May 30, 2018
We all know about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was the one tree in the garden of Eden that God declared off limits to Adam and Eve. They could eat of every tree in the garden, including the tree of life, but they were to avoid the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The penalty for their disobedience was death. But not just physical death. In fact, after having eaten from the tree, they both lived long lives. But they suffered immediately from spiritual death as God cast them out of the garden and away from His presence. No longer could they enjoy daily fellowship with Him. And one of the reasons for their ban from the garden was to keep them away from the tree of life. God declared, “‘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.” In Revelation 22:1-5, we will discover that the tree of life still exists and will be present in the New Jerusalem. It still retains its life-giving properties and will not only be accessible but indispensable in the eternal state, as a source of eternal well-being to all who worship God and the Lamb.