The Tree of Life's Secret Lesson (Genesis 2:9)

 

“The Tree of Life was also in the midst of the garden…” – Genesis 2:9 (NKJV)

Ever see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Paramount, 1989)? Spoiler alert (I’m assuming if you haven’t seen it by now, a spoiler is pretty safe): an evil villain shoots Indiana’s father so that Indiana would be forced to retrieve the Holy Grail for him. Why did he want it so bad? Not for its archaeological significance, but because in Hollywood lore, water drunk from the Holy Grail provided eternal life!

At the movie’s end, Indiana did retrieve the cup for his father to drink out of, yet his father wasn’t still alive in the later movies when Indiana himself was an old man. So… did the cup work or not?

With the plight of Indiana’s dad, Spielberg just dropped a theological nugget, albeit unintentionally. In the movie, Indiana’s father needed to KEEP drinking from the source of life to live forever. One draught didn’t cut it.

Perhaps this is venturing a little bit into Fred theory, but I think the same theological point can be made with the Garden of Eden’s Tree of Life. Growing up, I always assumed that one bite from the Tree of Life would have given Adam and Eve the ability to live forever, whether they sinned or not. Therefore, God blocked their way so they couldn’t get at it.

But when I was leading First Baptist through a study of Genesis, it occurred to me, “Wait a minute! If I were created to be perfect, and I was placed in a perfect garden where God told me, ‘Eat from this tree and you’ll live forever’, a slice of Tree of Life fruit would have been on my plate for my very first meal!”

In the same way, I’m almost positive Adam and Eve would have eaten from that tree their very first day, too. At least the second. How did they eventually die then? Could it be that Adam and Eve weren’t expected to eat just once from the Tree of Life to live forever, but were to eat from it as a part of an ongoing diet? This would have required the freedom to continue living in the Garden. So when God kicked them out and blocked further access, He was effectively blocking them from being able to CONTINUE living forever.

“Fred, is this one of those times you’re trying answer questions that no one is asking?”

Maybe it sounds like it, but with these thoughts, I’m addressing my fellow Southern Baptists. As a denomination, we believe that when one becomes a believer in Jesus, he’s not simply making a decision to follow Jesus. He’s entering into a life where he’s changed into a radically different kind of a person. He’s spiritually alive when once he was dead. He’s given power to reject sin when once he was sin’s slave. He’s been adopted by God as His child when once he was Satan’s kid. Because it’s a transformation into a totally different kind of a person, there’s no going back.

I fully believe that, but I also understand the criticism against it. “You Southern Baptists believe that if you say this little sinner’s prayer and punch your ticket to Heaven, you can do whatever you want. After all, it’s impossible for you to lose your salvation!”

That stings because I’ve actually known Southern Baptists who live that way. We need to take a moment to meditate on the lesson of the Tree of Life.

I dedicated myself to follow Jesus as my source of eternal life when I was six years old. But I didn’t just take one bite, say a little prayer, and call it good so I could spend the rest of my life doing whatever I wanted. When I chose to follow Jesus, I adopted a path where I would KEEP partaking of Jesus and KEEP feeding on His Word.

If a person is satisfied just taking one bite of salvation to punch his ticket, but then lives as if he and Jesus were free to go their separate ways until Heaven, could he honestly say he made the decision to come to Jesus in the first place?   

Jesus is my Tree of Life. One bite when I was six years old wasn’t enough. I need Jesus today. I’ll need Him again tomorrow. He isn’t just my gateway to eternal life; He IS my eternal life! Experiencing Him just makes me want to experience Him even more!

Dear Heavenly Father, we acknowledge that Jesus is our life. Please guard us from trying to satisfy ourselves with anything else: applause, professional success, or a hefty bank account. Thank You for the grace that taught us the first day we believed. Please give us the grace to keep believing today. We need Jesus as much as we ever did. Its’ in His Name we pray, Amen.