Two Trees, Two Children, Two Choices

We have in the audience many young people, as well as people of all ages. And I have a question for you today. When you think of your future, how big do you dream? How really big do you dream? Let's dream a little bit today. In fact, let's dream a lot. Let's just dream about being any and everything that you possibly ever wanted to be. What would it be? Just let your thoughts go for a minute. Anything, anyone, anywhere. It's kind of silly. You're probably thinking that. It's kind of silly. Why would we do that? It's not real. It's important, though. It's important. Come on, let's dream. Let's dream big. Let's dream bigger. You know, many people don't dream big enough, and so they never really reach anything of great worth. And a reason is because they never have a goal. They never have a dream. They never have an excitement and a passion. Therefore, they really never go very far. What would you like to be if you could be anything? A movie star? A most beautiful person in the world? A billionaire?

President of the United States? Come on, think. What would it be? First person on Mars?

That's open. Most powerful? The richest? The most famous? Silly, you say. Those are silly. Why are we thinking about that on the Sabbath here at church? Well, you know, I think the number one limitation of humans is that we do not dream big enough. We don't think big enough. We don't have passions about things that are really, really large. We're stuck in a human, physical mindset. A materialistic mindset. A mindset that really is small. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9, I has not seen nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. You see, we don't dream big enough. We don't get the big picture that God has planned for us. In fact, humanity never even has it dawn in their senses, the Bible tells us. Well, today I'd like to examine why God the Father and Jesus Christ made us. The reason why you exist and I exist, the purpose for creating humanity, it's all about dreams. Their dreams and our dreams.

Let's begin by turning back to Genesis chapter 1 and verse 25. Genesis 1 and 25 is an incredible passage of Scripture. It says, And the Lord God made the beast of the earth according to its kind. Listen to the phrase, according to its kind. God is telling us something here. He made the beast of the field according to its kind. Cattle according to its kind. And everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God said that it was good. Verse 26. And then God said, let us make man in our image. In other words, after our kind. You have all of these creations after their kind and now God says, let's make man after our kind. Only it's a process, a three-part process. And let's begin by making them in our image and after our likeness. This is an incredible statement that human beings typically never understand. It's a three-part process to look like God, then to think like God, and then to be God.

Do you dream that big? Do I dream that big? And when I say dream, not just out there and the, you know, the reaches of our mind, but here and now, what's important to us every day? Is that our goal? Is that what we're wanting and desiring?

In Genesis chapter 1 and verse 25, we see these individuals that God would create are made after His image, something unique about them, something very, very unique.

In the completion there of the creation of Adam and Eve, we have to understand that these two beings were young. They were green. They were brand new. They weren't seasoned adults. They were brand spanking new. They were simple. They were trusting. They were believing. They were obedient. They had a relationship with God in the garden, but they lacked something.

Adam and Eve, in my opinion, lacked a nature. That was the only thing they lacked. They didn't have a nature. They had no pattern. They had no character. They had no nature. They were just simple, brand new, like a baby that Jesus said that we need to become like.

Something that's open, trusting. Adam and Eve were simple. If you go back and look at it, you'll notice that God prayed to the animals before Adam that taught him something. Kind, kind, kind. There's nothing here of your kind. Then He created Eve. God said He made man, male, and female in His image. He created them. So God has taken the male and female and made Himself in that component of two. When those two are together, they are one. They are complete. They are whole. They contain, in a broad sense, the characteristics of God, His mind, His personality, His feminine and masculine traits, His compassion, His thought, His intellect. These are wrapped in something that resembles God, the way that it looks and the thought processes.

Genesis 2, verse 18, tells us that it's not good that man should be alone, but I will make a helper comparable to him. And so this humanity that God would make would be able to procreate itself over time. But what was the purpose of this? What is the purpose of this?

God made people, and then He wanted to have us develop a nature that was like His nature, is the second part of that process. But the first humans were not complete. They were adults, and they were thinking, but they lacked in nature. They didn't have a decisive trend. They did not have an objective-based identity yet, what we might call a character. A person in East Africa asked me this year, he said, you know, God created those two trees in the Garden of Eden, and Eve took of the wrong tree. And there's been problems ever since. Why didn't He just create one tree? Why didn't He just create the tree of life so that we could have all just had nice, happy lives, and everything would be great? And the answer that I gave Him was, well, it's simple.

God didn't create one tree so that you could have a nice, happy life. If God had wanted that to happen, He would have created you a spirit being to begin with. You know, He created angels. Why wouldn't He have just created you a spirit being? Instead, He created you a human being first, so that He could kill you. We have to understand that. We are humans so that God can kill us, if need be. I think it's a basic principle to physical life. We see that evidence throughout the Scripture. Revelation chapter 21, verse 7 and 8 explains this very well. Let me just read it to you quickly. Revelation 21, verse 7, to Him who overcomes, who wins this battle, shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my Son. But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. That's why we are created human beings, so that if need be, we can burn up. There are two natures there to choose from. You know, God beings are eternal, so are angels. But God beings are of a God kind. Angels are of an Agile kind. Imagine for a moment God creating you and me as spirit beings to start with, God beings to start with, and then one of us went sour. What would that be like? Not just having an Angel kind that goes sour, like Satan did, and a third of the angels became demons. What would it be like for a God level being to go off with that type of a nature? It would be horrible. And so God created us in His image, but human. We have to choose our nature first, and then we have to prove that nature to God so that He is absolutely sure. In Genesis 2 and verse 9, we find that these two trees had a role. Out of the ground, the Lord God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. God has made a wonderful creation. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One represented the mindset of God, the tree of life, the Holy Spirit. The other represented the mindset of Satan. Self-determination of what is good and evil. It's a mixture of good and evil, but it's self-determined what is good and what is evil. And so it wouldn't be subject to the will of God, but subject to self-will. And that was a wrong choice for them to take, and they were ordered not to take that choice. In verse 16, the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. Now that was the first directive. It's like a parent telling a child the first thing, Do not do this. Do not do this. The first spiritual teaching, the first command that we know of. This is a powerful command because the consequences were extreme. They didn't really realize, I don't believe, what they were getting involved in. Involved in this is knowledge about living and dying, and choice about obeying or disobeying. And their first choice here was simplified for them. It was very, very simple. You have simple minds. You have new people. They weren't real. They weren't real, time-tested and experienced in life.

God reduced it down to two types of fruit. Eat this one, fine. Eat that one, bad. It's a very simple choice. Choose your fruit. But that choice of fruit would ultimately select their nature.

It would select their nature. You see that?

Cute animal would get involved. Kids love animals.

And here comes a cute little animal who's going to get involved. See, a lot rides on this decision. The choice is, which fruit will you eat? Two trees, two choices. God's fruit, Satan's fruit. The challenge increases with the deception and encouragement from Satan. Verse 1 of chapter 3, Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field, which the Lord God made. And he said to the woman, As God indeed said to you, You shall not eat of every free of the garden. The woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.

But then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die.

Man has believed that lie ever since. Most humans think they have some kind of immortality built in. Verse 5, For Satan lies that God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And yes, that selection would have a profound change, because a nature would be installed. One of the two natures, either God's natures or Satan's nature, would be installed. Verse 6, So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, notice she saw, was the tree good for food? No, it was not. But she was deceived, and she saw it as if it was good. That it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise. She took of its fruit an ape. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And notice verse 7, The eyes of both of them were opened. Nature installed. Suddenly, something here, human nature, is now installed in its set. And you can read on the rest of the story. You see, instantly, feelings of ashamed, inferiority, nakedness, hiding. They feel a sense of wrong, embarrassment, hiding from their best friend God. When he comes around and talks to them, now they have this crafty little speech that they go through. It's not just like an open, honest child anymore. They're kind of telling little white lies and dancing around the subject like an adult would, or somebody with God's human. And so it was a simple choice with powerful consequences. And they matured, you might say, carnally in a flash.

And they were thrust out from God's environment. This is similar to a process that you and I use every day. It's not just in historical event, because those two trees are still growing symbolically. And we can still eat off the fruit of either one. Jesus Christ declares himself as the bread of life, and he tells us to eat him. But Satan, in his world, also has a false food, and it dangles it there, and it smells good, and it's like leavened bread.

And that symbolism of sin, which looks good, smells good, tastes good, is always there competing in every decision that we make.

God's tree or Satan's tree? God's mind, Satan's mind. God's way or my way? And there are consequences for those choices as we make them, too. Because each time we choose to eat off the wrong tree, there are consequences that smash relationships. There are walls that build up between people. There are hurts that take place. There are walls that build up between us and God that have to be repented of.

Now, what has Satan been doing since this event? Is it just an historical event? Well, let's go back to Revelation 12 and verse 9. Revelation 12 and verse 9 says, so that great dragon was cast out. We're looking here at the events of Revelation. That serpent of old. What serpent of old? Oh, yeah, the serpent in Genesis, in Genesis chapter 3. That's what's being referenced here. That serpent of Genesis 3 called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. That's what he's been up to ever since humanity has been on earth. He's been out deceiving the whole world.

It's important for us to realize that because people continue to make that same choice. Many tend to think that, well, Eve ate the apple off the tree, and therefore all humanity has been slaves under sin ever since. Well, not really. Otherwise, Jesus Christ would not have said in Matthew 18, chapter 1, or 18, verse 1, that we're to be like little children. And whoever is like a little child is greatest in the kingdom.

If we were so evil from birth because we inherited it from somebody, why would he have three passages there in the New Testament that encourage us to be like little children?

The problem here is that humanity today has been deceived by Satan. Humanity looks like God, but it thinks like Satan. So in the three points of look like God, think like God, be God, humanity is derailed in the second step. They look like God, but we don't think like God.

So we have this nature. We have this problem. In your life and mine, we have this ongoing challenge to choose our nature. It's not done. Just because you may even be baptized in the church does not mean that your nature is set. Because the Apostle Paul said, that which I want to do, I don't do. That which I don't want to do. That which I preach against, that's what I do. Too much of the time. So we have this ongoing challenge as to what tree we're going to eat off of, which nature, which will we're going to follow.

We have to choose hundreds of times a day.

The whole world today is under Satan's sway. He's the invisible, subtle ruler, deceiver, leader, encouraging people to get away from that other tree, get away from God's nature. If you can derail humanity from acting and thinking like God, then they can't go to the third step.

In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3, it says, But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the God of this age has blinded, who do not believe.

He's blinded them. They do not believe. We read in Revelation 12, verse 9, that he deceives the whole world. This is ongoing. Man consistently chooses Satan's nature.

You and I did. In Ephesians 2, verse 2, the Apostle Paul says it this way, In which you once walked according to the course of this world, or the Phillips translation says, you drifted along in the stream of this world's ideas of living, he just kind of floated along, didn't resist it, According to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit which now works in the sons of disobedience. See, he's working now. It wasn't just something done to Eve that we inherited. It somehow came through the blood or the lymph system or, I don't know, no. He's now working in the sons of disobedience. He's the prince of the power of the air, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as others. Oh, we have imitated Eve. We've made the same choice she did. She set the example, and the parents lived it, and the children followed the parents' example, and society around has lived the same example, and set the example, and we just kind of float on down, following that same old thing. But mankind is ultimately destined to be God's kind. Why are we not God's kind yet? In John 8 and verse 47, notice what Jesus says. He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear because you are not of God.

There's a distinct separation between mankind as a whole and God. We are not of God's kind. We don't hear God's kind. We are not of God, Jesus said. Going up to verse 44, you are of your father, the devil. We've been eating off the wrong tree. We have a different nature. We look like God, but we think like the wrong one, you know, the devil. And the desires of your father you want to do, you have his mindset. You have his character. You've developed that nature. The desires of him you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning. What do we think of as humans? Somebody bothers us, somebody irritates us, somebody comes after us. We think, oh, they'd be better off dead. Even if we don't want to kill them, we think, oh, it would be nice if that person just went to sleep.

Or maybe that country ought to be eliminated. Or this or that. Next thing you know, people follow this mentality of Satan. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there's no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, what about lying? Everybody lies. Everybody teaches that lying is good. Even religion teaches that lying is good as long as it's done to try to help other people. Satan is a liar. He speaks from his own resources, for he's a liar and the father of it. So we see here that mankind is not God's kind yet.

Romans 9-8 says, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Now what about nice people, though? What about really nice religious charitable people? Is this what God is wanting from us? I think it's good to ask this question and to answer it. In Romans 10, verse 2, we're going to find out how God places our niceties and our excuses and replacements for his character with our own, remember, tree of knowledge of good and evil with our own good, our own self-proclaimed good. In Romans 10, verse 2, there is this false religion of the self. Paul addresses it. He says, For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God. There are people who are zealous for God, but not according to knowledge, not according to the word of God. For they, being ignorant of God's righteousness, his mind, his way, his character, his nature, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted to the righteousness of God. Jesus Christ did. He submitted everything to God, his will, his deeds, he came. Even his words were those that the Father told him to speak.

So in verse 4, For Christ is the end. He's the sum, he's the totality of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, a man who does these things shall live by them. God wants us to not develop our own mentality, a special nature, whether it's loving and serving and giving and sacrificing.

It's not his. He wants us to move to step two. Look like me, think like me. Don't look like me and think like yourself or come up with some opposing or similar or self-devised nature. We've got to copy our Father. We've got to copy our Father.

God has a special feast. I don't know if you realize that in this context, but God is celebrating in advance, having children after his kind. There's a celebration day for children after God's kind. We call it the Feast of the First Fruits. This is an exciting time for God. I know it teaches us the plan of salvation, but it's got to be an exciting day for God. The Feast of the First Fruits, the Feast of Tabernacles, the eighth day of the Feast. All of these are harvests of children into the divine family of God. It's an exciting time for God. Romans 11, verse 7, says, What then? Israel has not obtained what it seek'd. Whatever Israel was seeking, it did not obtain. It certainly did not obtain the inheritance of the promised land in the spiritual sense. I really don't think it ever fully did in the physical sense. But the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. In other words, an elect are being converted now. We are having a nature converted from Satan's nature to God's nature, so that second element will be in place. It's difficult for humans to grasp God's intentions for us. You know, religions all fall short. When you think about it, pick any religion on the face of the earth. What is the ultimate thing you can be? It's something far short of what God has in mind for us. No matter what the ultimate thing that that religion teaches for eternity, for the converts, it is far, far, far short from what God has in mind. God is calling a few individuals now. In 1 Corinthians, well, let's go to Romans 8. While we're here in Romans, let's go back to Romans 8 and verse 13. He's calling a few people to participate in this second step of developing godly nature, godly character, holy righteous character. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. You will live forever. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. If you're led and motivated internally by the nature of God, which comes to us through His Holy Spirit, then you are sons of God. We might say begotten sons, ready to be born again when Christ returns. For you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but received the Spirit of adoption, sonship by whom we cry out, or by which we cry out, Abba, Father. And the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, heirs of aloing, heirs of the family of God, join heirs with Christ. If indeed we suffer with Him, that we also may be glorified together. Glorified like Christ is. This is an amazing, amazing thing that's very difficult for humans to grasp. That God is recreating Himself. In 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9, let's read the passage that I alluded to earlier. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 9. But as it is written, I has not seen nor ear heard nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Hasn't even come in. And as I mentioned, all religion, or no religion, has ever come close to dreaming big enough, to having a big enough picture and understanding of what God is doing. But continuing on in the next verse.

It says, verse 10, But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. We can understand what God has for us, for those who love Him. Verse 12, Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, not this nature of Satan, but the Spirit which is from God that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. Let's go over and read a powerful statement in James chapter 1 verse 17 and 18. James chapter 1 and verse 17.

I don't know sometimes that we allow ourselves the privilege to dream, like God does, to see what God has in mind for you and me if we will only eat off of the right tree, if we will only ingest Jesus Christ, that bread of life, the Holy Spirit, the tree of life. All of these are symbolic. The water of God's Holy Spirit, that nature, and have it flow not only into us, but out of us, like rivers of living water to where that is what we are, that's what we believe, that's what we do, that's what we say. In James chapter 1 verse 17 says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above. What are these gifts? The good and perfect gifts from above. Just think about them. Life, the fact that we are here, calling, God calls a few. That's a wonderful gift. Repentance. Repentance is a gift of God, the Bible tells us. Forgiveness of sin, that's a gift of God. Receiving the Holy Spirit, baptism, those things are gifts of God. Salvation is a gift of God. Sonship is a gift of God. Inheriting all things of Jesus Christ. All these things are good gifts, perfect gifts, and they come down, it says, from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. God's nature doesn't change. No variation, no shadow of turning. God is love. God always thinks and does the same. Now, verse 18, of His own will, He brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures. Isn't that powerful? Isn't that wonderful? God is recreating Himself fully that we would be the firstfruits of His kind, of His kind of creature. How big do you dream? Well, I'll bet if you're like me, you're stuck in this human reality. We chase our cares, we chase our needs, we chase our physical dreams of a human life, and that's one big reason Jesus tells us that so many miss out on the Kingdom. They're so preoccupied with low-level dreams that they miss out on the Kingdom. They're rich in trying to get treasures on earth, but they don't really have the dream to build treasures in heaven. And so we don't dream big enough. We are distracted from dreaming. We lose the big picture.

We focus on something else, on materialism. It's kind of like Esau and Jacob. Esau had the birth right, but he didn't dream big enough. He didn't realize what it was, I guess. He paid more attention to the daily cares of life and hunting and doing this and that, and one day he sold his birthright for a bowl of soup because he didn't dream big enough. You and I have a birthright. We are called to be children of God, inherit all things with Jesus Christ. Are we focusing on that? Are we intent? Are we dreaming about that? Are we instead thinking about what we do today, what we do tomorrow, get distracted by the cares of this life, and so the day comes upon us unexpectedly, Jesus says. It's important for us to dream and dream big and not lose the big picture, not become distracted. Otherwise, just like Esau, we will lose something that is so big we won't even appreciate it until it's gone. Let me give you an example of how big we can dream. We typically downplay our future, but let's listen to Jesus Christ and just see what he's telling us in Revelation 2. I read this to you before, but this is incredible. If you're like me, we tend to say, yeah, but maybe that's not exactly what he's saying. But let's look at it.

Verse 26 of Revelation 2, and he who overcomes, he who wins this battle, this struggle, like Paul, I have fought the fight, I have finished the race, and there is reserved a crown. I'm a winner. He who overcomes and keeps my works until the end. That's you, right? Anybody here not doing that, trying to do that? That's us. Here's what he says I'm going to do. To him I will, not maybe, not might, not possibly, I will give power over the nations. To that individual, I will give power over the nations. This is something Jesus Christ says, and if you believe him, you have to accept this. And if you say he's lying, what does that say about him? So we're stuck here. He's saying I will give that individual power over the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. They will be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels, as I also have received from my Father. Jesus Christ is going to share the power. He is going to share the responsibilities. It's important to dream big, to realize what our future is, not just as a reward, but to be preparing for that, to be really appreciating God's law, his way of life, so that we can internalize it, internalize the mind of God, the will of God, so that we can be in the family of God. It's important to dream big. Revelation chapter 3 and verse 12. He who overcomes, and we are going to win, brethren, those of us who hang in there to the end, those of us who defy any temptation, challenge, test, trial, who hang in there and really go all the way, he who wins and overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more, showing the stability and the permanence. Unlike at the city of Philadelphia, which had many different names, and also was rocked by earthquakes all the time, and the pillars were pretty much on the ground, and the people were afraid to live in the city, he says, no, if you overcome, you're going to be solid. You're going to be a pillar, and you won't be running out of town every time something shakes. You will not go out anymore. But notice, I will write on him the name of my God, the Father's name. Do you believe that? He's saying, well, I don't know. Maybe that's just symbolic. I would have the name of the Father as my name. What does that tell you? It's kind of like you're in the family, isn't it? If you have the name of the Father as your name, written on you, how much more in the family of God can we be?

And the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven for my God. Wow! That's identifying fairly closely, isn't it, with God, his eternal permanent kingdom, New Jerusalem, the headquarters. And he goes on, I will write on him my new name.

Wow! We need to dream big. And why? Proverbs 29, 18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish. Now, I know you can interpret that many ways, but if you just take it where there is no vision, the people perish. If you lose that vision, you're going to perish. If you don't have this as your supreme goal in life that you're seeking to achieve every time a thought comes in your mind, every time a decision comes in your mind, to push away my ideas, my good and evil thoughts, and bring in God's and submit my will, my words, my deeds to being God's. If we don't do that, we'll perish. We will perish. Trials will come. Sacrifices is part of life. Conflicts will come. Jesus prophesied and promised these things, even within families. All these things are going to come upon us. Well, they tend to wear down those who don't have a clear objective. If you don't have that clear objective of what it is that God put you on this earth for, you're going to get worn down and worn out. You can only just take so much getting beat up and criticized and made fun of and everything else the Bible says and persecuted when you don't have a vision, when you don't have a goal.

You know, a person's out there riding a bicycle in that great bicycle race in France, you know, where they go through the Swiss Alps. I don't know how high they go. It's freezing cold. It's hot. You go up hills, down hills. Then you go through the warm valleys. You go through rain storms. You know, all the perils that go on with hundreds of miles of riding. But if there's no wind to it, you know, how long do you keep riding? Well, I've been riding for two days, six days, twelve days. How long do I keep riding? I don't know. This gets old and I could be doing something else. Why should I keep going on the Tour de France that never ends? How long would you keep going? A month? Two months? Six months? A year? Well, I don't think so. You'd probably say nuts to this. I'm soaring the saddle. I've had enough thunderstorms and snows and rains and hills. I think I'll go do something else. And so it is, if we're just coming to church and we're just, you know, living God's way and we're going through the issues and trying to fight Satan and our nature, at some point it's going to get old, especially when the heat gets turned up a little bit. If there's no goal, if there's no focus, if there's no dream that we're aspiring to become, like Paul said, I have fought the good fight and it's the crown that's not only there for me, he said, but to everyone who loves his appearing. Do we see that crown and what that crown is?

In John chapter 1 and verse 12, Jesus tells us in his own words what that crown is. Well, John is inspired here, actually, to tell us this, but he's talking about Jesus. John chapter 1 and verse 12, but as many as received him, as many as received Jesus the Messiah, to them he gave the right to become children of God to those who believe in his name. He gave the right to become children. Now, going on. Who were born not of blood nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. That's where we're heading. That's the destination. That's the point of all of this. It's not to have a nice car, not to have a nice house, and not to have just a nice marriage, and not to just have nice clothes and go on vacation or go skiing or whatever it is that you like to do. The idea of you and I being on this earth is so that we can have the right to become members of the God family. It's a wonderful opportunity. There's nothing wrong with the beauty of life and marriage and career and physical possessions and the nice things in life. Job was a very, very faithful holy man, and he had it all for his day. Satan would like to get us to focus on that as the ultimate objective, but you can have all of those things and yet focus on what's important. In fact, God often blesses those and brings other materialistic blessings just as a pat on the back, just as a reward, just as a father who knows how to give good gifts to his children. We do those things that are pleasing in his sight. We have been engendered from above for a purpose. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 47.

1 Corinthians 15 verse 47, we find out about this ultimate goal that we have and a little bit about what it will be like. The first man was of the earth made of dust, Adam. And so is the heavenly man, so as is the heavenly man, so are those... Well, I skipped down. Sorry, let's try this again. Verse 47. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven. So he's showing the two types here, the two kinds, as it were. You have humankind and you have Godkind. One is of the earth made of dust, the other is of heaven, spiritual. Now, verse 48, as was the man of dust. You think about you, me, our physical characteristics. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust. Now, you think about yourself for a minute. You have certain physical characteristics. You're about so high. You have arms about so long. You have a head that looks about like that. And as you grow up, you can do certain things. You have certain abilities. That is what Adam could do. That's what you can do. And if you have children, that's what you expect them to be able to do, especially someday when they mature and grow up and become adults like you. But, going on. And, as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. Now, here's where we begin to lose it a little bit as humans. Here's where we don't really let ourselves dream big enough. Because, as is God, as is Jesus Christ, so are those who are in the family of God after that kind. And when you think about what the family of God can do, that is just amazing. How big do you dream? How big do you allow yourself to dream? If a member of the family of God has the characteristics that Jesus Christ does, and if you and I are going to be brothers and sisters with Jesus Christ in the kingdom, what does that mean? What could it mean? Let's go to John 1 and verse 3. Back to John 1. Because this talks about Jesus Christ. He was a very important He was in the beginning with God. In verse 3, all things were made through Him. The Father made all things through Jesus Christ. What are we reading? Have you ever thought that Jesus Christ created everything? He was the one who did all the creating. God the Father can create all things, and He did it through Jesus Christ, who is a God being, who can create all things. And without Him, nothing was made that was made. Wow! Do you ever think about that? Jesus Christ was the creator of the universe. Do you ever think of yourself as creator, creating something?

Something else. It says He was creator of all things. Jesus Christ created angels. He created the angelic host. You know, they didn't just evolve. They were created by God. God the Father and Jesus Christ created the spirit realm and the spirit host, the angels.

God will create new Jerusalem. Spirit world, spirit things, made of spirit matter. What if Jesus Christ lets the bride help recreate the earth when He returns? You know, the earth has to be refashioned. It has nature. The animals have to be changed. There's going to have to be a lot of recreation done simply for mankind to be able to exist. A lot of cleanup, refashioning. The earth needs to really go to where the Garden of Eden was within at least a thousand years. If spirit beings of the God kind have the power to create as Jesus Christ did, will He allow us to participate in that? To be creators? Hmm.

It's a huge liability, really, in God's plan. It's a serious liability for God.

We always think about what we're going to get out of this. You know, if we endure to the end, oh, we'll be able to do this and that. Wouldn't it be nice to create things?

Well, this is a serious liability for God if we are fully created after the God kind, because we could create whatever we wanted, couldn't we? Jesus Christ showed Himself to be one who would perform only the will of His Father, only do and say those things the Father told Him to. But what about you and me? What if we were created as God beings in the millennium and giving the power to create things? Would we create Tyrannosaurus Rexes? Or would we create lions that ate straw? See, after the Father's will. You see, a very, very big liability for God to create God beings, because, you see, as we've seen, God can create angels. What if we were to create angels and we didn't really have the same will, the same mind that God did? Maybe we just didn't have the same mentality to put into those angels and they could be like many, many more Satan's or something. That wouldn't be good, would it? What if we just decided, well, God wants to do this, but I'm going to go create over here? I know you think that's kind of silly, but how many of you have children or want children? You see your hands? Okay. Have children or want children. How many of you, now you know for sure, how many of you want to be in charge in your house with those children? Anybody? Yeah. Okay. So obviously, obviously, in order to be in charge, the children that you want to have will never grow up as tall as you. They'll only be about that, fully grown, they'll be about that high. Okay. They'll only have like a third of a brain, because, you know, you have to be the smart one here. You can never be as smart as you. One eye, one ear, you know, one leg, an arm, one arm. That way, you see, you'll always be able to control them. They'll never be as good or talented as you are, right? Never match you in any way. And that'll be great. How many of you want children like that? Huh. No hands went up. Why would we think God wants children like that? Why do you think God the Father and Jesus Christ would like other God beings like we would not want? You know, how many of you would like your children to be equal with you in every way? Intellect, physical, mental, career, maybe even better than you in some ways? Anybody? Funny thing. You think it's just a human characteristic? Or do you think that's something that reflects what God feels about His children?

Well, if we are like God in every way, there is a bigger liability than I've talked to you about. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15 and now verse 21. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 21. See, I really think that this is what God is up against. And this whole concept of even creating man in the first place and even creating humans on earth and even thinking about having more God beings after His kind raises the biggest of liabilities that could ever be imagined. We see a glimpse of it here in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 21. For since by man came death, for by man, Jesus Christ, came the resurrection of the dead. God beings, including Jesus Christ, can resurrect or can create other God beings. Now, if a God being is what God is intending for you and me, which the Scriptures say it is, and we're to be as much God being, God kind as God is after His kind, then we would have the ability to create other God beings. Because that's what Jesus can do, and that's what God the Father can do. Now, there is probably the greatest risk of all times, the most unimaginable risk that anybody could ever think of. Because if you and I were raised up as God is after His kind and had the power to create another God being, we could create a being or become a being that would be an equal rival with God Himself. In other words, in power. It's not just Satan. He's an angel. You can bind him and you can throw him into outer darkness. What would you do with another God being that went sour? You think God's going to just, well, you know, that person didn't obey me, didn't do anything I wanted, but he's sure nice, smiled a lot, you know, help feed starving babies. So let's bring them up here in the kingdom, make them an equal God being with us. See what they do? Never know. That would be very smart, would it? You see what God needs to know, your nature and mine? What if one went sour? What if just one God being went sour? What if one of the children that God is bringing into his family from one of the harvest went sour? Just take one. Just one. Just one went sour. One could create all the God beings it wanted to. You could have a whole legion of satanic God beings. You would have the ultimate good versus evil. It would be the biggest mess you could ever imagine. You know, when we think about God being nice and graceful and merciful and bringing us into his kingdom, he's not going to play games. He is not going to play games.

You know, what is the purpose of husband and wife? And why did Jesus Christ call himself the bridegroom and the church, the bride, the firstfruits? Are they not in the business of having children, bringing children in to the great resurrection, the great fall festival celebrates?

What if God lets us create God beings? What if God lets us participate in the raising of those children who qualify in what is considered the 100-year period, that second resurrection, when all humans, whoever lived, will have a chance, an opportunity to be in the family of God? What if we get to recreate them? What would we do with such powers? Would we be an asset or a liability?

The title of the sermon today is Two Trees, Two Children, Two Choices, and that's what it's all about. From the beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible, it's two trees are available, and you can be one of two children, and you have two choices in every decision that you make, and that's what life is about. That reduces it down to, I think, the smallest component.

Two trees, you can be two children, one or the other, and there are two choices to make. Now you're created in the image of God, but something's missing, God's nature.

Galatians 5, verse 19, shows the nature that humans have, and it's a twisted nature. In verses 22 and 23, it shows godly nature. There are only two, there aren't three. There's just this human, twisted nature, and there's God's divine, perfect nature.

And we have to choose 100 times a day. Which father are we choosing? Which nature are we choosing? What are we building into our life? This is what we need to accomplish in our lifetime, is to show God, to really show God, which we are. It's not some exotic science that you wonder, I know life is complex, but it boils down to, will you be a child of God or a child of the devil? 1 John 3, verse 10, clarifies this for us. 1 John 3, verse 10 says, In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Two children, two trees, two choices. Which child are you going to be? Which child am I going to be? In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God. That is the nature of God. Righteousness. And if we don't practice that, we're not of God. Nor is he who does not love his brother. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another. From the very beginning of the Bible to the end of the Bible. It's all about the nature of God being in us. Now, can we fake our desire for conversion? Can we play games with God? I know we do as humans. We try to play the games. We try to give a little prayer here, a little something there, and rush off to our physical carnal side. We try to be Christian, but when the opportunity arises, we just fudge a little bit with taxes or with the truth when the policeman comes up. Or, you know, play all these little games. But we're good people. We're good people. I know we're like that. It's part of being human. But God needs to know what our nature really is. Verse 7 of Galatians 6, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. The stakes are too high for God to play games here. You're not pulling anything over his eye. He knows every intent of the heart. For whatever a man sows, that he also will reap.

What you are is what you're going to get. For he sowing to his flesh will reap corruption, rotting from the flesh. But he sowing to the Spirit will reap life everlasting from the Spirit.

But we should not lose heart and well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not faint, if we endure to the end, in doing well. So this is our goal. It's actually a wonderful opportunity. It's actually a great, pleasant challenge. It's the greatest sport event that there ever was, if you like sports. It's the greatest career challenge that you could ever imagine, if you're into careers. However you want to type it, it's the greatest mountain to climb, the greatest ocean to sail. This is it. If we sow to the Spirit, we're going to reap everlasting life. And we shouldn't lose heart in this race, in doing well.

How do we proceed from here? Well, in James 4 and verse 7, we're admonished to resist one thing and submit to the other. James 4 verse 7, therefore submit to God. What does that mean? It means submit your will, your nature, your ideas. Submit everything to God, to the will of the Father, so that when you are created as His child, you will do His will. And if He wants you to create spirit beings, you can create them, just like He wants them. Or you can create a new millennial world, just like He wants it. Or you can go do whatever He wants you to do.

You know, God beings cannot sin. God beings that have the nature of God cannot sin, because a God being cannot lie. Mr. Armstrong, I remember growing up, would say, you know, if an individual were created a spirit being and God asked them, do you promise never to sin?

And that individual says, yes, I promise never to sin. That person could never sin. Of course, it's a little late to be asking the question, I would think, after you're already a God being, what if you said, no? But you see, what it comes down to, it comes down to a choice. And a God being will never depart. It just will not. God cannot lie, God cannot sin, but it's because God has chosen not to. And that's what we must choose every day and show God that once we are spirit beings, we will also make the choice to never sin, to never do anything against God's will.

Therefore, submit to God and resist the devil. Resist those other mindsets, mentalities, deeds, thoughts, actions. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But you have to resist him every day and every minute. It's not a one-time event. Draw near to God. He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. That, brethren, is what we need to do. This is our objective. It's a fun objective. It's a great quest.

I love it when counseling people and they come up to baptism and they commit. And I said, you know what you're up against now? You're going to be doing this for the rest of your life. Finding sin, putting it out. Finding sin, putting it out. And how do you feel about that? That's what I want to do. I'm ready, you know. I've been wrestling with this long enough and I don't have the tools, but now I'm going to get the tools. I'm going to get God as Holy Spirit. We're going to make some progress here. Just remember, if you ever turn back, that's it.

Oh, I'm never going to turn back. Nope. See, we have a zeal for this. It's a quest and it's a good one. Psalm 51.10, David said, creating me a cleaner. That's what I want. I want a clean heart, O God. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. It's not about being perfect just because you are perfect. No, nobody is perfect and nobody has their own righteousness. It's not about being anything as a static, you know, I was born and I was perfect and therefore, no, it doesn't happen that way.

No, we are all sinners. We are all involved in this war, in this battle, in this fight, and we are to be perfect like our Father in Heaven is. Be you, therefore, like your Father in Heaven is. We are wanting to be children of our Father in Heaven. How certain is God about bringing sons and daughters into His divine family? As I mentioned, He's created festivals celebrating us. He's fully committed to it. He's excited about it. God is excited about the fact that His first children will be born any day now.

And I say, any day now, as soon as Jesus Christ returns at the seventh trumpet, here come the first fruits of God's creatures to be born. You think God's not excited about that? You don't think He has the maternal calendar out and counting down the days until the birth? Oh, I'm sure God the Father knows exactly the day and the time and the hour when Jesus will return.

And it's not just the return of Jesus. It's the birth of a lot of children into His family. In conclusion, there's only one unknown that is left. That one unknown is whose child will you be? Two trees, two children, two choices. Will you be God's child in the family of God after His kind? Well, the answer to that, you can see by which fruit you're eating a hundred times a day. Which tree are you eating off of? Which tree am I eating off of? Let's go to Revelation 22 and verse 11 and see this from God's perspective as we close. God has a huge liability in creating anyone after His kind.

It's a liability, though, that has measured risk because of the way God has set up the plan of salvation. Those that don't meet the objectives, the criteria, won't be there. And so He is certain, He is sure, that those He makes God beings will be what He's expecting. Revelation 22 verse 11. From God's perspective, He who is unjust. This is what John was told to write.

He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. I need to know your nature. This is what God says. I need to know your nature. Show me your nature because I have a choice I have to make. It's an important choice. Everything hinges on this choice, either being a massive asset to the family of God or a potential disastrous liability. So show me your nature. He who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. Not a problem. No problem. Noticery No, just whatever you're really going to be, be that. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still. He who is holy, let him be holy still. Just be what you're going to be. And behold, I am coming quickly and my reward is with me. Either positive or negative, I have a reward for that nature that you have. I need to know your nature so I can bring my reward with me. To give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. God is excited. God has a dream. He has a big dream. If you love God, fulfill his dream. He wants children. He wants other God beings. He wants you and his family. God is pulling for you. He's created a church and ministry who are pulling for you. He's created brothers and sisters in the faith who are encouraging and pulling for you. Let's appreciate the fact that God will never leave us or forsake us in this quest. Let's keep the dream alive inside. Let's dream big. Let's live the dream. But above all things, let's be the dream that God has, that we can be children in his family forever.