The Tree of Life: Grace Revealed

“And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” (Genesis 3:22)

For the last thirty years, the subject of a devotional has simply come to me. I then research and write it with the help of the Holy Spirit based upon The Word of God. But for the first time ever, a respected friend and brother in Christ asked me, "Have you done one on the Tree of Life?" I had not and was both intrigued and committed to doing so. A contemplative deep dive into scripture ensued that stretched on unexpectedly for months because one revelation led to another, which made completing the work a joyful pursuit of discovery. Undeniable and liberating truths just kept coming, and my view of our Father God and the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is thereby forever changed.

I suspect that I am not alone in the fact that when I think of the story of Adam and Eve and especially when beholding one of the classic images depicting their expulsion from the Garden of Eden, like the one that accompanies this devotional, I see God's wrath and punishment. It is precisely what our childhood Sunday school lessons conditioned us to see. And tragically, it is exactly the kind of internal confusion that the evil one wants us hung up on. These internal mental and spiritual images persist within us as ingrained misconceptions—the type of subconscious thinking that counseling is designed to uncover and expose as an untruth that hinders our growth. But praise God we have a great counselor, Jesus, who with the help of the Holy Spirit is constantly healing us.

Adding a title to stories in scripture, or offering lessons on them, can unfortunately limit an event's potential for revelation by proposing an incorrect or incomplete conclusion regarding the event. For example, is "The Story of the Prodigal Son" really about the prodigal son, or the prodigal son's amazing father? In truth, it is about the prodigal son's father, and in fact it was a vision of Jesus' Father and Ours. Similarly, the story of Adam and Eve is not about them, but rather about the love, grace, and forgiveness of their matchless Creator and Lord. This is what we should focus on—over and above Adam and Eve's poor choices.

The key to realizing and fully embracing this encouraging absolute truth comes through remembering that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He does not change because He makes no mistakes. He knows and sees everything, and things always have and forever will proceed according to His perfect will. And above all, we must frame everything we read in scripture on this indisputable fact—God is love (1 John 4:8).

We then know, without any doubt, that creating Adam and Eve was not a mistake. They did precisely what God knew and anticipated they would eventually do, as creations with a mind and free will. And we to this day continue to do it. As Paul so eloquently confirmed in admitting, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate." It is our inescapable nature as human beings (Romans 7:15).

And the Lord did exactly what He has, does, and always will do. He knew precisely where they were and what they had done, yet He sought them, calling out, "Where are you?" Upon finding them, He did not admonish or scold them. He intervened, covering their nakedness—the first terrifying feelings of guilt, shame, and vulnerability—with skins that required the first shedding of blood, a foretelling of the Lamb of God yet to come. The Lord then sorrowfully foretold what lay ahead for them because of their choices.

Finally, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit together graciously separated Adam and Eve from the Tree of Life, eliminating the possibility of them living forever in their now corrupt state. Instead, they would eventually fall into a deep sleep—a sort of death—until their Redeemer and ours, Jesus, entered the world, sent by His Father and now our Father to rescue all who believe. Jesus Christ became the way into the Kingdom of God—the spiritual Garden of Eden—with Himself in the center as the living Tree of Life, and we partake of His fruit and in joy reproduce it to His glory.

Father, thank You for meeting us in our human weakness and covering our shame with Your unfailing grace since the very beginning. Help us to see your endless love and providence in every circumstance. Teach us to look to Your Son and Our Good Shepherd, Jesus—our living Tree of Life—for sustenance so we can produce His fruit of grace, forgiveness, and love for others for Your sake—not our own. Amen.

mgb