Jesus, Our Tree of Life

When we think about eternity in heaven, we think of paradise. My impression is that it is a place much like Eden, and that really encourages me as I live my faith walk. Jesus died on the cross to save me from my sin and reverse the penalty of the original sin of Adam and Eve. In Genesis two the scripture shows us God's intent in Eden and the eternity promised to Adam and Eve, but.... Genesis 2: ⁸ Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. ⁹ The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden, he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The purpose of God was to bless man, His creation, of whom He made come alive with His very own breath, but the deceiver was there also, and his temptation worked, and Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. Those two trees were in the middle of the garden, as we see in the scripture above, and all the trees produced delicious fruit. One was forbidden, and all the others were available to Adam and Eve, but their succumbing to the temptation of satan was theirs and our downfall.

God is love, and when He loves His creation, it is beyond all understanding, and He reached out to defeat what satan wanted to ruin, and make it right for eternity. Adam and Eve already had eternity because of the tree of life, and that fruit was available before they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so eternity with God in the garden was happening in real time. When they ate of the forbidden tree, sin entered and has been a reality for His creation ever since. No more eternal life with God, and darkness became the result.

In the darkness came a light, and that light is the light of the world, and His name is Jesus. Jesus became our tree of life in the middle of a lost and dying world. He paid the price we owed on the cross, and His blood made possible our salvation. We receive this eternal life by faith. Ephesians 2: For by grace we are saved through faith, and that not of ourselves. It is a gift of God. When you are born again, you are welcomed back into the garden, and Jesus is the tree of life in the middle, and all is right again. John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Because of Jesus, we are welcomed back into the paradise God intended for His creation, and we will be there for eternity, and there will be no pain, no more death, or sorrow, or crying. Revelation 21: 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

As we approach the Easter Season, may it be a time to remember all that God did to make us right with Him, and the victory was won by Jesus, our Savior. The only way to heaven is our tree of life, and His name is Jesus.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren