In the beginning, God placed man in a beautiful garden to dress it and keep it (Gen. 2:15). However, after man chose to sin, he had to be kept from the garden (Gen. 3:22-24). The same Hebrew word—shamar–used in Genesis 2:15 to describe man’s duty to keep, watch, and preserve the garden is used in Genesis 3:24 to describe the cherubim and “flaming sword” guarding the way of the tree of life.
This is how it goes when sin enters our lives. Realms God has intended for peace and good relationships are lost in exchange for selfishness resulting in isolation. Because men fail to be on guard and keep that with which God has blessed them, a separation occurs between God and people (Isa. 59:1-2). Man is then barred from the blessings which were once his. Some men are so sinful that they must be guarded continually lest they reach out in selfishness, harm others, and take something that is not lawfully theirs. A man is to protect his wife and children, but sometimes in the case of a sinful man, his wife and children must be protected from him. Proverbs 20:1 says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” How many homes have had their peace shattered by an alcoholic, abusive husband and father? This is the twisted, devastating effect of sin.
Sin, however, affects all of us (Rom. 3:23). One does not have to be a drunkard, nor a danger to one’s own family to be guilty before God. All the world stands guilty before the Holy One (Rom. 3:19). We are all separated from the tree of life. But the story is not over. God extends the hope of eternal life to us (Titus 3:7). God offers eternal life in a qualitative sense. Every soul will live somewhere forever; the question is whether that eternal existence will be one of blessing or punishment (Matt. 25:46). Eternal life, then, is eternal prosperity.
How do we get back to the tree of life? How do we retrieve that which has been lost? How can we be among the number of those blessed with healing who are among the tree of life in Revelation 22:1-4? We cannot on our own merits get back to that tree. In sin we are dead spiritually (Eph. 2:1, 5). We have no strength to save ourselves (Eph. 2:8; Rom. 5:6).
Throughout the Bible, the sword represents the justice of God (Psa. 7:12; Jer. 25:29; Ezek. 29:8; Rom. 13:4). The sword represents the death penalty for those guilty of sin. God’s justice demands penalty for sin—that penalty is death. Romans 6:23, says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Jesus took the curse for us by his crucifixion (Gal. 3:13). In this way, God is just in punishing sin but can also justify us in the blood of His son (Rom. 3:26). In a sense, Jesus took the sword for us so that we might have access to the tree of life again. In Revelation 22, the throne of God and the Lamb is there with the tree of life (Rev. 22:1, 3). Jesus is this lamb, who earlier in the book appears to take the scroll from Him who sat on the throne; the lyrics of a new song contain these words: “For you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood” (Rev. 5:6-9).
Jesus is the only way back to the presence of God and the tree of life (John 14:6). Are your sins washed away in the blood of the Lamb (Acts 22:16)?
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