The tree of life

“She [wisdom] is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.”
-Proverbs 3:18

The tree of life. Do you remember this one? The tree of life only makes an appearance in three books of the Bible. It’s right at the beginning of Genesis, that is at the beginning of the Bible, and at the very end of Revelation, that is at the end of the Bible. The only other book to mention it is in Proverbs. This is the first of four times we will look at it here.

The tree of life is first found in the Garden of Eden. Before Adam had sinned, there was no prohibition against eating from this tree. The fruit of this tree did exactly what its name suggested – it granted life.

Adam sinned by disobeying God. You know, a lot of people think that God sets rules to ruin our fun. He doesn’t. The Garden is a great example of this. He provided a paradise, a place without pain and without death. But in disobedience, it was Adam who brought darkness into that place. And in doing that, Adam ruined everything.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden then, not again to eat of the tree of life. Obviously, we do not have this tree around now. We don’t have the fruit of the tree to put on our cereal in the mornings. In sin we have brought about death.

It’s sometimes hard to describe just how important this concept of sin is. So many people just blow it off, thinking God will just pass over it. Which in and of itself is sin. Can you imagine your children blowing off your commands like that? Let’s say your children rebel against you in the same way you have rebelled again God (God forbid, but let’s talk about it a moment). Say they ignored every word you said, and refused to speak with you. Their lives were spent chasing pride, lust, greed, and hatred, all against your heartfelt pleas for them to change. There would probably be a time when you would just let them go make their own fate.

I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, and yet we do this to God every day. He wants to guide us in wisdom, to provide for us as a Father should, to protect us, to love us, and we go our own way, not even speaking to Him at all!

A good father says things to guide his children to a good life. The children do not always see this, but the father does. How much more does our Heavenly Father see all? How much more can He guide us along the right paths? It’s not to ruin our fun, but to bring us completeness, forgiveness, and life.

We have lost the right to the tree of life, and yet God still wants us to repent of that rebellion and come back to enjoy it.

In sin we deserve death, but Jesus came to provide another way. In chapter 1 of Proverbs, we spoke of how “Wisdom” is really Jesus. So it is in this verse. Jesus came and, though He was perfect, He died on the Cross on our behalf. Think of this as when a young man gets in trouble with the law. He doesn’t have the money to pay his fine, so his father comes and pays the fine for Him. That’s what Jesus did. He paid our price for us.

If we repent and believe in Jesus, we can still find eternal life, even though we don’t deserve it. Out of love, God has provided another way to life, since we’ve already messed up the first way.

And then we see the tree of life again. In Revelation 2, Jesus tells us that those who follow Him will have the right to eat of the tree of life again. And then in Revelation 22 we see it. It sits within a garden in the New Jerusalem, God’s perfect city that He will build for us. In paradise it stood in Genesis, until sin took Adam away. In paradise it will stand again, but in that time there will be no more sin, no more death, and no more tears.

If you lay hold of Jesus, you will be given the fruit of the tree of life. Seek Him rather than seeking your own pleasures, for in Him you will find sweetness that you could never find in pride, lust, and anger. Though this whole world stand against you, still will you stand, for you will have life.