Part 9 There were two trees in the garden: Part 2

Part 9 There were two trees in the garden:  Part 2

Genesis 2:9

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.

 We have seen that as Christians we have two choices, two ways by which we can live. We either live by the tree of life or by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; this determines and defines the kind of Christians we are, Soulish or Spiritual. Right from the beginning God set out two ways in which the human race could live one way brought life the other death.

Two ways of living

We can either live by our soul, independent of God or by our spirit connected to God.

Independence has always been the issue and the dealings of God in our lives serve the objective of bring us back to total dependence upon the Lord. This relationship is clearly defined by Jesus in John Chapter15.

John 15:1	I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2	Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
4	Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except
5	I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Because of our strong independent fallen nature learning to abide or live in Jesus can be difficult it requires the death of independence which we fiercely resist. Unless we come under the authority of Jesus we have no real authority, no real basis for living by the life of another and exercising the ability and life we have in the Lord.

Jesus our example

Jesus made it very clear that He lived His life totally dependant upon His Father.

Philippians 2:6	Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7	But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
John 5:30	I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

When Jesus was accused of performing a miracle on the Sabbath His defense in doing so was simply to say, I did not do it.

John 5:19	Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20	For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

We see here how that Jesus never did anything independent from His Father. He said that He only did what He saw God His father doing, in other words if they had a problem with this, they needed to take it up with God as He was the one who initiated it.

What place does our soul have in our lives?

Our Natural Mind, Emotions, and Will, are meant to be servants of our spirit they were not meant to lead or initiate anything, when we talk about dying to self, we are talking about putting to death the independence of our soul. Our soul wants to run our lives and will do so if we let it.  The natural mind will not get things right, it runs according to its own agenda  which is self dependence and self preservation.

Luke 17:33	Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.
Matthew 16:25	For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26	For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

The soul exists to express the will and life of Jesus in our spirit. We are exhorted to abide in the Lord Jesus; what does that mean?

John 15:4	Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
7	If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

What does it mean to ABIDE IN JESUS how do we do it?

Jesus said if you keep my commandments you will abide in me. What commandments?  Surely Jesus did not mean every commandment, did he? Did He mean every commandment He ever gave or was he talking about the Ten Commandments?

What was Jesus really saying here? 

Jesus was not talking about keeping the law he was talking about a new and living way, a way that stemmed form motive and not a set of rules, a way that stemmed from the intents of the heart and not a set of regulations.

John 15:12

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

This was written in the context of abiding in Christ Johns 15:4-5 Jesus put the issue very simply by saying if you love you will abide in me.

John 15:14

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

The relationship that Jesus longs for with us is a matter of compatibility; if we become love we become compatible with Jesus who like His Father is love. Jesus was very clear about what was required of us.

Matthew 22:36	Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37	Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38	This is the first and great commandment.
39	And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40	On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

To abide in the Lord we must abide in love at all times, get out of love and you get out of God, it is as simple as that. However your soul does not want to do that, it wants its own way and wants to choose who what and how it will love, primarily itself.

The problem is if you love your own life you will loose it.

The love that God requires of us is His kind of love a love that lays down its life for others. God IS love every intent of His heart has this motivation because it’s who He is. Every action stems from love, even in judgment God is doing the most loving thing possible. When we abide live in that kind of love we live in God and we ask what we will and it shall be done because it is Gods request in our heart because we have become one with him.

Any other way of living is from the tree of knowledge of Good and evil and brings death. The tree of life abiding in Jesus brings the most glorious and fulfilling life you could ever imagine.

God bless youNeville Johnson © July 2006