The Tree Of Good & Evil – & Your Life | Jonathan Cahn Sermon
The Tree Of Good & Evil – & Your Life | Jonathan Cahn Sermon
In the beginning, God created man in His own image—the image of holiness and beauty. However, on the cross, man transformed God into his own image, the image of sin, fallenness, and condemnation. Each one of us was made to unite with God, to become His beloved, His bride, regardless of gender. God is the bridegroom, but we fell, like the woman. This fall separated us from God, as sin cannot dwell with the Holy One.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam fell, but the Messiah, who is God, never fell. Yet, on the cross, He became one with our sin, without sinning Himself, so He could reunite with us. Through His sacrifice, we can be joined with His righteousness. Hallelujah!
The tree in Eden symbolized life, yet it brought death. In contrast, the tree of the cross, though it seemed like a tree of death, brings life and redemption. Adam saw a tree that was good, offering pleasure, knowledge, power, and godhood. The second Adam, Jesus, looked at a tree that appeared dreadful but chose to be united with it, reversing the temptation and offering salvation.
In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve ate from the tree, their eyes were opened, but not in a good way—sin entered the world. The tree of Messiah, however, caused His eyes to close, and He declared, “It is finished.” The first man, Adam, ate from a tree and brought sin into the world. The second Adam, Jesus, embraced a tree to undo that sin and bring life.
In Genesis 2, God placed man in a garden of life, but after the fall, man cursed God. Man, who had been surrounded by trees of life, now surrounded God with trees of death—the crosses. God offered man the tree of life in the garden, but now man presents God with the tree of the cross. Psalm 8 says that God made man a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and majesty. In redemption, man crowned God with a crown of thorns, placing God at the cross.
In the garden, God made man to rule over creation, but now man, through his sin, places God at the tree, making Him the ruler over the works of man’s sin. The image of the fall is of a naked man by the tree. The image of salvation is a naked man—Jesus—on the tree. The fall of Adam brought death, but the death of Jesus brings life.
God created man in His image, and while man brought death through sin, God, made in the image of man, brings life. In the first Adam, we die, but in the second Adam, Jesus, we find life again.
In Romans 5, it says, “Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all men.” But through one act of righteousness, Messiah brings justification and life to all.