Isn't it wonderful that God has located us IN CHRIST, who is Life! Christ is the Tree of Life! And God has put me in Him, chosen me in Him from before the foundation of the world. That tells me that I am forever in Life, not in Law or Performance (which is what the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is all about - our efforts to do good and avoid bad, to be good enough, thinking of right and wrong and evaluating or judging based on works). I am off that performance tree for good, I am never defined by my performance; instead, I am on the life tree (Jesus, who is Grace - free acceptance and favor and love with no regard to my efforts or performance) and on it for good, forever defined by Christ who is my Life!
So I don't have to think 'right vs. wrong', obsess about my sins, worry over how to overcome sin or failure in my life, try to do good, or struggle to be good enough or work to 'get' blessed. I can forget all that and just enjoy Jesus, who is Life to me! I can enjoy His love, His friendship, His presence, His kindness, His favor, His approval, His blessing, His companionship, His faithfulness, His acceptance that is all mine for free! I can celebrate His work for me that has freed me from the trap and curse of performance mindset for good! I can celebrate who I am right now - beloved, full, complete, free, victorious, perfect, and home. I can rejoice in such completion rather than feeling incomplete, not yet good enough, inferior, needing to do more, etc. for I'm already there, already complete and already accepted and already there in His arms! There is no scale and no measure that I have to measure up to, and anyway, I'm already complete and in fullness in Christ! I'm in the fullness and total satisfaction of being a little child in His arms, innocent, pure and perfect, living in carefree delight and wide-eyed wonder at the love of my Daddy!
He
frees us from the 'right' vs. 'wrong' legalistic thinking into the
wonderful 'beloved child in His presence' thinking! It amazes me..God
didn't choose the tree of knowledge of good and evil - Adam (humanity)
did. He never intended for us to function in a right vs. wrong, good
behavior vs. bad behavior mindset. He has always seen us through the
eyes of grace, which isn't even on the performance
scale at all; it is a totally 'other' place, a grace place where there
is NO scale or measure - we are ALL seen as His little beloved children,
apart from any works or performance, even apart from how 'good' or
'bad' our believing or thinking is.. He isn't obsessing over my
behavior (law) but obsessing over my loveliness as His darling child
(grace)!
