Jesus the Tree of Life or Breath of Life?

I've noticed that some people get confused over the difference between the tree of life in the garden of Eden, and the breath of life when God first breathed into Adam to make him a living soul.

By that I mean I've recently heard some people teaching that when God breathed into Adam the breath of life, that was God imparting Himself into Adam.

Of course that generates the question of what the purpose and results would have been if Adam and Eve had eaten of the tree of life in the Garden, and how it was different from the the breath of life God breathed into Adam's nostrils, where afterwards it was announced he was now a living soul.

If God had imparted part of Himself to Adam when he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, that means the tree of life would have to have had another type of life accompanying it, which would really be a stretch to believe.

Now why is this important? Because man in the state he was in after being brought to life, even though in the image of God, wasn't properly lined up with the order God wanted his being to have.

In other words, man wasn't meant to stay as a living soul, as God had more for him. When man was created, God gave him a spirit, soul and body. And while that was the image of God, the soul had yet to become submitted to the spirit in the way God intended, as something else had to happen before that was possible.

The soul will dominate unless the spirit is submitted to by the soul, and that can only happen with the life of Jesus Christ Himself being received by a person.

That's still the same today when someone becomes a believer in Christ, as the potential for the spirit of man, because he has been regenerated by the indwelling of the Spirit of God, which birthed Himself in man at the moment of belief, now can become the source of life if the soul of man will line itself up in submission the Spirit of God, which is now dwelling within the spirit of that individual.

It's vital to understand all of this because if someone confuses the breath of life with Jesus Christ, who has always been the tree of life, it can cause us to miss exactly what is that Christianity, in its essence, is.

The life of God in Christ was inherent in the tree of life in the Garden. If man had eaten of the tree of life, that's when the life of God would have entered into him, not before.

That's the very reason God put a cherubim in charge of protecting access to it so man couldn't take the life of God within himself at that time, as now the need for a Savior to come was part of the equation, and the Spirit wouldn't be given until it happened at Pentecost, thousands of years later.

All of this is significant in understanding that when the life of Christ indwells a believer, the soul, if it submits to the Spirit of God, will be changed and led by the Spirit of God.

This is the reason the scriptures mention that "Christ in Us" is the "hope of glory." It's not simply a reference to going to heaven after we die, but of an indwelling Lord who takes up residence within us in an intimate way, where we are changed into His image as we submit unto his Lordship.

The bottom line is Jesus is the tree of life, and only when we partake of Him in the Spirit do we have the life of God permeating our being.

Ultimately that leads to the soul lowering itself under the hand of the Spirit within so God can in fact, be the Lord of our lives.

To mistake the breath of life as when the life of God enters us, will cause us to miss out on the fact that man, at that moment, was only a living soul, He needed to eat of the tree of life to the very life of God could enter into and fill him, making him a spiritual man.

Remember, the tree of life was located in the center of the Garden of Eden. That means it was central to all of the eternal purpose of God. Again, it's all about the indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ in our innermost man that Christianity is, and to miss that is to miss almost everything related to God.