The Right to the Tree of Life.

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I think there is a whole lot about eternal life that we do not understand. The Lord said that the way to eternal life is narrow and few find it. Yet we say just accept Christ and you have all the eternal life there is to have. I think the problem arises because we think that "accepting Christ" means we will live forever in Heaven. Once we have our ticket, we think, we are kept out of Hell and will go to Heaven when we die. The Scripture does not teach anything like this. Rather the New Testament, which is the source for our understanding of eternal life, tells us that eternal life is a kind of life. It is not speaking of existing forever. And we have to lay hold of it after we have received Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Otherwise we lose it.

(7/15/2007) Think about the following two passages"

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Revelation 2:7)

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)

"The right to eat from the tree of life."

"The right to the tree of life."

"Him who overcomes."

"Wash their robes."

The Tree of Life is the Lord Jesus Christ (and in the time to come, those who are an integral part of the Lord Jesus Christ).

It is access to this Life that was lost through the rebellion of Adam and Eve.

Eternal life is a kind of life. There is biologic life, the life of blood, that we all experience. Then there is the eternal life that God experiences. Eternal life is life in the Presence of God; life filled with God. As such there is no tiredness, no death, no sickness, only love, joy, and peace.

The object of the Christian redemption is to redeem us to God as His children, and eternal life to us as the only kind of life suitable for God’s children.

Eternal life, the Life of God in Christ, is the goal of redemption. However, we do not receive it as a legal position on the basis of making a profession of belief in Christ. Rather, it is the Life of the Spirit of God that wars continually against our fleshly, sinful nature.

When we place our faith in the Lord Jesus for righteousness, instead of in the works of the Law of Moses, we have permission to eat from the Tree of Life, from Jesus Christ. But then we have to eat, obviously.

In order to eat from the Tree of Life we have to obey Christ at all times, every moment of every day and every night.

Let us say we are a Christian, and it has been emphasized to us that we are not to gossip. Then the Spirit of God points out to us that we are gossiping. We are to confess our sin to God. God is faithful to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. At this point we are eating from the Tree of Life and receiving into our personality the eternal Life of God.

But let us say that after having been warned, we continue to gossip. In this case we are not given to eat from the Tree of Life. Adamic life is prevailing in us, and adamic life is spiritual death.

Every day, by renouncing our sinful acts and looking to Christ for wisdom and strength, we eat from the Tree of Life. Every day eternal life gains more mastery over our thoughts, words, and actions. The end result of this is, when the Lord returns, we will be clothed with a body of eternal life, coming down over our resurrected flesh and bones.

If, on the other hand, we do not continually look to Christ for wisdom and strength that we may be able to turn away from our sinful behaviour, sin increases its mastery over our thoughts, words, and actions. When the Lord Jesus returns we will be clothed with the corruption and death we have sown. We will reveal in our body the sinful nature we have continued to obey.

The monumental error of our day is that Divine grace invalidates the Kingdom law of sowing and reaping. "Saved by grace" has come to mean that we go to Heaven to live forever even though we have not undergone the transformation unto eternal life. There is no scriptural basis whatever for this current fable. Being saved by grace, as the Apostle Paul uses the term means we now come to God by placing our faith in Christ instead of in the Law of Moses. The Law came by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The distinction is between Moses and Christ, not between faith and moral transformation.

"O for a thousand tongues!" O that I might be able to stand on a pinnacle somewhere and declare to the Church of Jesus Christ, "You are not relating correctly to Christ! You are calling Him Lord, Lord, but not doing what He taught! You are not keeping His commands!

Perhaps such a voice will sound one day with undeniable clarity through the mouths of a multitude of God’s ministers: "If you desire eternal life, the Life of God in Christ; you must turn from your sins. When you do you will be given to eat from the only Tree of Life.

But if you do not turn from your sinful behaviour, meanwhile maintaining you are going to go to Heaven (which is not the issue, the issue is God’s Life!) by professing belief in Christ, and are teaching this to people, you are going to face not only an angry Christ, but also angry people whom you have betrayed with your false teaching.

You can hear the morning sermon at morning. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

You can hear the evening sermon at evening. http://www.wor.org/audio/audio.htm

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