World Tomorrow

Education and the Two Trees

by Herbert W Armstrong

(PLAY FROM START)

A brilliant-minded and a highly educated doctor of philosophy might ask today: "How much education did Jesus Christ have?" After all, there's no record of His having gone to any university – if they had such universities in that day, as we have today. Today one goes to school, and finally to the university to get an education. It's like going into a grocery store to buy a loaf of bread, you go into the store, you ask for the loaf of bread, the clerk gives you the loaf, you pay your money, you pick up the loaf, you walk out with it. So, you go to college, you go to the university, you pay your tuition, they funnel into your mind, inject into your mind, an education, and you go out with it. Already made, whatever they put into your mind. That is modern education.

Now, in Jesus' day evolution had not yet been evolved. And in the last hundred years evolution has been the basic concept, and the basic premise on which all of the present-day knowledge explosion has been based. It's been built on the premise of evolution. Of course, if the premise is false the knowledge based on it is false likewise. A lot of people don't realize that.

Now in the decade of the sixties we were having a knowledge explosion, indeed we've had one this whole century, in the twentieth century. And Doctor Clark Kerr, President of the University of California at Berkeley, said that; "The university of today is a factory." Its business is manufacturing knowledge, knowledge production. Educators have said, along with scientists, for the last two or three hundred years as a matter of fact, "Give us sufficient knowledge and we will solve all of our problems, and we will rid the world of all of its evils."

Well, we've had a knowledge explosion, we've had much knowledge production. As a matter of fact, in the decade of the 1960's the production of knowledge doubled the total fund of knowledge in existence. Now of course, that was mostly in the area, in the fields of medicine, technology, and science, and things of that sort; it didn't filter down to the average individual. But the knowledge didn't cure the problem, didn't solve our problems, or cure the evils. Evils doubled also in that decade.

And today, we have the paradox of such marvelous accomplishment by modern science, technology, industry, government, sending men to the moon and back. I've mentioned time and again, the marvels of television, pictures, voices just going through the air, your antenna picks it up right out of the air, what a marvel that is. The modern airplane, the modern automobile, sending unmanned spacecraft to land on the surface on Mars, and send back close-up photographs on the very surface of Mars. Close-ups of Saturn, and Jupiter, and all planets in outer space. The marvels of science are just beyond words, and yet the world has never been in so much trouble. What a paradox! Troubles at the same time, that we have such great and marvelous accomplishment.

But, do you know how it all began? This paradox all began with the incident of the forbidden fruit, and we need to go back to the beginning to see how it started, how it developed, what are the causes, what has produced our troubles today. What has produced our knowledge, what has produced our accomplishments and what are they? Today humanity is discontented, today there is no peace, today people are unhappy, today half of the world is living in abject poverty. Many are starving, they're living in filth and squalor, today half of the world is in utter ignorance, no education. What a world we live in. In spite of all of the modern progress there has been such retrogression What a paradox!

The Beginning of Man (PLAY FROM 05:17)

As I say it all began with the beginning of man, and that's before man ever discovered his theory of evolution. Now we read of the beginning of man, back in the first chapter of Genesis in the Bible:

"In the beginning God created the [heavens] and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." (Genesis 1:26)

Now God had made the animals; land animals, cattle after the cattle kind. He'd made, of course, dogs after the dog kind, elephants after the elephant kind, and so on. But He made man after the God kind, and man was made a little different from other animals. In Genesis 2 in verse seven we read of the creation of man:

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground..." (Genesis 2:7)

In other words, God formed man in the same form and shape as God, but He formed him out of the dust of the ground. And God is formed out of Spirit. God is a spirit, man is not a spirit, man is matter, from the dust of the ground:

"...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life..." (Genesis 2:7)

Just breath, such as breathed in through the nostrils of animals, into the lungs and back out again, to oxidize the blood as it is flowing on the way back to the heart. And; "...the blood thereof [the Bible says] is the life thereof..." (Leviticus 17:14 paraphrased). So your life comes from the circulation of blood, and the breathing of air; and you have to keep replenishing it by food from the ground, most of us about three times a day. And it comes all from the ground and from the air, and from the earth. And:

"...man [made] of the dust of the ground...became a living soul." (Genesis 2:7)

Not an immortal soul, but what was made from the dust of the ground became a soul. In other words, the soul then is composed of matter. Now the point I want to bring out right here is that; you have a temporary, physio-chemical existence. You do not have real life. In God is life, life can only come from life, that's the first law of bio-genesis. That is a scientific law, that life can come only from life, not from the not-living. God is the source of all life; and He gave a temporary life to the first man, Adam, in the Garden of Eden.

Now, Adam was not made quite complete, he needed a woman, a wife to be with him. God wanted him to reproduce and to multiply and replenish the earth. He couldn't do that without a wife, and so God supplied him with a wife. He was only half complete, and God gave him the wife.

Man Still Incomplete (PLAY FROM 08:41)

But there was something in the man's mind different from animals. Man had a mind. There was a spirit in man that imparted the power of intellect to the physical brain. Now animals had physical brains precisely like the human brain. But animals can't think, animals can't have the knowledge that a human can have, and the spirit in man makes all the difference. But man was still incomplete – he needed another Spirit. He needed the Spirit of God to be finally born of God, because he was made from the dust of the ground, from the earth.

Now, there are two kinds of knowledge that the man needed. One was physical knowledge, materialistic knowledge; he was made with the ability to acquire that kind of knowledge. But he needed spiritual knowledge in order to have a relationship with his God, and in order to have a relationship with his neighbor; because man was to reproduce until there would be actually ultimately millions and billions of him. And man needed to get along with his neighbor and he needed another Spirit with the spirit that was born in him; that is, created in Adam, and born in all of us since Adam.

So, in the Garden of Eden, in the midst of that garden were two very special trees. They were symbolic trees, they were probably very literal trees. The one was not an apple, Adam did not eat an apple, that much I can tell you. But, one tree was called the Tree of Life, the other was the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And actually they represented two different kinds of knowledge. The one tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represented knowledge that man could produce himself, physical materialistic knowledge only. But the Tree of Life would have given him the Spirit of God, which would have given him spiritual knowledge; knowledge to deal with God, to have a relationship with God, and knowledge to deal with his fellow man, and to deal with people.

But Adam made the wrong choice, Adam chose to go it alone. Adam followed his wife Eve, she started the ERA movement. A woman began taking the lead right off the bat, and is still trying it today. And so, Adam said he didn't need knowledge from God.

But the Spirit of God, and spiritual knowledge has been opened by Jesus Christ today, to those who are called Christians. I mean Christians that have been called by God. But, today the Tree of Life is open to us, but it does not give us immortal life immediately. Adam would not have had immortal life immediately. God is; "...the same today, yesterday and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 paraphrased). He is not changed, He would not have done differently with Adam. But Adam did not take the Tree of Life, he took the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And so, we read in Genesis the third chapter and verses 22 to 24 that now:

"...lest the man put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life...Therefore the [Eternal] God drove him out from the garden of Eden and posted at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword that pointed every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Genesis 3:22-24 paraphrased)

In other words, to shut up the Tree of Life. And the Tree of Life was shut up from mankind until Jesus Christ the second Adam came and was born.

Jesus Christ Opens the Spirit of Life to Us (PLAY FROM 12:56)

Now Jesus Christ was born a little differently than any other human has ever been born. Jesus Christ was the Son of God as well as the Son of man. Jesus' Father was not a human man, His Father was God. He was born of a human woman however, so He was human. But He was born of the Divine Father so He was Divine. He had immortal life, He had life inherent at the very beginning. That is, He had had life, but now He did not have inherent life, He was human, so He could die. And He did ultimately die, but God raised Him from the dead and through a resurrection He became the Son of God as you read in the first verse or two or three of the first chapter of the book of Romans in your Bible.

The Tree of Life was closed from man, which simply means spiritual knowledge, the kind of knowledge to really understand spiritual things, to have a relationship with God, to get along with man. But God did not give man life immediately.

Now we read in Acts 2:38, on the day the Church was founded, Jesus had come, the Second Adam. He was going to open the Tree of Life, He said; "...I will build my church..." (Matthew 16:18). He trained His disciples for three and a half years, He was crucified, He died. He paid the penalty of man's sins in the place of man by His shed blood. He reconciled mankind to God by His death. He didn't save us by His death, He reconciled us to God, and God has eternal life to give, but we are saved by His resurrection.

And God raised Him from the dead, and now He was alive and had life inherent once again within Himself. Life inherent! He didn't have to breath air to live, He didn't have to eat food and drink water to live, He didn't have to have blood circulating in His veins to live. He was composed of Spirit and had Spirit life inherent within Himself. And so, in Acts 2:38, Peter had preached the first sermon on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit had come, to start the Church of God. And those who had listened to that sermon had asked Peter what to do. They were pricked in their heart when they said:

"...Men and brethren, what shall we do? [And then Peter answered and said], Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:37-38)

That they would receive the Holy Spirit. So, some three thousand were baptized, and did receive the Holy Spirit on that very day on which the Church was born. But now if you turn to Romans the eighth chapter and verse 16, I want you to notice what happens when you receive the Holy Spirit. It says here:

"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:" (Romans 8:16)

The Spirit of God impregnates us, begets us with immortal God life, Spirit life.

Our Future Hope (PLAY FROM 16:38)

Man was not born with that, man was born with a temporary existence, not with immortal life. You're not going to live forever; the most certain thing in your life, for every one of you listening now, and watching me on television, is the fact that you are going to die. That's the most certain thing in life. That's the thing no one seems to want to think about, but it's absolutely certain. But on the other hand, as you read in I Corinthians 15:

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (I Corinthians 15:19)

But we have a greater hope than that now. But:

"The Spirit itself [if we have the Spirit of God, witnesses] with our spirit [there is a spirit in man and witnesses with our spirit], that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs..." (Romans 8:16-17)

You see, not born yet, just heirs. Not inheritors yet, but heirs to inherit the whole universe. Everything that God has:

"...that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him...we [shall also be] glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of [the] present time are not worthy to be compared [to] the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:16-18)

That is, when we are inheritors, when we are born of God; because we're not born of God at this time, we're only impregnated, only begotten, only heirs, not yet inheritors, not yet possessors. Now, notice verse nine:

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." (Romans 8:9)

Unless the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are not a Christian. I don't care how many churches your name is written on, how many church books, how many you think you belong to. It's just like belonging to a lodge or a club; unless the Spirit of God dwells in you, you are none of His, you are not Christ's, you do not belong to Him.

"But [verse 11] if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you..." (Romans 8:11)

That is, if you are being led by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God will open your mind to understand spiritual knowledge, and if you obey that knowledge, if you follow where the Spirit of God leads, and you live according to what you know, and what is revealed to you:

"...he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken [that is make immortal, make alive forever] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." (Romans 8:11)

It is the Spirit that impregnates us with immortal life. Now, in I Corinthians the second chapter and beginning with verse nine you read, the way we were born:

"...it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." (I Corinthians 2:9)

In other words; spiritual knowledge. How does knowledge enter your mind? The only way knowledge can enter your mind normally and naturally is through what you see in the eye, what you hear through the ear, what you can taste in the mouth, smell through the nose or through the sense of feel and touch. There's no other way that knowledge enters your mind naturally and normally. So, you can't have spiritual knowledge, you can't know the things of God.

"But [the next verse says] God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit..." (I Corinthians 2:10)

When you receive the Spirit of God it will open your mind, and reveal your mind to spiritual knowledge. Until that time, you're only half there mentally. The most highly educated people in this world are only half there mentally. That's why knowledge in this world is materialistic, it is limited to what can be seen through the eye, heard through the ear, or smelled through the nose, tasted through the mouth, or felt by the feel of touch, and feel, through the sense of feel. That's the only way that man can come into knowledge.

Man Has Been Limited in Knowledge (PLAY FROM 21:33)

Now, that begins to explain this great paradox. Man has been limited, he's only been half there mentally, and he's developed a great education all confined to the materialistic in the physical realm. But our problems and our troubles are spiritual in nature!

The Law of God defines a way of life and that way is love, and it's love out flowing from self. I call it the way of GIVE, to simplify it. And the opposite way that man is living is GET. Incoming lust, and greed, and coveting, and envy, and jealousy toward others, and all that sort of thing. And that's the way people have been living. That's why the world is in trouble. We're accomplishing great things physically and materially; we've developed physical and material knowledge, we have been born with the capacity to do that. But, we have not, without the Spirit of God, had the knowledge to get along with our fellows; or to have a relationship with our God, and our Maker, and to receive immortal life, God life. The kind of life that God Himself has and that man does not have.

Adam's mind, in other words, was only one half complete. Now, we were born with, you might say, a mind only half complete. Jesus was born, however, with a complete mind. Jesus was impregnated by the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus was born with the Spirit of God. Jesus had the Spirit of God from birth, and they wonder what kind of knowledge He had. His mind was full and complete.

The minds of the great professors and of the doctors of philosophy today, have what has been funneled into them in a college or university by other people. But their minds are only half there. Jesus' mind was complete; Jesus was born complete, begotten by the Holy Spirit, and as such He was the only begotten Son of God. The only one ever born human who'd been begotten of God, He was the only One.

Now, we are born, as you read in Romans 8:7, with a natural carnal mind that is enmity, or that is hostile against God, and is not subject to the Law of God; which is the law of love, and the way toward peace, and the way toward happiness, toward joy, toward contentment, and the things that we seem to lack, and that we don't have. We want to get, and what do we want to get? Physical material things, money, and the things that money can buy. But they don't make us happy, and the world is not happy, and the world cannot be happy unless, or until, it receives the Spirit of God. Just saying; "I receive Christ is not enough". You have to "...Repent, and be baptized..." (Acts 2:38) as Peter said on the day of Pentecost, and then, maybe you'll receive the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God.

Now, in Christ is life and you read back here in I John the fifth chapter and verses 11 and 12:

"...this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life [real life], and [that] life is in his Son. He that hath the Son [of God] hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God [does not have] life." (I John 5:11-12)

He has only a temporary chemical existence. My friends, we need to understand; the Tree of Life is open to us again today, and we have to make that choice. Adam made the wrong choice; it's up to us to make the right choice. But once you receive the Spirit of God, you must as Peter says:

"...grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ..." (II Peter 3:18)

You have to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord. That is, spiritual knowledge, because your mind is only half complete. And you don't know the way to happiness, you don't know the way to contentment, even in this life. And you don't have any chance of life after death; and the most certain thing in this life is death, but:

"...it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Hebrews 9:27 )

"...as in Adam all die...so in Christ shall all be made alive." (I Corinthians 15:22)

But that by a resurrection. This life is not the end; there is an after life by a resurrection.

(NB Headings are not part of original, but are added for clarity)