Tree of Life

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up – for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground – then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:4-9

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.” Genesis 2:15-17

Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” – therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. Genesis 3:22-24

Jesus is life. He is the way to communion with God. He is love, light and the cure for our separation from God inherited from Adam and Eve. God’s holy word tells us about God, the death we suffer while separated from Him, and the glorious life available through communion with Him. So, it should come as no surprise that we encounter the tree of life at the beginning and at the end of His holy word.

The tree of life is quite remarkable. It is fed by water of life that flows from the throne of God the Father and Christ Jesus. Its fruit delivers everlasting life and its leaves heal nations, and Adam and Eve could eat freely from the tree until they became separated from God. In the moment they acted on their desire to be like God, ate from the wrong tree, thereby gaining knowledge of good and evil, they died spiritually by losing communion with God. As a result, they forfeited the right to eat from the tree of life, and generation after generation, down to us, has inherited that condition from them.

This causes so many questions. How might we regain communion with God? How do we receive His gift of life? And once we gain eyes to see the problem as a matter of life and death, and the solution as life-saving reality, wouldn’t it be awfully selfish of us not to share it with everyone?

God’s holy word is a means of His holy grace. Through it He reveals Himself to us and explains the path leading back to communion with Him. It has a great deal to do with death and life, and through it we see true life, spiritual life, is only available through communion with Him, which is only available through Christ Jesus. So, what does this have to do with the tree of life?

Our Scripture reading today includes parts of the second account of creation recorded in Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth. He created the first human out of soil, dust, clay from the earth, and He formed plants and trees of every sort. God deemed two trees or two types of trees worthy of specific mention in the account – the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Scripture records God instructing Adam to avoid the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but God does not restrict access to the tree of life until later, after Adam and Eve chose knowledge of good and evil over God, after they sought to be like God, and after they disqualified themselves from continuing to live true life, abundant life, eternal life, spiritual life in glorious communion with Him.

Scripture discusses spiritual transformation and the cleansing available through Christ Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit. All that is necessary to heal the fracture created by that awful decision. At the moment Adam and Eve acted on their awful choice, they died spiritually and for the first time in the history of existence, humans were separated from God, and they knew it. They knew He alone is good and they tried to hide from Him because they suddenly knew they were unworthy of communing with Him. Please notice this – the changes they experienced were all spiritual. They suffered spiritual death. They lost communion with God. They were suddenly tainted by evil; they suddenly knew the existence of evil; and they suddenly felt their separation from the holy, good, pure One.

In response to their spiritual transformation, God curses the serpent, curses the earth, pronounces judgment on humans, and casts them out of the garden for the specific purpose of preventing them from eating from the tree of life. Scripture says,

As God casts humans away from the tree of life, He reminds each of us that we are mere soil, dust, clay, and in our sinful state of separation from Him, unworthy to eat from the tree of life. However, those who eat from the tree of life live forever. Before the fall, Adam and Eve could freely eat from the tree of life. So long as they lived in open, transparent, holy, pure communion with God Almighty they were free to eat from the tree of life, but that privilege ended when they chose to be separated from Him.

Tree of life is used as a metaphor a few times in Proverbs, but the tree of life is not really discussed again in Scripture until Revelation. God’s holy word presents the tree of life at the beginning and the end, and in Revelation the tree of life is described in glorious detail. Early in Revelation Jesus says,

“Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches. To everyone who conquers, I will give permission to eat from the tree of life that is in the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7

Cherubim guard the tree of life with flaming sword, preventing sinful humans from eating its fruit, but suddenly we see Jesus allowing certain people to eat from the tree of life. “Everyone who conquers” may eat from the tree of life, and the notion of conquering relates to Jesus as conqueror and Jesus’ message to the churches in Revelation. Just as Adam and Eve were responsible for their actions, we are responsible for ours.

John begins the final chapter of the Bible describing part of his heavenly vision writing,

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

And he said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true, for the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

“See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Revelation 22:1-7

An angel enabled John to see the river of the water of life flowing out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and the tree of life growing on its banks. The water of life feeds the tree of life, producing a different fruit each month and leaves that heal nations, and delivers everlasting life to those who eat it (see Genesis 3:22).

So what does this have to do with us? We were born with knowledge of good and evil. We did not need to eat fruit to gain it, it is part of our human DNA inherited from Adam and Eve. God was pretty clear that people possessing knowledge of good and evil are not allowed to eat from the tree of life. But Jesus says, “everyone who conquers” may eat from it.

Jesus is the conqueror (see Revelation 5:5). In Him is life, which is the light of all people (see John 1:4), and He is the way, the truth and the life (see John 14:6). He came that we might have abundant life (see John 10:10), new life (see John 3:3) and eternal life (see John 3:15-16), and He offers living water, or the water of life (see John 4:10). The river of the water of life flows from His throne, and He offers it freely.

How do we obtain the water of life? We ask Him for it (see John 4:10). By believing in Him, receiving His holy gift of life, receiving His redemption, justification, atonement and forgiveness, we gain Him, His indwelling Holy Spirit, His life, His light, His love, and we conquer. Through the One who conquered death, we gain life and His conquest is imputed to us. We are tainted by knowledge of good and evil, but through Christ Jesus we are cleansed, forgiven, made new. We do not deserve His glorious gift of grace, but through Him we become children of God and are allowed past the cherubim to the tree of life. Through Him we regain communion with God and are thereby allowed to eat from the tree of life.

Isn’t it beautiful how Scripture holds together? In and through Christ Jesus all things hold together (see Colossians 1:17). May you truly know Him. May you receive His holy gift of life and may you continue on the path seeking Him so He truly becomes Lord of your life. Amen.

Randy AllenFebruary 25, 2021