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I have always believed man was made perfectly on the earth to live forever, because there are verses, which support this doctrine, principally, that man was made in the image of God..

However, when one reads Gen 3;

22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

carefully, the impression is left that the tree of life imparted eternal life.

Although it can be understood, that the verse above implies that while in sin (disobedience which is nothing other than rebellion) had Adam or Eve put forth their hand and eaten of the fruit of this tree, they would have lived forever, without the possibility of having this sin, exponged.

And if by Adams transgression (which passed upon all men) and death, no man would have been redeemable.

Yet, if the tree of life imparted eternal life, had they eaten of the fruit of this tree, before they bit the apple (which obviously they did not, or had they?), would Adam have died?

Anyone else, thought of this?  Or is this to far out.

Blessings,

Petro

Hi Petro,
2 Tim 1:10 if Adam lost it, the Lord brought it back.

I have always heard that if they ate of it, they would live forever physically in the sinful state. Hence, thet were driven (in a gold chariot no doubt) from the Garden.

In Rev there is a tree of life for the healing of the nations- any ideas on what that means?

aw

Interesting thoughts.  I too have pondered this.  I guess had Adam eaten from the tree of life afterwards, he would now be an extremely miserable very old man....lol.

The tree of life mentioned in Revelation has 12 crops of fruit.  Bearing fruit each month, and the leaves are for the healing of the nation.   I'm sure there is something related here to the original garden.  Note that Adam and Eve clothed themselves in fig leaves before God clothed them.  Another interesting verse shows up in the book of Peter...

1 Pet 2:24
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
(NIV)

The cross represents the ungliness of sin and death, but when we receive him, the tree represents life and healing.  No doubt this is somehow tied to the previous verses, but in paradise sin is no more.  We wont need the old cross for we are received already by him as his children at this point.  Now the tree represents life in the middle of the city, which bears 12 different crops.  Very Interesting, but I'm not sure how to connect the dots here....or even if there is a connection.  But its fun to think about.

Good topic

Grace and Peace!

Well, this is what has been taught, for sure, however, I am wondering (I know scripture is silent) about their eating it before having sinned, in other words there appears to be something here, which implies that by their eating of the fruit, eternity is in view, do you see something of a mystery herein.
 
In other words, what was supposed happen if they at of the fruit anyhow?  And any clue why it was refered to as the Tree of Life? If it did not impart eternal life??



Yes, the leaves are for medicine (compare,Ezek 47:12), this passage of scripture almost mirrors Rev 22, with the exception, Rev 22, is in the new heaven and earth, while Ezek 47 is in the present earth, the tree of life is not anywhere in Ezk 47, but the comparison that the leaves of those trees, will also be for the healing of peoples of the nations.

The interesting thing at the verse in Rev you mention is, that the leaves of the tree of life were for the healing of the nations (Rev 22:2), not the fruit, however it will bear twelve manner of fruits.

Another thing that is interesting is that the leaves will not fade, and it is all due to the water that issues out of the sanctuary.

And from verse 13, to the end of the book of Ezekiel, the nation of Israel re divides up the land promised to the Nation, and there shall be oblation (an burnt offering [Jer 14:12])at a sanctuary of the house of the Lord in the  midst therof.  (Ezek 48:21)

Will we be able to recognize these fruits or the trees??

I think so, since at Gen 3, there was a fig tree in the garden probaly not far from the trees that were at the center of the garden, notice;

Gen 3
7  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

This heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:2)  is a city whose maker and builder is God, whom Abraham looked for (Heb 11:10).

Lots of questions....I have..

Blessings,
Petro

Yes, I see you have thought about this also..

The key to everything is the Water, like the Word of God, which gives life, cleanses from sin, heals, gives life to mortal bodies, brings to life a new Spirit;

In the case of seeds which lie dormant for years in the, ground, if this water which whichg waters all that is lacking is water.  But this water refered to in Ezekiel, is especially potent in it is life, which will radically change that part of the world.


Blessings,
Petro

My first thoughts are always that the trees are representative of LAW and GRACE. The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus(grace) has set us free from the LAW of SIN and DEATH (Tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

aw

Interesting question.

My thoughts are that, yes, it did impart eternal life until they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and died spiritually. Then God had mercy on them and stationed an angel to guard the tree of life lest they eat of it and live forever in sin.

I have lots of other questions and thoughts about the rest of Gen. 1 also.  Anyone else?

cris

chris,

Thanks for your reply, so then it is accurate to say;

The tree of life imparted Eternal Life, while the tree of knowledge of god and evil imparted Eternal Death.

So apparently Adam and Eve never ate of the fruit of The Tree of Life, otherwise they would have lived forever, without the possibility of redemption.

Prior to this there was no death, but since Gods plan was a complete plan, pointing Christ's  redemption gained by the shedding of  HIS blood  for remission of sins, then the sin of disobedience commited in the garden, had to be a sin, which affected the entire human race, is this why the Bible says;

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.  1 Cor 15:22
ro


Blessings

Pet

Yes and no.  If Adam and Eve were created to have eternal life, then eating of the Tree of Life wasn't going to impart MORE eternal life.  It just kept sustaining them.  The whole point as I see it is that they could lose eternal life by eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which they did.  That tree didn't impart eternal death.  God  made a way for them to come back.  They could be redeemed - praise God!

I think Adam and Eve did eat of the Tree of Life before they sinned but God put a stop to that by stationing an angel so that they wouldn't live eternally in sin without the possibility of redemption.


cris

And------moving right along.   ;D

chris,

So, would you say, that the plan God had, was complete from the begining     or,

Is it something He has been making up and or modifying as the generations began to drifted away from him, which will culminate in one final day of reckoning??


Blessings,
Petro

I'm not sure I'm following your train of thought.  The original question was whether the tree of life imparted eternal life.  My answer was yes it did UNTIL they ate of the tree of knowledge.  They then lost eternal life.  I could have excellent credit if I abide by the rules but the minute I break those rules I lose my credit standing.  I lose grace.  I can gain back my good standing if I prove my sorrow by abiding by the rules again.  It's very similiar to being in the garden with the one exception, I couldn't do it myself.  Christ had to do it for me.  Only through Him could I gain eternal life AGAIN.

chris,

Sorry,

Maybe I should have asked what you meant by;

You said in your previous post;

"Yes and no.  If Adam and Eve were created to have eternal life, then eating of the Tree of Life wasn't going to impart MORE eternal life.  It just kept sustaining them. "

I was not clear what you meant by this, what is it that sustained them??

Then you went on to say;

You said:

"That tree didn't impart eternal death. God  made a way for them to come back. "

This is why asked, if  you see the plan to bring them back as being a complete plan from the begining, since your statment seemed to imply the plan was made after they sinned by eating of the fruit of the tree.


Blessings,
Petro

I'm sorry, too.  I think God had a plan from the beginning and not after they sinned.  That tree of life may very well have been God Himself but I'm just speculating-God sustains us.  If the tree of knowledge imparted eternal death there could be no redemption.  It imparted a death but not for eternity.  Praise God!  To sin is to die but if we ask for forgiveness and repent then we're resurrected from that death.  Right?

It is interesting you would say this, since it is evident that those who are not saved, not only die eternally, put presently possess eternal death, isn't this what the Gospel teaches??


Amen, Christians after they are saved come to understand they were chosen in Christ from before the foundation of the World, having been elcted and predestinated by the good pleasure of his will.  Eph 1:3-11.

What is even more amazing, is that His blood covers all our sins, as we continue to sin, until the very last day of our life on earth, so that inspite of many offenses we will be justified, not because of anything we say or do, but because of His sacrificial death and resurrection..

God Bless,

Petro

Gen 2:9

9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
KJV

Gen 3:22-24

22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.

24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
KJV

Rev 2:7

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
KJV


The "bold"seems to me to emply they had not eaten of the tree.  

I would have to state that A&E did eat of the Tree of Life.  While in the garden they were to be immortal and always be with God.  God provided a means for them to keep their physical bodies forever.  God programmed our bodies to eventually fail and die.  But provided a means for man to physically live forever through the tree.  
The perfection of mans body initially is what is creditted with giving long life to the early men (900 years or so).  But God had initially wanted man to be there forever, so had to provide a means to keep the physical alive.  Thus He provided A&E with the tree of life.  And remember also that in Rev there will be a new heaven and earth to live upon.  Some believe that we will have new bodies as well, maybe the new bodies will need the tree of life to sustain them physically.

As far as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Ponder this if you will.

Verse 5 and 6 show us what the true nature of eating of the tree is.  It is called the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.  But look hard and what do you think knowledge of good and evil is?  I think everyone would tell you that it is the knowledge to tell what is good and what is evil.  Let me ask you a few questions then based on this you can tell me if they are good or evil.  Adolph Hitler, Mother Teresa, Coca Cola, Cocaine, abortion, salvation, gambling, lotteries.  As you can see this could go on and on for a while.  You could name something like Adolph Hitler and he would be almost unanimously voted as evil.  Whereas something like lotteries you may get mixed votes upon.  So who determined what is good and what was evil.  Before the fall of man there was only the definition that God had provided.
See up until the eating of the fruit Adam and Eve only had God there to let them know what to identify as good and evil.  But when they ate the fruit they then defined for themselves what is good and what is evil.  This is shown in verses 10 and 11, where Adam and Eve at the fruit and then hid from God.
When God asks where they are, Adam says "I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."  There is a whole lot of "I's" in that sentence.  Adam and Eve have also been naked since the beginning and God did not think it evil.  I am sure that if being naked were truly evil in God's eyes then he would not have let them run around naked.  So Adam and Eve knowing they were would not change the status of Adam and Eve being evil or anything.  But it shows that now man will define what is good and what is evil.  And they decided that being naked was evil and thus tried to hide themselves.
And we also know that it was God who defined good and evil when when he makes the statement "which I commanded."  Up until this time it was God who had defined good and evil.  And once Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit they chose to ignore God's judgement on what is good and what is evil and substitute their own judgement.  Up until that time they had knowledge of what was good and what was evil but they then chose to ignore God's definitions and substitute their own.
Before moving on to the next portion I would like to state that before Adam and Eve ate they had had their faith and trust in god.  Remember the word trust because we shall see it many many more times throughout this piece of work.
We are reinforced in verse 11 with the idea that eating of the fruit was man now defining what is good and what is evil.  When God says "who told you that you were naked?"  And if you look back you will see that it was Adam and Eve who told themselves they were naked.  And Adam even states it when responding to God about why he was hiding.  Remember "because I was naked; so I hid myself."

Carry on Tog..


Petro

Through out the Bible we see that when Israel was punished it was because they were no longer listening to what God was desiring.  They were not trusting in God's judgement.  
Example upon example of man not trusting in God, and not trusting that God would provide for them.  This is the underlying theme of the entire Bible.

The eating of the tree of the knowledge was not suddenly gaining the knowledge of what was good and evil but as Satan stated we would be like God...and that step was that we would be defining what was good and what was evil.  We would no longer be trusting God's holy judgement of good and evil but using our own.  

Even Jesus's teachings have an underlying theme of trusting in God to provide, trusing in God to grant everlasting life, if we not only believe but trust in Him.

Yes it was the tree of knowledge of good and evil...but it was not God's knowledge that it granted but a substitution of our own knowledge.  The moment A&E took a bite they basically stated that they knew better than God what was good and what was evil.  

Before that moment they knew God's definition of good and evil.  Evil being disobedience and eating of that which God had directed not to eat.  So they knew it was wrong and this was shown when Eve stated that God had said they should not.  

When reading the Bible keep that in mind that God wants us to trust in Him and then see what happens and what caused God's wrath.  You will find that in every case man substituted his own judgement over that of God.

Tog,

Amen, I agree..

It is clear, that like children trust their parents, one must trust God as a child at His word spoken by the Son.

He even said it;

Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.  (Mk 10:14-15)

Thank you for your contribution..


Blessings,
Petro