Two Trees-Two Gods - Two Books (Part 3: Two Books)

Two people had the opportunity to stand under two trees in the Garden of Eden. These two trees were symbolically, which god they were going to serve. It's not that they would serve one and not the other, but they were fickle. Their desire was to serve two gods. And why do you suppose that the First Commandment, written in stone, was "Thou shalt have no other gods besides me"?  It wasn't that God was abandoned, but that Adam and Eve wanted to serve two gods:

Matthew 6:24  "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Mammon is "Confidence in oneself" or "the deification of wealth". My contention, which I've mentioned before, is that there were three things offered by the serpent from "The Other Tree": pleasure, knowledge and wealth. The "wealth" comes from the opportunity to eat the food of gods (i.e., the wealthy). Adam and Eve were pining to be Epicureans who desired rich food.

"The Other Tree" was serving another Master. No where does scripture say that Adam and Eve chose one master over another. They merely tried to serve two masters. People today still endeavor to serve God and the flesh.

Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Therefore my contention is that mankind has always tried to serve two gods. Adam and Eve stood under the wrong tree; "The Other Tree". Imagine, if you will, how alone Jesus ("The Tree of Life") felt when he told his creation, "You can eat of my tree, but not of the other tree.", but then his creation stood there under "The Other Tree" and ate of the fruit that kills! They could surely see "The Tree of Life" from their vantage point in the center of the garden, and "The Tree of Life" could see them, but they went with "The Other God"; the "god besides God"!

With that said, when God told Adam "Don't eat of that other tree", he was giving The First Commandment "Thou shalt have no other Gods besides me"! It's saying the same thing!

What else is it saying? "I am God, love me by doing what I say". This is from:

John 14:15  "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

The recurring theme from Genesis 2 onward is just that! If you love God show him your love by obedience to his will!

This summarizes "two trees" and "two gods". What about "The Two Books"?

Part 3: Two Books: The Book of Life:

For this I refer the reader to my blog topic Legacies written June 3, 2015. I'll repeat a portion here.

We still try to serve two gods. Paul explains this:

Romans 7:19 "For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."

Adam and Eve wanted to serve God, but they wanted pleasure, knowledge and wealth as well. Hence, Paul's problem was the same one which Adam brought sin into the world. Truly, "there is nothing new under the sun"!

We have two sets of "things": "good things" and "evil things". To go along with the two sets of "things" we have "two books" at the "Great White Throne Judgement":

Revelation 20:11 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

Actually, The Book of Life was "another book" , but the first book goes unnamed. I call it "The Other Book". As we live "things" are written in the books. I may have previously erred in my commentary, however: "Good things" will be written in the Book of Life along with the name of the disciple of Christ. "Evil things" will be written in "The Other Book" along with the name of the person who stood under "The Other Tree"; the sinner who never sought forgiveness. All will be judged according to Revelation 20:13. "Judging" has two outcomes: guilty and innocent. (Those ignorant are judged "guilty" because they never sought truth). The innocent will stand before God as well. What a great day that will be! "Well done, good and faithful servant", I have forgotten all your sins! Those will have their name remain in The Book of Life!

Part 3: Two Books: The Other Book:

Now for "The Other Book". What goes in there? All the evil which has not been covered by the blood. Jesus checks every act and declares:

Matthew 7:23 "And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

Yes, that does sound like it's everybody because "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), but that Romans 3:24 goes on to say " Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus"! Those who are redeemed shall have their sins forgiven and forgotten. Jesus, a little tongue in cheek" will say "don't be afraid Christian son because my memory fails me. The blood covered all those sins that you're remembering!"

There are two books. Everybody is in The Book of Life because it's God's will that all shall have eternal life.

 John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Let's see how many "whosoever" is! That's anyone and everyone who believes. God is an "equal opportunity" God, but he doesn't guarantee "equal outcomes". The "thing" people do is one: believeth! That one "thing" is the key to having your name written in The Book of Life!

Everybody starts out with their name in The Book of Life. God's grace covers "original sin". Babies who die will get their reward. However, those who die will have their name crossed out:

Revelation 3:5 "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."

Summary:

Yes, "Two Trees-Two Gods-Two Books"! Unfortunately there were many other trees in Eden as well! Not much is said about them, but they are the trees so many were standing under that they failed to stand under "The Tree of Life". No, they weren't disobedient as was Adam and Eve for they tried their hardest to obey! They missed one thing: If they loved God they would stand under his tree, but instead they stood under the unmentioned trees; The Laws and regulations that enslave! Yes, those under The Law worked hard to serve God by not eating of "The Other Tree", but they were so preoccupied with the forest that they didn't see that alone "Tree of Life" desiring nothing, but to be loved! Adam's job was to tend to the Garden. He failed to tend to the "good tree" in the Garden, "The Tree of Life". Jesus was standing there all along, but most failed to see him.

This is the "mystery of Christ"! Now it's no longer a mystery. Paul spoke of that mystery.

Ephesians 3:1 "For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, 2 If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:
3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, 4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; 6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; 9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:"

Do you see the mystery revealed?

• From the beginning salvation was by belief in Jesus all along!
• That salvation is for all mankind!
• That salvation was always by grace!
• And that mankind was ignorant of "the mystery" until Jesus came.
• My note: (The patriarchs understood grace, Jesus and that it was for all because "The Word" spoke to them).

I've written of The Old Testament where Jesus was "a shadow" and two-dimensional. I have written of the Books of Matthew, Mark and Luke where Jesus was revealed from three perspectives, this providing a 3-D portrait of Jesus, and I've written of The Book of John where the mystery of Christ is finally revealed; Jesus in 4-D!

What more can be revealed! 4-D is inside and out! One additional perspective is revealed by Paul who creates a hologram because Jesus was made flesh. Paul wrote of Jesus after he was gone, but Jesus left a replacement. He left the Holy Spirit.

Yes, John wrote of this Holy Spirit which would substitute for Jesus!

John 14:26 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

John portrayed Jesus in 4-D, but he knew more was coming. All of Paul's writings were of Jesus in holographic detail. A hologram projects an image into space using images from thousands of perspectives! While the Holy Ghost is not a hologram , Paul's writings of the Holy Ghost project an image of Jesus which can be seen, but not clearly. He's not a physical presence, but a spiritual one. He's just as real because he's here. He's Jesus' stand-in!

Acts 2:2 " And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost..."

Finally, we can see all aspects of God from all perspectives:

• The Father is unseen, although he is omnipresent and can be "seen" indirectly in everything everywhere.
• We saw "The Word" and "The Angel of God", both "shadows of Jesus the Messiah".
• We saw Jesus in 3-D, from the perspectives of Matthew, Mark and Luke.
• The "mystery of Christ" was revealed by John. Jesus made 4-D.
• The prophecy of the Holy Ghost was spoken by John; Jesus' stand-in. Jesus in holography.
• The coming of the Holy Ghost who remains here. Jesus' presence,which a hologram symbolizes!

There is one disclaimer! These representations are symbolic. Jesus is real in body and Spirit and a physical man was crucified on the cross. He was God and man! A real Holy Ghost, although unseen, but his presence is felt by all Christians, remains with us! The shadow (2-D), 3-D, 4-D and holograms are mere symbolism to get across "the mystery of Christ"!