Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:9, 17; Rev. 22:1-2, 14; Job 1:1; 2:3; 42:1-6
Ⅰ
In the divine revelation there are two trees, two sources, two ways, two principles, and two consummations:
A
Two trees:
１
The tree of life signifies the Triune God as life to man in man’s relationship with Him—Gen. 2:9; Psa. 36:9a.
２
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, the devil, the evil one, as death to man in man’s fall before God—Gen. 2:17.
B
Two sources:
１
The tree of life is the source of men who seek God as life for their supply and enjoyment—John 1:4; 15:1.
２
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the source of men who follow Satan as their poison unto death and eternal perdition—8:44.
３
The outcome of these two sources is two kingdoms—the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan—Matt. 21:43; 12:26; Col. 1:13.
C
Two ways:
１
The first way is the way of life, the constricted way, for men to seek God, to gain God, and to enjoy God in His eternal life as the supply—Matt. 7:14; Acts 9:2; 16:17; 18:25-26; 2 Pet. 2:15, 21.
２
The second way is the way of death and of good and evil, the broad way, for men to follow Satan to be his children—Matt. 7:13; 1 John 3:10a.
D
Two principles:
１
The first principle is the principle of life—the principle of dependence on God—John 15:5; Gen. 4:4.
２
The second principle is the principle of death and of good and evil—the principle of independence from God—Jer. 17:5-6; Gen. 4:3.
E
The two consummations are the final outcome of the two ways men take in their relationship with God:
１
The consummation of God’s way of life is a city of water of life, the New Jerusalem—Rev. 21:2, 10-11; 22:1-2.
２
The consummation of the way of death and of good and evil is a lake of fire—19:20; 20:10, 14-15; 21:8.
Ⅱ
God’s intention was not to have a Job in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but a Job in the line of the tree of life:
A
The logic of Job and his friends was according to the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—Job 2:11—32:1.
B
Job, like his friends, was halted in the knowledge of right and wrong, not knowing God’s economy—4:7-8.
C
Job and his friends were in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; God was trying to rescue them from that realm and put them into the realm of the tree of life—1:1; 2:3; 19:10.
D
God’s purpose in dealing with Job was to turn him from the way of good and evil to the way of life so that he might gain God to the fullest extent—42:1-6.
Ⅲ
We need a vision of the tree of life—a vision of God in Christ as our food— Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:1-2, 14:
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—Gen. 2:9.
B
The tree of life is the center of the universe:
１
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.
２
Nothing is more central and crucial to both God and man than the tree of life—3:22; Rev. 22:14.
C
The New Testament reveals that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life—John 1:4; 15:5.
D
All the aspects of the all-inclusive Christ revealed in the Gospel of John are the outcome of the tree of life—6:48; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6.
E
The enjoyment of the tree of life will be the eternal portion of all of God’s redeemed—Rev. 22:1-2, 14:
１
The tree of life fulfills for eternity what God intended for man from the beginning—Gen. 1:26; 2:9.
２
The fruits of the tree of life will be the food for God’s redeemed in eternity; these fruits will be continually fresh, being produced every month—Rev. 22:2.
Ⅳ
When we were regenerated, Christ planted Himself into us as the tree of life—John 1:12-13; 3:3, 5-6, 15; 11:25; 15:1, 5:
A
In our practical living, we may not be in the line of the tree of life but in the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—Prov. 16:25; 21:2.
B
Job pursued something in the realm of ethics, but we, the believers in Christ, should pursue something in the realm of God—1 Cor. 15:28; Eph. 3:16-21.
C
In our daily living, we should not be in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but in the realm of the life-giving Spirit—1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:2.
D
God’s intention is to tear us down and rebuild us with Himself as our life and nature so that we may be persons absolutely one with Him—2 Cor. 1:9; 4:14.