Editor’s Note: If you haven’t read them already, you’ll want to check out Part 1 and Part 2.

Revelation 2:1-7

The Reward

Jesus’ warning to not settle for “good enough” is clear, but he also knew that some people do not respond to threats. Some are more motivated by reward, and so he offered one in Revelation 2:7: “To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.” There are three things that we must notice about this reward.

Notice the first component of this reward: “I will give the right to eat from the tree of life.” The tree of life, of course, is a reference to Genesis 2-3, where God planted two specific trees at the center of Eden: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from any tree or plant in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, they were allowed to eat from the tree of life and so live forever! But when they violated the one prohibition in all of creation and ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they lost the right to eat of the tree of life. Put another way, their sin barred them from living forever. Now, though, Jesus promises to restore the right to eat of the tree of life, and the implication is that, for those who overcome complacency, sin will finally be removed. In soteriology, this is called glorification, and it is the promise that, eventually, God through Christ will remove every last vestige of iniquity and inadequacy from us. We will be made perfect at last, and that perfection stands in stark contrast to the “good enough” of complacency!

If this promise does not excite, then complacency really has become a stronghold! Those who are truly passionate about loving God and loving people will be keenly aware of just how far they still fall short, and they will be making every effort to overcome. Sadly, we know from Scripture that we will never reach absolute perfection this side of glory, but Jesus just told us that, if we refuse to settle in this life, he will make up our deficiencies and perfect us in the next.

Notice also the second component of this reward: the tree of life “is in the paradise of God.” This was also a reference to Genesis 2-3, where the second part of Adam and Eve’s punishment for eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was banishment from the garden. The garden, filled as it was with things that were “pleasing in appearance and good for food” (Genesis 2:9), was truly a paradise, and by granting us the right to eat of the tree of life at its center, Jesus was saying that we will finally experience paradise indeed. No more hunger; there is food all around us! No more work; just reach up and eat! No more injustice or sickness or death. None of these things existed in the garden of Genesis, and none of them will exist in the paradise of Revelation 2.

Perhaps more significant than these temporal concerns, however, is the spiritual implication of this restoration to paradise. Namely, in Eden, God would walk with Adam and Eve. The notion of strolling together carries with it a profound intimacy, and that is exactly what the first people enjoyed with God. When they were banished from the garden, though, that intimacy was broken. It was not just the indescribable luxury of paradise that they lost; they lost also their intimacy with God. True, God would go to great lengths to reach out to them, including sending the Holy Spirit to take up residence in our lives. But humanity would never again know the perfect intimacy with God which was represented by His actual, physical presence. By granting the right to eat from the tree of life at the center of the garden, though, Jesus was promising to restore that perfect fellowship which mankind originally enjoyed with God! Imagine taking a stroll with the Savior, chatting and laughing and carrying on as you would with your best friend! If that does not excite you, I do not know what will!

Before we leave this discussion of the stronghold of complacency, though, it is imperative to notice the qualification of verse 7. This promise is extended only “to the one who conquers.” The biblical story of Caleb serves as a fantastic illustration of what it means to conquer. The background of the story, of course, is that Caleb was one of only two spies who voted to proceed with the invasion of the promise land in Numbers 13. The report of the other ten spies, however, caused the whole nation to vote against the invasion, and the result was that God refused to allow their entrance into Canaan for forty years. By the time they did enter the promise land, Caleb was 85 years old, but when it came in Joshua 14 time to distribute the land, Caleb was first in line. “I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised” (Joshua 14:11-12 CSB).

Indeed, the Lord was with Caleb. After Joshua blessed Caleb and approved the request, in verses 14-15, we read this: “Therefore, Hebron still belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance today because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, completely. Hebron’s name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. After this, the land had rest from war.” A number of things jump out at me about this passage. First, Arba was the greatest man. That is, whether he was killed or driven out, Arba was no longer a factor. In fact, Arba and the entire race of Anakim (who were giants, by the way!) were so thoroughly neutralized that Caleb was able to rename the region Hebron, and Caleb was so thoroughly victorious that no one has yet contested his ownership of the area. And why is this? Because Caleb followed the Lord, the God of Israel, completely. It is subtle, but “followed the Lord” points back to the command to kill or drive out all of the previous inhabitants. This, Caleb did completely.

To conquer, then, is to completely succeed at following God’s command, and it stands in stark contrast to what some of the other tribes did. Consider, for example the account of Judah, which is recorded in Joshua 15. In the middle of Judah’s territory was the city of Jerusalem, which was occupied by a group of people called the Jebusites. The Jebusites had a fortified city, but so did the people of Hebron. What they did not have was water (and giants; did I mention the Anakim were giants?!). In fact, the city of Jerusalem did not have a secure, internal water source until Hezekiah was king of Israel (2 Kings 20:20). In other words, if the Judahites had beseiged the city for a week, the city would have been forced to either surrender or die of dehydration. Instead, we read in Joshua 15:63, “The descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem.” There are a number of things I notice in this statement, but the bottom line is that Judah settled for “good enough.” They got complacent! And the result was that “the Jebusites still live in Jerusalem among the descendants of Judah today.” Notice the preposition: the Jebusites were among the Judahites! They did not live north or south or beside them. Rather, they mingled with them! It was exactly the opposite of what God had commanded them to do!

Ultimately, this is the problem with complacency: it leads to exactly the opposite of what God wants for us. God wants for us to be completely without sin, engaged in a perfect relationship with him. In order to realize that, he never considered “good enough,” but loved extravagently. And those who will experience this amazing promise must never succumb to the stronghold of complacency.