What does the Tree of Life represent? Fr. Gabriel Wissa

About this sermon

Why does God Deny us Access to the Tree of Life in Genesis? In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen. Before we dive into why God put Cherubim with swords in front of the Tree of Life, it's important to first begin by understanding the essence of the Tree itself. According to Church Fathers like St. Gregory the theologian and St. Ephrem the Syrian, the Tree of Life represents none other than Christ Himself. St. Ephrem paints this beautiful poetic picture of the Tree's sorrow at Adam's fall, and its eventual triumph and resurrection on Golgotha, emphasizing Christ as the ultimate Source of Eternal Life. He says: "Greatly saddened was the Tree of Life when it beheld Adam stolen away from it; it sank down into the virgin ground and was hidden—to burst forth and reappear on Golgotha…" St. Ephrem makes it crystal clear when he says that “the Tree of Life is the symbol of the Son of the Living One.” Indeed, Christ declares Himself as "the vine" in John 14:6 when He says: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit...” We can also look at it from the perspective where the cross represents the tree, and Christ, the fruit which hangs from the tree as Christ was hanging from the cross. #CopticOrthodoxAnswers #COA #AA SUBSCRIBE TO COA! https://www.youtube.com/copticorthodo... Genesis 1-3, Understanding the Creation Account Series:. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lh_1krMQhA&list=PLA20bNyz8F1B_cXNGM5c8M42udo8ARcXd&index=3 Faith, Sacraments & Theology series : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slC6wAmkFyE&list=PLA20bNyz8F1DKN0XH06TAMxZhXOMxcfcj FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Website | http://www.copticorthodoxanswers.org/ Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/CopticAnswers/ Instagram | https://www.instagram.com/CopticAnswers/ Twitter | https://twitter.com/CopticAnswers