O my soul,
Did you notice the tree of life flourishing on the river of life, yielding its fruit each month?
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; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
― Revelation 22:1-3
We’ve seen this tree before.
And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
― Genesis 2:8-9
Interestingly and quite unlike the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there were no prohibitions concerning the tree of life, at least initially.
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely 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 surely die.”
― Genesis 2:15-17
Adam and Eve were free to eat of the tree of life but we soon learn that they did not avail themselves of that opportunity. O my soul, weep over the inclination of the human heart to pursue that which is forbidden, that which is evil, that which leads only to death and destruction. It is perverse in the extreme. It is called sin.
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
― Genesis 3:1-7
This was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so in this simple act of disobedience, this first act of rebellion against their creator, innocence died and evil came into the human heart and into the world.
O my soul, grieve over how different the world would have been today if they had eaten instead from the tree of life which was allowed, and not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which was forbidden. The consequences were severe indeed.
Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever⸺” therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work 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 flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
― Genesis 3:22-24
Two trees and the tragedy of a wrong choice. All seemed lost and the tree of life was now out of reach.
But there was a third tree. O my soul, rejoice that there was a third tree.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
― 1 Peter 2:21-24
The third tree stood at Calvary, and on that darkest of days our Saviour gave up his own life for the sake of all humankind. For us, the rebels.
Recall what the Lord had said to Adam when evicting him from that perfect garden, and marvel in gratitude at the magnitude of what was being undone.
And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”
― Genesis 3:17
That was the beginning. Here is the end.
… on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.
― Revelation 22:2-3
And this was the cost.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us⸺for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
― Galatians 3:13
Not only are we redeemed from the curse of the law but so too is the whole world⸺this broken and hurting world. The tree of life bears twelve kinds of fruit, and twelve means complete. And its leaves are for the healing of the nations⸺the healing of this nation, and each one like it.
Now recall what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, where some had lost their way.
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.
‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.'
― Revelation 2:1, 7
And there is only one way to conquer.
Jesus said …, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
― John 14:6
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
― Revelation 7:13-14
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
― Revelation 22:14
O my soul, wash your robes in the blood of the Lamb with a grateful heart, gain access to that tree of life, and praise him! 🙏