When God created man, He formed him from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Then God prepared a garden for the man to care for. God caused every tree that was beautiful in appearance and good for food to grow in the garden. In the midst of the garden, God caused the tree of life to grow, as well as the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’”

This was God’s first promise to man. If the man would obey God and not eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man would have the opportunity and the right to eat of the tree of life. God made the tree of life available for man to freely eat from, as well as from any other tree in the garden. God’s only requirement was that the man not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Before the man could eat of the tree of life, Satan, the serpent, came and spoke to the man’s wife and deceived her into believing that the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was actually good to eat. He convinced her that God was not good and was withholding the best from them because He did not want them to become wise like God Himself, knowing good and evil.

After the man’s wife had become deceived and had eaten of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she gave some to her husband and he ate of it. After man rebelled by disobeying God’s commandment not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God intervened and stopped the man and his wife before they could eat of the tree of life.

In God’s judgment upon Satan and his deception, God cursed the serpent and made a second promise. God promised that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent and that the serpent would bruise his heel. This promise foretold God’s deliverance of man from Satan’s power through Christ’s death and resurrection.

God then cursed the ground because of man’s rebellion, man’s sin. God told the man and his wife that because of their sin, their lives would become hard and full of painful labor all of the days of their lives. Then God took His most drastic step in His judgment on man’s sin. He blocked the way to the tree of life. Because of his sin, man no longer had free access to eternal life. Man would die because of his sin, because of his rebellion against God.

The sin nature, the natural tendency to rebel against authority, had now taken up residence in the body of man. Sin now lived in man’s flesh. However, it did not just live in man; it took control of man and enslaved man to sin. Paul’s account of this sad situation of the unregenerate man is set forth for us in Romans 7:14, “I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” He continues in verse 17, “So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.”

Finally in verse 18 Paul says, “For the desire to do what is good is with me, but there is no ability to do it” (HCSB). Fortunately for the born-again believer, through the empowering of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is the ability to do every good thing that the Lord commands us to do.

Man’s access to the tree of life is blocked because of the sin of rebellion that man committed and because sin is now in man. By Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, the blood that Christ shed paid the price for the sins that man has committed. The power of Satan, sins dominion over man, was also broken through Christ’s death and resurrection. However, sin still remains in man’s flesh, preventing man from receiving eternal life.

By believing in Christ Jesus as Lord, man is born again by the Holy Spirit making man’s spirit alive and coming to dwell in it. God gives His Holy Spirit to the believer as a guarantee of the inheritance of the promises that God has made, if man remains in Christ, faithfully enduring unto the end, even unto death. The indwelling Holy Spirit empowers the believer to be holy, living a life in faithful obedience to Christ. This Spirit also pours out the love of God into the believer’s heart enabling the believer to love God and to love one another as Christ has commanded them.

Many believe that a believer receives eternal life when they are born again. There are several verses that seem to indicate this. However, upon closer examination, we see that the meaning of these verses suggests otherwise.

One of these verses is John 3:36 which says, “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (KJV). Another is John 6:47 which says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (KJV).

The word “hath” in these verses is translated from the Greek word “echo” meaning “to hold,” referring to the ability or condition of holding. In other words, it refers to something that you have the ability to receive if the required conditions are met. It is reminiscent of John 1:12 which says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.”

Believers now have the full promises of God restored to them. They now have the opportunity, through faithful obedience, to receive all of God’s promises, including eternal life. The believer is back to a situation very similar to that of Adam in the garden of Eden. Adam had two sources of life that he could choose to live by. Adam could choose to live by the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or he could choose to live by the fruit of the tree of life.

One, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where God is disrespected and disobeyed, where man is enabled to live in whatever way seems right to him, the end of which is death. The other, the tree of life, where God is believed and trusted as one that is good and wants the best for man, the end of which is eternal life.

The born-again believer has now a similar situation. He has two natures, two different sources according to which he can choose to live. He can choose to live according to the flesh, or he can choose to live according to the Spirit.

He is no longer a slave to sin, under sin’s control and domination. He can however choose to disrespect God and disobey God and live according to the lustful desires of the flesh, which leads to death. Or he can choose to believe God, trusting and honoring God as one that is good and desires and promises to provide only the best for man. The believer does this by living a life in humble obedience to the indwelling Holy Spirit, resulting in sanctification, the end of which is eternal life (Romans 6:22) .

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:50, “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” We will be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

When we are born again, we obtain an inheritance. Ephesians 1:11 says, “We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.” He has given the ability through the empowering of the indwelling Holy Spirit to eventually, if we endure to the end, receive the inheritance that has been promised to the faithful, to the victor.

When we were born again, God qualified us by placing us into Christ to receive the inheritance among the saints. Colossians 1:12 says, “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” Colossians 3:24 says, “From the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.”

Hebrews 12:17 says of Esau who sold his birthright, “For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.” May none of us be like Esau who failed to understand the significance of his birthright and therefore did not value it as something extremely precious. Instead, he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew.

Eternal life is the birthright of every born-again believer. May we reflect on how precious this birthright of ours really is. May we value it above all else. Jesus tells us in John 17:3, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

This is exactly what Paul was talking about in Philippians 3:8 where he says, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” Again, in verse 10 Paul says, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

Paul writes in I Corinthians 13, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” When Jesus returns, we shall see Him face to face. When He returns, and the veil of our flesh is removed, and we shall know Him as fully as we are known.

1 Peter 3:9 says, “You were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.” Is there any greater blessing than this, that we may know Him, that we might inherit eternal life? This is the purpose for which we have been called.

1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”

Matthew 19:29 says, “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life.” Jesus said in Mark 10:29-30, “I assure you there is no one who has left house, brothers or sisters, mother or father, children, or fields because of Me and the gospel, who will not receive 100 times more, now at this time – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and eternal life in the age to come” (HCSB).

Matthew 25:34 says, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’” 1 John 2:25 says, “This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.”

In Revelation 2:7, Jesus promises to give the victorious Christian in the church in Ephesus the right to eat of the tree of life. He says, “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. I will give the victor the right to eat from the tree of life” (HCSB).

John tells us in Revelation 21:1-5, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.’ And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’

“The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son” (Revelation 21:7, HCSB).

May we each endure to the end, loving nothing or no one more than our Lord Jesus Christ, that we might reign with Him and inherit all the blessings that God has promised to the faithful, to The Victorious Christian!

Writings By Jon von Ernst

The Lord of All Things Series - A Trilogy of Truth 
Books in this series:
Book 1 - The Gospel of the Kingdom
Book 2- The Victorious Christian
Book 3 - Walking in the Light  -  Following in His Steps

*- Audio of these books are available free of charge at thepureword.net.