My wife and I had decided not to put up a Christmas tree last year since none of our children or grandchildren were coming home. We would be traveling to one of their houses instead. I was surprised, though, how much we missed it. In 39 years of marriage, we had always had a Christmas tree gracing the atmosphere during Advent season.

I respectfully realize that for various reasons some Christians choose not to have a Christmas tree; but in our family tradition, we used Christmas trees to point children to biblical truths—that the lights speak of the Light of the World whose birthday it is, that the star reminds us how God led the wise men, and that the angel on top reflects the angels in the Bible who brought Good News of great joy to Mary, Joseph, and later to the shepherds.

My brother, a professor of philosophy, commented that “a story is yet to be told of the relation between philosophy and the forests. Trees, rooted in the earth and towering into to sky, afford one of our most constant and intimate contacts with … nature, and have afforded philosophers with the very metaphors of Being: root, leaf, branch, seed, blossoming, begetting, and dying.”[1]

Some time ago, it dawned on me that the trees of the Bible can be used to summarize its overarching message. Remembering the big picture of God’s plan enriches our understanding and fills us with true joy at Christmas and year-round.

THE TREE OF DEATH
Mankind’s story began in a garden by a tree as our Creator warned, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). Created in God’s image for God’s fellowship, man’s will was given a test—a single restriction, not to eat of one tree.

When Eve and then Adam ate the fruit of the tree, it may have tasted sweet, but its results were horribly bitter. This cosmic rebellion plunged our race into spiritual death and separation from God.[2] They began to die physically and apart from grace, their deas was eternal separation from God (Rom. 6:23). God, in Genesis 3 graphically described the curse of sin on humanity and the created order. Mercifully, He also promised a Redeemer (3:15).

Another reference to a tree of death in the Torah gave an ominous picture. “If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree… he who is hanged is accursed of God” (Deut. 21:22-23). The curse of sin produced a world in which evil and murder would call for capital punishment. What more gruesome portrayal of the ugliness of sin could there be than a criminal hoisted up on a tree?

THE TREE OF LIFE
When God banned the first man and woman from the Garden of Eden, another tree was mentioned. “Lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever… so He drove out the man, and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword… to guard the way to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:22-24). God banned mankind from eating from this tree because apparently, He did not want them to live permanently in their fallen sin-cursed condition.

The Tree of Life was mentioned repeatedly in the wisdom literature of Proverbs. One of several such verses promised, “(Wisdom) is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are all who retain her” (3:18).[3] To the Jews, the Tree of Life came to symbolize wisdom and the way of living that brought the blessing of God. The problem is that we all fall short of obedience and God’s glory and blessing!

But, wonderfully, the Tree of Life appears again at the end of Scripture. It will be present in the Heavenly Jerusalem! In Revelation 22, John was shown “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street… was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits… and the leaves of the tree were for the healing (health) of the nations. And there shall be no more curse…” (22:1-3a). In heaven, we will be able to eat freely from this remarkable tree and live forever in God’s presence.

A few verses later, John wrote, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city” (22:14). Problem! Since no one has perfectly obeyed His commandments, how can we ever reach God’s heaven and this Tree of Life?

THE TREE OF DEATH THAT GIVES LIFE
The account of the incarnation in the Christmas story prepared the way for Good Friday and Easter. Listen to the words of Rabbi Paul, applying to Jesus the ugly picture from Deuteronomy: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’)” (Gal. 3:13). The perfect Messiah took the punishment of sin by hanging on a tree as our substitute. He who had no sin took our sins upon Himself (2 Cor. 5:21).

As Peter expressed it, Jesus “Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree…” (1 Pet. 2:24). Our sin separated us from God, but “Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive by the Spirit” (3:18). Messiah hung on the cursed tree for us, but three days later came out of the tomb, victorious and offering eternal life to all who trust in Him.

Next time you sit by a Christmas tree, remember its deeper message. Mankind rebelled by the Tree of Death. We have all sinned and deserve God’s judgment. But, the Tree of Life reminds us of God's plan that we can be forgiven and spend eternity in His presence. That is only possible because of the old rugged cross—that Tree of Death that Gives Lifeto all who come to Messiah Jesus.

This “Good News of great joy” will transform the lives of all who ask the living Christ to be their personal Lord and Savior. His Spirit will enter their hearts and enable them to live to please Him.

A friend showed me another meaningful Christmas tree ornament. It’s a spike about the size that the Romans used for crucifixion. It hangs by a blood-red ribbon on a sturdy branch—a powerful reminder of what the Lamb of God did so He could “take away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29).
May we use the Christmas season to point others to Him and then live our entire life to say, as did Paul, “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Cor. 9:15).

Mark Johnson, Pastor/Teacher of Independent Bible Church (Martinsburg, WV) graduated from Appalachian Bible College in 1977 (BA in Bible/Pastoral studies) and Grace Theological Seminary (Th. M. in Old Testament) in 1982. In May, 2004, he earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from Baptist Bible Seminary of Clarks Summit, PA. He can be reached at Mark@ibcwv.org

[1] Galen A. Johnson, “Forests and Philosophy: Towards an Aesthetics of Wood,” in Environmental Philosophy(Volume 4, 2007), p. 2.
[2] Romans 5:12 described the consequence that the race fell in Adam: “Therefore, as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
[3] Other verses referring to the Tree of Life in Proverbs include 11:30, 13:12, and 15:4