Scripture Reading: Gen. 1:1-3, 16-18; 2:9; John 1:4-5, 9; 8:12; 20:22; 4:14b; 6:35, 57; 15:1, 5
Ⅰ
Christ is the true light—the light of the world and the light of life—Gen. 1:1-3, 16-18; John 1:4, 9; 8:12; 9:5; 1 John 1:5:
A
"Because the God who said, Out of darkness light shall shine, is the One who shined in our hearts to illuminate the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God and not out of us"—2 Cor. 4:6-7:
１
The very God who commanded light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to bring into us a treasure, the Christ of glory, who is the embodiment of God to be our life and everything; His shining in the universe produced the old creation, and now His shining in our hearts makes us a new creation—Ezek. 36:26-27, 31.
２
We became a new creation through the Spirit, the word, and the light; Christ as the Spirit is the reality of God, Christ as the word is the speaking of God, and Christ as the light is the shining of God—Gen. 1:1-3; John 16:13-15; 1:1-3; Heb. 1:1-2; John 8:12; 9:5.
３
God's shining produces the new covenant ministers and their ministry, making them trustees of the divine light.
B
Light is Christ as the presence of the Triune God; He shines in the darkness, dispels the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome Him—1:4-5.
C
We enjoy Christ as the portion of the saints in the light; the central thought of God is that He wants us to enjoy Christ—Col. 1:12:
１
God is light—1 John 1:5.
２
Christ is light—John 8:12; 9:5.
３
The life of Christ is light—1:4.
４
The word of God is light—Psa. 119:105, 130; John 6:63; Isa. 66:2, 5a; Deut. 17:18-20; S. S. 8:13.
５
Light is the inner sense of life—the inner shining—John 8:12; Prov. 20:27; Rev. 4:5; Rom. 8:6; Eph. 5:8-9; 1 John 2:8.
６
The saints are the light—Matt. 5:14; cf. Luke 11:34-36.
７
The churches shine forth the light—Rev. 1:20; Psa. 73:16-17.
８
Light is the gospel that we announce—John 1:5; Luke 2:32; Acts 13:47; 26:18, 23; 2 Cor. 4:4.
D
We need to see the functions of light:
１
Light opens our eyes and gives us spiritual sight to see the supreme preciousness of Christ and His goal to have a glorious church—Eph. 1:17-18; Psa. 36:9; Acts 26:18.
２
Light reproves us, exposing and manifesting our true condition and actual difficulties in the presence of God—Eph. 5:13-14; Rev. 3:18.
３
Light kills our self and anything within us that does not match God—Acts 22:6-10; Isa. 6:1-8.
４
Light supplies us with life—John 8:12.
５
Light heals us—Mal. 4:2; cf. Prov. 4:20-22.
６
Light infuses us with God—20:27; Rev. 4:5; 5:6.
７
Light is for us to shine as luminaries in the world—Phil. 2:15-16a.
８
Light rules in us as a kingdom of life and love—Col. 1:12-13; Gen. 1:16-18.
９
Light dawns upon us with God's merciful compassions to guide our feet into the way of peace—Luke 1:78-79.
10
Light deifies us—Mal. 4:2; Num. 24:17; Matt. 13:43; Dan. 12:3; Prov. 4:18.
E
Enlightening rests with the mercy of God; therefore, we should not manufacture our own light but trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon our God—Rom. 9:15; Acts 9:3-4; Isa. 50:10-11.
F
We need to see the way to be enlightened:
１
We must want the light and be willing to accept and receive the shining— cf. Phil. 2:13.
２
We must open ourselves to the Lord, turning our whole heart to Him and spreading all things before Him without any reservation—Prov. 20:27; Rev. 4:5; 2 Cor. 3:16-18; cf. 2 Kings 23:24-25.
３
We must put a stop to ourselves—to our doings, views, ways of looking at things, feelings, concepts, opinions, ideas, and words—and be replaced by Christ—Isa. 56:2; 55:1; 2:5; John 11:20-28; Luke 10:40.
４
We must not dispute with the light—cf. S. S. 5:2-6.
５
We must continuously live in the light so that we enjoy new and fresh enlightenment in our entire Christian living—Eph. 5:8-9; 1 John 1:7; 2:8.
G
The eternal issue of our enjoying Christ as the divine light is that we become the holy city, the eternal diffuser of the divine light—Rev. 21:23; 22:5.
Ⅱ
Christ is the tree of life (that which is really life) as the center of the universe to dispense Himself into His chosen people to be their generating life—Gen. 2:9; 1 Tim. 6:19; 1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:6:
A
According to the purpose of God, the earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the tree of life is the center of the garden of Eden; hence, the universe is centered on the tree of life.
B
To eat of the tree of life, that is, to enjoy Christ as our life supply, must be the primary matter in the church life—Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14.
C
The symbolism of the tree of life in Genesis finds its explanation and fulfillment in the Gospel of John, which reveals that the purpose of life is to build up the church as the house of God—1:4; 10:10b; 14:6a; 2:19-22:
１
The tree of life in the Gospel of John is in the form of the breath of life, the water of life, the bread of life, the light of life, and the vine tree of life; this shows that life must be maintained—20:22; 4:14b; 6:35; 8:12; 15:1, 5.
２
Life meets the need of every man's case, and the issue of life is a house of feasting (the vital group church life)—12:1-11.
３
The work that the Lord needs in order to produce and increase the church is the overflow and outflow of the inner life, not the endeavor of outward activity—7:37-39; 4:10, 14; 1 Cor. 3:13; Rom. 2:28-29.
D
We can enjoy Christ as the tree of life by keeping the principle of the tree of life, the principle of dependence on God; knowledge creates independence, whereas life demands dependence—John 6:57; 4:10, 14; Hymns, #255, stanza 7:
１
In Song of Songs the Lord's loving seeker, who came up once from the spiritual wilderness (the worldly environment) by herself (3:6), now comes up from the fleshly wilderness (the earthly realm) by leaning on her Beloved, trusting in Him helplessly—8:5a:
ａ
Leaning on her beloved implies her feeling that she is powerless and unable to walk apart from the Lord; she makes herself a burden for her Beloved to carry—cf. 2 Cor. 12:9-10; 13:3-4.
ｂ
Leaning on her beloved implies that, like Jacob, the socket of her hip has been touched, and her natural strength has been dealt with by the Lord—Gen. 32:24-25; cf. Hosea 12:3-4.
ｃ
Leaning on her beloved implies that she finds herself pressed beyond measure and that this lasts until the wilderness journey is over—2 Cor. 1:8-9.
２
As she is waiting for His coming, she is going out with Him to meet Him (Matt. 25:1); by leaning upon our Beloved, we constantly enjoy Him as our "going-out" strength to leave the world behind (Gen. 5:22-24).
３
She asks her Beloved to keep her by His love (heart) and His strength (arm); she realizes that whether she can endure to the end does not depend on her own endurance but on the Lord's preservation—S. S. 8:6.
E
We can enjoy Christ as the tree of life by eating Him; the first picture of God's dealing with man is not a picture of doing but of eating—Gen. 2:9; John 6:57:
１
We eat Christ by eating His words, being nourished with the words of the faith and of the good teaching of God's economy to save both ourselves and those who hear us—v. 63; Jer. 15:16; Ezek. 3:1-3; 1 Tim. 4:6-7, 15-16.
２
We eat Christ by staying in contact with those who eat Him and pursue Him for His good pleasure, while turning away from those who make divisions contrary to the teaching that we have learned—Lev. 11:2, footnote 1; 5:2; 1 Cor. 15:33; Prov. 13:20; 2 Tim. 2:22; Rom. 16:17.
F
As branches of the tree of life, we can enjoy Christ by abiding in Him—John 14:6; 15:4-5:
１
We abide in Christ by setting our mind on the spirit—Rom. 8:6.
２
We abide in Christ by abiding in His word so that His words may abide in us—John 8:31; 15:7.
G
By enjoying Christ as the tree of life, we are becoming the New Jerusalem, and by ministering Christ as the tree of life to others, we are building the New Jerusalem; the New Jerusalem is the eternal issue of the tree of life.