This started out as a post for Ephesians 2:1-10. The first chapter, the greeting of that letter really made a big point of God using his great power to “save” people. But what does that mean, “save” people, are we in some sort of danger? It is interesting that there are people in the world who say they believe in a god or maybe some sort of universal force or power. Some talk about destiny or fate. And there are some who say there is nothing like any of that, atheists. As far as I know all of the first group also believe in some sort of “afterlife”. For some it is a place, for others it involves a return to this place as someone or something else, and for others it is a state of being, changing into something else altogether, a ghost or an angel. Most of the second group claim there is nothing else and that we are just biological machines. Our “feelings” are just physical and chemical processes and when the machine finally wears out and stops all of that stops too. This second group, who usually look for physical evidence for everything, also usually claim there is no God or gods, an opinion they hold onto with no evidence. The universe is a vast place and mankind has really only scratched the surface of exploring it. There are lots of things out there that we have never seen. Interestingly a lot of people who might say they are atheists insist that there are other life forms out there, aliens, but there is not one shred of evidence that there are.

A couple of months ago I watched a move that I had seen before, “The End of the Spear”. It is a follow up on the story of five missionaries who were killed by a tribal group in Ecuador known as the Waodanis. Those five men never had a real opportunity to speak to the indians* about why they were there. After the murder one of the wives and a sister (if I remember correctly) approached the tribe and began living with them. Eventually they were able to teach them about Jesus and many of the Waodani responded. The movie shows the lives of the indians* as well as the missionaries leading up to the attack and events since then. This tribe lived as family groups and there was a lot of violence between the families, a lot of killing, some of which was dramatized in the movie. It is interesting that this people group, who had never had contact (other than killing intruders) with the outside world, had a whole system of belief. They definitely believed in an afterlife and they called moving into the afterlife “jumping the great boa”. When someone would die, especially a child, they worried that the person would be unable to “jump the great boa”.

(* Note: the term indian is used here to indicate a so called indigenous (naturally occurring or native) or tribal group. I say “so called” since naturally occurring or native, the definition of “indigenous”, is not entirely accurate either. Most theories of the earths population have mankind spreading from somewhere in the Middle-east or Africa so in a very real sense no one is “indigenous” to the Americas. Perhaps the term “first tribes” used in Canada is the best and most accurate. However that would probably be unclear to my original audience, I intend no offensive, but am using the term that seems most clear to my original readers.)

Another story I really like is told in a book called “Bruchko”. It is about another missionary, Bruce Olson, who went to Venezuela when he was 19 to tell indians* there about Jesus, basically with no support. He wound up in the jungle on the border of Venezuela and Columbia completely unprepared, was attacked and captured by a tribal group there and eventually wound up with another tribal group, the Motilonis; who usually killed all intruders in their territory too. That was about 1960 and as far as I know Bruce is still alive in that jungle teaching the people about Jesus. In his book he talks about the beliefs of the indians* from before he came to them. Like the Waodanis they too believed in an afterlife and the difficulty in reaching it. They also had beliefs about a higher being and a broken relationship with that “god”.

Another missionary, Don Richardson, wrote three books, “Peace Child”, “Lords of the Earth”, and “Eternity in their Hearts” that tell similar stories from remote tribal people in other parts of the world. The first two are full-length stories about his personal experience and the experience of another missionary, Stanley Dale. The third contains several shorted stories and his conclusion that these tribal beliefs were little remembrances of the real story, the one found in the first few chapters of the Bible mixed with an understanding of our eternal nature that God embedded in our conscience (See Romans 1:19-20; 2:14-15). C. S. Lewis, the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia”, was raised in a Christian home but as a young man declared himself an atheist. Eventually he returned to become a believer in Jesus and one main reason was what he saw as a universal set of beliefs among all mankind. Some people call this “natural law” or “universal morality”. Lewis also recognized that all mankind also recognizes their failure to obey that “natural law”. This is very similar to what Don Richardson wrote about. Some anthropologists (people who study people and their societies) like to claim that certain organized religions, especially Judaism and Christianity, are responsible for the ideas that people have about god but the fact that Don Richardson and others have found these ideas among people isolated from the rest of the world shows that the “common morality” traces back to a time before Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament (about 1450 BC). What seems more likely is that these belief systems are similar because they share a common history; they trace back to the facts in the early chapters of the book of Genesis. So what does this have to do with trees? I know there are trees in the jungles where these “indians” lived, right? Wrong.

In the book of Genesis we see that all people are under a death sentence that started way back in the Garden of Eden when Adam disobeyed God. It is important to understand what that death sentence really was. God instructed Adam to leave a particular tree in the Garden of Eden alone, not to eat the fruit from it, and if he did on that very day he would die. Adam had all the other plants in the Garden to eat from, plenty of food, a good and pleasant place to live, a literal paradise. No death, no pain, no struggle, no worries, it was perfect. God’s love motivated him to make a being, really a whole race of beings, to love and whom would have the opportunity to love him back. Love involves considering the other person, their hopes, dreams, desires, stuff like that. In 1 Corinthians 13:7 Paul told the believers in Corinth that “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. This is just part of his description but it sounds like work, not all hearts and stars and kisses. That’s where the tree comes in, it was sort of a test, it’s like God said, “Here’s the one thing I’d like you to do for me, don’t eat that fruit.” And when God did that He pointed out all the other stuff there was to eat.

The Devil came along and spoke first to Eve (by the way Eve hadn’t been created when God told Adam about the tree, Genesis 2:17-18). The Devil (in the form of a serpent) asked Eve about the food rules in the garden. Eve told him that they weren’t supposed to eat from a certain tree or even touch it (that part wasn’t part of the original rule in Genesis 2:17 by the way) or they would die. The Devil told Eve that God had lied, they wouldn’t die, they would actually be more like God understanding good and evil. Genesis 3:6-7 tells us that Eve “saw that the tree was good for food, it was a very beautiful tree, and that it could make them wise” so she took the fruit, ate some, then gave some to Adam who also ate. And guess what they didn’t die and they did start to see life differently. I wonder how this all came down. Was Adam there during the Eve-Serpent conversation? I don’t think he was since verse 6 says the woman saw… By the way, how do you see that something is good to eat? Notice that the description is all about how Eve felt about the tree and the fruit.

The point really isn’t whether the tree was beautiful, or good to eat, or even if there might be some benefit to eating from it, the point was God didn’t want them to eat from it. Why? Because the day they did they would die. Good reason. But they didn’t die, or did they? We think of death as, aaaaagggggggg, kaput, and its all over, lifeless corpse on the ground. The idea of death in the Bible is a little different. When God made Adam he was a lifeless assembly of molecules until God breathed life into him (Genesis 2:7). James 2:26 tells us that the body without the spirit is dead. When our spirit (the part of us that hopes and feels and dreams and is the real life force) leaves our body the body is dead but we aren’t, that spirit continues to hear and think and hope and feel (see Luke 16:20-31).   The idea of death is really the idea of separation. It is clear that on that day that Adam and Eve didn’t die physically, although that process was started later that day, but they did die another way. Later in the day we see God coming into the garden. When Adam and Eve heard him coming they hid. God called out and said, “Adam where are you?” God knew where they were, he knows where everything is all the time, he was making a point to them, things were different, Adam and Eve were separated from God in terms of the relationship, they as people were separated from God; spiritually dead and it happened when they betrayed God and didn’t care what he asked them to do, not to eat from that one tree. It wasn’t the fruit that broke the relationship it was their disrespect and disobedience. The word used in the Bible for that is “sin”. In both the Old and New Testament parts of the Bible the words translated “sin” both mean “missed the mark”. The words were used during archery contests to indicate that the shooter had missed the target. God’s target for all of us was to live in friendship with him and Adam missed that target by showing disrespect for God. On that day they died spiritually and God tweaked the perfect universe he had made for mankind to live in so that it would rundown and wear out; all that is wrong in our world is a result of Adam’s selfish act.

Seems kind of mean for God to break the whole universe, you might think, but it really was a merciful act. The decay of our lives and bodies and world is a slow process. And our hopes and dreams about something better remind us that there should be more, the author of Ecclesiastes says God put “eternity in our hearts”. Those two ideas bumping around inside of us push us to seek God. Paul was in the city of Athens in ancient Greece. In Athens the people loved to sit around and think, they loved all sorts of ideas. They also worshipped all sorts of gods. They were so religious that they even had a temple to the unknown god. They didn’t want to miss anyone. Paul went to a main place of discussion, the Areopagus, and praised them for recognizing the existence and power of god. Notice it is a small “g”. They had that ancient understanding of a powerful being but all of the gods they recognized were fake. They had such fear of god (the word religion in Acts 17:22 means “fear or respect for god”) that they even had a place to honor an unnamed god. Paul told them that he knew who the unnamed god is, the creator God who made all that is. He then told that that God was being patient toward them, waiting for people to turn back to God. He then mentions Jesus, his rightness before God and his sacrifice and resurrection. He didn’t get to finish his speech at that time but some people believed in Jesus (who he is, the eternal God-man, and what he has done for us, died in our place) and joined Paul.

So the tale of the first tree is a tale of betrayal and forgiveness. Of God giving to us, of us rejecting God, and of God reaching back with a solution, Jesus. But not all will escape that spiritual death. God wants us to willingly have the relationship with Him. Just as Adam had a choice and originally rejected God, we all reject God; by breaking that “natural law” or “universal morality” that God put in nature and our conscience. In Acts 17:26-27 Paul even says that the way governments come and go is designed to make us look for God, feel around for Him like a person feeling around in the dark for something they know is there. Throughout the Bible there is every hint that God wants this fixed. In the very beginning God told Eve that one of her descendants would crush the Devil. Even before that God had planned the solution, In 1 Peter 1, Peter tells his readers that the death of Jesus (symbolized by the word “blood”) was planned even before God created the world but Jesus came into time and space when he did for our benefit. John tells us that that death was for everyone in all time (1 John 2:2). Everyone has the opportunity to be a part of God’s forever family; His forever kingdom but not everyone will. John also tells us that those that accept Jesus as the only way to have a fixed relationship with God will be a part of that family (John 1:12; John 3:16; John 14:6). Jesus took our death sentence upon himself and satisfied the legal requirements that God had laid down. God then gave us credit for Jesus’ right life, when God looks at believers he sees Jesus. With this new relationship with God comes the benefit of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God lives in believers as proof that we are adopted into God’s forever family and as a helper to show us how to please and honor God each day.

It is interesting that there was a second tree in the Garden of Eden that was special too, the Tree of Life (Genesis 2:9; 3:22-24). After Adam disobeyed and his relationship with God was broken, God put Adam out of the Garden and stationed an angelic guard at the entrance specifically to keep Adam away from that other tree. In Genesis 2:22 we learn that God did this because if Adam ate from the tree he would live forever.

The Tree of Life appears again in the last book of the Bible, Revelation. The Revelation is a letter written originally to seven churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The first three chapters of the letter are specific notes to the seven churches about things they are doing well and things they need to improve. The rest of the book describes events at that end of our current run of history and what God has planned after that; the “end of the world” and the new one. The Bible is the story of our relationship with God. Like all love stories there is the beginning, the tragedy in the middle, and the happily ever after. In the beginning the Tree of Life is in the original paradise, the Garden of Eden where God and man spent time together. In Revelation 2:7 we are told that the Tree is in a place called the Paradise of God. That word “paradise” is only used three times. In Luke 23:42-43 Jesus hung on his cross and next to him was a criminal on another cross. That man recognized who Jesus truly was the “promised one” and asked Jesus to “remember [him] when he entered his kingdom”. Jesus told the man, “Today you will be with me in Paradise”. In 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 Paul tells of an experience he had (though he doesn’t specifically say it was his experience). He says a certain believer (most likely himself) was taken to the “third heaven”. He says he doesn’t know if it was just the spirit of the man or the spirit and the body but that he was taken “into Paradise” and shown certain things that he had no words to describe, things that really shouldn’t be talked about anyway”. In the minds of people of Paul’s day there were three “heavens”. The first heaven was the atmosphere of the earth, the second heaven was the universe, and the third heaven was the home of God. In these verses “Paradise” and “third Heaven” are clearly the same place, the home of God; Heaven. In Revelation 21-22 we are shown a picture of the final renewed creation of God. In this new or renewed place we again see the Tree of Life, in face it appears to be an orchard of life, several trees of life growing along a river flowing in the middle of the central street of the new capital of the universe (well it’s called the New Jerusalem and the old Jerusalem is the place Jesus will rule this old earth from for 1000 years before the new heaven and new earth are brought into being so I suppose the New Jerusalem will be Jesus’ capital of the universe). The river is called the River of Life. We are told the tree (or trees) grow on both sides of the river, bear twelve different kinds of fruit with fruit coming ripe every month, and that the leaves are used to heal all the ethnic groups.

While it appears that Adam and Eve and any children they had would have lived forever (both physically and spiritually) as originally created Adam’s disobedience had the consequence of breaking our relationship with God and starting a process of physical decay that would eventually lead to physical death. If Adam had eaten from the tree of life in the Garden of Eden he would have overcome that physical process and lived physically forever but he still would have been spiritually dead forever. In Revelation 20 we see events that happen right before the introduction of the new heaven and earth. Jesus had just ruled the present creation for 1000 years (this was part of a promise made to the Jewish people centuries ago). The Devil was imprisoned for those 1000 years and life on earth was very very good for Jesus’ subjects. All the people who had trusted in Jesus before the 1000 years began were brought to life to rule with him (this restoration of life is called the first resurrection). At the end of the 1000 years the Devil was released and was able to convince some of Jesus’ subjects to revolt and attack the capital. The Devil was immediately sent into a place called the “Lake of Fire” (Hell) where he will remain for all eternity and his followers were burned up with fire from Heaven. Next we see a second resurrection (restoration of physical life), this is of all who had ever rejected God’s promise to fix the relationship, people who didn’t really want to be a part of God’s forever family. Remember that death is separation and life is a union or joining. So this resurrection is a rejoining of peoples spirits with their bodies. At this point God looks to see if each person has put their eternity in his hands to save (trusted in God’s promise and plan to fix the sin problem which he did through Jesus). Those that rejected God’s “fix” then have their actions checked to see of they had ever disrespected or disobeyed God (sinned, missed his mark). Of course we all have sinned and so those that rejected God and his plan are given what they want an eternity without God. Of course since all that is good is linked to God that eternal existence has nothing good in it, it is an eternity in Hell. That is what Adam and Eve would have suffered if they had “resurrected” themselves before their sins had been cared for. In the eternal future though, in the new heaven and new earth, the tree of life is available for all, eternal life physically to go with the eternal spiritual life in the presences of God. Paradise lost and Paradise regained.