In the beginning of 2016, God told me to read the first few chapters of Genesis about the creation and while reading it, He pointed out some valuable lessons to me. Recently I felt a quickening in my heart to share some of these interesting lessons with you. I’m very excited about this as I have been applying it ever since in my own life and have seen the “fruits” of it…

As you start reading Genesis, realizing what God created out of literally NOTHING – and creating through SPEAKING –  you cannot help but marvel at this awesome God we serve. Ever thought how beautiful and pure creation must have been like before it was corrupted by sin?

Interesting that after God created man, it says in Gen.2 that God then planted a garden eastward of Eden and there He put man. Out of the ground, God made every tree grow that is: pleasant to the sight and good for food. It says there that the tree of life was also in the midst of the garden as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I love the fact that God didn’t just point man to any old plant for food no matter the taste or look of it…but that He created trees that were “pleasant to the
sight” and “good for food”. Food and eating is always an occasion for me. It is not just a necessity to feed my body but rather an opportunity for quality time, fellowship time. Good food and good company together give me great pleasure! I get the idea that this might be a characteristic that I inherited from our Daddy! 😉 The supper table is one of the places where I sense His Presence and enjoyment many times. Food (physically and spiritually) is such a big part of the Bible. Why?Because we need (both) to survive. And not just any food. Food that is pleasant to look at and fine tasting! From the beginning all through the Bible…we see it in trading inheritance for a bowl of stew, waking up to find the land littered with fresh heavenly bread, Abraham offering bread cakes, butter, milk and a good calf meat to “the Lord”upon His visit, a wedding where Jesus turned water into wine, and as Shauna Niequist writes in her book “Bread and Wine” – “the very Last Supper, the humble bread and wine becoming, for all time, indelibly linked to the very body of Christ, the centre point for thousands of years of tradition and belief. Food matters. It mattered then, and it matters now.”

But okay, before I get sidetracked, the focus in this blog post today is spiritual food and what we feed each other. So God started speaking symbolically through Genesis 2 and I was reminded that Adam and Eve were both naked and were not ashamed of it.

God told them to eat from any tree in the garden except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We all know the rest of the story. The serpent spoke to Eve, she looked at the forbidden tree and saw that “it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes and a tree desirable to make one wise.” She took of its fruit and ate. And so, happily married, Joannah sits on her

 laptop one day, she is on Google doing research for her work and lands on a site where “how to have a great marriage” is being discussed by so and so. She reads it, it looks wise and good, well presented, the writer has a point and then she decides she needs to explain to her husband just exactly where he falls short as head of the house. He should be home earlier in the evenings (is he having an affair??), he should spend more time with the children, more time with her (is she not beautiful to him anymore??), maybe look for another job because with his income they suddenly might not be able to afford the lifestyle that the writer of the article on the website describes if you desire a happy marriage, etc. etc. etc….. Hubby comes home after a long day at work and she gives him of the “fruit” she had just eaten. And he takes it from his wife and eats it and do you know what God told me happens next?? What happened next in the garden? Suddenly they were aware of their nakedness, ashamed. As I was reading this part in Genesis, God was saying in my heart: “This is why many marriages are dying slowly but surely.” Sin brought the law, law brought death.It is impossible to obtain the righteousness required by the law through works!

Rom .4:14,15 “For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.”

Also, see Rom.5:20-21, 2 Cor. 3:6, Rom.7:10.

Marriages die, relationships are ruined because we listen to the serpent (eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil – NOTE that, at the time, it seems like the best idea or well informed thought just as the tree was “good for food, pleasant to the eyes and desirable to make one wise” ) and then make the people close to us aware of their mistakes, shortcomings, errors. We bring law, self-awareness, and shame into our homes and relationships. This is exactly what happened in the garden in Genesis and it is exactly what is happening in the modern day still. This is terribly sad. And lethal to any kind of relationship.

And then “the second Adam” came. We Christians sometimes seem to forget about this part. Even as I am typing this I am feeling, once again, just SO THANKFUL for Jesus!! Don’t you?

Don Stewart explains: “The Lord Jesus is the last Adam and the Second Man. He is the last man to be without a sin nature. His nature was both human and divine. He was the second man – the man from heaven. As the God-man He could be the suitable sacrifice for the sins of the world. The Bible says that Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for sin.”

So God said to me that when we find ourselves wrestling with an issue regarding another person, a marriage partner, friend or family member then we need to go (ourselves) to the Tree of Life. First, Who is the Tree of Life? Jesus. 1 Cor. 15:45 “And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” We need to eat from the Tree of Life and, if we feel led, we may feed those fruits to the person in question. But know this, the fruits of the Tree of Life is LIFE GIVING – everything that the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are not. What does this mean? Start praying for the person instead of telling them where they err. God will then work in them according to His perfect will. But through praying for them, your heart will be healed, you will receive new love for the person and many times your “problem” with them will have disappeared.

Lastly, I found God talking to me a few months ago again on this topic of the Tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But this time He was saying: “You have been making an effort to apply what you have learned. Now you need to apply the same to yourself. Learn to feed yourself from the Tree of Life.” How easily we judge ourselves by the knowledge of this world, open the porta

ls of our heart (eyes) to worldly wisdom and research and then cut ourselves short or make resolutions to just “try harder next time” instead of eating from Jesus, focussed on Him, soaking in His brilliance and love for us and just BEING US. Being the best ME whom God created me to be – all the while all eyes on Jesus! 

Today, may you go sit under the shade of the beautiful Tree of Life at the table that He has set for you in the presence of your enemies. May you eat from the platters of His richness, Peace, abundance, and life which He has prepared for you with so much Love…And then may that be where you do your shopping in the evening before laying a supper table for your family or friends. That it may be true for them too that whether, after a long day out in the world as they arrive feeling
tired or corrupted or weak etc, that it will be as 1 Cor.15:42-45 says… “So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a Life-giving Spirit.”

Bon Appetit Mes Amis! 🙂