What is the Tree of Life?

(Genesis 3:22-24) 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. (KJV)
God created humankind in His own image. He created them with a free will to
choose right from wrong. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, God removed
them from the Garden of Eden right away. Besides the forbidden tree of knowledge
of good and evil, there was another tree in the Garden we dont hear about very
often. This was the Tree of Life.
Notice in Genesis 3, God was very concerned that Adam and Eve could not
eat from the Tree of Life in their sinful condition. The Tree of Life had the power to
give people everlasting life, so they could not die. God knew if they would ate fruit
from the Tree of Life they would live forever in their sinful self-destructive condition.
God knew what their one sin would do to this earth. Every murder, rape,
adultery, terror attack, theft, etc can be traced back to the one sin of Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden. God knew the long lasting effect sin would have on our
world. In His goodness, he did not want the human race living forever in this world
in that condition. Thus He protected them from eating from the Tree of Life. Adam
and Eves one act of rebellion permanently scared the world with every kind of evil.
If every human being ever born into the world lived forever on this earth with sin in
the heart, this world would literally become Hell. This world under the curse of sin is
not sustainable.
This passage in Genesis gives us an idea of what would happen if even one
sin were allowed to enter heaven. The sin of Adam and Eve brought sweeping
destruction to this earth. If God allowed even one sin to enter Heaven, it would
become a worse place to live that this earth has become. It would become an
eternity of evil and violence, hatred, and destruction, only there would be no
escaping from it. Heaven would become Hell if even one sin were allowed inside the
gate.
That is why Jesus Christ paid such a great price on Calvarys cross. The price
He paid with His life was so that whosoever will come to Him can have every sin
washed away. Gods plan of Salvation is to redeem or buy back fallen human beings
and make the new creatures in Christ Jesus. No one can earn their way to Heaven or
try to be good enough.

Ro 3:12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Isa 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own
way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Every person has sinned against the Holy God. No one has any right to go to
heaven.
(Ephesians 2:8-9) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. (KJV)
The only hope we have of entering Heaven is to confess our sins to God, forsake our
sins, and put our faith in Jesus Christ to save us. Dont make excuses for your sin.
God wont let you destroy His perfect Heaven by bringing your sin there. Confess
and surrender your heart to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
(1 John 1:9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (KJV)
Its the cleansing work of Christ that makes us eligible for Heaven. Thank God, He
was willing to die for us to prepare us and make us suitable to live forever in His
glorious Kingdom!
So what happened to the Tree of Life? The Book of Revelation tells us where it is.
(Revelation 22:1-2) And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal,
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it,
and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner
of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the
healing of the nations. (KJV)
(Revelation 22:14) Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city. (KJV)
-David Seeley
6-15-16