You bear fruit to become more like Him, not to earn anything. The image of God you carry should be the best version of that image, not a distorted one. We have relationships because He is relational. He made us that way. Now notice this. There were two trees in the garden, not just one. Obviously there were other trees, but the two that mattered were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The nature we exchanged was our sin nature for Jesus’ nature. He restored us back to godly nature. That’s the gospel.

Sin simply means missing the mark. And death is anything separated from the ways of God. It’s not just physical dying. It’s any separation. Here’s something important. Humans aren’t inherently evil. They are shaped by their environment, whether evil or good. That could be a physical environment, a mental environment, or a spiritual environment. So don’t look at someone and say they are just bad. Something shaped them. Maybe the enemy got to them early.

Now here’s a thought to chew on. Could it be that the devil, the serpent, ate of the tree of knowledge first? And that’s why he was corrupted? And then Adam and Eve spoke to him and followed his advice because he was already speaking from that corrupted knowledge? Genesis says God told Adam not to eat. The serpent lied. But what if the serpent had already eaten? It would explain a lot. Either way, Romans 5 says sin entered through one man. Ephesians 1 says we are blessed with every spiritual blessing. 1 John 1:9 says if we confess, He forgives. And 1 Corinthians 11:9 says man was not created for woman, but woman for man. That’s order, not value. So bear fruit. Become like Him. And watch what shapes you.