When Jesus cursed the Fig tree, he was cursing religion for it was fig leaves Adam and Eve used to cover themselves when they were hiding from God  - his response to that fruitless fig tree he encountered is his response to all the religions of man, including Christianity  - " let no fruit grow on you from henceforth forever"  for Religion is used by man to cover himself   - to hide himself from God's presence - to avoid intimacy with God - denying him the fruit he desires and deserves. We know God first and foremost as "our Father". Well, what is it that makes a man a father? First, intimacy with his bride, then the fruit of that intimacy  - children!  "HEREIN IS MY FATHER GLORIFIED  - THAT YOU BEAR MUCH FRUIT" (this "much fruit" Jesus is referring to does not necessarily mean from your spiritual loins  - it can also mean from your children and their children too. God looks at us like he looked at Abraham  - generationally). Religion keeps us impotent.  The Holy Spirit himself is the only genuine antidote to Religion  - the Holy Spirit leads us into an intimate relationship with The Father and The Son  - with The Father as his children, with The Son as his bride.