THE TREE OF LIFE
| What do we
know about the
tree of life and living waters? When you
think about the
Garden of Eden, you invariably think about a place of
magnificent beauty. A
place of running crystal clear streams, and a
tremendous variety of magnificent
birds and animals. The creatures are human oriented,
friendly and harmless. There are
still some
beautiful untouched places left in this world, which
take your breath away: but
I venture to say, that they are not a touch on the
Garden of Eden. A closer
look at these places always reveals thorns and
prickles and animals and creatures,
which have the fear of man in them. In the midst
of the Garden of
Eden were two special trees: the tree of life, and the
tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. These trees have physical and spiritual
fulfilments. God told
Adam and Eve not to
eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, as
the result of eating it
would bring on death. Gen 2:17 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 surely
die.” The serpent
told them, that
they would not die, if they ate of the tree. Gen 3:4 Then the
serpent said to the woman, “You will
not surely die. The serpent
would have
appeared to be telling the truth, as Adam and Eve did
not die physically upon
eating the fruit. Adam was
created flesh; and
was always going to die physically, as flesh and blood
cannot inherit the
kingdom of God. He died of old age. Heb 9:27 And as it
is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment, By eating of
the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, and disobeying God: Adam
sentenced himself and all
mankind to the second death. Adam had eternal death
inherent, the very day that
he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:
just as the scripture
says. Mankind’s only hope was Christ’s death and
resurrection; after leading a
sinless life. 1Co 15:22 For as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ all
shall be made alive. Adam brought
sin, which is
the cause of eternal death, into the world. Each and
every one of us has
inherited the wages of sin, which is eternal death. Rom 6:23 For the
wages of sin is death, but the gift
of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus Christ
is our only
hope. Act 4:10 let it be
known to you all, and to all the
people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him
this man stands here before
you whole. Act 4:11 This is
the ‘STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU
BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.’ Act 4:12 Nor is
there salvation in any other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men
by which we must be saved.” Rom 5:12 Therefore,
just as through one man sin
entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men,
because all sinned Compare the
following two
scriptures. Gen 3:22 Then the
LORD God said, “Behold, the man has
become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And
now, lest he put out his hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever” The serpent
speaking. Gen 3:5 For God
knows that in the day you eat of it
your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God,
knowing good and evil.” The serpent
lied about dying,
if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, but he told the
truth about them becoming as Gods. Humans now
became as God.
They now ignored the real God and decided for
themselves, what was right and
what was wrong. The further we move away from God, the
more bizarre these
decisions are. We now live in a time where everything
that God regards as evil;
is now accepted as good, in this world. Isa 5:20 Woe to
those who call evil good, and good
evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; Who put bitter for
sweet, and sweet for bitter! The breaking
of every one of
God’s Ten Commandments is now happily accepted in this
world we live in. The eating
of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil has brought mankind to the
brink of physical
destruction, as well as spiritual destruction. God
will not allow this to
happen. God’s plan of salvation for all mankind will
be brought to fruition, in
spite of the enmity that mankind has for God and God’s
way of life. That anger
and hate will also be directed at God’s people. God’s
servants will obey God
regardless of the outcome to themselves; they will be
prepared to die for
mankind, just as Christ did. God’s servants will love
those who hate them. Gen 6:5 Then the
LORD saw that the wickedness of man
was great in the earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was
only evil continually. Rom 8:7 Because
the carnal mind is enmity against
God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor
indeed can be. Eze 7:10 ‘Behold,
the day! Behold, it has come! Doom
has gone out; The rod has blossomed, Pride has
budded. Eze 7:11 Violence
has risen up into a rod of
wickedness; None of them shall remain, None of their
multitude, None of them; Nor
shall there be wailing for them. Mat 5:44 But I say to you,
love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do
good to those who hate you,
and pray for those who spitefully use you and
persecute you, 1Jn 3:16 By this we
know love, because He laid down
His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our
lives for the brethren. By eating of
the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil; mankind have taken to
themselves, to decide what is
right and what is wrong. God’s law is totally
rejected. The following verses
give an accurate summary of the result of leaving God
out of our lives. Isa 59:1 Behold,
the LORD’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it
cannot hear. Isa 59:2 But your
iniquities have separated you from your
God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So
that He will not hear. Isa 59:3 For your
hands are defiled with blood, And
your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken
lies, Your tongue has
muttered perversity. Isa 59:4 No one
calls for justice, Nor does any plead
for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies;
They conceive evil and
bring forth iniquity. Isa 59:5 They hatch
vipers’ eggs and weave the
spider’s web; He who eats of their eggs dies, And
from that which is crushed a
viper breaks out. Isa 59:6 Their webs
will not become garments, Nor will
they cover themselves with their works; Their works
are works of iniquity, And
the act of violence is in their hands. Isa 59:7 Their feet
run to evil, And they make haste
to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts
of iniquity; Wasting and
destruction are in their paths. Isa 59:8 The way of
peace they have not known, And
there is no justice in their ways; They have made
themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Isa 59:9 Therefore
justice is far from us, Nor does
righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but
there is darkness! For
brightness, but we walk in blackness! True peace
is a Godly
attribute and is not available to those who reject our
God. Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with
you, My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. Let not
your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. THE TREE OF
LIFE The tree of
life is the way
to eternal life, and is available by Commandment
keeping. Rev 22:14 Blessed
are those who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may enter through the
gates into the city. Adam
rejected the way of
eternal life, and chose to live his life without God’s
guidance. God will not
give eternal life to those who choose to live their
lives apart from God. Gen 3:22 Then the
LORD God said, “Behold, the man has
become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And
now, lest he put out his hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever” Gen 3:24 So He
drove out the man; and He placed
cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a
flaming sword which turned
every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. Eternal life
has not been
available in this world, except for the few who God
has called for His purpose. Rom 8:28 And we
know that all things work together for
good to those who love God, to those who are the
called according to His
purpose. There have
been years of shed
blood, since God created humanity; and Cain killed
Abel. Mankind has proved
that they are unable to live in peace. Isa 59:7 Their feet
run to evil, And they make haste
to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts
of iniquity; Wasting and
destruction are in their paths. Isa 59:8 The way of
peace they have not known, And
there is no justice in their ways; They have made
themselves crooked paths;
Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. The
following scriptures show
that the tree of life is used as a general term for
Godly attributes. Pro 3:13 Happy is
the man who finds wisdom, And the
man who gains understanding; Pro 3:18 She is a
tree of life to those who take hold
of her, And happy are all who retain her. Pro 11:30 The fruit
of the righteous is a tree of life,
And he who wins souls is wise. Pro 13:12 Hope
deferred makes the heart sick, But when
the desire comes, it is a tree of life. Pro 15:4 A
wholesome tongue is a tree of life, But
perverseness in it breaks the spirit. The tree of
life has a much
more definite application and is only available to
those who overcome this
world, and keep God’s commandments. Rev 22:14 Blessed
are those who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of life,
and may enter through the
gates into the city. The fruit of
the tree of life
is eternal life. Eternal life is not available to
carnal mankind; that is why
God cut it off. It is only available, to people who
God calls according to His
purpose. Gen 3:22 Then the
LORD God said, “Behold, the man has
become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And
now, lest he put out his hand
and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever” The tree of
life was in Eden,
the garden of God. It was cut off from mankind until
the end time: when it will
be available to all who keep the commandments and
overcome. It will once again
be in the garden of God [paradise.] Rev 2:7 “He who has an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To him who overcomes I will
give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the Paradise of
God.” The paradise
of God is not
God’s kingdom. The thief on the cross will be in
paradise with Christ, and will
be given a chance to make it into God’s kingdom by
commandment keeping and
overcoming this world. There is no deathbed repentance
in God’s plan. Luk 23:43 And Jesus
said to him, “Assuredly, I
say to you, today you will be with Me in
Paradise.” The fruit of
the tree of life
is eternal life: the leaves of the tree of life are
for the healing of the
nations. Rev 22:2 In the
middle of its street, and on either
side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore
twelve fruits, each tree
yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the
tree were for the healing of
the nations. LIVING
WATERS Jesus Christ
will eventually
lead many nations into living waters. Rev 7:17 for the
Lamb who is in the midst of the
throne will shepherd them and lead them to living
fountains of waters. And God
will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” God the
Father is the
fountain of living waters. Israel forsook God during
the exodus. Jer 2:13 “For My
people have committed two evils: They
have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And
hewn themselves cisterns
broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jer 17:13 O LORD,
the hope of Israel, All who forsake
You shall be ashamed. “Those who depart from Me
Shall be written in the earth,
Because they have forsaken the LORD, The fountain of
living waters.” The living
water is God’s
Spirit. Joh 4:14 but whoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall
give him will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting
life.” We must
believe on Christ, as
the scriptures tell us how. Joh 7:38 He who believes in
Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart
will flow rivers of living
water.” Joh 7:39 But this
He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom
those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy
Spirit was not yet given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified. The earnest
of the spirit is
given as a down payment of eternal life. The spirit of
life is given at a later
date. It is at this stage we have eternal life
inherent. Jesus Christ
can give living
waters, which originate from the Father. Joh 4:10 Jesus
answered and said to her, “If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says
to you,
‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and
He would have given you living
water.” There is a
time coming when
living water [eternal life] will be available to all. Rev 21:6 And He
said to me, “It is done! I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I
will give of the fountain of
the water of life freely to him who thirsts. Rev 21:7 He who
overcomes shall inherit all things,
and I will be his God and he shall be My son. We have seen
that the living
waters have a spiritual meaning, which equates to
eternal life. There is also a
physical fulfilment. Rev 22:1 And he
showed me a pure river of water of
life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne
of God and of the Lamb. The living
waters from under
the throne of God; go forth to heal the waters of this
world. Eze 47:8 Then he
said to me: “This water flows toward
the eastern region, goes down into the valley, and
enters the sea. When it
reaches the sea, its waters are healed. Eze 47:9 And it
shall be that every living thing that
moves, wherever the rivers go, will live. There will
be a very great multitude
of fish, because these waters go there; for they
will be healed, and everything
will live wherever the river goes. The majority
of water on this
earth will be made fresh. Eze 47:11 But its
swamps and marshes will not be
healed; they will be given over to salt. The
spiritual living water is
God’s Holy Spirit, which emanates from the Father and
springs to eternal life.
The physical living water also emanates from the
Father, and turns all the
water sparkling clear and fresh, except for the marsh
areas. Comment The tree of
the knowledge of
good and evil, the tree of life, and living waters:
all have dual fulfilments. The tree of
the knowledge of
good and evil has brought on eternal death and
physical ruination of this
planet. The living
water is God’s
Spirit and also heals the waters of this earth. The tree of
life is the way
to eternal life by living a Godly life, overcoming and
also for the healing of
the nations. The great
love and mercy and
forgiveness of the Most High God, is beyond
comprehension. |