Participating in the Tree of Life series: Abundant, continuous light

This is the 7th post in the Tree of Life series.  Here are links to the first and sixth posts.

This Tree of Life series has been anchored in Revelation 22, verses 1-3:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.  No longer will there be any curse.

What has been established is the nature of our relationship to God and Jesus, and the role we’ve been designed for, in God’s effort to draw all people to Himself.  Our purpose is fulfilled in the flow of the Holy Spirit through us, displayed in us, and emanating from us, just as a fruit tree produces fruit that is good to eat, and transpires water vapor into the environment all around it.  We are branches in the Tree of Life, bearing spiritual fruit and releasing spiritual water to those around us.  We are ministers of the good news gospel of Jesus Christ, and we do that through what we carry in us – the Holy Spirit of God.  Hopefully, the previous posts have convinced you that this is our true nature and calling (if you didn’t already know it and believe it).

There’s more good news about participating in the Tree of Life.  This post and the next post revisit light and water (respectively); topics covered initially in post #3.

                                                                              Photo taken by:  Tim the Enchanter

The Tree of Life receives continuous light

The apostle John describes the vision of a new Jerusalem in Revelation, chapter 21. It’s worth taking the time to read through all of Revelation, chapter 21 and chapter 22 for the full description.  Here, we will focus on Revelation 21: 22-25

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.  On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

There is no night.  This is repeated in Revelation 22, verse 5

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.

This is critical to understand.  If you recall from the third post, the movement of water through a plant requires open stomata on their leaves.  Stomata open in response to light and close in response to darkness.  Water flows through a plant in the light, and this water sustains the body of the plant, and is utilized (in part) in the process of sugar production (photosynthesis), much of which ends up in fruit, while the remaining water is transpired out through the leaves into the environment around the plant.  When does all of this happen?  In the presence of light.  When is the Tree of Life exposed to light?  All of the time.  What is the source of light?  God.  Here’s the point: AT NO TIME IS THE HOLY SPIRIT NOT FLOWING THROUGH YOU if you remain connected to Jesus (participate in the Tree of Life), as He instructed in John 15 (we covered the Vine and the Branches passage in post #4).  Here is John 15:5 as a reminder

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

When you are connected to Jesus, you are never in darkness 

When you are connected to Jesus, the Holy Spirit flows freely in you and through you.  There’s always light, and that means water is always flowing through the Tree of Life.  Believe it, and receive it.  This doesn’t mean a person might see themselves in darkness, but in reality that is never true of a believer in relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Jesus did issue a warning about darkness in Matthew 6 and Luke 11.  Matthew 6:22-23 reads

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”

“Seeing is believing” is a popular phrase.  What do you see?  It is difficult to believe something you cannot see.  Thankfully, God gave us His word through Jesus, and His prophets and apostles, and He gave us the Holy Spirit, so that we can see, and believe.  Do you see the picture of the Tree of Life more clearly?  Do you see yourself a part of it?  If you do, you’re always in the light of God, and always filled with the Holy Spirit.

Speaking of prophets, one thing I really like about God’s word are the connections between Old Testament prophecy, and what came to pass in the New Testament.  Concerning light, read Isaiah chapter 60, which describes a future Jerusalem.  For our purposes, here is Isaiah 60: 19-21

The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end. Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

This future description is exactly what John saw in his vision of the new Jerusalem, recorded in the Book of Revelation.  And it even refers to God’s people as plants displaying His splendor.  Wow!

One last thought.  Some people look at the Book of Revelation as pointing to a future time.  Let me suggest that what we read in Revelation chapters 21 and 22 describes a spiritual reality which came into effect at the point of Jesus’ resurrection.  Where is Jesus seated now?  What did Jesus say would happen after He left and was resurrected?  Participating in the Tree of Life became possible with Jesus’ death and resurrection.  This is our spiritual reality now.  If you’re waiting for something, what are you waiting for?

There is no darkness; there is always light.  Do you know what else?  There is no drought; there is always water – the topic of the next post.