The Tree of Life and Immortality.
By Geo. Enos
"And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil." Gen. 2:9. "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Verses 16, 17. From the above it may be seen that the tree of life was planted in the midst of the garden, and evidently for some purpose. It was placed conspicuously, so as to be easy of access; not in a secluded corner, as it might have been if the soul is immortal, having no need of the tree of life. Most assuredly the function of the tree of life was just what its name, "life," signifies, and was a necessity to the condition of life, as it is thus prominently brought to view. Here we find that man's immortality was conditional, and the condition was that he should obey God's law. In verse 17 we read, "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." Here is an express commandment to refrain from something, and on obedience to that command depends something; and that something is life, for the injunction continues, "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Then life depended upon keeping the command of God; for the threat, "thou shalt surely die," follows the command, "thou shalt not eat." The sin was in the disobedience, "for sin is the transgression of the law." Thus we find man condemned to death for the transgression of the law. What is the sentence passed upon? The man; he who God had said was made of the dust of the ground and became a living soul. Then the sentence of death is upon the living soul, "for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." If any man should think that the pronoun "thou" does not apply to the soul, I would ask, To what does the noun "man" apply in verse 7? "God formed man of the dust of the ground," "and man became a living soul." Thus it becomes plain that the soul was made of dust—not of ether, or some substance more volatile. Here we have the process of making the man—two steps and one result: First step, God formed him of the dust of the ground; the second step was, "and [God] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life." The result of this was, man became a living soul. Here we have the process complete, and just the reverse of this is the unmaking of him. "His breath goeth forth;" here is the first step toward dissolution; "he returneth to his earth;" here is the second step in unmaking him, and the result is, "in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:4. Man had forfeited life, and in order for him to pay the forfeit he is driven from the tree of life. "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 forever; 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 [soul and all]; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Chap. 3: 22-24. Here we find provision made for the execution of the sentence. We now have the man driven out from the garden, and from the tree of life, and the way of the tree of life securely guarded by cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way, thus preventing him from entering by some other way than by the Door. In the 10th chapter of John we read, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not in by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." Reader, have you got to the tree of life; did you go round and scale the wall, and get to the tree that God had guarded, and eat of it? If so, you are a thief and a robber; have stolen eternal life, which is the gift of God to them that believe on the name of Jesus. "I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." John 10:9. If you have not seen or smelled of the tree of life, much less eaten of it, how can you say you possess eternal life or immortality? for God only hath immortality. 1 Tim. 6:16. Thus we have man on the earth with the sentence of death upon him, and our own observation tells us that the decree has been faithfully executed. All is lost, and were it not for Jesus and the resurrection, would be eternally lost. But, thank God, there is a turn from this sad picture, and that relief is in the redemption of man (a thing that would be impossible if he had eternal life by inheritance), which insures the restitution of all things. What was lost? Life. Then life is that which is to be restored. Anything else? Yes; heirship to the garden, also the earth. Then the plan of redemption will restore life to man, and man to the garden. Then let us draw toward the tree of life, which is by the river of life; here we will find ample provision made for our sustenance. "I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Rev. 21:6. Here immortality is insured to all that are athirst, on the condition that they will drink of the fountain. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; all things include the right to the tree and the river of life. Here the redeemed host may come to the tree and eat from new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath. Now we have seen that death came by banishment from the tree of life, and banishment came by the transgression of God's law. So also life, the reverse of death, comes by a reverse action, by regaining a right to the tree of life, which comes by keeping the commandments of God. Said Jesus: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have [not already have] right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14. In the case of Adam, all depended on obedience, and so with us. Since Christ has opened the way which leads to the tree of life, which was guarded by the cherubim and a flaming sword, we may gain, by keeping the commandments, all that Adam lost by not keeping them. GEO. ENOS.