Everything depends on the body and blood of Jesus Christ. These are the Tree of Life. Had Adam and Eve partaken of Jesus Christ as they were invited to do, they would still be alive and the population explosion would have been beyond belief. How they could have partaken of Christ at that time I do not know. Now the eternal resurrection life of Christ has been given to mankind in a form we can understand and receive, that is, in the form of His body and blood of the new covenant.

The body and blood of Jesus Christ are our resurrection life. Our resurrection abides in us today. Paul warned us several times that if we live in the appetites and passions of our flesh we will die. By this Paul meant that the life of the flesh will crowd out the resurrection life that was given to us when we received Christ. Then, when the Lord appears, there will be no "oil" in us that will raise us to the Lord.

When the slain Lamb appears in the clouds, Life will call to life. The Lamb will call to those who live by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. If we have lived in such a manner that the life that originally was given to us has withered away (as in the parable of the sower), we will not come to life in our body. We have slain our own resurrection.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. He Himself is our eternal Life. When Christ is in us, when the Resurrection from the dead is in us, we have a choice to make. Either we will spend our life attending to the demands of our flesh and soul, or else we will make seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness our first priority. We will pray each day, read our Bible each day, gather together with fervent believers on a regular basis, give, serve, seek fervently the gifts of the Spirit, and do everything else in our power to serve Christ and build up the Body of Christ.

But if we do not do this, if we spend our life on the things of this present world, then that resurrection Life so freely given to us will ebb away and our flesh and soul will predominate.

Before the rain fell, in the days of Noah, the fountains of the deep were broken up. This is a type. It signifies that at the time when the Glory of Christ appears in the clouds, before it descends to earth the "fountains of the deep will be broken up," meaning the glory of Jesus Christ will be seen in His people.

Where is the Tree of Life today? It is in the midst of the Paradise of God.

How do we gain access to it so we may eat and live forever in the Presence of God?

By living the victorious Christian life.

To be continued.