Jesus As Our Catalyst

Gen. 2:9 “Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Gen 2:16-17 “The LORD God commanded the man, saying, "From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die."  (NASB)

When man was told by God that he (Humanity) can eat of ANY tree in the Garden EXCEPT for the tree of knowledge of good and evil, we would have to make the assumption that he could eat of the tree of life that was also planted there.  We may also think that the tree of life would have been a more “tempting” tree and Adam would have gone there first.

However, we know how that went.  See Genesis 3:1-7 for that story.

But we always had a “what if” going on in the back of our minds: What if Adam took of the tree of life first? 

The "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" was not for man, at least, not in this setting or time...yet.  So the next question would be obvious:  Why was it there?  Why did it seem good, taste good, and look good to eat?  Why all this “temptation” in front of man?  Was God teasing man?  Was God trying to find out if man was going to obey Him?  Was it a test?

James 1:13 "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone"

I don’t think God would deliberately put temptation in front of man that way.  Men have blamed women for being a “temptation”.  So would that imply that Eve was a temptation God put in front of Adam?  No, I don’t think God works that way. You have a dessert on the table.  It is meant for after dinner.  The kids were told (and the husband too) to leave it alone until after dinner.  Eat your dinner first and then you may have some.  Is it a temptation?  Maybe to the kids, but not to mom who said “Don’t eat of it or touch or you will go to bed with out dinner and be grounded for a week!”  Does the cake actually cause this?  No, but it is the result if you don’t follow instructions.  But was that her intent?  Was that God’s intention?  To make someone follow instructions?  To see if they will obey a divine rule?

There is a good reason for this.  Mom knows the reason, God knows the reason. Man does not have to know.

So, back to the tree.  Man is physical.  God is spiritual.  They are incompatible or, worlds apart.   I hear theories that man had a spiritual essence (a glow?) that was present until man sinned.  That is not an option the way the original writing proposes.  However, that tree with the fruit on it, was there for a reason. Was it a dessert? Was it a reward for obedience? Or was it something else? The tree of life may also have been attributed to Jesus Christ later. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. We go to Jesus for everything, especially spiritual knowledge and life.  We know what is truly good and evil through Christ.  And HE gives us that knowledge.  And I think that is where this would have fit in.  You see, this fruit is not compatible with man until a Catalyst is put into place.  Like water and oil, which cannot mix, you will need a catalyst, or another chemical or substance that can help mix oil and water.

Lye is a catalyst used to mix oil (fat, grease) and water to make soap.  By itself, lye is a very harsh ingredient, but with the right mixture with oil, it can be mixed into water to wash out dirt and oily grime.

Yes, I'm making a huge assumption here: That the tree of life was not intended to be a temptation, but a desired fruit if taken with God (Father, The Word and Spirit) as the one giving it at the right time.

The tree of life is that symbolic catalyst, which, had Adam and Eve went to that first (Going to Christ first), then God would have given them the knowledge of what is good and what is evil.  I think the forbidden tree was the second part of what man needed once he went to the tree of life first.  Like the serpent (Satan) who stood by the tree of knowledge, God (Future Jesus) may have been standing by the tree of life ready to give them what they needed.  Then Satan would have been dislodged from the other tree so God can give them the knowledge they needed when they needed it.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not a bad tree. It was not a killer except for the fact that it was incompatible to man, as man was physical in this way.  Once the tree of LIFE, ever lasting life, life of the holy spirit, was introduced INTO man, man changes, his character and his nature changes, so that the tree of knowledge is now compatible to man, to do good, not harm.

The Catalyst for humanity now is Jesus Christ.  When Jesus became flesh, man became compatible.  Before, we could not approach God and His throne.  Now we can!  What changed?  Man changed when God (Jesus, or Emanuel: God with us, God in the flesh) became flesh!  God is already everlasting, so nothing (other than a physical and temporary death by a cross) can cause Gods’ demise.  When the Word (Jesus) came to earth, it is like leavening, which leavens the whole lump, and changed mans relationship with God.  Yes, we are still physical, we still sin and can still die and suffer eternal death. But we now have that option to go to that Tree of Life and live. Then we can now take of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil through that Living Tree, Jesus Christ, and live!  But it is by Gods’ grace, love and encouragement, not by Satans’ hatred, selfish and miserable reasons.

Since God made all things and all that God does is always good, therefore, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a good tree, but not good for man outside of Christ, or in this case, the Tree of Life!

Because of what Jesus did, who came to earth to recreate man in his own image and likeness, then be baptized into that relationship, and take of that Tree of Life, and Jesus will give you what you need and it will be an abundant life!  John 10:10

What are these fruits that Jesus will give?  One hint is "by their fruit you shall know them"  Matt. 7:16 and 20.  Also read Galatians 5:22-23  The holy spirit is a giver of fruit, which includes love, joy, peace, patience, etc.  Once the holy spirit is in you, you have that fruit within you.  It is the power you can trust in, believe in.  Oh, it doesn't do Harry Potter stuff, but you cannot get better power than love.   Galatians 5:22-23, and the holy spirit gives you wisdom, understanding and knowledge of God.   Adam and Eve could not touch that tree because they were not ready for this fruit. You have to be baptized into Jesus Christ, go to him first, go to the tree of life, then receive the power of the holy spirit.  You cannot receive the holy spirit by Satan the devil.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7

Boyd Merriman


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The Freedom to NOT Sin

Gwin (my wife) and I spoke at a small group recently, and the theme was Freedom in Christ.

One of the freedoms Gwin discussed was "freedom from sin" or "freedom to not sin".  That second one sounds a little strange since God told us to not sin in the first place. So how can freedom to not sin be an option?

Sin, once it entered into the world, into man, was stuck there until Christ.  All the sacrifices and law (Torah) keeping and such, will not do us a bit of good outside of our relationship in the Trinity.  Sin has kept us prisoners and any attempt to do otherwise will only cause us to be "sinless" outside of God (Trinity).  And any attempt at that is a sin.

 Yes.   That is a sin.  Sin is living our lives outside of who and what we are as God created us. Once man chose that path, all that he does is tainted with sin.  Our works are tainted with sin, our prayers, our fastings, our sacrifices and traditions are all tainted with sin. Even our repentance has a sin attached to it like a virus or a "Trojan horse" in an email.

 The story of what we call "The Prodigal Son" (though the story was about the Father) showed our sinful state inside the repentance.  The young man didn't truly repent until after he met up again with the Father.  The son went back because though he knew he did wrong, came back because he could get three meals a day, a clean place to live and a bath once in a while!  Think about this: If he had these things while slopping hogs, would  he have really returned?  Maybe, maybe not. Most likely not.  His "repentance" was to get him into a better place.  But he still would have accepted the position of a servant and relinquished his right as a son!  But the Father would not have that!  He did not even hear his request, his prayer (ever feel like God is not hearing your prayer?) He grabbed his son while his son was trying to give his little penance of a prayer, again, tainted with more sin of being other than who he is, and grabbed him in his filthy, dirty, pig smelling state and thew his own coat of authority as well as the family ring of authority on him and demanded a party for him!   THAT is what this story is all about!  It's about the Father and how MUCH he Love us!  How much He LOVES YOU!!!

The young man lived in sin because that is what he was in Adam! How could he be otherwise?

BUT....that was BEFORE Christ. What Churches today don't get is that Christ forgave that Sin of Adam, man.  He took humanity BACK into the realm of his Kingdom and righteousness "while we were yet sinners", or slopping hogs so to speak.  That doesn't mean we don't sin, nor does it mean we don't need to repent.  Of course we do. But NOW...we have an opportunity to live righteous lives, NOT because we did good stuff and God forgave us when we did these good works, but because of JESUS (Yeshua) who gave himself for our sins!  We are no longer stuck in the post Adamic/pre Christ world of Sin.   We are freed from that prison! Death no longer has us in it's grip unless we allow it!  We are freed from that Sin of Adam!

The belief and repentance factor comes in when we realize that and come to understand our freedom to live and rejoice inside the Trinity!  To dance in the Trinity. Just as the young man who came home didn't fully know the Father or what he would do until the Father showed him and took him unto himself. That was when repentance had it's full affect!  Forgiveness was there before the young man repented (while we were still in our sins)!  We come to the Father, not because we did good stuff to get there, but because of the goodness of Jesus Christ that brought us to repentance before the Father in His train of glory!

But if you don't believe, you will still be in the trinity, but miserable because you insist on trying to be someone you are not.  Like being at a wedding party and refusing to enjoy it because you hate the groom!  You are still at the party,  you are still free to choose either to rejoice or to be miserable. Or it's like being in prison, or hell itself, and refusing to come out. You lock the gates of hell from the inside.

You have FREEDOM, not TO sin, but to actually NOT sin!  Before, in Adam, you had no choice. No matter what you did, you were a sinner, you were under the curse of Adam, under the law, the curse of the Law.  But NOW, in the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, you are FREE from that curse, you are FREE from that world of Adamic Sin, you are FREE to actually live a life of no sin!  Why? Because of  the works of  Jesus, not our good works!

Rejoice in the LORD, Rejoice because you ARE in freedom of the LORD!
Blessings and Freedom to all!

Boyd Merriman

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I am afraid of what others might think!

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I heard that many times in life, and have found myself using it as well. That has stopped many people from enjoying life, moving forward and taking risks. Including me.

But what does this mean when we look at it in the reality of who and what we are in Christ?

I will go over each word individually, but also as part of the whole. For every word spoken in this sentence, adds more problems exponentially.

I: "I" is a big word.  It is all about Me.  Me, myself and I.  MeMeMeeee! The first thing we do is start off with “me” when we should be starting off with the Triune God.  So we say “I” instead of saying “Our Father”.

I am:  Like Adam, we begin to replace God, the Great I AM, with our own version of “I am”.  (Gen. 3:10) We have ideas of what we are outside of who and what we are in Christ. If we start with the true “I AM”, the Trinity, then we would not be so focused on this broken "I am".

Afraid:  Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). So right off the bat, we are not using the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love.  The very first words of Adam to God after he took of that forbidden fruit were, “I was [am] afraid”.   Fear sums up all of the troubles and sins of humanity.  And the first victim of that fear was God.  Adam and Eve found a new fear and hid themselves from God.   But Jesus Christ removed that fear.  So why are we still hiding from God and from each other?  We still hold on to that fear because we are still seeing ourselves as “I am” rather than seeing God.

Of What:  Yes, of what?  What are you afraid of?  An unknown?  “I am afraid of what” is a good question.  We too often don’t even know what we are afraid of, so we lash out against God and everything and everyone else. 

Others:  That committee of others.  Whoever they are. Like the “what”, we don’t even know "who".  We have yet to meet them.  So we just call them “others”.  What is so detrimental about this is that the “others” might be your family, friends and neighbors!  Why are we afraid of them?  What have they done to deserve such a critical view of them?  It shows how critical and accusing we have become.  Again, like Adam who blamed God and Eve for his fears and troubles.

Might: Not will, just “might”. We are not even sure that they will think or not think. We just stop our lives in mid stroke just based on a “might”, a "maybe", a “not sure but just in case”.  There is no reality to this fear except our own.

Think:  Not do, just "think". Now when did the thought of others actually hurt you?  The only way the thoughts of others can hurt you is when they act or speak out those thoughts.  But we have not gotten that far yet. We are still just on “think”.  Maybe they did think these things (whatever it is that we think they thunk), and IF they did, they may have changed their thoughts immediately and started thinking right (called repentance). Or maybe their thoughts were very good towards you (Like God’s thoughts towards Adam and Eve were good), but we are afraid of them anyway, even though they may not have thought them at all.

Put them all together and you are revealing a whole mess of broken theology at work in your lives!

When you really think about it (speaking of which), you will find that our fears are based on selfishness and believing that others are taking their valuable time and concern and negatively placing it towards you and that what they think are actually evil thoughts!   In reality, they are actually our evil thoughts towards them!  How dare we to stop living based on our misconceptions of our family, friends and neighbors. And who said they were thinking about you anyway you selfish “i am”?  They have their own concerns!

Who knows?  The "Others" may want to support you in your mission in life! And if they don't, that is their life, not yours.

“I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 Yes, Jesus said “might” (KVJ), but not because Jesus is holding back, but because we still allow our selfish, paranoid fears to hold us back from the reality of who and what Jesus is and our wonderful relationship we have with God.  We can now live back in His garden, living off of the Tree of Life, who is Jesus.

“I am afraid of what others might think” is so wrong on so many levels!

If Jesus thought like that, he never would have walked on water, or healed on the Sabbath, or picked grain on the Sabbath! He is the real "I AM" and I AM is not afraid of what others might think!

I will admit that some people do have broken relationships with someone thinking negatively towards them, but chances are, they are thinking negatively towards a lot more than just you and the life you are living in Christ. It is them, not you.

Boyd Merriman

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