Paradise

Today I felt led to read the first chapters of Genesis again. Suddenly Genesis 3:22 stood out: "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." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

As we all know Eve and Adam was placed in Eden. They were commanded not to eat from the tree of good and evil which was placed in the middle of the garden where also the tree of life was. They could eat from any tree, except the one mentioned. What this verse implies is that Eve and Adam ate from all the different trees except the tree of life. This is not only remarkable, it is indeed very odd. This has, however, huge implications for us who are now led back to the type of life the garden represents.

This verse in Genesis evidently confirms 1 Cor 15:45; "Thus it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit." We are in a better position than Adam was, because we now feed from the tree of life, which is Christ. I believe Christ is something more than a person, it also denotes a quality of life which is powered by the divine power which raised Christ from the grave. Our deliverance is eternally secured in Him. Adam, however, could be turned into dust again (Gen 3:19), because he hadn't eaten from the life-giving tree. The Ark is also a type of our eternal security in Him. Remember, it was God who shut Noah in (Gen 7:16).

I think the two trees represent two types. The tree of good and evil denotes separation, that is, the lie that we can sustain life outside God. The tree of life is then a type of the union life, He in me and I in Him. A perfect harmony of life and corroboration to achieve the ultimate goal, which is the abundant life of liberty of the garden where we are complete and perfect in Him, that is, spirit, soul and body. No sinful nature to deal with, no flesh to conquer. A death blow was dealt to both of those on the cross. Do we dare to believe it?

Another interesting aspect with all this is that Adam was commissioned to hold dominion over the earth, the material sphere. In the new dispensation where we, as sons and daughters of the living God, are feeding from the tree of life are promoted to reign in the spiritual sphere as well. Remember, we are now seated in the Heavenly places. This is indeed a mystery.