Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek

Blessed are those who find wisdom,
    those who gain understanding,

She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her;
    those who hold her fast will be blessed.

–Proverbs 3:13, 18

     The Tree of Life was found in the Garden of Eden, a perfect paradise where mankind enjoyed uninhibited, life-giving relationship with God.  Adam and Eve freely ate from the Tree of Life and enjoyed the Presence of their Creator in that beautiful place.  But sin entered the world by their disobedience and with sin came all kinds of corrosive effects including sickness and death.  But even when God described the curse they had brought upon themselves and His creation, He also promised One who would deliver them and bring restoration.

     That promised One was Jesus.  In the Garden of Gethsemane He began to take all the sin of the entire human race upon Himself, to the point of becoming sin for us and died upon a tree, the cross.  He conquered sin and death by dying in our place, was laid in a garden tomb, and rose again to life three days later.  By the undeserved favor of God through belief and trust in Jesus, we can have be restored to right relationship with God the Father.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. 

The Words of God are like seeds of the Tree of Life that are sown in our hearts.  We receive the Word by choosing to believe in Him, confess our sins and that Jesus is Lord, and repent, which means to turn away from sin in order to follow Jesus.  At that moment we are grafted in to the True Vine and from His life-giving source we receive the nurture we need to grow to become solid oaks of righteousness, a mighty planting for the Lord.

     As we grow up in our salvation, we learn more about who we are in Jesus, where we fit in His Kingdom, and our amazing destiny as part of the eternal family of God.  Through this process of sanctification and spiritual growth, we put down deep roots in the doctrines of the Word of God and we are watered by the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.  We grow together with our brothers and sisters in the Lord as a sacred grove for His glory. 

One day, we will see Him face to face, our tears will be wiped away, we will experience total healing in every way, and have perfect unity and harmony with God and with one another.  We will have unimaginable adventures in the New Heaven and the New Earth and in the middle of it all will be the Tree of Life.  Our home will be the peaceful New Eden, an eternal paradise in the Presence of Almighty God.

And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

—Genesis 2:8-9

But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

—Matthew 13:23

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.

—Isaiah 61:1-3

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

—Psalm 1:1-3

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

—Jeremiah 17:7-8

Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

—Matthew 3:8

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

—Galatians 5:22-23

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

—Revelation 22:1-5