WEEK NINE
“THE BEAUTY & FALL of Ms. EVIE”
PART TWO… ‘WHAT’S IN PARADISE?’
CHAPTER
SEVEN: “TWO TREES EDEN” (PART ONE)
NOTE TO
YOU THE READER… Although I may give reference to a Scripture, I encourage you
in each study to take your Bible and read it for yourself. If a verse speaks to
you, feel the freedom to highlight or underline it in your personal Bible, and
date it in the margin noting the day God spoke through His Word!
If I give READING
ASSIGNMENTS and QUESTIONS, I also encourage you to do them, for that will shine
more light on our topic.
In the Garden of Eden God
had placed all the best and prime trees to grow in the rich soil, and buried
deep were their roots. This ‘Garden’ was a perfect portrait, showing off God’s extraordinary
creation. Throughout the Garden were trees of different heights, shapes and
color that would mesmerize the eye of the beholder! God’s ‘Garden’ (as it’s referred to in some references) was enriched with trees yielding fruit that
gave the taste of gratefulness to its partakers…Adam and Eve.
POINTS to MAKE…
POINT
ONE…. “THE TREE OF LIFE”
The Tree of Life signifies ‘LIFE’… To LIVE
There, in
the middle of the Garden of Eden, stood two trees. (Genesis 2:9) God told Adam and Eve
they could eat the fruit from one of these two trees… the Tree of Life. (Genesis 2:16)
From Matthew
Henry’s Commentary… The Tree of Life was chiefly intended
to be a sign and seal to Adam, assuring them of the continuance of life and
happiness, even to immortality and everlasting bliss, through grace and favor
of his Maker, upon condition of his perseverance in this state of innocence and
obedience. Of this Man could eat.
Genesis 2:16… And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat
from any tree in the garden…”
1. This
is telling us that there was some form of fruit on the ‘tree’ for food.
2. The
‘tree’ was also a symbolic sign and a
seal to Adam and Eve assuring them the continuance of life and happiness in
this state of innocence and obedience… if they kept His commandment… “…but you must not eat from the ‘tree of knowledge of good
and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
(Gen 2:17)
3. This
showed that God’s will and intention for them was giving everlasting life
as well as food for their physical life, however, it came with a command...
disobey, and life as they knew it would (and did)
change.
NOTEWORTHY:
The pleasure of living in God’s paradise was contingent upon Adam and
Eve ‘keeping’ God’s one and only commandment to them.
POINT TWO…. “OUR TREE & BREAD OF LFE”
Christ
is now to us the “Tree & Bread of Life”...
“Tree
of Life”… READ…Rev 2:7; John 5:21; John 6:63
The
“Bread of Life”… John 6:33,35,48,58.
NOTEWORTHY:
The TREE of LIFE is now Jesus
Christ. God sent His Son to earth to die for us that we may have everlasting
life. John 3:16 & 10:10
God loved
us, YOU and ME, so much that He sent His Son that we could live forever with
Him! Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior so that you will continue to
have life after you die??
It is communicated to
the believer in 1 Thess. 5:9-10 that our salvation with God through Christ is not
interrupted by our physical death, but that we will find our blessed rewards with
God in the life to come.
What do I
mean by…the life to come???
We
were created for a PURPOSE, and for that reason, God gives us His PROMISE!
READ 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 to hear what ‘PURPOSE’ God ‘fashioned’ (wording from NIV) us
for!
What was
God’s ‘PROMISE’ to us? READ Revelation 22:14… ‘…that they may have the
right to the tree of life and may enter the city (heaven) by the gates.’ (the life to come)
(If you read a little further you will read where
Jesus calls Himself the… “BRIGHT MORNING STAR”… Revelation 22:16b I had to have
you read that part too!)
Admission through
the gates of the city in heaven is made available to only those who believe in
Jesus and accept Him in their hearts. Jesus says in John 14:6… “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.” Simply put…NO ONE will
enter the gates of heaven without first going to Christ for salvation!
I sincerely hope as you read this that you know without doubt you will be among
the ones walking the streets of gold in heaven!!!
Luke 13:24…
“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,
because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.” What or Who is the ‘door’?
What’s the message in this verse?
ALSO,
READ
John 1:12 & 10:10; Acts 3:19 &
Romans 10:9
· What are these verses
telling us?
· Have these Words at one time
in your life spoken to you?
· When?
· Have you taken them to heart
and accepted Jesus as your Savior and know without a doubt that the very moment
you take your last breath you will enter those gates of heaven and see Jesus
face-to-face? If you need to talk to someone about receiving eternal life,
contact me personally or seek for someone within the church who will know how
to explain this to you.
Yes, Christ
Jesus is now to us the tree and bread of life! READ John 6:35 & 48. Eternal life and a
one-on-one relationship with the Creator of the universe can be a reality for us,
now and forever.
POINT FOUR…. “OUR GREATEST GIFT IS OUR SALVATION!!”
The greatest gift of all that is given to
us is our Salvation in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:8… “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from
yourself; it is God’s gift.” (HCSBible)
READ John 4:10… Answer these questions…
1.
Who
was speaking in verse 10?
2.
What
is the ‘living water’ that is
mentioned?
3.
How
does the ‘water’ mentioned in this
verse benefit us?
4.
What
is the ‘water’ a representation of?
SUMMING
IT UP… God’s desire for
Adam and Eve was to remain in this state of worship and obedience that He was
receiving from them at this time. (Refer back to last week’s study of what we
learned in POINT THREE the kind of intimate relationship they had with God) God’s desire
for the first couple was to remain in immortality and to continue in happiness
and everlasting bliss.
NOTEWORTHY:
God gave permission before He gave restriction! The wide permission
was that Adam and Eve could eat from any tree; while the restriction was a narrow
command… “However, do not eat from this tree; the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil.”
This will take us to next week’s study
continuing on with PART TWO of “TWO
TREES EDEN” where our focus will be… “What’s Behind Door Number Two?” Number
Two Tree!! The most deadly tree of all time!!!
AND THIS WEEK’s MESSAGE IS?”
The Message Is…
· Adam
and Eve had access to the fruit from the Tree of Life for their physical life, but
it also was a symbol of God’s will and intention of giving everlasting life and
happiness in their state of innocence.
· The
pleasure of living in God’s paradise was contingent upon Adam and Eve ‘keeping’
God’s one and only commandment to them.
· In God’s limitless Grace, He gave
permission before He gave restriction!
· Access
to the gates of the city in heaven is made available to only those who believe
and accept Jesus in their hearts as it tells us in John 14:6…
· Christ
Jesus is now to us the Tree and Bread of Life! But to all unbelievers, the
promise of eternal life will be excluded from entering the gates of heaven.
· We were created for a PURPOSE, and for
that reason, God gives us His PROMISE!
· The greatest gift of all that is
given to us is our Salvation. John 3:16
1st MEMORY
STATEMENT… “I am so
thankful that Christ
is now to me the Tree and the Bread of Life! For I know without doubt that when I take my
last breath on this earth I will immediately enter the gates of heaven!”
2nd MEMORY
STATEMENT … “I
was created for a PURPOSE, and for that reason, God has given me His PROMISE!
3rd MEMORY
STATEMENT … I do
not take it lightly, but instead; with great humbleness I give THANKS, for I
have peace in knowing that… The
greatest gift of all that was given to me is my Salvation! It is my Gift from
God! Thank You, Jesus!!!”
READING ASSIGNMENT for the WEEK:
READ…Ps. 36:9; John 1:4; 1 John 1:1-2 & 5:20… Who is the ‘light’ referred to in these verses?
ALSO, READ Ephesians 2
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER…
1. Verse 2: Who are the ‘ruler’ and the
‘spirit’ that Paul is referring to?
2. Verse 3: “we were
by nature objects of wrath.” Explain
that statement. (Also see Romans 1:18-20; 2:5)
3. Verse 4: Describe in your words the
meaning of the word mentioned in this verse… ‘GRACE.’
4. Verse 7: What are His… ‘incomparable riches’ ?
5. Verses 8-9: If an unbeliever or a
new Christian would to ask you to explain those two verses, in your words how
would you explain it to them?
6. Verse 10: It says… What does Paul
mean in the words… ”…which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ?
May God’s bountiful blessings be upon
everyone this week until we come together again next week to continue… “TWO
TREES EDEN.”
cj
P.S.
Upon your death on this earth, will you enter the gates of heaven and
see Jesus face to face and live eternally with Him in heaven’s paradise? If you
can’t answer YES to that question, I urge you to quickly seek God’s gift! It’s
as simple as saying this prayer from your heart…
“Father God in heaven, I now realize that I am a sinner and
if I died today I would not have a place in heaven with You! I now truly believe that You sent Jesus as the
Tree of Life for me and I am asking You to forgive me of my sins, for I want to
receive Your gift of eternal life into my heart. I so desire a life with You as
my Lord and Savior while I walk on this earth! It is in Jesus’ name that I ask
for this gift. Amen.”
If you prayed this prayer today from your
heart, WELCOME to the KINGDOM of GOD as now you are a CHILD of THE KING!!! I
rejoice over your decision and do so want to hear from you!!!
Or if you still have questions, please feel
free to contact me by leaving a comment below or you can contact me personally
by the email… cjfspeaker@yahoo.com
In
the middle of our hearts is where we will find our
“TREE
OF LIFE!"
1-30-13
