“where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center ”
(John 19:8, NKJV)
Remember that we are still discussing the mysteries of the bronze altar, which prototypically points to the cross of Jesus. From a previous teaching we learnt that Lucifer, Morningstar, configured his way into the position of the heart, the center, which makes it clear that he was attempting to position himself in the place of the true Morningstar, Jesus (Rev 22:16). It is thus not strange that he is prototypically called the King of Tyre (Ezek 28:2), as Tyre means Rock, and he wanted to present himself as Jesus, the Rock (1 Cor 10:4). The multiplicity of Legion (Mark 5:9) falsely imitates the sevenfold (symbolic: multiple) Spirit of God (Isa 11:2; Rev 1:4).
Eve allowed herself to be deceived in exchanging Jesus and the Kingdom of God as the Tree of Life for Lucifer and the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Lucifer thus became the center of her carnal and self-righteous world. Within this context and kingdom man is “self-centered” (2 Tim 3:2, ALT) and “filled with self-centered ambition” (Jam 3:14, GW). They resemble their father, the devil (John 8:14).
But with the crucifixion Jesus regained his position in the centre (John 19:8), where He rightfully belongs. On Patmos John later sees Jesus, the Lamb of God, “ in the middle of the high seat and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the rulers, a Lamb in his place, which seemed as if it had been put to death, …” (Rev 5:6). And in the last chapter of the Bible we find Him in this triumphant position – “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life …” The place where the Tree of Life is situated is in the New Jerusalem, and by this time we know that it is not a place, but a people (Rev 21:12), the Bride of Christ. The New Jerusalem is where the kingdom of God is made complete. The Bride of Christ have already come to the place on the symbolic spiritual mountain of intimacy, Zion (Heb 12:22), although they still find themselves in this world. We’ll explain this in more detail later. But it is there that the Tree of Life again becomes available – in Rev 2:7 it is explained as follows – “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Please note that nowhere in the book of Genesis or, for that matter, in the entire Old Testament, is the garden of Eden referred to as paradise.
It is also not so much Eden that was important as it was the garden that God planted for the first people in the region of Eden (Gen 2:8; 4:16). The abundance of the garden was meant as an abundance of pleasure, as the meaning of the word Eden in Hebrews also indicates. But in the garden of Eden also lived the snake L; in Ezek 28:13 it is explicitly said about Lucifer – “You were in Eden, the garden of God.” In the New Jerusalem, unlike Eden, there is no longer a snake or deceiver or Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But only those whose hearts are undividedly directed towards Him (2 Chr 16:9) will enter there. In the original language the word undivided means shâlêm, where you will immediately recognize the word Jeru(salem) as root meaning. It means not only peace, but also “perfect, complete”, the state of being where He is the center of Life, where no double-mindedness is to be found.
- Sela: What is this teaching’s link to John 4?
- Read: Jos 20; Ezra 3; Isa 36
- Memorise: Isa 36:6
- For a deeper understanding: Read pp 55-57 in Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven.
