In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. And on the sixth day, God created man from the dust of the earth. And God breathed into the man’s nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. This is how the Bible begins, in the first two chapters – paraphrased, of course – it begins with God creating life from nothing.
If we look at the end of the Bible – The Revelation to John, chapters 21 & 22 – we see “the one seated on the throne” say, “See, I am making all things new. It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty, I will give water as a gift from the spring of the Water of Life.” And later, it says, an angel showed John the “river of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the Tree of Life with its twelve kinds of fruit … and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” This is how it all ends – paraphrased, of course – in the last two chapters of the Revelation to John. It ends with the River of the Water of Life, flowing from the throne of God, and the Tree of Life growing on either side of this river. This tree, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations.
Now, you might remember another tree, one mentioned at the beginning of the Bible – the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And you may also remember what that tree represents. Hold that thought.
Jesus himself tells us that he saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven, and Isaiah and Ezekiel give us the backstory to this meteoric descent. Satan, we are told, was blameless in God’s eyes, from the day that he was created. And, we are told, he was proud because of his status, and because he was also extremely beautiful. As with all those who think too much of themselves, Satan felt that he needed to be the one who called all the shots, that people needed to honor him, and declare loyalty to him, rather than to God. And so he was filled with violence, and rose up against God; his downfall was caused by thinking that he was greater than God, and because of this prideful way of thinking, he wanted to usurp God’s throne. That same throne from which the River of the Water of Life flowed. In his hubris, his pride, his selfishness, Satan believed that he could be like God. And it cost him a relationship with God, isolation from the community of angels, and eternal exile separated from the author of all life.
Later – though for us it seems that it happens at the beginning of the story – Satan came into the Garden of Eden, where God had created humankind, and he stood before Eve and said to her, “Did God really say that you would die if you ate of this Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?” And the woman confirmed this, saying, “Yes, that’s true.” Then Satan said to her, “No. You will not die; God knows that when you eat the fruit of this tree, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God.”
It’s interesting that the main focus of Satan’s temptation of Eve and Adam is the same thing that caused him to get kicked out of heaven. He tempts Eve and Adam with the ability to make themselves equal to God – knowing both good and evil. And when God finds out about this, they are cast out of Eden, the Garden of beauty and blessing, and are told that they will have to work for their food, that they will no longer live in the presence of God. And … because of this knowledge of Good and Evil, God said that Adam might also take from the Tree of Life, and therefore live forever. The Tree of Life, which grows on the banks of the River of the Water of Life, and which flows out of the throne of God. God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, keeping them from the Tree of Life, which provides immortality.
We have come full circle. God created humanity in God’s own image, so that they might live in perpetual unity with God, knowing peace and joy. But humanity, at the suggestion of Satan, made a decision that forever altered their lives. They would need to go it on their own, because they too desired to be like God. In their own selfish desires, they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil so that they could make themselves equal with God. And it cost them their relationship with God, and exile from the Garden of Eden, where they could have lived in unity with the Author of Life.
This is the context for the resurrection of Jesus, which we celebrate this Easter Sunday. We often like to call this context, this backstory, the epic tale of Good vs. Evil. But rather than Good vs. Evil, what we are witnessing here, is the depiction of Life vs. Death.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents not only the ability to discern between good and evil, but the ability to choose our own way, apart from God.
Apart from God.
God is life. God is the author of life, and from God flows the River of the Water of Life. Selfish ambition, pride, hubris, a desire to be equal to God, those are decisions that lead to death – which is separation from God.
If you were here for Palm Sunday, you remember the dramatic shift from people praising and celebrating Jesus as the King of Kings – to only a few short days later wanting him arrested and crucified. People had made Jesus, the Messiah, out to be the savior that would do for them what they wanted, rather than what God had planned for the salvation of the world. Their mindset demanded that God, in the person of Christ, do as they desired. They chose their own way, over, and against, God’s way.
And so…
Jesus died, bleeding from his wounds, his blood flowing down the cross on the Place of the Skull, Golgatha.
And then three days later, he returned to life, proving that he has power over death. Jesus conquered death, the “last enemy,” as Paul calls it in his letter to the Corinthians. Jesus came to bring us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.
Now, this is one of those areas where some people get stuck. They think that all of this is about getting immortality – eternal life. And then sometimes, we hear these same people – when life doesn’t go as they planned, or they see something that they disagree with – mumble out a prayer, like “Jesus, take me home! And make it snappy!” Or maybe they are so focused on all their problems, that they simply cannot wait until they make it to Heaven – because everything will be better than this life here on earth. They focus on future blessings because they consider this present life to be too much of a burden.
Now sure, Eternal Life is part of it – Jesus did conquer death, after all. But Jesus said to his disciples that he had come so that people could have life, and have it more abundantly. This message about conquering death isn’t just about some distant day when all our troubles go away. No. This is a message of Hope. A message that is intended for the here and the now. This present moment.
The abundant life is a life that is filled, not only with the hope of an eternity with God, but also a life here in this present age that is filled with things that go beyond what money can buy. It is a life filled with joy, peace, patience, and kindness. It is a life filled with enthusiasm, with honesty, with humility and with confidence. It is filled with authentic relationships – and especially – an authentic relationship with God.
For some, this is a foreign concept. There’s this life – with all of its problems and struggles – and then there is the afterlife – the one with no problems and nothing but the best things for all eternity. – And never the twain shall meet.
But abundant life is a life that exists here and now in the present moment. It does not mean that we will necessarily live a life of ease or comfort, or that we will gain riches and glory in this life.
What the abundant life does mean is that it is a life that is marked by God’s joy and peace. And it is not dependent on the circumstances we find ourselves in.
This is the life that Jesus gave us with his death and resurrection.
It is a life of abundance. Abundant with the things of God. The things that money cannot buy. The things that are good both for us, and for all people.
It’s not necessarily a life of glamor, of fame, or of power.
It is a life that allows us to see things the way God sees them.
It is hope in the midst of uncertainty.
It is peace in the midst of chaos.
It is joy in the midst of despair.
It is new life.
And most importantly, it is life with God. Both now, and in eternity.
This epic story we have heard from the time we were young, is less about good vs evil, and more about death vs life.
It is far too easy to claim that something is evil, simply because we disagree with it, or to claim that something is evil because it goes against our own desires. It is much more difficult to claim that something brings about life when it is obvious that the actions in question bring about destruction, or isolation from the rest of humanity and separation from God.
This epic story is more about death vs life. It is about choosing the things of God. And because God is life, and God is the author of life, that means that it is about choosing those things that foster life for all God’s people. It is about allowing Christ to mold our hearts and minds in such a way that we see what God sees, and we desire what God desires. It is about unity with God, both now, and also in eternity.
Jesus humbled himself and died on the cross to save us from the power of sin and death. Not just to open for us the way of eternal life, but to allow us to tap into the wellspring of all life, which is the River of the Water of Life.
That River. The river that flows from the throne of God. The Water of Life does not merely water the plants that grow in the city of God.
That River flows down upon us and through us, so that we might have Life.
And Life Abundant.
The question of the Easter Season – and truly, of every season – is this: Will we allow this River to wash over us and cleanse us? To refresh us? To pour into our hearts and minds and fill us with New Life?
[This sermon was delivered at St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Wickenburg, AZ on April 20 – Easter Sunday – 2025.]
