创二9 耶和华神使各样的树从地里长出来，可以悦人的眼目，也好作食物；园子当中有生命树，还有善恶知识树。

　　西三4 基督是我们的生命，祂显现的时候，你们也要与祂一同显现在荣耀里。

　　旧约论到创造，新约论到救赎。不论是在创造或救赎里，神的目的、中心都是在于生命。……虽然神造了千千万万、各式各样、形形色色的万物，但神所要达到的目的，祂所指向的目标，就是生命。若是我们熟读创世记头两章，并且安静下来，在神面前重新默想神的创造，我们立刻能看见，神的创造是因着生命，并且达于生命；祂的创造是以生命为中心，也是以生命为目标。所以在起头时，神从无创造出有（李文集一九五三年第一册，一四四页）。

　　Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

　　Col. 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.

　　The Old Testament speaks of creation, and the New Testament speaks of redemption. Both in creation and redemption God’s purpose and center is life…Although God created many things of such diversity and variety, His purpose and final goal are simply life. If we read the first two chapters of Genesis and meditate quietly before God on His creation, we will see that God’s creation involves life and produces life. Life is the center and goal of God's creation. In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” p. 113)

　　在神创造的程序里，祂先创造了无生物，然后创造有生物。并且，生物的创造乃是从较低等的开始，越造越高。最后，祂所造最高的生物就是人。或许有人会问，何以见得人是神最高的造物？因为圣经说，神造人的时候，是按着祂自己的形像，照着祂自己的样式造的（创一26~27）。……不只如此，神还把祂管理万有的权柄赐给人（26、28）。所以，在万有中，受造的人类像神，因为有神的形像；并且代表神，因为有神的权柄。神看一切所造的都甚好（31）。祂在广大的宇宙中，在形形色色的万物里，得着人有祂的形像，并有祂的权柄，能够彰显祂的荣耀，也能代表祂的权柄，祂是何等的满足。

　　创世记二章告诉我们，当神造物的工完毕后，就在第七日歇了祂一切的工，安息了（2）。许多人以为，至此神的工作已

　　经完成，祂是真的安息、满足了。其实不然，神的创造至此并未达到其目的。若是我们再往下读，就会看见仍有许多问题。当神把人造好之后，便将人安置在伊甸园里（8），园子当中，也就是园子中心，有一棵生命树（9）。生命树是非常奇特的，圣经第一次提到“生命”，就是“生命”树。这给我们看见，虽然神什么都造好了，人也预备好，可以彰显祂、代表祂，但神还不能满意，因为神的目标还没有达到。神的目标是什么呢？神的目标乃是生命，神把创造好的人，带到生命树那里，祂把人摆在生命跟前。

　　神……将人带到生命树跟前，引导人、指示人，巴望人接触那棵树，好使生命能进到人里面。神这样作的目的，无非是要给我们看见，祂的创造乃是以生命作目标，以生命为目的。如果只有创造，人没有达到生命，生命没有进到人里面，神的创造就没有意义，没有目的，也没有结果。

　　整本圣经给我们看见生命这个目标。……我们基督徒乃是有基督作生命的人（西三4），祂在我们里面拯救我们，作我们的生命。这个生命就是基督自己，也就是神自己。这个生命要带领我们到永远，这意思是，在永远里仍是生命的故事。……启示录给我们看见，在永远里我们所接触的是生命河，所面对的是生命树（二二1~2上）。生命河从神和羔羊的宝座流出来，河的这边与那边有生命树。我们在永世里所接触、所面对的就是这个生命。……所有蒙恩的人，在生命里和神是相通的；在神的生命里，蒙恩的人与神成为一。换言之，那个生命怎样在神里面，也同样在我们里面（李文集一九五三年第一册，一四四至一四五、一四八至一四九页）。

　　参读：创世记生命读经，第十一篇；认识生命与召会，第一篇。

　　In the orderly process of His creation, God first created inanimate objects, and then He created organic things. Furthermore, the creation of living beings started at the lowest level of life and advanced step by step to higher levels of life. Ultimately, the highest level of life created by God was man. Man is the highest life in God’s creation, because the Bible says that God created man in His own image and according to His own likeness (Gen. 1:26-27)…Furthermore, God also gave man the authority to have dominion over all things (vv. 26, 28). Thus, among all created things, man is like God because he has God’s image; he also represents God because he has God’s authority. God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good (v. 31). In this vast universe, among all the myriads of created things, God obtained a man with His image and authority, who could express His glory and represent His authority. This satisfied God!

　　God rested on the seventh day after He finished His work of creation (2:2). Many people think that God was at rest and satisfied because everything was finished at this point. However, even at this point God had not reached the purpose of His creation. If we continue reading, we will see that there were still many considerations. After God created man, He put him in the garden of Eden (v. 8). In the center of the garden was the tree of life (v. 9). The tree of life is very special. The first time life is spoken of in the Bible is in relation to the tree of life. This shows that God was still not satisfied, because He had not yet reached His goal, even though He had created everything and even though man had been prepared to express and represent God. What is God's goal? God’s goal is life. God brought the man that He created to the tree of life and put him in front of life.

　　He guided and directed man to the tree of life, hoping that man would contact the tree so that life could be imparted into him. God did these things in order to show that life is the goal and purpose of His creation. If man does not come to life and life does not come into man, God’s creation of man would have no meaning, purpose, or result.

　　The entire Bible shows the goal of life…As Christians, we have Christ as our life (Col. 3:4). He is in us to save us and be our life. This life is Christ Himself, who is God Himself. This life will lead us into eternity, which means that even in eternity everything will be related to life. Revelation shows that in eternity we will contact the river of water of life and the tree of life. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and on this side and on that side of the river is the tree of life (22:1-2). In eternity we will contact and see life…All the believers are connected to God in life; thus, the believers and God are one in His life. In other words, just as life is in God, life is also in us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” pp. 113-114, 116)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 11; CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, “Knowing Life and the Church,” ch. 1