The two trees in the Garden of Eden were not the only trees, but they were the most significant. They represented two ways of living or two systems—dependence on God and independence from God. The Tree of Life is represented by a life lived from God as the source for everything we need, while the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is represented by man living for God relying on himself to know what only God knows.
So many Christians are living a life within a system where they have become their own god, which’s exactly what the serpent told Eve. “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”(Genesis 3.5) What does it mean to be like God? Well, God is self-sufficient and all-knowing, He doesn’t need anyone outside of Himself. He knows what’s right and wrong, good and evil, because He sees and knows the condition and intention of man’s heart and man doesn’t. He is the source for all life and isn’t dependent on His creation for anything. When we function like our own god, we are making judgments about everyone and everything and we are trying to generate life (a counterfeit life) and all that pertains to life (2 Peter 1.3) on our own, which we are not designed to do.
The Tree of Life is symbolic of Jesus and the Life we have in Him. When we walk after the flesh in an effort to meet our own needs, solve our problems, fix, rescue, save others we are no longer enjoying the fruit that comes from the Tree of Life, we are eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and have become our own god. Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 2.2, “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”