God’s Story of Trees

“Then God said, ‘Let the land sprout with vegetation- every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit.  These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees freom which they came.’ And that is what happened. The land produced vetetation- all sorts of seed-bearing fruit.  Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind.  And God saw that it was good.  And evening passed and morning came, marketing the third day.” 
                                                                                                               -Genesis 1:11-19

It’s no coincidence that God designed trees as one of his first created things.  Trees have a unique purpose. Quite simply, it’s to grow seeds that reproduce into new life and bear fruit.  God has delighted in trees since the beginning, so much that he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the middle of his perfect garden. 

You know the story. God created the tree of life, and we cut it down through our sin.  As we cut down the tree, we lost the perfect life with God that came with it.  Nonetheless, trees continued to have significance in God’s story in symbolic and real ways as he worked out his back-up plan of redemption.  Most significantly was the tree of the cross where Jesus was nailed to save our lives from sin.  Ironically, this was another tree of life.

Fast-forward to the end of God’s story, the last tree we are given is a picture of the final tree of life. “On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month.  The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations” (Revelation 22:2).  This tree embodies our complete salvation through Jesus in the new heaven and new earth.

And so God’s story begins, peaks and eventually ends in eternity with strong connections to trees.  For some reason, the tree image, whether symbolic or real, is vital in God’s story.  In identifiable and mysterious ways, trees are important to God and epitomize a central point of his relationship with his people (Third Church, “Planting Trees”).

As I drive along tree-lined streets and play on a tree-lined yard and talk to the MAKER of trees, I will remember that I am just one branch in God’s never-ending story of TREES. Today, I will tell my children at least one piece of God’s BIG STORY. Then I will pray that one day His Story will become their story as well.

Today’s Treasure:  How joyful are those who fear the Lord
                              – all who follow his ways!
                             You will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
                             How joyful and prosperous you will be!
                             Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine,
                             flourishing within your home.
                             Your children will be like vigorous
                             young olive trees
                             as they sit around your table.
                             That is the Lord’s blessing
                             for those who fear him.   -Psalm 128:1-6