The Resurrection Tree

March 31, 2013

Revelation 22:1-2 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Ezekiel 47:5-12 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over. And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river. Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other. Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live... And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

Genesis begins with God sending LIGHT into the world through His Word.
  • John starts with the beginning and Jesus being life, which was the light of men.
  • We know Genesis' "Let there be light" was not speaking about physical photons and radiation, but rather CHRIST, because the sun and moon and stars with physical light came later into the picture.
  • But Christ was not created.
  • He simply CAME in this form into the world.
  • Truth.
  • Revelation shows Christ as Light, also.
  • He is seen in seven branching candlesticks, in the shape of a tree.
Revelation 1:10-13 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, (11) Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,  and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. (12) And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw  seven golden candlesticks; (13) And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

And at the end of Revelation we see a River of life flowing forth FROM THE THRONE.
Revelation 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Revelation 22:2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.


Jesus is shown to be the TREE OF LIFE in Revelation 1.
  • But yet notice the statement Jesus makes as John sees Him in this "tree".
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

This is Jesus after His resurrection!
  • This is notable.
  • He spoke of His suffering and glorification the day He rode into Jerusalem in
  • the Triumphal Kingdom Entry.
  • Notice the language he used.
John 12:23-25 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit . He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

That said at HIS KINGDOM ENTRY.
  • In speaking of His death and resurrection, He likened Himself to a seed.
  • God told Satan in the Garden that there would come a SEED of the woman.
  • Christ is that Seed.
  • And His death would be the burial of that Seed, and resurrect as a stalk.
  • And such plants have branches.
  • He would remain ALONE, otherwise.
  • It is not good that ADAM BE ALONE.
  • And Adam was meant to multiply and fill the earth with his kind.
  • Jesus is the LAST ADAM.
  • Adam was given kingdom dominion.
  • The kingdom must overspread the world.
  • So, in order to not be alone and instead have MANY, Jesus, like Adam, laid down His life in death and resurrected as a TREE WITH MANY BRANCHES AND FRUIT.
  • And this matches the words that John heard Christ speak in the vision of Revelation 1.
  • He was dead and is alive forever more.
  • This is RESURRECTION.
  • So this "Tree" that Christ calls Himself, together with the church, is literally THE RESURRECTION TREE.
  • John 15 says we are the branches and He is the vine.
  • He referred to His post-resurrection life.
  • The resurrection tree.
  • God came to bring LIFE back to man again.
  • And it had to be done through DEATH AND RESURRECTION.
  • We are now part of His body!
  • We're the branches!
  • And the reason He spoke of losing your life to find it again, after noting he is a Seed that must be buried, is because we connect to His RESURRECTION LIFE by being CRUCIFIED WITH HIM.
  • I lost my old life of sin when I was crucified with Him through faith.
  • I was buried with Him and arose with Him!
  • We lose our lives in His death on the cross, and gain them back again in RESURRECTION.
  • Losing your life and gaining it back is nothing less than resurrection!
  • And you will gain it back to life eternal, because YOU BECOME PART OF THE TREE OF LIFE!
  • Think about it.
  • When we were saved and received eternal life, it is akin to the thought of eating the fruit of life.
  • The SEED is the fruit of Life is TRUTH.
  • It is Jesus.
  • He is the Truth.
  • Paul said He administered SPIRIT and LIFE to people when He preached.
2 Corinthians 3:6 Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

Then he said THE LORD IS THAT SPIRIT.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

JESUS IS THE SPIRIT and TRUTH HE ADMINISTERED.
  • Jesus referred to eating in order to gain eternal life, which connects His thoughts to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden.
John 6:47-51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

So He said HE IS THE TREE OF LIFE.
  • This reference to eating His flesh and drinking His blood was repeated at the last supper.
  • He said His flesh was represented by the BREAD they would eat.
  • His blood was represented by the WINE they would drink.
  • And his flesh being broken spoke of the dying of the cross.
  • So this all points to the death and resurrection.
  • Therefore, we see it’s a RESURRECTION TREE OF LIFE.
  • John saw Jesus in the tree-shaped candlesticks, saying He was dead and is alive forevermore.
  • And He ministered to John touching Him while He said that.
  • He explained that the candlesticks are the churches!
  • We're the branches!
  • The candlesticks were shaped like branches of an almond tree.
  • What does this tell you?
  • We eat the fruit of life from the tree of life, Christ Jesus, when we are saved.
  • We who have Jesus have eternal life!
  • We're not going to get eternal life, but we already have it!
  • And then the TREE OF LIFE is shown as a RESURRECTION TREE, and WE ARE PART OF IT!
  • In other words, YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
  • You BECOME A BRANCH OF THE TREE OF LIFE when you eat of it.
  • It’ like eating of Jesus blood and body and becoming part of the BODY OF CHRIST!
  • And in Revelation 22 we read of the TREE OF LIFE singular in the city.
  • We read of two distinguishing notes about it.
  • Its fruit and its leaves.
  • Its 12 fruit gives eternal life for each month of the year.
  • Not just one kind each month, but 12 kinds for 12 months!
  • VARIETY!
  • And its leaves are for healing of the nations.
  • Ezekiel saw the same vision, but one thing was described differently in Ezekiel.
  • MANY TREES.
  • Leaves were also for healing and fruit grew every month.
  • However, Revelation 22 and Ezekiel 47 are really speaking of MANY TREES, both, because Revelation says the TREE WAS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER.
  • This is a picture of the CHURCH MEMBERS as all part of the TREE OF LIFE.
Psalm 1:1-3 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Notice the LEAVES AND FRUIT are distinguished.
  • The leaves will not whither, because there always must be healing available to the world through our lives.
  • And the note of fruit in its season is also indicative of the same point Revelation 22 and Ezekiel 47 points out.
  • Someone was a branch of the tree of life to show me the way one day.
  • And now I am part of the tree.
  • Church, you are part of the RESURRECTION TREE OF LIFE.
  • People will come to YOU!
Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

We are as holy as Jesus because we have HIS HOLINESS in our lives.
  • He also gave us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
  • Stay locked into this RIVER -- the Holy Ghost is the river John 7:38-39.
  • It stabilizes you.
  • Soak up its life from your roots.
  • It keeps you unmoveable!

One more point:
Song of Solomon 4:12 A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.

We are also THE RIVER OF LIFE.
  • But there can be a problem.
  • WE'RE SEALED UP.
  • WE'RE SHUT UP.
  • We need to open our lives and get unsealed.
  • Pull out the plugs!
  • Let the River flow from your life!
  • "Oh, but Revelation 22 is about the time after the rapture! It's the city that
  • we are GOING TO! It's not us now."
  • Wrong!
Hebrews 12:22 says WE ARE COME TO THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM ALREADY!
Hebrews 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

We are what Abraham looked for!
Hebrews 11:10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 11:13-16 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (14) For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. (15) And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. (16) But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

And also, the following words in Revelation 22 show that this is a NOW picture!
Revelation 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

He did not say wait for 2000 years and then you can drink.
  • He said come now!
  • Come right now to the waters!
Isaiah 55:1 Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.




SERMONS