The Church as the Tale of Christ - Part 2

So when Christ was sent from the Father in heaven to this world, all that was of the Father was in Him.

Everything that mankind was meant to be was revealed in Him. Heaven had come to earth visibly in Christ.

Rather, the Father had come to earth in Christ, and the Lord lived His life by the Father's life within Him.

Yet, even though He had the Father's life within Him, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature on the earth as a man. In other words: progressively. It'll always be the same for us, both individually and corporately.

So looking at this from the perspective of a story, we see Jesus unveil the Father to us, and He does it by living the story of the Father within Him outwardly before those who believed in, and/or followed Him around.

When we hear Christ telling us when He was on the earth that He was the truth, or the reality, this is much of what He was saying, that the story of His life He lived out before them was the story of His Father's life living out within Him and being expressed outwardly before their eyes. It was also being told through His lips and heard in their ears.

The point is a story was being revealed to them in the person of Christ, and it was the story of who the Father was in relationship to mankind, as revealed in the life story of Jesus Himself.

It wasn't an earthly story or a story originating from earth, rather it was a story from heaven, with its origin in the Father.

Part One; Part Two; Part 3
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Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 4

Now we have God no longer on the scene in Eden, at least not in the way He was at times directly communicating with Adam.

At that time, the serpent starts to communicate with Eve concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice how there isn't anything mentioned about the Tree of Life again.

The entire purpose of the conversation was for Satan to get the attention of Eve solely on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order that she wouldn't think of the Tree of Life.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, that he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy, and promised them to one husband: Christ. He wanted to present them as a pure virgin to Christ, but now he was afraid that in the similar way Eve was deceived by the cunning of Satan, their minds would also be led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

We get a glimpse into the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here, where it was the opposite of the Tree of Life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gets you away from simplicity and sincerity, and into mixture, as far as in relationship with Christ. It makes things complicated and heady. If your life is complicated, you may want to take a look at which tree you're eating from as well.

Jesus said this in a different way when Martha protested her sister not helping her because she sat at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach. Jesus' response was that there was nothing else that really mattered, and He wouldn't take that away from Mary.

A people centered around Christ is all that matters. That's the battle that was going on from the first interaction between man and Satan, and it's still the same battle raging today. Satan is still tempting us to look to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the expense of Christ Himself.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

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Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 1

Over the next several posts we'll take a look at Jesus Christ as the Tree of Life. Having insight into, and embracing Christ as the Tree of Life is extremely valuable; especially in this age of instant communication, where not only the volume of news and communication can overwhelm people, but the nature and content of that communication as well.

The reason the Tree of Life was in the center of the garden of Eden was because He was meant to be the center of all life. While that has been true in eternity, it is true as well in the created world we live on.

Just about everything that surrounds us can move us off the important reason and purpose for our existence: intimate fellowship with the Godhead. Christ represents that as the Tree of Life.

Only internalizing the fruit of that Tree could give us the life we were created to live. Adam and Eve failed to do it, and chose a different course, a course most continue to follow to this day, even though they take the name of Christ upon them.

I believe that there is no hope for someone refusing to internalize Christ as their life. When I say no hope, I mean by that not being able to consciously live by another life within us. We'll be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine blowing around out there. Our lives will be a continuous exercise in futility and frustration as we can't figure out why when we're believers in Christ, we seem to never have the peace, rest and satisfaction that should come with that.

We'll consume the knowledge of good and evil that will always produce death rather than life. It's an endless circle when that route is taken, and you can't get off it unless you choose the Tree of Life over that.

We're not simply talking about someone getting saved; that's simply the doorway into what we were meant to be and focus on: the eternal purpose. It gets us right with God so we can get back to what our true calling really is.

Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, and unless we pursue internalizing Him and fellowshipping with Him inside of us, we'll be on a journey of never being fulfilled, as the purpose we were created for isn't understood or embraced.

When I mention pursuing internalizing Him above, I mean by that allowing Him to change us within, and into His image; not just positionally, but in practice. To do that we must fellowship and be with Him at all times.

So in these next several posts we'll talk about Adam and Eve at the beginning, what happened in the Garden, and what it is they saw when tempted.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
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