How 3 Biblical Trees Reveal the Wonder of Salvation

We see the significance of two trees from the start of Scripture in Genesis 2, where the tree of life and tree of the knowledge of good and evil are mentioned.

Genesis 2:9 says, “The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Adam and Eve were only given one rule that they were not able to obey. God told them that they could eat from any tree, except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We see right from the start that Adam and Eve had access to the tree of life or the tree of death, but they could not partake in both.

Genesis 2:16-17 says, “And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’”

There is no specific mention of the tree of life being off limits to Adam and Eve. In fact, after they sinned and took the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3, we see God placing cherubim with flaming swords around the tree of life to protect them from eating of it. How could holy be in relationship with unholy? How could perfect be with sin?

Think about oil and water. Megan Arnett from Scientific American shares, “Oils are hydrophobic, or 'water fearing.’ Instead of being attracted to water molecules, oil molecules are repelled by them. As a result, when you add oil to a cup of water the two don’t mix with each other.” This is a great visual of holiness and sin. Our perfect God is pure and Living Water. We are filthy like oil, as holy as we try to become, once sin (or oil) enters our lives, there is immediate separation and repelling from the Lord. Sin separates us from God like oil separates from water.

Megan goes on to share about an amazing activity, when dish detergent is added to the mix, she explains how it acts as a bonging agent for the oil and water. It bridges the oil and the water so they are no longer clearly separated, but are brought together. This is like Jesus. This is why we needed a Savior. God did not leave us separated because of the tree of death, so He became sin for us so we could have His righteousness. From the start, God the Creator had a redemption plan that involved another tree to rescue us back to Himself.

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We see humanity fall into sin and death at a tree and later, our Savior Jesus came and died on a cross made from a tree to take on our sin and our death.

There is a beautiful worship song by Lacey Sturm called “Mercy Tree.” The chorus says, “It is finished, was His cry. The perfect lamb was crucified His sacrifice, our victory, Our Savior chose the Mercy Tree.” Jesus died on a cross that was made of wood, from a tree. Let this sink in. Jesus is also referred to as the Last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:22). This is because He redeemed and saved all who believed and all who ever will believe in Him. He did what the first Adam could not do, lived the perfect life in 100% obedience to the Father.

Acts 5:29-32 says, “But Peter and the other apostles replied, ‘We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.’”

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Not only was a tree present at the crucifixion, we read in Revelation 22 that the Tree of Life is planted by the river at the throne of God and the Lamb.

Revelations 22:1-2 says, “Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

The Greek words used for tree of life are xylon zōēs. Xylon means “stood a tree” and appears also in Acts 16:24, 1 Peter 2:24, Revelations 18:12, 22:2, and 22:14. 1 Peter 2:24 in particular says, "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.” Zōēs means “of life” in Greek. It is the same word used when Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life in John 5:29. Zōēs is used when Jesus described Himself as the Bread of Life in John 6:35, the book of life in Philippians 4:3, and eternal life in many instances.

As we observe Revelation 22:1-2, we see that on either side of the river stood the tree of life. Instead of a tree that leads to life and a tree that leads to death, we now see the future has a tree of life on each side. Because of Jesus, we no longer have to worry about our destination ending in death. We can be reunited with God the Father. We also have the gift of the Holy Spirit with us today.

As we admire the strategic work of God, that He threads every detail of His redemptive plan into place, we can be in awe of His working power in our lives and the hope that we have as believers in Christ who are saved by grace though faith in Jesus. There is no more tree of death, Jesus took it on for us and we now look forward to seeing the tree of life again in the presence of God.

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