Having had the man, the garden, and Eden-circumstances, look now at the two first named of all trees and their special import: the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. What is set forth by those trees? A crowd of thoughts and questions rise before us, as we look upon the garden, the man, and the trees, and contemplate the universal scope, the far-reaching results, and everlasting consequences to all, should the first man fail. O the havoc that will be wrought, the moral ruin that will ensue, if the crown fall from the brow of creation's head and lord, for its blessing hung upon the obedience of the man—its moral center and head!
The responsible man was first tested in Eden, and afterward when banished the garden, subjected to forty centuries of trial and testing, so as to manifest that there could be no union of these truths—life and responsibility—in or by man, that life could not grow on the tree of responsibility, that all was wreck, ruin and misery, that the counsels of God—the only ground of blessing to a ruined sinner, are lodged in Christ, the Second Man. Did man eat of the life-tree, or of the responsibility-tree? How is the now ruined man to-be dealt with, and how and to whom is the sovereign gift of life dispensed I Can the gift of eternal life and Adamic responsibility co-exist? Can they grow on the same tree I If men have utterly failed to grasp and unite these truths, and which even under the training and culture of God for 4,000 years could not be accomplished, but is yet the effort in all ages and in all countries, has God effected it, and if so, in whom and for whom?