“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.”
(Revelation 22:1-3 ESV)
When Adam and Eve fell, when they sinned in the garden by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God declared that they would die. This was the punishment incurred by their sin. They didn’t die, however, right away.
But God did remove them from the Garden of Eden. And, in this way, he denied them access to the tree of life. He denied them access that they might not eat of this tree and live forever.
Ever since that time, man has endured the consequence of his sin. He’s faced suffering and death. And we’ve all witnessed and been touched by this reality.
The other consequence of sin we face is that of hell. This, Scripture refers to as the second death. It refers to an eternity of suffering away from the presence and the blessing of God.
God, however, was not content to leave us in this state. From the time of the fall, God gave the promise of a Savior. And that Savior, of course, was Jesus.
Jesus was born into the world in the natural way, although he was not conceived by man. Being conceived by the Spirit of God, he did not bear a sinful nature, as do you and I. He lived the perfect life that you and I are unable to live. He, then, gave his life on the cross. He died on the cross, paying the penalty of our sin. And he rose from the grave, that we might be justified.
As the punishment of our sin has been paid, the consequence of sin will soon become a thing of the past. We see this in the passage above. When Jesus returns, and when the new heavens and earth come to be, our access to life will be restored.
We see the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb, through the middle of the street of the city. The Father and the Son, then, are the source of this river of life. And, as it flows through the city, we will all have access to its life-giving waters.
In the same way, on either side of the river, will be the tree of life. And this describes not only a single tree, but an entire forest. The tree of life will grow abundantly and the fruit of this tree will be always available.
The leaves of the tree, we’re told, are for the healing of the nations. They restore the nations. All people will have access to this wondrous blessing.
No longer will anything be accursed, we are told. As sin is a thing of the past, so too will be its consequences. And we will live forever in God’s blessing.
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