didn’t he speak up? He was the one who heard God firsthand. Why didn’t he say to them both, “Eve, God didn’t say we couldn’t touch it. He said, ‘You shall not eat of it, lest you die.’ Touching isn’t the problem. Eating is because He said not to eat. Look at all we have. All of this He made and gave us. Is it really making us miss something if we don’t eat this? Do you think He would hold something back from us if He’s given us all of this? Do you feel like He is holding back from us every day when He spends time walking and talking with us in the garden? Let’s walk away. Let the serpent eat it then. We don’t need it if God says we don’t need it. Come on, Honey, let’s go walk and wait for the Lord. Let’s talk to Him about it.”
But that didn’t happen. For all we see here, Adam was silent. No one spoke up and advocated for the God who created them and breathed the breath of life into them. Adam and Eve, and even the serpent should have born their own fruits of gratitude for God. They should have born the fruit of love for Him and obeyed out of gratitude and worship. The serpent, Eve, Adam, and even Satan were all created to be fruit bearers. Paul tells us that angels were created to be “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”. (Hebrews 1:14) That would be good fruit. But that wasn’t the fruit that Satan was bearing. He was bearing the fruit of discord, distrust, and destruction for those to inherit salvation. And the serpent? “And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock acording to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:25) And then there was Adam, and then Eve. And they were created in Your image God, after Your likeness. Why, so they could have dominion as Your regents on the earth. They were to be Your representation here. What higher honor is there than that?
The truth is that somewhere there before man was created, God had created the angels to be good as well. The angels, the creatures, man and woman were all to be fruit bearers for One, of One. The angels were to shine the light of God into the universe, ministering God’s will to those below them and worshipping the One they came from. The creatures, even the snake, were created to shine the light of God in the world by reflecting Your goodness through them, in them, and for them. And man and woman, were created to shine Your light even more so because they had a walking, talking relationship with You and You had given them vicarious authority to represent You before all the earth. Every one was created to live and take care of Your kingdom in Your “abscence.”
But how long was Your absence? Did Satan not see the measure of Your holiness and power and beauty when he was in Your presence as an angel of light? How could he not? When did he stop seeing the measure of You? Was it in those times when he was away from Your presence? Is that when things get dangerous and one starts to think of their own greatness, and somehow absence doesn’t make the heart grow fonder, but makes the heart grow weaker and the self-appreciation grow stronger?
Did the creatures sense Your abscence from the garden? Is that the problem? When the serpent sensed Your abscence, was it looking for something to fill that void? Did it turn to Satan’s sweet words for comfort?
How long does it take for absence of Your presence to affect us? Was it only part of a day? How many times had Adam and Eve heard the sound of You walking in the garden before? I don’t know. What did it sound like? Were there footsteps? A rustling breeze? A noise of trumpets? Like a host of angels? Like a strong, violent wind? Whatever it was, when they had heard it before, there had been no fear. But now, was it a different sound? Or was it the same sound, but because of shame and guilt, it had become fearful because they knew judgment stood at the door?
“I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself,” answered the man. “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree which I commanded you not to eat?” followed God. It’s not just a matter of disobeying. It’s a matter of becoming who You weren’t created to be. It’s losing yourself in trying to find yourself. No tree can survive without it’s lifesource, without drinking the water and nutrients it was created to imbibe. We are not any different. We were created to drink from the life source of God. Absence was given to desire more of You, to draw us to You. But absence is also a test of what our heart longs for most. What does my heart long for most? You? Or to fulfill it’s own desires and satisfy it’s cravings?
Every tree is known by its fruit is true. And maybe it’s not the problem to be a tree and bear different fruit, I mean, fruit still after the trees kind. But maybe the problem is to be a tree and not bear fruit at all, or to bear rotten fruit. It’s true, a pear tree can’t bear apples, a fig tree can’t bear grapes. But a fig tree is supposed to bear figs, not just fruitless boughs. A grape vine is supposed to bear grapes, not just leaves. A peach tree is supposed to bear peaches, not nothing, not rot.
I had a peach tree once. We planted it when our children were little. It bore delicious, juicy peaches naturally. But then, one year, it started producing peaches with rotten pits which made the whole fruit rotten. And try as we might, we couldn’t figure out how to fix it. Maybe it was a peach boar or some other disease, but something had infected the tree. The problem was coming from within and was evidenced in all the fruit. What used to be a joy became detestable. It wouldn’t bear good fruit any more. So we cut that tree down.
When You said that things were good, You weren’t just talking good by men’s standards, were You? Jesus says that only You are good. So if You are the standard of all that is good, and that was the standard man was created under in Genesis, where does that leave us now? Those later peaches looked good on the outside but they were rotten inside, from the core. That’s what we have become in Your absence. And it’s not because You left us, but because we left Your presence. We walk away. When You leave, You still remain; You are still here even when we can’t feel Your presence. But we so easily forget what we’ve already experienced, what we already learned, what we already know. We have such a tough time grasping eternity. We’re so temporary minded.
It’s so hard to understand things in Your terms of good, the eternal goodness of You. And until I start soaking up again that eternal goodness of You like it is my life sap, I just won’t get it. The truth is, good fruit only comes from You. If You arent’ the sap I draw from, then there is no good treasure in my heart. I can’t produce what I don’t have. If the tree is rotten in its sap, there is no good coming from it. If the tree is rotten in its sap, then rottenness and emptiness will come forth. Whatever flows out of the heart, the source, is what will flow out of the life.
I am known by others and by You by what my life bears. “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit [God fruit], but the diseased tree bears bad fruit [like Satan or the diseased peach tree or the empty fig tree boasting leaves]. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:17-19) I can hear the sound of mighty wind in the garden too. Is it scary? It ought to be, because judgment will come. Am I ready? “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.”(Matthew 12:23) It’s my choice to surrender to You or to surrender to my own will. I can hunger for Your presence and feast on it or I can feed myself in Your absence. What will it be? But I am responsible because I know what each choice will lead to.
Life is hard. Following You faithfully is hard too, Lord, because I am who I am. Maybe it was even harder in the Old Testament because Your spirit was only upon select individuals. But today, what’s my excuse? Because all those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, have the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit. This is our promise from You Jesus, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) I don’t want to be apart from You. Even if You feel distant at times, I want to live as though You are here because You are! I want to constantly remind myself by Your Word and by spending time with You and others who spend time with You and remind themselves by Your Word.
“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” (Revelation 2:7) I have ears. I hear and I believe. Therefore, I will live out what I believe. In You and by You, I will conquer this problem I have with expecting You to always come to me. I will keep check on myself that when I feel alone, I will be the one to search for You until I find You. I will be kept by You and I will be Your keeper. I will be loved by You and I will be Your lover. I will be held by You and I will hold unto You, Oh, so tightly back. Why? Because I can’t be apart from You. Apart from You is death and separation and failure and destruction and emptiness. I wasn’t created for that. I was created to be so close to You that I bear Your fruit and not my own. That’ll take a miracle but I believe in miracles because I believe in You. And by the power of Christ in me, I will conquer and bear Your fruit. I will be known by Your fruit.
A Deeper Treasure 