CDM Internet Church

Communion - Part IV

Types and Shadows


There are a lot of types and shadows in the Old Testament that point to Christ and the cross. Everything in the Old Testament looks forward to the cross of Christ; and everything in the New Testament looks back to the cross. One of the first types and shadows is the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden.

What is a type and a shadow?

Webster defines TYPE as having distinguishing characteristics or representative of. Isn't that interesting to have a little four letter word defined by a couple of 14 letter words and a 15 letter word!
SHADOW is defined as a prefiguration: as a coming event.
The tree of life is a type and shadow of the Lord Jesus. Let's look at the account in Genesis chapter 2 & 3...

And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them. And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
(KJV)

Nudity was the sign that Adam had sinned. And they tried to cover their sin by sewing fig leaves together. "But the Lord God clothed them with the skins of animals." Blood had to be shed. Here we can see the way being prepared for the atonement for sin. The blood shed by animal sacrifice could only serve to cover sin. Only the blood of Christ can separate us from our sin. The tree of life is considered by every commentary to be a type of Christ. And God prevented Adam and Eve from having access to it as eating its fruit would reverse the curse. Think of that...Reverse the Curse!

It is significant to understand when we take communion we are calling to remembrance what the Lord Jesus accomplished for us on that cross. His shed blood cleanses us from all our sin which we acknowledge by our taking of the cup and his broken body represented by the bread that we eat... Reverses the Curse! He is our tree of life.

Won't you take communion with me today and think of Jesus as Your Tree of Life. The way for us is open...


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