When I look at the Christmas tree I think of everlasting life. Those beautiful ever greens stay green and lush all through the cold weary days of winter. How they manage to stand sometimes with all that heavy snow and freezing rain has always amazed me. One year I planted a little sapling only about 4 inches tall. I nursed it till it was about 3-4 feet tall and then one day shoveling the driveway I forgot about it and threw the snow from the driveway on top of it. I thought for sure I’d killed it. But come summer it was as strong and beautiful as ever. Today it stands about 10 feet tall.
In the bible we find the story of 3 trees:
The trees in the garden. (Gen. 2:8-9) Eve & Adam ate from
The trees on a hillside. (Luke 23:33-34,38-43) Jesus & 2 Thieves
The tree in heaven. (Rev. 22:1-5) The Tree of Life
So here is the story about these three trees and what they mean to you and me and all mankind. The one act committed at the first tree brought sin into the world. And with sin came death. The Bible says that we have all sinned, and because of that, that we are all going to die. “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this, the judgment.” But one act committed on the second tree, the tree on a hillside, opened the way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins. Jesus, God Himself, died on a tree to pay the debt that you owed. (John 1:11-12 NIV) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God-- We are all present at the foot of the first tree. The second tree is available to all who will choose to do so. But the third tree – the tree of life in heaven – is only available to those who come to Jesus, admit their sinfulness before Him, believe that He died on the cross to pay for their sins and rose again, and then commit their whole lives into His care.
Maybe God’s Spirit is speaking to your heart right now telling you that you’ve been celebrating the wrong thing at Christmas. You’ve been celebrating greed rather than celebrating the life that you have in Jesus. Christmas is not about what we get or what we give it is about what Jesus has already done and the gift He offers to everyone—everywhere.
Romans 6:23 (NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
In the bible we find the story of 3 trees:
The trees in the garden. (Gen. 2:8-9) Eve & Adam ate from
The trees on a hillside. (Luke 23:33-34,38-43) Jesus & 2 Thieves
The tree in heaven. (Rev. 22:1-5) The Tree of Life
So here is the story about these three trees and what they mean to you and me and all mankind. The one act committed at the first tree brought sin into the world. And with sin came death. The Bible says that we have all sinned, and because of that, that we are all going to die. “It is appointed unto men once to die and after this, the judgment.” But one act committed on the second tree, the tree on a hillside, opened the way for us to receive forgiveness of our sins. Jesus, God Himself, died on a tree to pay the debt that you owed. (John 1:11-12 NIV) He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God-- We are all present at the foot of the first tree. The second tree is available to all who will choose to do so. But the third tree – the tree of life in heaven – is only available to those who come to Jesus, admit their sinfulness before Him, believe that He died on the cross to pay for their sins and rose again, and then commit their whole lives into His care.
Maybe God’s Spirit is speaking to your heart right now telling you that you’ve been celebrating the wrong thing at Christmas. You’ve been celebrating greed rather than celebrating the life that you have in Jesus. Christmas is not about what we get or what we give it is about what Jesus has already done and the gift He offers to everyone—everywhere.
Romans 6:23 (NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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