Tree of Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“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 NLT

Jesus continued to remind us, through John, that we are in a battle, through which we must emerge “victorious“. If we don’t then we are going to miss out on something. Access to the “fruit from the tree of life” has a prerequisite, which is that we must first overcome the obstacles that otherwise mask it from our view. Imagine that in front of us is a gate, through which we must enter to access a wonderful place on the other side. Or perhaps we have to gain entry to find particularly valuable treasure. But like a modern computer game, there are hazards, and assailants, that have to be dealt with, before we can reach the gate and open it to pass through. Psalm 24:3-4 reads, “Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies“. Ephesians 6:12 says, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places”. 

Through the power of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of the Word of God, we have all the resources necessary to be “victorious”. We are fighting against unseen foes, and, mostly, the battleground is located in our minds. In 2 Corinthians 2:4-5 we read, “We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ”. 

So, what does being “victorious” look like? And how do we know that our victory has been achieved? Jesus has already overcome the enemy. He did that at Calvary and the devil is a defeated foe. We read in Colossians 2:3-5, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He cancelled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross”. We are victorious because our sins have been forgiven. So we ensure our place in Jesus’ victory parade by staying close to the Cross, and to our wonderful Saviour. And we do so by living a life of faith. A faith we can read about in Hebrews 11. A faith that underpins our lives day by day. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit, we have all the spiritual resources we need to “knock down the strongholds” that occupy our minds and block our ways to the “tree of life”. The Apostle Paul provided a helpful picture of the spiritual armour we can access, in Ephesians 6.

As Christian pilgrims we are on a journey passing through the world around us. But our victory can be assured by keeping apart from the ways and customs of the world, those that are incompatible with our lives of faith. We are in the world but not of it. So we avoid temptation. We turn our back on anything that will detract from our life of faith. And we set our minds on the things of Heaven, looking forward to the day when we will pass the Great Divide to join God there. We are counter-cultural soldiers for Christ, avoiding the road to hell.

What is the significance of this fruit from the tree of life? It sustained Adam and Eve before the fall in the Garden of Eden, and one day it will sustain us. In a sense we are living between the two occasions when the tree of life was mentioned in the Bible. It first appeared in Genesis and lastly appears in Revelations. The first manifestation of this tree is no longer available to us, but one day we will have access to it because it has been transplanted to our new home, in Paradise. A fruit put there by God, accessible for our future life with Him in Heaven. A fruit for the eating, part of our new life one day in God’s presence.

Dear Lord God. There are so many things to consider in our life-journey. But I thank You today that we don’t journey alone, for You are always with us. Amen.

Repent

Posted on by korgrocker

“But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love Me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭2:4-5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How disappointed the Ephesians must have been to hear Jesus’ next words, just after the encouragement they had just received. To be accused of not loving Him as they should must have hit their hearts like an arrow. A frantic rush of soul-searching must have tumbled through their minds and emotions. And the criticism extended to include their lack of love for each other. Jesus said to them, “Look how far you have fallen!”. Oh dear. As I have said before, mankind generally has a tendency to lapse into a state of comfort, where reduced effort and complacency rule the days. It takes effort, considerable at times, to keep loving God and loving each other, sad though that is. And it looks as though this is what happened to the Ephesians. Jesus went on to remind them of the consequences of continuing as they had been doing; their “lampstand” would be removed from the list of churches. But with Jesus there is always a way back. He encouraged these early Christians to repent. He told them to “Turn back to Me and do the works you did at first”. That is what repentance is all about – it is a turning back from the wrong and sinful ways of life and returning to those that are God-ordained. We don’t know the outcome of Jesus’ impassioned appeal because Ephesus as it was in those days doesn’t exist anymore. It just consists of a number of ruins, including a cathedral that was active up until at least the 5th Century. But perhaps the message from Jesus produced the fruit of repentance and led onto greater things, but of which we have no record.

This message to the Ephesians is a timely warning to us pilgrims. It reminds us, as do the messages to the other churches, of the importance of staying close to Jesus, as we did when we first encountered him. At the point when we were saved. It reminds us to repent when we stray. Because stray we will unless we work hard to keep the faith.

Near where I live there are some “lampstands” being removed. A number of churches in the Church of Scotland denomination are having to close because their congregations have dwindled to the point that it is no longer viable to keep them open. And in some cases, the upkeep of old buildings, monuments to our rich Christian heritage, is no longer affordable. So sad. But Jesus said He would build His church, and He was very graphic in His teaching to His disciples in John 15. We read, ““Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.” Jesus’s church will not be based on dwindling congregations in dusty old mausoleums, but instead will be a growing, vibrant, fruit-bearing, and dynamic group of His followers. Grafted into the Vine. Loving God and their fellow Christians. Doing the works of His service. Are we pilgrims such fruit-bearers? Or are we useless branches? Hmmm…

Dear Lord. We thank You for this timely message. We repent of the barren times when we have erred away from You and we ask for Your forgiveness. Please help us, Lord , we pray. Amen.