JGenesis 3:24
So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He
stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every
direction, to guard the way to the tree of life.
NASB
In the name of the one who guards eternal life, amen.
The tree of life belonged to us from the very beginning. It was in the
garden to give us eternal life. At first reading the passage quoted
above appears to be stern judgement. We are kept from the tree of life.
But it is really God's grace that moved Him to this action. Man had
experienced evil--something He was not supposed to do. He was infected
with eternal death. If he ate from the tree of life now, he would live
forever in his sin and be like Satan and his angels living in pain. Bear
in mind that in paradise we will neither marry, nor be given in marriage.
If procreation stopped at this point, then there would not have been a
Savior born from the Virgin because the Virgin would never have been
born. Man would not have the "second chance" that God was providing in
the Seed of the Woman.
Instead, the lord would give man access to the tree of life in a very
special form. That special form of the tree of life was the cross on
which Jesus died. We now eat the fruit of that tree in the Holy Supper
and are cured of death. We have been poisoned with evil, but Jesus gave
us the antidote--His own body and blood that hung on the tree.
How strange and wonderful is the mind of God. He gave us eternal life by
keeping us from it. Instead of living forever as evil creatures in
torment, we will live forever as holy ones in bliss because He guarded
the way of life. Glory and honor, praise and thanks be to our God for
His wisdom! Amen.
Heavenly Father we are infected with sin passed on from our parents. On
our own we would reach out our hand a eat from the tree of life and live
forever in our sins. But in your grace you kept us from such a foolish
act until the time when our savior would give us the fruit from the tree
of life in such a way that it would first remove our guilt. We thank you
for this and ask that you would guard our faith by your Holy Spirit so
that we can thank and praise your glorious name forever. We ask this by
the sacrifice of Your Son, our Savior Jesus, amen.