Every year when I was growing up, Dad and I would make a trip to the tree lot at 7-11. I don’t know why we never went in daylight, but always at night and typically we’d pick the ugliest tree on the lot—according to my Mom. If there was a crooked or deformed tree in the lot, it ended up at our house for sure.

Interestingly, during those of years of live-Christmas-tree nightmares, it never occurred to me to ask "why"? Why do we go through the tree hassle? Why put up a dying tree or create a fire hazard in the house? What’s the point? Well, let me give you a brief history of the Christmas tree, and tell you the why behind the tree.

Like many practices associated with the Christmas celebration, the history of the Christmas tree is founded on a mixture of historical truth and tradition. Evergreens have been a symbol of life, rebirth and good fortune since ancient times. The Scandinavians found hope and strength in these trees because they seemed to thrive in the harshest of winters. So they would cut down a fir tree and put it in their houses. Evergreens were often the central theme of pagan worship.

The tradition of associating a tree with Christmas started in Germany somewhere around 725 A.D. when St. Boniface, a British missionary, preached to a tribe of Druids near Geismar, Germany. Apparently, Boniface arrived about the time a young boy was to be sacrificed as an offering to the oak tree, which they considered to be sacred. When they wouldn’t stop, Boniface with a single blow of an ax brought the sacred oak tree down, proving there was nothing sacred or extraordinary about an oak tree.

Apparently, when the tree split in half and fell, a small fir sapling stood between the logs. Boniface considered the tree incident a miracle and called the sapling "the tree of the Christ child." By the twelfth century, the fir tree was being hung upside down from ceilings in central Europe as a symbol of Christianity at Christmas time. The upside down tree actually resembled cross.

The tree also made its appearance in German theaters every Christmas as the main prop in a drama called "Paradise Play," which told the story of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from the Garden of Eden. The tree was decorated with red apples to represent the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which Adam and Eve were forbidden to eat. The play ended with the promise of a coming Savior, so flat wafer decorations, symbolizing communion and the forgiveness of sin, were added to the paradise tree.

Over time, people began to turn their upside-down trees right-side up—decorating them with apples and small white wafers that later were replaced with little pieces of pastry cut in the shapes of stars, angels, hearts, and bells. By the 1700s, the Christ tree was firmly established in Western Europe. The first documented Christmas trees in America were found in 1747 among German Moravian immigrants in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1851, the first Christmas tree lot was set up in NYC. The first Christmas tree lit by electricity appeared in 1882. Today, one in four homes in America will put up a tree of some kind.

This year, an old custom is returning. I can’t believe it. Retailers are actually selling upside-down Christmas trees. One company website explains, "The inverted shape makes it easier to see ornaments, which hang away from the dense needles while allowing more room for the accumulation of presents underneath." (Target’s website has them on clearance for $252.)

Obviously, the Bible doesn’t mention Christmas trees since this practice didn’t occur until hundreds of years after the first Christmas. But that is not to say that trees aren’t significant in the Bible. As I mentioned earlier, the German paradise plays illustrated two very important and beautiful trees, both found in the Garden of Eden.

After God had created the universe, the earth and Adam, Genesis 2:8–9 tells us, "The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had created. And the Lord God planted all sorts of trees in the garden—beautiful trees that produced delicious fruit. At the center of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

A few verses later, in Genesis 2:16–17, it says that the Lord God gave Adam this warning, "'You may freely eat any fruit in the garden except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.'"

If you are not familiar with the story, God’s archenemy, Satan, appeared to Eve and convinced her that God was holding out on them and that they could be like God—knowing good and evil. Who wouldn’t want to be like God? Genesis 3:6–7 says, "The woman was convinced. The fruit looked so fresh and delicious, and it would make her so wise! So she ate some of the fruit. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her. Then he ate it, too. At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves.

It came as no surprise when God followed through on His warning. "The Lord God said, 'The people have become as we are ["we" I believe refers to the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit], knowing everything, both good and evil. What if they eat the fruit of the tree of life? Then they will live forever!' So the Lord God banished Adam and his wife from the Garden of Eden." Genesis 3:22–23

Because they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were cut off from the tree of life. They wanted to play by their own rules—to define right and wrong on their own terms. They sinned—and got what God promised—banishment and both physical and spiritual death.

So what does that matter to you and me? The Bible says that because of Adam’s sin, we have inherited both his sin nature and punishment. Romans 5:12 says, "When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Thanks to Adam. His sin and ours condemns us to physical and spiritual death.

In that sense, we’ve all played out the Garden of Eden scenario by disobeying God. We’ve turned our backs on Him and redefined right and wrong. And when we did, we found ourselves under the same judgment of Adam and Eve—banished from God, excluded from eating of the tree of eternal life, destined to physical and spiritual death and a place called hell. Sadly, this beautiful tree turned ugly on us.

Somehow, we need to find our way back to that other beautiful tree--the tree of life—to break the sentence of death we are under. It’s interesting that the tree of life mentioned in the first book of the Bible is also mentioned in the last book of the Bible—the book of Revelation. The setting this time is not the Garden of Eden, but the city of God in heaven. The Apostle John writes in Revelation 22:14, "Blessed are those who wash their robes so they can enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life."

These two beautiful trees are the bookends for human history. At the beginning, we symbolically ate from the wrong tree that leads to death. At the end, there’s the possibility of getting to eat from the right tree that brings eternal life. Everything in between is the story of us trying to deal with our sin problem by denying it or covering it up or rationalizing it or paying for it through personal effort—all of which are dead ends. So how can we taste the fruit from the tree of life and secure heaven and a right relationship with God?

It’s those who have had their robes cleaned from the stain of sin who can enter into heaven. But if that’s something we can’t do on our own, then how can it happen? The answer is found in a third tree that appears in our story. I wouldn’t call this tree beautiful; to many it’s an ugly tree—an offensive tree. It’s a tree associated with pain and death. It’s the tree or cross on which Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty for our sins—something we couldn’t do for ourselves.

"Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'" Galatians 3:13

So how do I get clean? In simple terms, Jesus’ death on the ugly third tree provides us a way to escape the consequences of eating from the first tree and gives us permission to eat from the second tree—the tree of life. The Apostle Paul explains it this way in Romans 5:18–19, "Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's sight and gives them life. Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person [Jesus] obeyed God, many people will be made right in God's sight."

For those of us who understand how hopeless our spiritual situation is before God, the ugly cross takes on a new beauty. To me, that’s the value of the Christmas tree—even when you invert it. It can remind us of the cross and what happens when we trust Christ as our Savior. It can remind us that what is ugly can become beautiful through a relationship with Jesus—what sinful robes look like when they are washed by a Savior.

Some of you may be at a point where you recognize your need for the ugly tree—the third tree—the one Jesus died on. Maybe you are sensing God’s nudge to trust Jesus as your Savior. Acts 16:31 says "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved…." If that’s what you would like to do, pray this prayer: