The Tree in the Centre

The cross is the centre of salvation, the centre of history, and the centre of creation.

God created the heavens and the earth in six days, according to Scripture, and on the seventh day He rested. These days—whether literal 24-hour days or symbolic of longer periods—contain a deeply profound message. Jesus was crucified, according to the Scriptures, on the sixth day of the Passover festival. On the seventh day, His body rested in the ground. In the book of Genesis, it is recounted that God rested on the seventh day.

The Lord of all creation took upon Himself a created nature, becoming fully human—while remaining fully God. He never divested Himself of His Deity, only of His divine privileges. The Eternal One stepped into time and died on a tree He had created—both the manifestation of the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

He bore the sins of mankind—our reproach and our shame. The weight of our sins, symbolised by the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was laid upon Him on the cross.

Yet the tree has become the source of something new—eternal life for all who look upon the Son of Man and believe. Just as the Tree of Life stood in the midst of the Garden—Eden, the place where God dwelt with man —so now God has made believers across the world His eternal dwelling place. At the heart of this temple stands the Tree of Life, from which blood and water flow: the blood of communion, which we drink in remembrance, unto eternal life; the bread from Heaven, which we eat so that we shall never hunger again; and the Living Water of the Holy Spirit, poured out from Heaven upon all who hear the gospel message and believe.

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
— Ephesians 3:20–21