by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
The Bible is basically the history of man and his relationship to two different trees.<\/p>\n
The tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was death dressed up in appeal to the flesh, but the tree in the garden on which Jesus died was ugly, only appealing to the heart and spirit for life, and it was life dressed up as an ugly death.<\/p>\n
The first tree dressed death in beautiful appeal, but the second tree corrects the damage, giving life with the promise of eternal life. The second tree shows the ugliness of man’s hatred and the beauty of God’s love.<\/p>\n
God forbade eating from the first tree but invites us to eat from the second tree. The first tree opens our eyes to sin and the need for hiding and cover-up, while the second tree opens our eyes to spiritual life and reconciliation to God, covering our sins (shame) and clearing our consciences.<\/p>\n
The first tree brought a curse and the loss of paradise. The second tree brought the greatest blessings and the way back to paradise.<\/p>\n
By participating in sin, we have eaten of the forbidden fruit. But have you eaten from the second tree? The remedy and restoration to God come only by eating from the second tree! Satan wants you to eat from the forbidden tree, but does not want you to eat from the healing tree. But are you going to keep listening to him? The second tree gets you back to God and paradise! God’s word is marvelous, isn’t it?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Terry Wane Benton The Bible is basically the history of man and his relationship to two different trees. The tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was death dressed up in appeal to the flesh, but the tree in the garden on which Jesus died was ugly, only appealing to the heart…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[689],"class_list":["post-87227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-parables"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66963,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-cross-was-an-ugly-torture-device\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":0},"title":"The Cross Was an Ugly Torture Device","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton That is true, but men meant evil, while God used it for our good. How can a torture device be made for our good and bless us with forgiveness of sins? It is not the device itself, as if the physical item holds some mystical magic.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7861,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-tree-of-life-different-from-the-tree-of-the-knowledge-of-good-and-evil\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":1},"title":"Was the tree of life different from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please bear with me. I am just recently in the last year come back to studying the Bible, and there is so much I don't understand. I am what many refer to as 'backslider', but am attempting to rectify that. However, there is no one around me to talk\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16609,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-tree-of-life-still-exist\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":2},"title":"Does the tree of life still exist?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does the tree of life still exist? Answer: The tree of life was one of two special trees in the garden of Eden. \"And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13764,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-god-put-the-tree-in-the-garden-if-he-knew-man-would-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":3},"title":"Why did God put the tree in the garden if He knew man would sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 1, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: \"Why Does God Allow Evil?\" was a great explanation about why sin exists in the world, I enjoyed reading it and it has been a helpful tool when people ask me about sin and why God allows it to happen. I would like to ask you a question about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4116,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-people-have-to-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":4},"title":"Why do people have to die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why do people have to die? When you think about it, it can make people mad at God, or it will drive them away. Why does God let suffering happen? Suffering is hard for people. Answer: To understand why people die, we have to go back to when death\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":64843,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/were-we-created-to-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":87227,"position":5},"title":"Were we created to die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Your website is a huge blessing! Thank you for all the work you do to keep it up. My question is, why do babies die if they are born without sin? 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