Names of God: Xulon Zoe

So far in our study of the names of Christ we have looked at Huios and Eschatos Adam. Today we are going to look at a few names of Christ . Our main focus will be on one name, but there are two names that we will look at that relate to our focus name.

We find our name of Christ today in the book of Revelation…

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

Now last week as we looked at Eschatos Adam I used the illustration of the family tree… and here’s the thing our Jesus is indeed the Tree of Life, the Xulon Zoe. We will dig a little deeper into Xulon Zoe later in this post.

Now there are two things that help make a tree a tree.  For one a tree has branches…

  In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel. It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy—everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem. (Isaiah 4:2-3)

Then say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the Lord. (Zechariah 6:12)

Jesus is our Xulon Zoe and  He is our Tsemach, our Branch, He is the One who reaches out from where He is and builds the temple of the Lord.

Now another thing that makes a tree a tree is that it has roots. You see not only is He our Xulon Zoe and our Tsemach, He is also our Rhiza.

and one of the elders said to me, “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.” (Revelation 5:5) 

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” Revelation 22:16

Here’s the awesome thing about our Jesus,: He is the whole tree! He is the Branch and He is the Root. He is not just the descendant of David, He is also the root of him. He is the Tree of Life. He is the One who builds the temple of the Lord.

Now there was a descendant of David who built a temple to the Lord long ago. His name was Solomon. We read in 1 Kings 6 how Solomon also used branches and trees to build this temple. These were trees from this earth. These were trees that gave their life to build the temple. They were cut down and used to lay the foundations and build the walls and all the furniture and the altars and all else that was in the temple. These trees were strong, but they were not eternal. They were of this earth and this temple was destroyed.

The temple built by the Branch from the Tree of Life however will never be destroyed…

With this in mind lets dig a little deeper into Xulon Zoe

Xulon  is Greek for tree, but this tree is not just any tree, this word xulon in Revelation 2:7 means: wood, that which is made of wood, as a beam from which any one is suspended, a gibbet, a cross, a log or timber with holes in which the feet, hands, neck of prisoners were inserted and fastened with thongs, a fetter, or shackle for the feet

Zoe is Greek for life, and this word zoe in Revelation 2:7 means: life, the state of one who is possessed of vitality or is animate, every living soul, of the absolute fullness of life

You see my friend the Tree of Life is the Cross of Christ

You see this son of David, the Root of David, this Branch, this Tree of Life, our Christ also gave His life to build a temple of the Lord. He however did not cut another down, but He Himself was cut down. This Tree of Life was cut down and laid, but He has risen… and the Branch of this Tree just keeps going out from where He is and building the temple of the Lord. And where is this temple? Who is this temple?

Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
(1 Corinthians 3:16)

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
(1 Corinthians 6:20)

The temple that is built from Xulon Zoe can never be destroyed… not even the gates of hell can prevail against it.

 

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