Two trees stood in the mist of a paradise on Earth.  A garden created by God with the intent to bring pleasure to his creation.  The word Eden means pleasure.  God gave the Garden of Pleasure to Adam and Eve for their home.  The trees provided delicious food, beautiful sights and aromas to please.  And God told these two humans they could eat anything they desired except the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The humans tempted by Satan chose to believe the him and to disobey God.  Their sin was not trusting God and once done, they hid themselves from God when He came to walk with them in the cool of the evening.       Their sin separated them from God.

Millenniums later, in the fourteenth century after Jesus’ birth, followers of Christ created a series of plays which told the stories in the bible.  One play presented Adam and Eve’s tale.  The presentation occurred on Adam and Eve Day or December 24th.  To tell the tale, they needed a tree playing the part of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Someone went out and cut down an evergreen (available in winter).  The tree was left up as part of the Celebration of Christ’s birth the next day.  Over time, the tradition of having a Christmas tree in the home at Christmas time spread to other parts of the world.

But there is a third tree.  The first tree represents mankind’s break from God through sin.  The Christmas tree represented the bridge God built between HImself and mankind.  He became human and died for our sins.  I will look at this more tomorrow.  But the third tree was the Tree of Life.  It existed in Eden and those who ate from it would live for ever.

Genesis 3:22 “now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever”

We hear about the Tree of Life again at the end of the book.

Revelation 22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal,flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.  And they will reign for ever and ever.

 

Prayer: Ask God to show me what life lived with God reigning on earth would be like.

Action:  Read Revelation 21 and 22

Meditation:  Visualize what the world will be like when we are living in the new heaven and new earth.