Revelation 22:1-2 And he showed me a
pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of
the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and
yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing
of the nations.
Ezekiel 47:5-12 Afterward he measured a
thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were
risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said
unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to
return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of
the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto
me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the
desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters
shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which
moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live... And by the river
upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for
meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it
shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they
issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf
thereof for medicine.
Genesis begins with God sending LIGHT into the world through His Word.
- John starts with
the beginning and Jesus being life, which was the light of men.
- We know Genesis'
"Let there be light" was not speaking about physical photons and radiation, but rather CHRIST,
because the sun and moon and stars with physical light came later into the
picture.
- But Christ was not
created.
- He simply CAME in
this form into the world.
- Truth.
- Revelation shows
Christ as Light, also.
- He is seen in seven
branching candlesticks, in the shape of a tree.
Revelation 1:10-13 I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, (11)
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest,
write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto
Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and
unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (12) And I turned to see the voice that
spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; (13) And in
the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a
garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
And at the end of Revelation
we see a River of life flowing forth FROM THE THRONE.
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure
river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb.
Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the
street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which
bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the
leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Jesus is shown to be the TREE OF
LIFE in Revelation 1.
- But yet notice the
statement Jesus makes as John sees Him in this "tree".
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and
was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of
hell and of death.
This is Jesus after His resurrection!
- This is notable.
- He spoke of His
suffering and glorification the day He rode into Jerusalem in
- the Triumphal
Kingdom Entry.
- Notice the language
he used.
John 12:23-25 And Jesus answered them,
saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it
abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit . He that loveth his
life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto
life eternal.
That said at HIS KINGDOM
ENTRY.
- In speaking of His
death and resurrection, He likened Himself to a seed.
- God told Satan in
the Garden that there would come a SEED of the woman.
- Christ is that Seed.
- And His death would
be the burial of that Seed, and resurrect as a stalk.
- And such plants
have branches.
- He would remain
ALONE, otherwise.
- It is not good that
ADAM BE ALONE.
- And Adam was meant
to multiply and fill the earth with his kind.
- Jesus is the LAST
ADAM.
- Adam was given
kingdom dominion.
- The kingdom must
overspread the world.
- So, in order to not
be alone and instead have MANY, Jesus, like Adam, laid down His life in death and resurrected as a
TREE WITH MANY BRANCHES AND FRUIT.
- And this matches
the words that John heard Christ speak in the vision of Revelation 1.
- He was dead and is
alive forever more.
- This is
RESURRECTION.
- So this "Tree" that
Christ calls Himself, together with the church, is literally THE RESURRECTION TREE.
- John 15 says we are
the branches and He is the vine.
- He referred to His
post-resurrection life.
- The resurrection
tree.
- God came to bring
LIFE back to man again.
- And it had to be
done through DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
- We are now part of
His body!
- We're the branches!
- And the reason He
spoke of losing your life to find it again, after noting he is a Seed that must be buried, is because
we connect to His RESURRECTION LIFE by being CRUCIFIED WITH HIM.
- I lost my old life
of sin when I was crucified with Him through faith.
- I was buried with
Him and arose with Him!
- We lose our lives
in His death on the cross, and gain them back again in RESURRECTION.
- Losing your life
and gaining it back is nothing less than resurrection!
- And you will gain
it back to life eternal, because YOU BECOME PART OF THE TREE OF LIFE!
- Think about it.
- When we were saved
and received eternal life, it is akin to the thought of eating the fruit of life.
- The SEED is the
fruit of Life is TRUTH.
- It is Jesus.
- He is the Truth.
- Paul said He
administered SPIRIT and LIFE to people when He preached.
2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us
able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit:
for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.
Then he said THE LORD IS
THAT SPIRIT.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that
Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
JESUS IS THE SPIRIT and TRUTH HE
ADMINISTERED.
- Jesus referred to
eating in order to gain eternal life, which connects His thoughts to the Tree of Life in the
Garden of Eden.
John 6:47-51 Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of
life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the
bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will
give for the life of the world.
John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and
drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
So He said HE IS THE TREE OF
LIFE.
- This reference to
eating His flesh and drinking His blood was repeated at the last supper.
- He said His flesh
was represented by the BREAD they would eat.
- His blood was
represented by the WINE they would drink.
- And his flesh being
broken spoke of the dying of the cross.
- So this all points
to the death and resurrection.
- Therefore, we see it’s a
RESURRECTION TREE OF LIFE.
- John saw Jesus in
the tree-shaped candlesticks, saying He was dead and is alive forevermore.
- And He ministered
to John touching Him while He said that.
- He explained that
the candlesticks are the churches!
- We're the branches!
- The candlesticks
were shaped like branches of an almond tree.
- What does this tell
you?
- We eat the fruit of
life from the tree of life, Christ Jesus, when we are saved.
- We who have Jesus
have eternal life!
- We're not going to
get eternal life, but we already have it!
- And then the TREE
OF LIFE is shown as a RESURRECTION TREE, and WE ARE PART OF IT!
- In other words, YOU
ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
- You BECOME A BRANCH
OF THE TREE OF LIFE when you eat of it.
- It’ like
eating of Jesus blood and body and becoming part of the BODY OF CHRIST!
- And in Revelation
22 we read of the TREE OF LIFE singular in the city.
- We read of two
distinguishing notes about it.
- Its fruit and its
leaves.
- Its 12 fruit gives
eternal life for each month of the year.
- Not just one kind
each month, but 12 kinds for 12 months!
- VARIETY!
- And its leaves are
for healing of the nations.
- Ezekiel saw the
same vision, but one thing was described differently in Ezekiel.
- MANY TREES.
- Leaves were also
for healing and fruit grew every month.
- However, Revelation
22 and Ezekiel 47 are really speaking of MANY TREES, both, because Revelation says the TREE WAS ON
BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER.
- This is a picture
of the CHURCH MEMBERS as all part of the TREE OF LIFE.
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that
walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree
planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf
also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Notice the LEAVES AND FRUIT are distinguished.
- The leaves will not
whither, because there always must be healing available to the world through our lives.
- And the note of
fruit in its season is also indicative of the same point Revelation 22 and Ezekiel 47 points out.
- Someone was a
branch of the tree of life to show me the way one day.
- And now I am part
of the tree.
- Church, you are
part of the RESURRECTION TREE OF LIFE.
- People will come to
YOU!
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be
holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
We are as holy as Jesus because we have HIS HOLINESS in our lives.
- He also gave us HIS
RIGHTEOUSNESS.
- Stay locked into
this RIVER -- the Holy Ghost is the river John 7:38-39.
- It stabilizes you.
- Soak up its life
from your roots.
- It keeps you
unmoveable!
One more point:
Song of Solomon 4:12 A garden enclosed
is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
We are also THE RIVER OF LIFE.
- But there can be a
problem.
- WE'RE SEALED UP.
- WE'RE SHUT UP.
- We need to open our
lives and get unsealed.
- Pull out the plugs!
- Let the River flow
from your life!
- "Oh, but Revelation
22 is about the time after the rapture! It's the city that
- we are GOING TO!
It's not us now."
- Wrong!
Hebrews 12:22 says WE ARE
COME TO THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ALREADY!
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount
Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels,
We are what Abraham looked
for!
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city
which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in
faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were
persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers
and pilgrims on the earth. (14) For they that say such things declare
plainly that they seek a country. (15) And truly, if they had been mindful of that
country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have
returned. (16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore
God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a
city.
And also, the following
words in Revelation 22 show that this is a NOW picture!
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the
bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
He did not say wait for 2000
years and then you can drink.
- He said come now!
- Come right now to
the waters!
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that
thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat;
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.