Freedom Week #2

PARTICIPANTS GUIDE

TRUTHS ABOUT THE FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL

1. The fruit is knowledge.

Most of us think of this fruit as some sort of apple, but it’s not. The fruit of this tree is exactly what the Bible says: knowledge (information, data, ideas, worldview, thought patterns)—the knowledge of good and evil.

God was basically saying to Adam and Eve, “If you change your way of thinking, it will create separation between us. If you change your world- view, you won’t be able to understand Me and relate to Me.” Satan says, “It won’t hurt you to think like that.”

Note that God didn’t say it’s wrong to have knowledge. In fact, God said to Israel through Hosea the prophet, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6 NKJV) The issue isn’t necessarily knowledge; rather, it’s the motive behind its acquisition. In other words, why do we desire knowledge? Is it to gain God’s wisdom and understanding, or is it to somehow exalt ourselves?

We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 1 CORINTHIANS 8:1 NIV

When do we need wisdom? All the time! We are constantly making decisions, and even the smallest ones can be made with wisdom from God. Using godly wisdom allows us to become more like God as we emulate Him. His wisdom draws us closer to Himself. Worldly wisdom leads us to sin, which alienates us from God. James 1:5 says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking”

2. The fruit is deadly.

“The Lord God warned him, ‘You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.’” GENESIS 2:16–17

Eating from the Tree of Knowledge (consuming knowledge) in your own pursuit of godliness is deadly. Satan didn’t tempt Eve with blatant rebellion. He said, “Go ahead and eat this fruit. It will make you like God.” Satan tempted Eve with her desire to become like God. It’s important to note that often the desire to know is in direct opposition to the desire to trust. We would rather gain knowledge to try to control our own lives than trust God to take care of us.

Adam and Eve didn’t die physically when they ate from the Tree of Knowledge; they died spiritually. Through Adam’s disobedience, death entered the entire human race, and we are all born spiritually dead in need of resurrection. The good news is that, through Jesus, we have access to the Tree of Life. If we pursue Life Himself in our desire for godliness, we will become truly like Him.

3. The fruit is consumed.

“The woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruit looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it, too.” GENESIS 3:6

“Eating” is not just putting food in your mouth. It literally means to “consume” or “ingest.” Ideas are ingested in our minds and then sin is conceived. How did the first sin come about? Eve talked to Adam about it. Through a conversation, they consumed the idea and began to process it. This progression tells us that sin does not begin with the act, it begins in our minds.

We have to be very careful about the things we ingest because they can have a lasting effect on our lives. For instance, watching certain movies or television shows might expose you to images that could trouble you for the rest of your life. Likewise, spending time reading and studying certain types of ideologies has the potential to pollute your mind and lead you to ruin and despair.

Just as a parent takes extra care to guide what their children are exposed to, we should take the same caution with what we let ourselves be exposed to.

4. The fruit causes separation.

“The man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” GENESIS 3:8 NASB

Again, remember that it was man who hid from God. Many have been taught that Adam and Eve sinned and that God, in His holiness and His righteousness, turned His back on Adam and Eve because His holiness could not stand to be in the presence of sinful man. But that’s not what the Bible says. The Bible says Adam and Eve sinned, their eyes were opened, they covered up, and then they hid from God because they were ashamed and afraid of His reaction. The truth is, Adam and Eve misjudged how God would respond to their sin. He wasn’t watching from behind a tree, waiting for them to fail so He could judge them. God searched for them as He walked through the garden, calling out, “Where are you?” because He loved them. God is not watching and waiting in anticipation for us to fall short. God is love (1 John 4:8) and the Bible says that “love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) When we see His heart for us, we will run to Him instead of hiding from Him when we sin.

THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL PRODUCES SHAME AND VICTIMIZATION

“[Adam] replied, ‘I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.’ ‘Who told you that you were naked?’ the Lord God asked. ‘Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?’ The man replied, ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’ Then the Lord God asked the woman, ‘What have you done?’ ‘The serpent deceived me,’ she replied. ‘That’s why I ate it.’” GENESIS 3:10–13

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil robs us of innocence.

The Results of Shame

  1. Covering up with religion and becoming focused on works

  2. Lying, deception, false pride

  3. Making promises we can’t keep

  4. Getting our self-worth from the things that we do

  5. Inability to come to a place of honesty with God because we believe we have no true value

  6. Concentrating on our sin instead of concentrating on our Savior

Why is shame so deadly? Because it strips us of the power to change. It keeps us from receiving the provision God made for our sin through the blood of Jesus. There is a difference between guilt and shame. Guilt is about what we have done, but shame is about who we are. With guilt, we can always get a fresh start. With shame, we are caught in a noose because the problem stays with us. In fact, with shame, we are the problem. In order to be free from shame, we must begin to see ourselves as God sees us.

The Results of Victimization

  1. We notice others’ sins, but not our own.

  2. We excuse and condemn ourselves, saying, “I’ve just always been this way. I’ll never change. I’ll never be good enough.”

  3. We feel rejected.

Whether we victimize ourselves by blaming others or excusing and condemning ourselves, we are powerless to change. This is why victimization is so deadly.

Are there any areas of your life—perhaps with your parents or other people in your past, in your marriage, at work, with friends, or even at church—where you have taken on a “victim mentality”? How should you change your way of thinking regarding that situation? With victimization and shame, we’re either the Pharisee or the woman caught in adultery (John 8). We’re either saying, “You’re not good enough,” or, “I’m not good enough”—basing our relationships with God and others on behavior and merit, but that’s not the perspective God wants us to have.

That’s Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil thinking, and it keeps us from changing and connecting with God. It’s a trap of the enemy devised to keep us from changing. The devil wants us to be forever stuck in the world of blame and self-condemnation. We must get to a point where, no matter what happens, we take responsibility for our own lives. We can no longer blame anyone else for the quality of our relationship with God.

The fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil lacks the power to transform the heart. It can provide facts and information, but it is powerless to give you life.

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