Responsibility and Life

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In the Garden of Eden were planted two trees — “the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil” (Gen. 2:99And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:9)). Looked at separately, they bring before us those two of whom we read in 1 Corinthians 15:47 — “the first man [Adam] is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.”
The Two Trees
From the position in Paradise of the tree of life (for it distinctly states that it grew “in the midst of the garden”) we learn that CHRIST has always been God’s center, although the six days of creation, with Adam as its head, were first developed. But along with the tree of life (and in the same place) is found the “tree of knowledge of good and evil,” for Eve says, speaking of this tree, that its place too is “in the midst of the garden” (Gen. 3:33But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:3)). As to the “tree of life,” it is clear that it could only refer to Christ (Rev. 2:77He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)), and in the fact that both are “in the midst of the garden” we see that both are united in Him. Our responsibility, as of Adam, has been taken up and met in Him and by Him. He is thus God’s center, and life is His by acquired right. Around Him, as the tree of life in the eternal state, God will group (as He did in type in Eden), “every tree that is pleasant to the eye, and good for food.” For Adam (Christ) himself there will be found one (Eve) of himself too (type of the church) to enter into and to share with him in all that he has, as thus set in enjoyment over all things, for it was in the garden, before man fell, that Eve was brought to Adam. The creation in Genesis is God’s picture, in type and shadow, of the purpose of His heart concerning Christ — a purpose hidden in the past ages, but existing there from all eternity, long before the foundation of the world, and now made known to faith (Eph. 1:9-10; 3:9-119Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: (Ephesians 1:9‑10)
9And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: 10To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, 11According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: (Ephesians 3:9‑11)). It is to this that God refers when, in view of all that sin, sorrow and death have done in the first creation, we read, “He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:55And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. (Revelation 21:5)). All is based, not on the first man, but on the second.
The Tree of Life
It does not appear that the “tree of life” was forbidden to man before he fell. He was set up in Paradise in life, and with this word: “Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Gen. 2:16-1716And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. (Genesis 2:16‑17)). Adam was responsible to live in that state in which God had created him; that is, he was to know nothing more, neither good nor evil. But this was responsibility, and on this ground all was lost. Sin entered, and the law proved it; it showed how complete the ruin was.
For the first time, then, after the fall, it appears the “tree of life” was forbidden to man, a most gracious provision on the part of God. Man had acquired the knowledge of good (and God was its source), but without power to act upon it or to please Him (Rom. 7:1818For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)). He had also acquired the knowledge of evil, and along with that a nature always prone to follow it. Now God speaks, and He says, “The man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gen. 3:2222And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: (Genesis 3:22)). To eat, and by thus eating to live forever in that state of innocence in which God had first created him, would have been simple obedience, but to eat and live forever in the garden, with the knowledge of good and evil (good to which he could never attain and evil to which he was always prone), in misery therefore, God could not allow. “So He drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the Garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Gen. 3:2424So 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. (Genesis 3:24)). This was grace, not judgment, for the judgment was pronounced before. But life is distinctly refused to a responsible but a fallen race in that condition.
Jesus in Grace
But Jesus, standing in perfect grace in the place of the responsible man at the cross, glorifies God. Tried and tested in every way all through His life, which ended in the cross, all that man should have been for God, He was. It is true that all was over for the first man, and life is refused to everyone on that ground. The “flaming sword” is the sword of judgment to any advancing to take of life. But now only the second Man stands before God, and He who in Himself has met all the claims of justice for the responsible man and who has also, as Man, perfectly met the heart of God has it as His right to take of the “tree of life” in the midst of the garden. Can the partaking of the “tree of life” be withheld from Him who has thus, as Man, perfectly answered all the responsibility of the first man? No, and at the solemn moment of yielding up His life on earth, He thus speaks: “I lay down My life that I might take it again” (John 10:1717Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. (John 10:17)). We see in this God’s one central thought — to establish everything in heaven and earth upon Christ. God will have Him as the center of all His ways of grace to man throughout eternity. All is for His enjoyment, and He in perfect grace hands these things to us, associating us with Himself, for Eve was co-sharer with Adam in it all.
Eternal Life
Moreover, in Christianity life is first unfolded as “eternal” (Titus 1:22In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; (Titus 1:2)), for it is the life of Christ Himself as the risen One out of death. Life in Eden would have been endless, and therefore “eternal” in that sense, but it would have depended on man’s continuous obedience. Now we have the obedience (His) absolutely perfect at the beginning, tested as He was in every possible way, and life as the result (Rom. 5:1919For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)). So it must necessarily be “eternal,” for the value of the work done always abides before God.
The Right to Life
In Psalm 21:2,42Thou hast given him his heart's desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah. (Psalm 21:2)
4He asked life of thee, and thou gavest it him, even length of days for ever and ever. (Psalm 21:4), Jesus is also before us as the One who has acquired, as Man, the right to life: “Thou hast given Him His heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of His lips.  ...  He asked life of Thee, and Thou gavest it Him, even length of days forever and ever.” To this the Apostle refers also in Hebrews 5:77Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (Hebrews 5:7). But being heard (as in Psa. 22) “from the horns of the unicorns,” He associates us in all that blessing into which He then enters as Man. “I will declare Thy name unto My brethren; in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto Thee” (Heb. 2:1212Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (Hebrews 2:12)). This was also fulfilled in John 20:1717Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17). In that song grace has given us the privilege to join.
It is a relief to the heart to expand — to turn away from its little self — and to see God working for the glory of His beloved Son, to whom we are necessary, as a part of that glory into which God will bring Him (Eph. 3:2121Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. (Ephesians 3:21)). We see now everything established on an immutable basis; the first man no longer before God, but the second, to whom the name “The Eternal Life” now attaches in a twofold way. We know that, through grace, we are eternally united to Him, since, as John says, “This is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (1 John 5:1111He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. (John 5:11)). We can look back along the dim vista of the ages to see this His purpose shining brightly in the “garden of delight,” which sin spoiled, and look forward to what it will yet be, when all shall be in divine order around Him who is, to all eternity, to be the center in the midst of the “Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:77He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)).
H. C. Anstey (adapted)