“And out of the ground made the Lord God 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 knowledge of good and evil.”
Genesis 2:9
We all know that God created the world in 6 days and on the seventh day He rested. This is the story of Creation as told to us in the first book of the Holy Bible, the Book of Genesis. What some people do not know is that when God created man, His intention was to have an eternal relationship with mankind, one untouched by man’s mortal death. Man was to walk with God and to tend to the garden. However, man was specifically instructed by God in the Garden of Eden:
“And the Lord God commanded the man saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Genesis 2:16-17
When man was created, there was NO death! He was to live forever UNLESS he disobeyed God and ate from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. If he did, he would “…surely die.” We also know what happened next. Man disobeyed God and death entered the world. But, it didn’t happen that day. Rather, man and woman aged, struggled in the fields to grow food, had childbirth pains and sorrow multiplied, and eventually they died. But I find it interesting that because of their sin, they were also “kicked out” of the Garden of Eden. Why you might ask, could they have not stayed in the Garden and paid the price for their sins there? God explained it very simply:
“And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
Genesis 3:22-24
If God had allowed man to stay in the Garden of Eden and eat from the Tree of Life, he would have kept living! Instead, he was thrown out of the garden and it was sealed so that man could not re-enter it and eat the fruits of the tree. And live! For thousands of years, man has continued their perpetration of sins and have rightly earned the punishments God placed on Adam and Eve (and us!) for their sinful disobedience. That is, until Jesus died for our sins! When Jesus died for our sins and we accepted that gift of salvation from Him, we are promised an everlasting relationship with Him in Heaven.
I find it amazing that the tree of Life, introduced to us in the first book of the Bible pretty much disappears from our view until the very last chapter of the last book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation.
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the TREE OF LIFE (capitals mine), and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
Revelation 22:14
The Tree of Life NEVER died but has been waiting for us! With God’s Promise and with Christ’s sacrifice for us, we will be able to partake in Heaven of the fruit of the Tree of Life and live forever in the perfect presence of God. While it is not available to us today in our mortal bodies, it will be there for us when we enter our eternal relationship with God in Heaven. No longer will we die or be inflicted with pain and suffering! The fact that we have this Promise from God Himself should be extremely comforting to all of us, knowing that we have a MUCH better, eternal life planned for all. It is this promise that should comfort us and with this we are all told to “…comfort one another with these words.”
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