ACCESS TO THE TREE OF LIFE.
“To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Rev. 2:7. This promise comprehends a complete redemption. When the first man was created, God provided for him a beautiful home. The story is told in Genesis 2: “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 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. And a river went out of Eden to water the garden. . . . And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it, and to keep it.” Thus the man was given an excellent start in life, and his home was to be a model for home-builders of the future. But Adam being the head of the race, and having the dominion of the earth, his home would, of course, be more extensive—a dominion capital, where all might come to partake of the tree of life, and for special occasions of worship. The tree of life was for the perpetuation of life. But the man disobeyed God, and was driven out of his Eden home. Angels were set to guard the way to the tree of life, lest the man should eat of it, and live forever. This is evidence that there is no inherent principle of immortality in the natural man. Cut off from the tree of life, his death was only a question of time. The penalty of his disobedience was that he should return to dust, of which he was made; and this was to be brought about by cutting him off from the tree of life. But God preserved the tree of life, and the Paradise in which it grew (2 Cor. 12:3, 4); and, logically, a promise of eternal life, a redemption, would be a restoration to the privilege of access to the tree of life. This is what we learn from the record of John’s vision in Revelation 21 and 22. The apostle had a vision of the future, and saw a new heaven and a new earth, the first having passed away, as is stated also in 2 Peter 3. John also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven into the new earth. He was also shown “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” He further tells us that “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.” The tree of life was “in the midst of the garden,” and it “is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” (The word “paradise” means a garden, or pleasure ground.) So that the redeemed overcomers will again have access to the tree. This is shown in the promise of Christ to the penitent malefactor on the cross. The man said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom,” and the Lord promised him there and then that he should be with Him in Paradise. What is involved in the work of overcoming is also shown in this Revelation: “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.” An overcomer, then, is one who turns from a life of disobedience to obedience of the commandments of God; and he is finally restored from a condition of disgrace to the position of favor which was enjoyed by the first man before his fall.