“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.”
(Revelation 2:7)
The tree of life is for overcomers. What are we to be overcoming? It is the world of idolatry, immorality, and hostility toward God. And who are the overcomers? John explained in his first epistle. “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (5:4-5) It is faith in Him who overcame the world of sin and rebellion against God, who overcame Satan in all of his hostility that we find our triumph. When John feared that no one could open the book of God’s decrees to unfold its contents, a heavenly elder told him, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals” (5:5). The message of overcoming points directly to the triumph of the Lamb; we overcome by living in the triumph of His death and resurrection.
(Phil A. Newton)
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