243 The Revelation of Jesus Christ The reference here to the tree of life opens up a beautiful line of thought. The first time the tree of life appears is in the Garden of Eden, side by side with the tree of responsibility. The latter represents man's responsibility to God. In this man failed miserably. He partook of the forbidden fruit, and became a fallen creature. As another has pointed out: ".The tree of life as yet had not been touched, and God said: 'Lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever' (which would have perpetuated his sinful condition); therefore, the Lord God sent him forth from the Garden of Eden. 'He drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.' Thus the sword was fixed to keep the tree of life, and there it remained until the time of Christ. In due time the Lord Jesus humbled Himself, and became a man, and was 'obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross.' He became, if we may so speak, the tree of responsibility, and there at Calvary's Cross, He bore the terrible debt which we, by our sins, had incurred. 'He who knew no sin was made sin for us.' Having fully met the responsibility of man to God, He now comes forth in resurrection as the tree of life, but no flaming sword is there. That is removed. It has been sheathed in His side. Now, as the risen One, He is the Tree of Life, and all are welcome to partake of Him for Life which is to be found nowhere else. 'Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blo_od, ye have no life in you.• The risen Christ is the Tree of Life now, and here we find that Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God-in the midst of that glorious city. So that you see we have it in the beginning of the Book of God, and we have it in the very last chapter of the same; and the principle of it runs right through the whole thing. Then we flnd that this tree of life yields twelve manner of fruits, and yields that fruit every month. Twelve is the number, figuratively, of administrative completeness. There are twelve apostles and there are twelve tribes. There are twelve gates, and so here twelve manner of fruits. Surely we are taught here that there will be a continual unfolding of the varied beauties and glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, on which our souls shall feed throughout the countless ages of eternity. There will be no such thing as monotony in heaven. When you
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