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I have always believed that man was created to be immortal. God told Adam that if he ate from the tree of knowledge that he would surely die which means, he was created immortal. If this is so, why was the tree of life in the garden to begin with?
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Permalink Reply by Carla on
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Some of my rambling thoughts...
We have a beginning....and I would agree that we are created to be immortal.
Eve's disobedience in the garden caused a spiritual death (separation from God). They (Adam and Eve) did not die a physical death, but rather a spiritual death. I believe that even in a human beings separation from God we are still immortal, but when we finally die our physical death (if we die separate from Him), we will be in hell.
Jesus came to suffer, die and be resurrected to life to overcome sin and death on our behalf, and when we trust in Him we are reconciled to the Father as we were intended to be in the first place.
When we trust in Jesus, and finally die our physical death from here on earth, we will be spiritually reconciled with God, with Him in heaven.
That's why Jesus says we must be born again (John chapter 3)
When we are 'born again' it's a spiritual birth, not a physical one.
SO--- Why is the tree of life in the garden to begin with?
God is Love, and Love gives the freedom to choose.
1 Corinthians 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 [b]bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
When we read the story of Adam and Eve in the context of knowing God's character of Love, it opens an understanding of who God is and why He would give the choice of obedience or disobedience in the first place.
The thing that really stands out for me is "does not rejoice in unrighteousness'. Eve was acting in an unrighteous way when she disobediently ate from the tree and told Adam to do the same, she believed satan over God. Adam believed Eve over God... This is unrighteous behaviour. God (LOVE) doesn't rejoice in that, and consequences had to follow. God rejoices in the truth, and we know that when one sinner repents there is great rejoicing in Heaven:
Luke 15
8“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coinsa and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
So I believe that God placed the tree in the garden for a few reasons:
1) freedom in choice
2) love
3) to demonstrate His character to all humanity (He knew they <we> would disobey)
It's so much deeper than we can fathom, but this is what I am understanding for now.
Blessings, Carla
final thought: as I was reading "Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?" Jesus is the light (lamp) of the world....He cleans (sweeps)our bodies of sin, and He draws all people (finds them) to Himself. When we are reconciled this is great reason for rejoicing for Someone who rejoices with the truth.
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Permalink Reply by Tammy on
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I know I'm throwing around something that can probably not be answered 100% but I did find this interesting. As far as freedom of choice, weren't they already given that choice with the tree of knowledge? So, why would they need the choice to live forever since they were going to already? Well, they would had if they had been obedient. Let's say that they were obedient & didn't eat of the tree of knowledge, why would the tree of life be needed?
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Proverbs 11:30 gives some reference to the Tree of Life.
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise.”
Revelation 22:14 also talks about it:
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”
It seems that the Tree of Life has something to do with righteousness. Before Adam and Eve's disobedience, they were righteous, and they had access to it. After their disobedience they were not righteous and they did not have access to it.
There are other references to the Tree of Life also, but because of time I have to keep this response short.
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Permalink Reply by Amanda on
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There is much to consider in answering to this topic. I think it's important to know what to believe about the physical body and what the resurrected body will be. What does the Bible teach about the resurrection? Is the resurrection a transformation of this body? Is it a whole other new, created body? If so, where was the old body of Christ that died on the cross and was placed in the tomb after He resurrected? Why did He still have the wounds/scars? Why will the graves be opened and people arise from them?
These are just "food for thought" questions and I'm not asking anyone to answer them for me.
But, the point I want to make is that after Adam and Eve sinned they did begin to die physically, and it's true that we begin to die physically at the very moment of our conception. Our days are numbered. The whole process of growing and aging includes constant cell death. A human body fact is that "Humans shed and regrow skin cells every 27 days -almost 1,000 new skins in a lifetime." http://www.eszlinger.com/facts/humanbodyfacts.html
To answer your question, I think one must look into several other things, too, such as the first Adam and the last Adam. When God created man, did man's fall catch God by surprise? God is all knowing and all seeing, and therefore when mankind was first created, the plan of redemption was already in place. Jesus is our source of eternal life. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
I believe the Garden and the trees were real, not metaphors, but did the tree of life in the Garden represent Christ and represent choosing God and choosing life while the other tree represented choosing self and death?
Jesus said, "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" John 6:57.
Why not just let Adam and Eve repent at that time of their sin and choose life? Why ban them from the Garden and from access to the tree of life?"To live eternally in a sinful state with its results—pain, disease, heartache, toil, and grief—would mean endless agony for humanity, with no hope of the relief that comes with death. By limiting our lifespan, God gives us enough time to come to know Him and His provision for eternal life through Christ, but spares us the misery of an endless existence in a sinful condition." http://www.gotquestions.org/tree-of-life.html
There's lots of food for thought on this topic :)
At any rate, Adam and Eve became separated from their source of immortality before they could eat of it, in my POV.
But, one last thing, which, to me, is a terrifying thought, and it is that those who are part of the second resurrection will have an endless existence in a spiritually dead condition, permanently separated from God with no hope of relief from eternal torment.
New Living Translation
The Scriptures tell us, "The first man, Adam, became a living person." But the last Adam--that is, Christ--is a life-giving Spirit. 1 Cor 15:45
Cross References
Genesis 2:7
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
John 5:21
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
John 6:57
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.
Romans 5:14
Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
Romans 8:2
because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
1 Corinthians 15:46
The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.
Hebrews 9:14
How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
http://biblehub.com/1_corinthians/15-45.htm
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Yes, I have always felt that the tree of life did represent Christ but was a literal tree. I was just wondering why it was needed in the beginning of His perfect creation. Yes, He knew the outcome of that creation before it happened but the tree wasn't even bothered so what was the purpose? They never ate from it. Maybe to show us the representation of Christ from the beginning? Wonder why Satan didn't tempt them to eat from that one too? Maybe because he knew what it stood for & didn't want them to eat of Christ? The boggling of the mind. lol
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They were likely so upset after eating this fruit that eating more food wasn't even a temptation at that moment :)
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True but I suppose not knowing good from evil, lion laying with the lamb, no deaths, etc meant 'perfect' in my mind.
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You're probably right on that one. I know my daughter has been clean for about 4 months. This past week, she relapsed. The remorse she feels is actually a great thing. She TRULY hates she did it. I knew it would happen probably but am so thankful that she hates it so badly. So, I'm sure their remorse was a bit deeper than that.
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Bless her heart.
There's an old saying that ignorance is bliss and I'm sure Adam and Eve experienced a state of blissful innocence and not knowing some things is definitely more comfortable than knowing them but to really be able to say yes, one must know what it means to say no. To really know what is good, one must know what is evil. It's about more than just having a choice. There is meaningful choice, too, and other things to consider.
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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on
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There is another take on this without going down the Calvinistic trail. God knew the beginning and the end. Thus, Adam was created in God's image and with God's full knowledge that he (and Eve) would fail. Because God knew the beginning and the end I believe every action had the endgame in mind. We hear of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the earth was laid. Thus, Christ was headed to the cross before creation was formed.
Therefore the immortality of man is debatable on one hand because His plan was going to play out that included death. Yes, man freely chose, but God already knew the choice. At the same time we also know that death has various meaning in Scripture. There is physical death, spiritual death and separation from God (a type of death). But nowhere do we read of cessation of any person, but rather read in John 5:28-29 that all will rise from the grave with two different destinations. So, we can understand that God never intended for anyone to ever cease to exist, though the form of existence may be different depending on what stage of God's timeline we find ourselves and on which side of the cross as well.
Regarding the Tree of Life. Obviously we don't fully know enough to put all the pieces together. Yet, we can speculate a bit.
1) There were two named trees in the garden before the fall. The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen. 2:9)
2) Adam was given only one command ... do not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Gen. 2:17).
3) If they were only told not to eat of the one tree and both trees existed in the Garden before the fall who is to say they did not eat of the Tree of Life? We assume they did not because many assume eating it would cause them to have something (eternal life) that they did not already have. This does not align with our knowing God knows the beginning and the end and is never caught by surprise.
4) I present an alternative view: They probably ate of the tree of life and this was acceptable in the perfect state (state of innocence). Only after they had eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil did eating of this tree become a bad thing for them (Remember it was not restricted before the fall). So, now in the fallen state it is detrimental (how and to what degree we do not know) so God ensured man did not eat of it after the fall.
5) If this view is correct then what God did was not restrict man from eating of the tree because He feared the result, but rather God protected man from eating from a tree that is meant to be partaken of only in perfection. That means God in His grace and mercy protected man even after the fall.
6) We know that the "live forever" cannot simply mean longevity of life, for man will not cease. Therefore, it has to mean a type or quality of life. Speculation again is that eating while in the fallen nature could have caused damage beyond repair, but God in His foreknowledge was not going to let that happen. Thus, man is bared from the tree during this age but will again have access after the new heaven and new earth.
7) Thus the Tree of Life is for the righteous and forbidden for the fallen.
Food for thought.
LT
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