Genesis 2:9, 16-17 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 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.”
Genesis 3:4-7 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Christmas is a very festive and joyful time, but we begin our 25 days of Christmas in Genesis– a less than joyful season involving trees. The Christmas Tree is one of the most obvious symbols of this holiday, so we look at these two trees— The tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of Good and evil. Many people wonder why this moment in history happened like this. Some even blame God, but what we must all remember is the gifts God gave to mankind— the freedom to eat from any tree in the garden, the protective forewarning (verse 17) that would keep them safe, and ultimately, the gift of life (verse 16). But all of God’s gifts were rejected, and the rest is history (bitter history).
Thankfully though, the story doesn’t end here. The world fell into sin, but Jesus Christ comes as the Savior to establish the world that God always intended for us to have. Jesus came as the ultimate gift to mankind when we were most helpless in our sinful state. So even though our lives today are severely affected by what happened here in Genesis (Genesis 6:5, Romans 1:18-32, Romans 3:9-18), God is still gifting humanity, and the greatest gift He ever gave was his Son. We hope that you too can celebrate this gift of Jesus. Follow up with AM devotionals to learn more about Jesus Christ, the ultimate gift for the salvation of the world.