Eternity in a Nutshell is 3 Crops, 2 Crosses, and 1 Choice

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | RSS | Direct Download A biblical summary of eternity is found in these 3: 3 Crops, 2 Crosses, and 1 Choice. People wonder what God is doing with our lives, with all the evil in the world, and how does He bring meaning to suffering. If you understand these 3, you will understand it all.

Here are the 3 crops, 2 crosses and 1 choice that determine our eternal destiny:

3 Crops

Crop #1 from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

The Bible says that when God created the first human beings, Adam and Eve, He placed

them in a paradise called the Garden of Eden. There was no sickness, no pain, no sorrow,

no death, no fighting, and no war. And there was perfect fellowship with God and each

other. God created the paradise that we long to live in.

Some wonder why God doesn’t give us heaven on earth, and the answer is that He did, it

was called the Garden of Eden.

But a problem arose. When God created Adam and Eve, He created them “in his own

image” (Genesis 1:27). What does that mean? Do human beings look like God? Are we

as smart, powerful, or wise as God? No, not at all. It means that like God, human beings

have:

1. Intellect, far superior to any animal or other part of creation.

2. Emotions, far more complex than animals.

3. Will or volition, which is the ability to choose, to decide, to make moral judgments and to act on them.

Why did God create people in His image? One reason is that He wanted to have a

relationship with us—that enjoyed mutual love. He wanted us to choose to love Him and

be with Him (see Genesis 3:8). And in order for us to choose to love God, required that we have not only a free will, but a choice to make—an opportunity to choose Him or

reject Him.

To give a concrete opportunity for us to exercise our freedom of choice, God created a

tree called “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” and said,

The crop from this tree was death.

To “die” in this verse does not mean physical death, but the death of a relationship. If

they rejected God’s leadership and love, their fellowship with God would be severed.

But that is exactly what they did, they disobeyed (sinned). The greatest tragedy is that sin

brought eternal “death”—that is separation from God. “For the wages of sin is death.”

(Romans 6:23a)

This account is also quite sad because as a result of this first sin, evil also came into the

world and paradise was lost. When Adam and Eve removed themselves from God’s

fellowship in the Garden of Eden they entered into a world of sin and suffering. We often

call this tragedy “the fall.”

God placed an angel to guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden so Adam and Eve could

not return and perhaps eat from the “tree of life” that was also there and then live forever

in their cursed state separated from God (see Genesis 3:23–24). 

Since that time, all human beings have suffered the terrible effects of sin in a fallen

world. And lest we think that it is not our fault and thus not fair, let’s consider that every

human being since then has personally confirmed that we also sin and we are therefore

“sinners:”

• We lie

• We steal

• We lust

• We take God’s name in vain

• And so on

If we lived in the Garden, we too would have chosen to eat the forbidden fruit of that tree. We are all sinners. “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

The Bible reveals that our sins separate us from our holy God and prevent us from

entering the paradise of heaven one day. Heaven is a perfect place and there must be

nothing impure in it. A little sin can be compared to a little AIDS virus. Would you

willingly receive a blood transfusion with just a little AIDS virus in it? Of course not, because any AIDS virus is enough to kill. Likewise, just a little sin would kill the perfection of heaven.

“God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5b ESV)

Here is a summary of the story of this first tree, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and

Evil and the crop that comes from it:

• God created a heaven on earth

• God created human beings with the ability to decide

• Human beings chose and keep choosing to sin

• We therefore live in a fallen, sinful, painful and evil world

• Sin separates us from God for eternity

Crop #2 The Tree of Calvary

God was and still is deeply saddened when all people, just like Adam and Eve, disobey, sin and reject Him.

Heartsick at sin and the resulting suffering, what could God do? He could certainly

forgive; however, His justice demanded a payment for wrongdoing. Someone had to pay

the price for sin. Thankfully God could also provide the payment for all sin. This fact is

well illustrated by the following historical account.

Fiorello LaGuardia was Mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945, during the Great

Depression. As mayor, he would sometimes preside in court as judge pro tem (temporary

judge). Once, while he was presiding, a beggar was taken to court because he had stolen a

loaf of bread to feed himself.

Mayor LaGuardia, as an honest and fair judge, looked at the evidence and was compelled

to pronounce the man “guilty as charged.” He also was obligated to assess a penalty for

the destitute man’s guilt. LaGuardia fined him $50, a sum the beggar clearly did not

possess.

But then the Mayor did something wonderful. He stepped down from the bench, took off

his judicial robes and paid the fine from his own resources. Why would LaGuardia do

such a thing? Because as a just and honest judge, he had to find the man guilty. But as a

caring mayor, he was willing to pay the price for the destitute beggar who could not pay

the penalty on his own.

Likewise, Almighty God is the just Judge of the universe. He must pronounce every

human being guilty of their wrongdoings. But as a loving heavenly Father, He is also

willing to pay the price of our judgment through God the Son, Jesus Christ, who died for

our sins on the Tree of Calvary.

What is this Tree of Calvary? It is the tree described in the above verse; the cross on

which God the Son (Jesus Christ) died for our sins—the cross on Mount Calvary, in the

Holy Land.

Historically, Jews would hang condemned criminals on trees to shame them. The Romans

however hung the condemned naked on crosses by the busiest roads for public

humiliation. The cross was called a “tree” because it was the Roman equivalent of the

Jewish curse of being hung on a tree (see Deuteronomy 21:23).

As sinners, we are not only deserving of the penalty of death, we are also deserving

of shame for our sins. But when Jesus (God the Son) died on the cross, he bore both. He

bore:

1. The judicial payment for our sins

2. The personal shame of our sins.

The crop from the Tree of Calvary is salvation from our sins!

God the Son (Jesus Christ) provided a solution for sin, suffering and death by dying on

the cross and rising to life again. He is eager to save those who will receive Him as

Savior from sins and the Lord of their lives.

Each person must personally choose to receive this gift of forgiveness and salvation.

Would you like to receive this ultimate spiritual healing right now? If so, here is a prayer

you can pray to express your desire to receive God’s gift of salvation: “Thank you God that you are a loving God who provided the answer to the

suffering we brought into the world through sin. Thank you, Jesus, for dying on

the cross for my sins and rising from death to conquer sin and death. Come into

my life and save me. Help me to live for you and know that I am yours. Thank

you that heaven will be my eternal home. In Jesus name I pray, amen.”

Here is a summary of the story of the second tree, the Tree of Calvary:

• God is saddened by sin, evil, pain and suffering

• God’s justice demanded a payment for our wrongdoings

• God’s love provided the payment: God the Son, Jesus Christ

• This solution is available to all who by faith receive it

Crop #3 The Tree Of Life

This third tree is found in Revelation 22 which describes the New Jerusalem, or heaven. Jesus says:

“Those who wash their robes” are people who have trusted in Jesus for their salvation

and have become clean from their sins that separated them from God. If anyone has done

so, this passage says they have access to the “Tree of Life.”

What is the Tree of Life? You might remember that in the Garden of Eden (God’s

original creation) there were two special trees:

1. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

2. The Tree of Life

“The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good

and evil.” (Genesis 2:9b ESV)

Adam and Eve could eat from the “Tree of Life” as long as they remained sinless, but

once they sinned, they lost access to it (see Genesis 3:22-23). The Tree of Life

symbolizes eternal life. It has been “transplanted” into the heavenly city:

Note two things the tree produces:

1. It produces 12 kinds of fruit, one kind for each month. This year-round, unending fruit symbolizes eternal life.

2. This verse also says, “the leaves of the tree will heal the nations.”

This symbolizes healing of all kinds. In the heavenly paradise, there will be no more

diseases, natural disasters, human cruelty, etc. Paradise will be restored! The Bible

describes heaven this way:

Thanks to the second tree (the Tree of Calvary), in heaven we will have a restored

paradise like what existed before the fall!

The crop of this third tree is eternal life!

Thinking about heaven often brings a question: Since heaven is so great, what is God

waiting for—why not bring heaven to us right now? Why does God seem to be so slow to

eliminate suffering and bring paradise again?

2 Peter 3:9 answers this question:

So why is God waiting to end suffering and bring back paradise? Because He is waiting

for YOU if you have not yet received salvation!

This brings us to the second summary of eternity and the story of the Bible, which we see

in the account of 2 Crosses.

2 Crosses

Usually we think only of the cross of Christ, however, let’s remember that there were 3

crosses on Calvary. The other two represent two responses to Jesus. Luke 23 describes

the scene in this way:

Wow, the thieves on these 2 crosses represent two very different responses to Jesus.

Cross #1 Represents Rejecting Jesus

This thief was unrepentant and unbelieving. He “railed” against Jesus or literally, “blasphemed” Jesus. Other versions say that he

• “scoffed”

• “hurled insults”

• “heaped abuse”

All he wanted was a “free pass” or a “get out of jail free card.” He demanded it

immediately! But he didn’t want any part of Jesus Himself.

Many people fall into this category, whether they verbalize their rejection or not. Even if

they simply ignore Jesus, they are rejecting Him.

Cross #2 Represents Receiving Jesus

The other thief “rebuked” the insulting thief. “Do you not fear God?” he asked. He was

repentant, freely confessing his sin and saying, “We are receiving the due reward for our

deeds.”

He was respectful of the Savior saying, “this man has done nothing wrong.” Indeed,

Jesus was the sinless God-man.

He asked for salvation and he received it. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, today you will

be with me in paradise.”

No sweeter words have ever been uttered.

1 Choice

Making this personal, which thief do you choose to be like? Will you reject His sacrifice

for your sins on Calvary? Or will you receive His gift of eternal life.

• To reject Him is to choose an eternity separated from God and the suffering that goes with that choice.

• To receive Him is to be with Him in paradise from the time you pass from this world and through all eternity.

God wants you to know that you have eternal life. 1 John 5:13 says “I write these things

to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have

eternal life.”

Titus 3:4-5 says, “But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved

us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed

away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.” (NLT)

Eternal life is not predicated on our “righteous” deeds. We cannot be good enough. We

must have Jesus wash away our sins and give us a “new birth.”

To learn how to do that, please click HERE.

To help you in this new life in Christ, we have created a series of lessons called

“Discipleship Journeys with Jesus.” Please use these free lessons to discover the joys of

your new life. They are available online without cost at djjministry.org.

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• Podcast: Can a Christian take medications to help brain chemistry?

• Podcast: Is it okay to be angry with God?

• Podcast: How should I pray when suffering?

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