The Flaming Sword and the Sword of the Spirit
The guardian of Eden, the Word made flesh, and the only way to the Tree of Life
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.
The Sword of the Spirit
Scripture names only one sword that belongs to the Spirit: “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword” (Hebrews 4:12). And when John sees the risen Christ ride out of heaven, “his name is called The Word of God… and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword” (Revelation 19:13, 15).
At Pentecost, the Spirit came with “a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind” and “cloven tongues like as of fire” (Acts 2:2–3). Wind and fire; breath and word.
There is no other way
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
You cannot come to the Father without first being born of the Spirit, and you cannot be born of the Spirit without first acknowledging the Truth. The Truth is the Word of God, and the Word of God is His Son. “Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God” (1 John 4:2).
Body, soul and spirit
Paul prays that believers’ “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
Life, and the alternative to life
Physical life is not enough; we need spiritual life. Without it the spirit is already dead — which is why it must be reborn. Scripture speaks soberly of what lies beyond this life:
The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
John saw “a great white throne,” the books opened, and “another book… which is the book of life” (Revelation 20:11–12). To be written in that book, the spirit must be brought back to life; to be brought back to life, one must come to the Spiritual Tree of Life — through Christ.
The word is near you
The Gospel moves from judgment to hope, and the way through the Sword is not hidden or difficult:
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved… For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The story of three seekers who search for the lost — and the gentle invitation that closes the series — is told in The Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son.
