God’s grace inside and outside of Eden


Genesis 3 tells the story of the Fall of Man. In short, Eve is tempted by the serpent, she eats of the forbidden fruit, and she gives some to Adam who also eats of it. Afterwards, as God lays out the consequences of their disobedience, Eve is told that her pain will be increased in childbirth and their marriage will experience brokenness, while to Adam, God explains that the ground will be cursed, and that Adam will toil and strive to produce food, but the ground will also yield thorns and thistles. They are forced to leave the Garden of Eden. While we often hear or interpret the story to say that God kicked them out of the Garden as a punishment for their sin, I think the last few verses of this chapter tell an even greater story – a story of God’s wisdom and foresight and story of God’s grace and preparation for a Savior.

Genesis 3:20-22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” – therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.

The reason God cast them out of the garden was so that they would not eat from the tree of life. As I read this, my first reaction was that this seems cruel, harsh, and unloving. God wanted them to die? He didn’t want them to experience eternal life? Yet, as I continued to think about the implications of what God was doing, He opened my eyes to the truth and I became amazed by God’s grace towards Adam and Eve.

Let’s look back to Genesis 2:16-17. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “…from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” In this passage, it is clear that the consequence for eating the fruit was going to be death. So why did Adam and Eve not die when they ate the fruit? Well, in a way they did. Biblically, we can make a case for there being three types of death: physical death, spiritual death, and eternal death. Adam and Eve experienced spiritual death, or separation from God, the moment they disobeyed Him and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Right away, there was a rift that occurred, shame and guilt filled their hearts, and their relationship with God was broken, which is spiritual death.

If we look at the tree of life, we see that it gives eternal life. We know this because God said that, should they eat of it, they would live forever (Genesis 3:22). What would be the consequence of someone, spiritually dead, living forever? The result would be an eternal separation from God: eternal spiritual death. Yet God, in His infinite grace and mercy, turned Adam and Eve out of the garden and would not allow them near the tree of life. As Adam and Eve run in guilt and shame away from the beautiful garden that God had planted for them, I imagine their hearts were full of frustration and anger at God, questioning His reasons, questioning His love. And yet, at this point in their lives, forcing them to leave their beautiful home was the most gracious, merciful, and loving thing that God could have possibly done.

God’s plan from the beginning of eternity was to send a Savior, Jesus Christ, to restore our relationship with God and give us eternal life. And at this crux, arguably one of the the most painful moments in all of history, God begins to pave the way for this Savior as He gives the human race a second chance at spiritual unity with Himself.

The only place in the Bible that mentions this tree of life besides the opening chapters of Genesis is the book of Revelation. In the angel’s letters to the churches, we see this promise, He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God (Revelation 2: 7). Later, in the final chapters of Revelation, the tree of life is mentioned three times in verses 2, 14, and 19. Verse 14 says, Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.

From the context of Revelation, we know that God is going to create a New Heavens and a New Earth (NHNE). In the NHNE, the tree of life will be restored and those who have been washed clean of their sins will eat from the tree as they enter into paradise and experience eternal life in communion with God.

As we look back at the passage in Genesis as God forces Adam and Eve to leave the garden, we can now see His plan of redemption, which gives us a hope beyond anything else. He was not satisfied leaving us in our sin. He was not okay with an eternal separation from the unique beings He created to bear His image. And so, He blocked their access to the tree of life. And in this seemingly harsh judgment call, we see an eternal abounding grace, the same grace that we experience at the foot of the cross of Jesus, the same grace we experience as we gaze upon His empty tomb. This is a grace that gives second chances. For those of you who experience this grace in your own hearts and lives, God will one day grant you to eat of the tree of life, but only when He has fully redeemed and sanctified. How can we but marvel and delight in a God who loves us that much?



What parts of this message can we apply to our daily lives as we experience the touch of God’s hand in pain and sorrow, rather than in happiness and joy? As 1 Thessalonians 5:16 & 18 says, Rejoice always… in everything give thanks. Having faith and believing that God is sovereign, that He loves us and works all things for our good should instill in our hearts and minds an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. Trials will come. There will be times when, as I’m sure Adam and Eve did, we will question God’s love and plan, and our hearts will be filled with frustration and anger when we will not understand how the things in our lives could possibly be His way of showing love toward us. Yet in every trial, there is a promise and a hope. And for those who persevere, the greatest reward will be a perfectly restored relationship with God Himself and a bite of the fruit plucked from the tree of life. And I bet it will be the sweetest fruit you ever tasted.

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