In the first two chapters of Genesis, the LORD God is revealed as overflowing with love and generosity. He fills the earth with life and declares it good. He gives every plant and tree for food and creates every beast, bird, and creeping thing. To everything that has the breath of life He gives every green plant for nourishment. In His plan, every living thing had everything it needed to flourish. This shows how God is good, loving, and abundantly generous. He designed humanity for Himself—to reflect His glory—by making us in His own image and likeness.

As part of His lavish provision, God gives just one restriction:

God permits Adam to eat freely from every tree—except one. The promised death for disobedience is not merely the end of physical life but separation from God's presence: the very purpose for which man was created.

Sadly, in Genesis 3, everything changes. The serpent casts doubt on God's character, suggesting he is withholding something good. As one commentator observes: "The woman listens to the serpent, the man listens to the woman, and no one listens to God."

As a result, sin enters the world. Adam and Eve move from being "naked and not ashamed" to being "naked and afraid." Trust is broken. Their relationship with God is fractured.

In a previous article, The Gospel Roots in Genesis, Matt wrote about the just and severe judgment of God on the serpent, Eve, Adam, and all creation. Yet in the middle of this judgment is the first glimpse of hope—the protoevangelium, or "first gospel."

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (Genesis 3:15)

Initially, the sting of the curse seems like a swift divine punishment; however, that is not the case. Even while cursing the serpent, God makes it clear that he will never abandon his people and that his purpose has always been to show his love through supreme redemption. God promises the future Savior—One who will ultimately defeat evil and restore what was lost. We know from thousands of years of divine revelation that the promised offspring of the woman mentioned here is clearly Jesus.

Following the fall, Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden:

"Then 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..." (Genesis 3:22-24)

The expulsion from the garden was not just a righteous punishment - it was also God's loving protection so that we would be preserved to be reconciled and have a future hope. If Adam and Eve had eaten from the tree of life after their rebellion, they would have lived forever in a state of sin—forever separated from God. The reason they are sent out of the garden, away from the tree of life, is so that one day God could bring about what he promised in reconciling his image bearers and all of creation through a Savior he would send - His own Son - Jesus.

Before the fall, the tree of life was accessible to God’s image bearers, but God lovingly restricted that access afterward to preserve the hope of future redemption.

Remarkably, while the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is never mentioned again after Genesis 3, the tree of life reappears throughout Scripture—primarily in the final chapters of Scripture, where God's redemptive plan comes full circle. The tree of life is once again accessible at the return of Christ in the new heaven and the new earth! The fall is in our past, and in God’s punishment and the consequences of sin we see the gospel roots of Jesus. In Christ, eternity with God our prize is our future. We will one day have access to the tree of life again apart from sin!

"To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God." (Revelation 2:7)

"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life... also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit... The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations... They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever." (Revelation 22:1-5)

Through Christ, the paradise that was lost is restored. God will once again dwell with His people:

"Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God." (Revelation 21:3)

Jesus is both the light and the life. He is the fulfillment of the gospel promise given in Genesis. Through Him, we gain access once again to eat of the tree of life—to experience eternal life with God, free from sin, full of glory.

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." (Revelation 22:20-21