The Tree of Life

Let us start with a basic question. 

Do we have eternal life when we place our faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation? 

I believe the scriptures are clear and the answer is a resounding yes, but it leads us quickly into a fundamental problem once we reach Genesis, which repeats in Revelation. 

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

John 6:47 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

John 11:25-26 

Then the LORD God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!”

Genesis 3:22 

“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God.

Revelation 2:7 

According to Christ, if you believe in Him, you have eternal life, present tense. 

Did you eat any fruit to obtain this life? As far as I understand, no human being has ever stumbled across a tree that produces a fruit that causes people to live forever and certainly the apostle Paul has eternal life, yet he is dead in his grave… 

Let's consider John 6:53-64 for a moment. 

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” 

Do we expect that God is teaching us that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in a literal sense? If you suppose yes, then what do you do with verse 63? Is it the Spirit that gives life or is it the eating of Jesus' body? 

Do you suppose you can put Christ into the oven and bake Him at 400 degrees for 30 minutes and have some tasty bread? 

Consider the leaven of the Pharisees. Do we believe that Christ meant a literal leaven, even after He corrected His disciples? 

The Yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees

5 When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread. 6 “Be careful,” Jesus said to them. “Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

7 They discussed this among themselves and said, “It is because we didn’t bring any bread.”

8 Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, “You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread? 9 Do you still not understand? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 10 Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered? 11 How is it you don’t understand that I was not talking to you about bread? But be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that he was not telling them to guard against the yeast used in bread, but against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:5-12 

What about the sheep and goats? 

The Sheep and the Goats

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

Matthew 25:31-39 

Do sheep actually talk? No, clearly not and so the sheep and the goats are clearly symbolic of true believers in Christ and the goats are symbolic of nonbelievers. As sheep follow the shepherd and depend on them for everything, so are His followers in relation to Him. As a goat disobeys the shepherd so are non-believers in relation to Him. 

We have two cases now where Christ speaks in metaphor to articulate a spiritual truth and so are we to assume He means that He is literal bread when every other indication of physical example is not to be taken literally? Consider Christ's words after He gave the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. 

9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:

“Though seeing, they do not see;

    though hearing, they do not hear or understand.

14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;

    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;

    they hardly hear with their ears,

    and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes,

    hear with their ears,

    understand with their hearts

and turn, and I would heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:

Matthew 13:9-18 

Why does He speak in parables? The answer is in verses 11-15. God does not seem concerned here with revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven to those who do not care to listen or to those who truly don't want to understand, but to those that do, He is more than happy to explain Himself. 

25 “Though I have been speaking figuratively, a time is coming when I will no longer use this kind of language but will tell you plainly about my Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. 27 No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and entered the world; now I am leaving the world and going back to the Father.” 

29 Then Jesus’ disciples said, “Now you are speaking clearly and without figures of speech. 30 Now we can see that you know all things and that you do not even need to have anyone ask you questions. This makes us believe that you came from God.”

John 16:25-30 

Here Christ even admits that He has spoken to them in figures of speech, which His disciples immediately affirm and so if this is the typical pattern of the Lord our God, why do we assume in John 6:53-59 that He is promoting some sort of divine cannibalism? 

The point is, within the New Testament we seem to be in a point of contradiction. 

Remember, John 6:47, “Whoever believes has eternal life” which means if someone trusts in Christ for salvation, having never literally eaten His flesh or drank His blood has eternal life. 

[39] One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” [40] But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? [41] We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” [42] Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” [43] And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” 

Luke 23:39-43 

Wait though! This doesn't make sense, the theif on the cross can not have eternal life until he undoes the nails in his hand, gets off the cross and takes a slice of God's flesh and drinks His blood right? Yet, hanging in the cross next to Christ, unable to eat or drink a thing he receives it with the promise of the Lord that he would be in paradise. Only belief in the Son of God was required for him to receive eternal life and he had it right then! 

So what does this have to do with the tree of life in Genesis? It's simply the same problem! 

If Christ is the author of scripture (John 8:58, Exodus 3:14, Romans 8:9, 2 Peter 1:21) and speaks through metaphor, then it would make sense for Him to employ the same style in Genesis to affirm spiritual truths. 

If belief in Christ alone is all that is required for salvation, then He can't be speaking literally when He asks us to eat His flesh and drink His blood for eternal life (affirmed by His figurative approach to speaking to the crowds), which the thief on the cross affirms. 

If eating something is not required for eternal life and Christ is not being literal in His body being bread and blood being drink, if the serpent in the garden represents Satan, then how could the tree of life be what gives us eternal life when God said its simple belief in His Son (John 3:16)? 

If metaphor is present in Genesis (Genesis 2:24) and meaning beyond the literal is as well (Genesis 2:17), considering everything we just talked through, then either the tree of life is what gives us eternal life or it is metaphorical and it is a symbol of knowing Christ that gives us eternal life. 

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

John 17:3 

So since the tree of life is not literal and Christ must be the tree of life as well as the bread of life, what would our concluding thoughts of Genesis have to be? (to be continued…)