Freedom
This week, in carrying on with our gardening theme and celebrating our Independence Day (July 4) in the United States, it seems timely to discuss a little bit about the freedom that we celebrate in the earthly realm, in our “free” country, which affords us the opportunity to even speak of these types of things in the open. And far more importantly, beyond that, let us consider the freedom that was purchased for us by Jesus in the spiritual realms. In considering those spiritual areas, I wonder, is your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life? Have you ever “tasted and seen” that the Lord is good?
Tree of Life
I don’t have time for a deep dive into the topic of the “Tree of Life” for now (maybe I’ll explore it further in the future), but there are a couple of sections of the Bible we can discuss that speak of it directly. The first, of course, is in Genesis, where Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden, after they had sinned. In Genesis 2:9b, it says “In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Verse 16 says “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'”
So, after they had sinned by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were banished from the garden. “And the LORD God said, ‘The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.'” (Genesis 3:22)
Because of that sin, they (and their offspring) were under a curse, and much of the Bible deals with that very dilemma.
The first few books of the Bible lay the foundation of the Law, for even though eating from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil seemed like it would give them wisdom and discernment, it actually resulted in quite the opposite. That action did lead to death in the end, because they were now responsible for their sin. As long as they could follow the Law, they would be blessed and not cursed. But there was one big problem. They (we) weren’t able to follow the Law.
As it says in Galatians 3:10-14, “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who dos not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.”
Resurrected Life
Hallelujah, Jesus took that curse upon Himself, taking our sin to the cross and putting IT to death there, so that we could be identified with Him in the resulting resurrected Life that was born through that crucifixion. One of my songs, called “Tree of Life” (that I’ll play at the end, as our featured music this week) talks about Jesus tasting death for us (as it says in Hebrews 2:9), so that we might taste His Life. He is the One who made the way for us to become that “New Creation” that we discussed last week. He suffered and died on the cross (figuratively, the tree of death, on which He bore our curse). Now, those of us who have new life “in Christ” enter that eternal life because of our faith and trust in HIS obedience, death and resurrection.
Listen and ponder what it says in Revelation 22:1-5 and in the song at the end. If you are “in Christ”, rejoice, because you will not only have access to that “Life” at the end of your earthly existence, but you have access to Him right now. If you do not know Him, I again urge you to seek Him, so that He might grant you eternal life and the ability to take part in tasting the Tree of Life.
“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 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. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 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.”
Earlier, in the book of Revelation, in the first one of the messages to the seven churches (this one to the Church in Ephesus), it says in 2:7: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.”
Lamb's Book of Life
Hopefully this is clear, and you can see that each of us need to have our names “written in the Lamb’s book of life”. It is explained in Revelation 20:11-15 how essential it is for us to have our names written in that book. No other book in all of life matters. Has Jesus written YOUR name there? Is your story intertwined with His at all? I pray that if you’re not sure of the answer to that question, that you’ll do all in your power to clarify once and for all, and to be found “in Him” in all your ways.
Seek Him and you will find Him.
On this week’s podcast, the closing song is Tree of Life, I urge you to either listen to the podcast, or follow the link below to listen to the song on my bandcamp page. As you listen and ponder all these things, consider how Jesus tasted the death that you were due, so that you would be given eternal freedom from your sin, freedom to walk in Him from now throughout eternity, and freedom to taste and see the goodness of God that is found in the Tree of Life, growing beside the abundant waters flowing from His throne, bearing fruit in every season and providing healing in its leaves. May you find freedom, joy and healing for your soul as you draw near to Him this day.