Have you noticed that the Bible begins and ends with the Tree of Life?
Adam and Eve had free access to it- it was their source of immortality (Gen. 3:22)
When they sinned their real punishment was that access was denied.
"So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden,
and a flaming sword which turned every way,
to guard the way to the tree of life. (verse 24)
The next time we read about the Tree is at the very end of the Bible:
"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me,
to give to every one according to his work.
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.
Blessed are those who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to
the tree of life,
and may enter through the gates into the city."
Revelation 22:12-14
Life as a pilgrimage to get back to the tree of life.
I like that imagery.
Can you imagine the JOY of Adam and Eve being reunited with the Tree after their deaths?
Can you imagine YOUR JOY seeing it for the first time?!
"But I [John] saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
They city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. . . And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life . . ." (Rev. 21:22-23; 22:1-2))
If I keep my mind focused on this glorious scene, how can I have anything but JOY?
I think I will teach this verse to my granddaughters and begin to lay before them the
Glorious Joy
that we just don't want to miss.
