To eat of the tree of life is to receive the eternal, incorruptible life of the Lord Jesus into our inner personality in preparation for its extension into our mortal body.

To be resurrected is for our body to come forth from the grave at the voice of the Lord Jesus.

Then there is the house from Heaven that is being fashioned from the death and resurrection to which we are subjected each day of our discipleship.

These facts are of supreme importance to the saints. We need to understand to what extent we are going to be clothed, in the day of resurrection, with our behavior in the present world—a clothing that may identify us for eternity!

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2)

Would you want to be raised to "everlasting contempt" in the sight of those around you in the world to come?

The Apostle Paul was a victorious saint. Through Christ, Paul was overcoming each force that came against him as he pressed toward the out-resurrection from among the dead. Can we say that the Lord Jesus was giving Paul to eat of the tree of life, of the very Life of Christ, and that one day Paul's entire personality—spirit, soul, and body—will be revealed in splendor because of the superlative degree to which he possesses Christ?

What about the lukewarm believer who is not pressing toward the out-resurrection but whose teachers have led him to believe that no matter how he behaves himself there is no need for concern? He will be brought to a mansion by grace, so why seek the Lord diligently? He is not living a victorious life and therefore is not eligible to partake of the tree of life. Will his experience of bodily glorification in the day of resurrection be identical to that of the Apostle Paul?

It is interesting to note that the last object mentioned as Adam and Eve departed from the garden of Eden, the tree of life, is the first object mentioned in the rewards to the overcomer.

Is the flaming sword of Divine judgment still guarding the way of the tree of life? Will Adam and Eve be given access to the tree on the basis of forgiveness, or on the basis of both forgiveness and a totally transformed personality—a personality indwelt by Christ thus guaranteeing that there will be no more disobedience to God? Is it a fact that Adam and Eve will not be permitted to eat of the tree of bodily immortality until they have learned how to resist the voice of Satan? Is God forming in His saints an eternal wall against sin?

What is your opinion? Is it enough that we receive forgiveness at the hands of the Lord Jesus or are we required to press into Him each day until we no longer are living but Christ is living in us?

To be continued.