Genesis 3:22 Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—'(ESV)
In the beginning, there was a tree. Not just any tree — the Tree of Life. Planted by God. Positioned in Eden. Rooted in peace. Bearing fruit for eternity. It wasn’t a metaphor. It was real. And it was powerful.
Scripture tells us that if Adam had eaten from that tree after the fall, he would have lived forever in a broken state. God barred the way. Not out of spite — but out of mercy. To live forever apart from redemption is not salvation — it is judgment.
⚓ The Tree of Life Was a Gift With Boundaries
Before the fall, Adam and Eve could eat freely from the Tree of Life. Eternal life wasn’t earned — it was received through obedience and ongoing fellowship. But the moment sin entered, access was revoked.
Genesis 3:24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.(ESV)
The tree remained. But the way back was closed. Guarded. Blocked.
Because sin had created a barrier between life and death. The Tree of Life stood as a silent witness — to what was lost and what must be restored.
✒️ Another Tree Appears
Thousands of years later, another tree rises.
Not in a garden. Not in paradise. But on a barren hill outside Jerusalem.
It doesn’t grow from the ground — it’s raised by human hands.
Not lush with fruit — but rough with splinters. Not guarded by angels — but surrounded by soldiers. Not bearing life — but bearing a man.
A man who knew no sin.
A man who did not deserve death.
A man who chose the tree.
⚒️ He Was Nailed to a Tree So We Could Eat Again
Acts 5:30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.(ESV)
This language isn’t poetic.
It’s intentional.
- Peter calls the cross a tree.
- Paul calls the cross a tree (Galatians 3:13).
- Isaiah said He would bear our sins on wood that wasn’t His.
Why? Because this wasn’t just about death. It was about restoration. It was about planting something eternal where everything once died. The cross wasn’t the first tree.
It was the only one that could undo the curse of the first.
🔥 From Judgment to Joy
Jesus didn’t just die on the tree. He died to redeem the tree. What was once a symbol of shame became the place where shame was carried.
What was once a sign of judgment became the instrument of mercy.
- Eden’s tree had been lost to man.
- This one was lifted up for all men to see.
And in dying, He said: “Today you will be with Me in paradise.”
The door had been closed in Genesis. Jesus opened it on a hill called Golgotha.
🔥🌿 The Twist You Didn’t See Coming
There’s one more tree you’ve seen before. Not in Genesis. Not in Revelation.
In Egypt.
In Exodus 12, a lamb is killed. Its blood is painted on the vertical and horizontal beams of a doorframe. The angel of death passes over every house covered by the blood.
Sound familiar?
The Passover doorframe was a preview of the cross.
A vertical beam. A horizontal beam. Blood spilled. Death passing over. Salvation for those inside. The cross wasn’t just a tree.
It was a threshold.
The true Tree of Life, planted once and for all, became the doorpost of deliverance.
🌿 Closing Reflection
The first tree gave life. The second tree gave it back. The third tree — the one in Revelation — waits for all who’ve passed beneath the blood.
You don’t get back to Eden by reaching for the fruit. You get there by kneeling at the cross.
He died on the tree. He opened the gate. He is the life. And when you pass beneath that blood-stained wood, death passes over.
And you live forever.
[⚓ Floatie] [✒️ Forge] [⚒️ Anvil] [🔥 Ember] [🌿 Covenant Triumph]
This post follows the Forge Baseline Rule—layered truth for the discerning remnant.
Walking With Christ 
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