The Way of the Tree of Life

• God initiated a plan of salvation by instituting animal sacrifice as the means of acceptable worship to him in the Old Testament, which symbolised salvation through the sacrifice of Christ to come. He placed cherubim at the entrance of the Garden of Eden to “keep the way of the Tree of Life.” Access to salvation and eternal life was only available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The cherubim was the place where animal sacrifices were first offered, as this was the offerer’s identification in faith with the future sacrifice of Christ.

  Genesis 4:3-5

• These symbolic creatures of the cherubim symbolised the salvation of God from sin and death through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. They were used in the worship of Israel and Bible prophesies to symbolise salvation through Jesus Christ. Jesus said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” John 14:6.

  Genesis 3:24, Revelation 2:7, 22:14

The Problem of Sin and Death

• Sin is disobedience to God and encompasses anything that is not according to his will and falls short of his glory. It may include acts of sin or failing to do what is right. It is fulfilling self-will as opposed to God’s will.

  1 John 3:4, Romans 3:23, James 4:17

• Ever since God sentenced humanity to mortality as a consequence of Adam and Eve's sin, mortality with its natural bias and tendency to sin, has been inherited by all people. No guilt for Adam and Eve’s sin is passed on or attributed to their offspring.

  Romans 5:12-14, 7:23-24, 8:10, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22, 2 Corinthians 1:9, James 1:14-15, 4:7, Ephesians 2:2, 1 John 2:15

• The mortal human body is a body of death requiring deliverance from mortality. Mortal humans cannot see God or inherit the kingdom of God.

  Romans 7:24, 8:23, Philippians 3:21, Exodus 33:20, 1 Corinthians 15:50-57

• Our sins separate and alienate us from God and he is reconciling us to him through Christ.

  Isaiah 53:5, 59:2, 2 Corinthians 5:19, Ephesians 4:18, Colossians 1:21-23, Romans 5:10

• Death, which was brought into the world by sin, can only be overcome by the conquest of sin itself. Sin is an enemy of God but he will gain victory over sin and death in his son Jesus Christ.

  Genesis 3:15, Romans 8:5-7, James 4:4, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 50-57, 1 John 5:4

• Mortal human nature, resulting from its condemnation to mortality because of sin, has no good in itself and is sinful and corrupt. Mortal human nature is sometimes called “sin” by the figure of speech of metonymy because the impulses and tendencies to sin come from within human nature. For the same reason, it is also called “sinful flesh” or “flesh of sin” because it is the source and cause of sin.

  Mankind is defiled by what comes from within out of the heart. Mortal human nature is described in the Bible as sinful, corrupt and unclean, and cannot be described as clean or undefiled.

  Romans 7:5, 14-25, 8:3, Luke 18:19, Galatians 6:8, Ephesians 4:22, Genesis 1:31, 6:5, Ecclesiastes 7:29, 1 John 2:15, Job 14:1-4, 15:14, 25:4, Matthew 15:10-20, Mark 7:14-23

God’s Plan of Salvation

• God devised a plan of restoration for mankind to fulfil the purpose he created mankind for, which is to be like him. This purpose of God with mankind is the basis upon which God provides salvation in his great love for mankind.

  God’s plan of salvation from sin and death involves recreating mankind to be like him mentally and morally and then physically through a new creation in Christ. His plan is to save mankind from sin and death by his grace through faith, without compromising his just law of death as the consequence of sin.

  Genesis 1:26-27, 2 Corinthians 5:14-19, Galatians 6:15, Ephesians 1:2-11, 2:10, 4:20-24, Colossians 3:9-10, James 1:18, John 3:14-18

• God first loved us by sending his only son as a sacrifice for us when we were unworthy sinners and enemies.

  1 John 4:19, Romans 5:6-11, 1 Timothy 1:15, John 3:14-18

• The sacrifice of Christ illustrates the righteousness of God, the love of God, the wisdom of God and the power of God. It is God who achieves the victory over sin and death in his Son Jesus Christ.

  Romans 3:24-26, 1 John 4:10, 5:4, 1 Corinthians 1:23-24, 15:50-57, 2 Corinthians 5:19

• Two main principles are demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ.

  • The righteousness of God – Romans 3:25-26

  • The condemnation of sin – Romans 8:3-4

• The principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin are demonstrated in the shedding of Christ’s blood, the offering of his body and his death. The blood symbolises life and the shedding of blood in sacrifice results in the death of the body offered in the sacrifice. These are interrelated terms used synonymously to describe the sacrifice of Christ. For example, there is no difference between the death of Christ and the offering of Christ.

  • The shedding of Christ’s blood - Romans 3:25, 5:9, Matthew 20:28, 26:28, 38, Hebrews 10:19, Ephesians 2:13, Colossians 1:14, 20, 1 Peter 1:2, 1 John 1:7, 10:11, 15, 17-18, Hebrews 9:12, Revelation 1:5, 5:9, 7:14.

  • The offering of the body of Christ - Luke 22:19, John 6:51, Hebrews 10:5, 10, Colossians 1:21-23, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 53:12, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:24, 29

  • The death of Christ - Matthew 26:38, John 12:33, 18:32, Hebrews 2:9, 14, 5:7, 9:15-16, 2:9, 14, Romans 5:10, 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 11:26

• God’s plan of salvation involved sending his Son Jesus to be our representative as a man with the same sinful mortal human nature as us with its impulses and tendencies to sin. Because he was the Son of God and strengthened by him, Jesus was able to overcome sin and was perfectly righteous. The purpose of this was to provide a way out of this mortal death state, both for himself and for his brethren, through death and subsequent resurrection.

  God was therefore righteous in requiring his death and righteous in raising him from the dead. This was to demonstrate and uphold the righteousness of God as the first condition of restoration, that God might be just while justifying the unjust, who should approach him in faith, repentance, and a commitment to transform themselves to be like him.

  Romans 3:24-25, 8:3, Hebrews 2:14-15, 9:26, 1 Peter 2:24, John 16:33, Isaiah 53

• The sacrifice of Christ is efficacious to save by faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin it demonstrates, “by faith in his blood”, Romans 3:25 (KJV). This efficacy is not only by “faith in his blood” but by faith in the same principles also demonstrated in the offering of his body and his death. We identify in faith with all elements of his sacrifice when we are baptised and partake of bread and wine in remembrance of him.

  Romans 6:1-11, 4:3-6, 10:3, 1 Corinthians 11:24-26, 10:16, John 6:51-58, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 2:8, James 2:23, 1 Peter 3:18-21

• Christ’s sacrifice served as an open and public demonstration of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin that sinful mankind can look to and have faith in. All who believe and have faith in the principles demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice will not perish but have eternal life. God makes us his righteousness as a gift by his grace through our faith in the principles demonstrated in Christ’s sacrifice.

  Romans 3:24-26, John 3:14-16, 10:18, 12:32-33, 1 John 1:7-10

• God sent Jesus for the purpose of saving sinners from sin and death through faith. As our representative, Christ was himself saved from mortality and raised to immortality through his sacrifice, so that we can be saved from sin and death in and through him by faith. He obtained eternal redemption for himself and for us through his own blood.

  God redeemed and raised Jesus from mortality through his own blood by raising him from the dead and giving him immortality on the basis of his “faith in his blood” Romans 3:25 (KJV), viz the principles of God’s righteousness demonstrated in his blood. Jesus’ “faith in his blood” was evident in a life of perfect righteousness and obedience.

  Hebrews 9:12, 24, 13:20, 5:7, Romans 6:9

• The sacrifice of Christ is an essential element in the process of God restoring mankind to himself. God’s will is that salvation from sin and death for mortal mankind is only available on the basis of faith in, and identification with, the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin as demonstrated in the sacrifice of his Son Jesus Christ. God has provided no other way of salvation for mankind other than through Jesus Christ.

  Acts 4:12, John 14:6, 6:53, 8:24, 15:5, Ephesians 2:12

• We are brought into connection with the work of salvation accomplished in Christ by our faith in it. Christ’s sacrifice is efficacious to save from sin and death by faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin that it demonstrates.

  Romans 3:21-26

• Baptism is our identification in faith with the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ “with him” as our representative, to be dead to sin but alive to righteousness. Because Christ’s sacrifice is efficacious to save through our faith in the principles of God’s righteousness and the condemnation of sin, it teaches powerful moral principles for us to live by in faith.

  Romans 6:1-11 - note the ideas of identification “with Christ” in his death and resurrection to be dead to sin and alive to God, viz; baptised into Christ, baptised into his death, buried with him by baptism into death, united with him in a death like his, united with him in a resurrection like his, crucified with him, died with Christ, live with him.

  Romans 8:13-14, Galatians 2:20, 5:24-25, Ephesians 4:22-24, Philippians 3:8-11, Colossians 2:11-13, 3:9-10, 1 Peter 2:21-25

Adapted from extracts from various sources including “A Declaration of the Truth Revealed in the Bible”, “The Christadelphian Instructor”, “The Nature of Man and the Sacrifice of Christ”, “The Blood of Christ”, “The Law of Moses”, “The Christadelphian Magazine” by Robert Roberts