Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...”Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:And Jehovah God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever—
6 sermons cite this verse
The Lord said, Behold, the man has become like one of us, remember Father, Son, Holy Spirit, to know good and evil, and now lest he put his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. And he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east end of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. This is a very significant moment that if we can understand it, the rest of the times God makes reference to the tree of life will take on fresh meaning. And let me just start with this. I'll just kind of give you the conclusion at the beginning. He says here that as soon as they partook of the forbidden fruit, he sent a cherubim with a flaming sword to stand by the tree of life. …
… return. The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. And the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man and at the east of the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. Let's pray. Oh God, we confess that we live in a land of confusion and distortion when it comes to your design for us as men and women. That we are. plagued by our own sin and by the sins of others in ways that we can't even see this whole picture straight. …
… But then we get to Genesis chapter 3, and sin enters the picture. I want you to look at Genesis chapter 3, verse 22. What you've got is Adam and Eve, man, experiencing the effects of sin. Verse 22 says, The Lord God said, The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. So the Lord banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. Here we've got a picture of the image of God being marred by sin in man. So that's how the Bible starts, introduction. Now, hold your place here and go over to Revelation 21. Verse 1. The Bible says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. So what you've got is the restoration, a recreation of the earth here in Revelation 21, like it was intended to be in Genesis chapter 1 and 2. …
… that they were naked and it says that they were ashamed. And so now God is sending them out of Eden. Why? Because there's another tree there. The Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now this man is spiritually dead, so he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. God realized that Adam and Eve are spiritually dead, separated now from him and from the relationship they were created for. Should they eat from the tree of life, they'll live forever, but they'll live forever spiritually dead. And so God had no choice but to put an angel with a flaming sword in front of the tree of life to keep them from it. And he had no choice but to send them out of Eden. So the Lord, another 323, God banished him from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. …
… and clothed them. And the Lord God said, the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat and live forever. What does that mean? It means he's dead spiritually separated from God. If he were to eat from the tree of life and live forever, he would live forever separated from God. So God has got to do everything he can to prevent him from eating from the tree of life because he's already now eaten from the knowledge of good and evil and spiritually he has died. And so God didn't love this moment, but we see the ultimate arc of the story of the gospel in his mercy. The Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. And after he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. …
… And then we read at the end of that chapter in verse 22, these words. Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man has become like one of us to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever, therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out the man and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden and a flaming sword which turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. So into the addition of the loss of the blessing that Adam and Eve would have received at the hand of their creator had they passed their probation by rendering obedience rather than disobedience. Also, the consequences of their sin included the curse that came upon man, the curse that came upon woman, the curse that came upon the earth, and all things in it. …