ESOCS Devotional 28 May
TEXT: GENESIS 3:22-24
MEMORY VERSE: “They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that gives life, eat it and live forever.” Genesis 3:22b
Everlasting life is the quality of life received by true converts through the Holy Spirit of God. It enables them continue life after death in the paradise of God. It is a key testimony of the Apostles Creed: I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. It was God’s plan that through obedience, humans would grow into eternity. But by disobedience man sinned and fell short of the glory of God. In our text today, we read of how man lost the opportunity of eternal life and intimacy with God.
Sin prevents us from having access to that which God has in stock for us. Man must be very mindful of his actions and exercise a lot of restraint in life. God does not fail to respond to our earthly conduct by giving us what we deserve by our acts. In verse 22 of our text, we see God take appropriate decision in reaction to the conduct of Adam and Eve. We read, “Then the LORD God said, now these human beings have become like one of us and have knowledge of what is good and what is bad. They must not be allowed to take fruit from the tree that give life, eat it, and live forever.”
We must not allow God take decision before we confess and repent of our sin. God accepts repentance and forgives those who confess and believe in His only begotten Son (Psalm 51:16, 17, John 3:16). Adam chose to give excuses and got the sanction that separated us from the grace of God. In verse 23, we read, “So the LORD God sent them out of the Garden of Eden and made them cultivate the soil from which they had been formed.”
Read yesterday’s ESOCS Devotional here
Nobody whose life is not right with God can have access to eternal life. Such is for true believers. Human beings are divine creatures with the ability to make choice of what they want and how they want to live their lives. The power of God cannot be subdued either by scientific or physical force of man. No man can access that which God has hidden from us. In verse 24, we read, “Then at the east side of the garden he put living creatures and a flaming sword, which turned in all directions. This was to keep anyone from coming near the tree that gives life.”
But it pleased the Father that in Christ, that which we cannot access by human efforts, we can now have through Jesus Christ (John 3:16). Through Christ, we became free from condemnation, physically and spiritually (Rom. 8:1-2). God has transferred the fruit of life from the tree to Jesus Christ. Those who will accept and believe Him now will be saved (Rom. 10:9-10).
ESOCS Devotional May 28 – CHALLENGES: Have you received the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ?
PRAYER POINT: Father, I reaffirm my faith in you, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, in Jesus Name. Amen
FURTHER READING: Ezekiel 10:1-22; Revelation 4:1–11; 21:1-13
