Ⅲ
We need to know the significance of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and turn absolutely from this tree to the tree of life—vv. 9, 16-17:
A
The tree of life signifies the Triune God in Christ to dispense Himself into His chosen people as life in the form of food—v. 9.
B
The New Testament reveals that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life—John 1:1, 4, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5:
１
Speaking of Christ, John 1:4 says, “In Him was life”; this refers to the life signified by the tree of life.
２
The life portrayed in Genesis 2 is the life incarnated in Christ—1 John 5:11-12; John 1:1, 4, 14.
３
If we put together John 1:4 and 15:5, we will realize that Christ, who Himself is life and also a vine tree, is the tree of life.
C
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan as the source of death to man—Heb. 2:14:
１
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil also signifies all things apart from God.
２
Anything that is not God Himself, including good things and even scriptural and religious things, can be utilized by Satan, the subtle one, to bring death into the church—Matt. 16:18; Prov. 16:25; 18:21.
D
In John 4, 8, 9, and 11 are four cases that illustrate the principle of life versus good and evil:
１
We should care not for good and evil but for life—4:10-14, 20-21, 23-24; 8:3-9; 9:1-3; 11:20-27.
２
The best way to discern a matter is to discern according to life or death, not according to right and wrong, good and evil—Rom. 8:6; 2 Cor. 11:3.
Morning Nourishment
2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your thoughts would be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ.Rom. 8:6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace.
[In 2 Corinthians 11:3] the apostle Paul indicates that the teachings of the Judaizers can be compared to the deceitful word spoken by the serpent to Eve in Genesis 3. In other words, Paul likens the activities of the Judaizers to the serpent’s work on Eve. From reading Genesis 3 we know that the serpent distracted Eve from the enjoyment of the tree of life. The way he turned her away from the enjoyment of the tree of life was to point her to another tree, to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which issues in death.
The tree of life is simple. With this tree, there is just one element, and that element is life. The tree of life issues in life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, on the contrary, is complicated and also complicating. With this tree, we have good, evil, knowledge, and death.
The Bible as a whole is a development of these two trees. The tree of life signifies God in Christ as the Spirit to be life to us. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan as death. Satan is the power of death. The tree of knowledge of good and evil signifying Satan as death includes knowledge, good, and evil. The serpent distracted Eve from the tree of life by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil with its complications. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 465-466)
Today’s Reading
The proper understanding of death is that it denotes separation from the enjoyment of God. This means that if we do not have the enjoyment of God, we are in death. Likewise, if we are separated from the enjoyment of God, we shall die…. In Romans 8:6 death is separation from the enjoyment of God. Life is the opposite, for it is the enjoyment of God. When we have the enjoyment of God, there is no separation between us and God, we are in life, and life operates in us.In distracting the believers from the tree of life, Satan seeks to separate us from the enjoyment of God as our life. For centuries the subtle serpent has been using teachings to keep God’s chosen people from enjoying Him as their life. For the most part, these teachings are related to knowledge, good, and evil. But such teachings result in separation from God.
The best way to discern a matter is to discern according to life or death. We need to ask questions like this: Does this teaching help me to enjoy the Lord more and bring me into life, or does it cause the poison of death to be injected into me? You may find that if you accept a certain kind of teaching or preaching, taking it into you, immediately your inward enjoyment of the Lord is cut off. Some things function like insulation that stops the flowing of the divine electricity. Therefore, we must learn to discern, to differentiate, matters by life and death.
Thank the Lord for the secret of real discernment. This secret is to discern a preaching or teaching by whether or not it helps us to enjoy the Lord and gain more life supply. If anyone’s preaching cuts us off from the enjoyment of the Lord, that preaching must be of the serpent, of Satan….Many of those who have left the Lord’s recovery have neither the life supply nor the enjoyment. This is an indication that they have taken in something that is not of the Lord. The genuine ministry of the Lord always strengthens us in the enjoyment of Him as our life supply. Anything that cuts you off from the enjoyment of the Lord is of the serpent. But anything that causes your enjoyment of the Lord to increase is of the Spirit and of the New Testament ministry. (Life-study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 468-470)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1988, vol. 3, “Our Urgent Need— Spirit and Life,” chs. 2-3; The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 8, 41