XV. JESUS—AS THE SON OF GOD LIVING BY GOD
As we come to the New Testament, we see that the first person on the line of life in the New Testament was the Lord Jesus. Jesus not only enjoyed the tree of life; He was the tree of life. He Himself said that He came from the Father and that He lived by the Father (John 6:57). He did not live according to knowledge and learning. He lived, walked, and worked according to the Father who was working within Him (John 14:10).
XVI. THE NEW TESTAMENT BELIEVERS—
LIVING BY THE LORD
Our destiny as New Testament believers is simply to abide in the Lord and to allow the Lord to abide in us (John 15:5). This means that we enjoy the Lord. The Lord Jesus told us that we must eat Him, for he who eats Him shall live because of Him (John 6:57; 14:19). We must eat the Lord Jesus because He is our bread of life, our tree of life. The tree of life is life presented in the form of food. In John 6 the Lord presented Himself as the life supply also in the form of food, telling us that He is the bread of life (v. 35) and that His flesh is eatable (v. 55). If we eat Him, we will have Him as our life and as the life supply by which we live. This is the genuine enjoyment of the tree of life.
XVII. PAUL—LIVING OUT THE LORD
Among all the New Testament believers, Paul was an example of a man who lived out the Lord. In Galatians 2:20 Paul said that Christ lived in him and that the life which he lived he lived by the faith of the Lord Jesus. Paul was saying that he himself had been crucified and buried, and that it was Christ who lived in him. Eventually Paul could say, "For to me to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21). Christ was his life and his life supply, for Paul enjoyed Christ as the tree of life.
XVIII. THE CHURCH AS THE BODY OF CHRIST—
LIVING BY CHRIST AS LIFE
The church is the Body of Christ. It is impossible for the body not to enjoy the head. The body cannot be separated from the head, for such separation means death. The entire church is the Body of Christ, depending on Christ and living by Christ as life (Eph. 1:23; Col. 3:4). By this we can see that the church may enjoy Christ as the tree of life.
XIX. THE NEW JERUSALEM—SUSTAINED BY
THE RIVER OF LIFE WITH THE TREE OF LIFE
At the end of the Bible we see the consummation of the tree of life—the New Jerusalem. In the center of this city we see the river of life, which proceeds out of the throne of God and the Lamb, and in which grows the tree of life that bears fruit every month (Rev. 22:1-2). Our destiny and our portion for eternity will be the enjoyment of the tree of life and the water of life. The Bible concludes with a promise and a call. The promise is found in Revelation 22:14 which says, "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life." The call is found in Revelation 22:17 which says, "He who wills, let him take the water of life freely." Thus, the whole Bible ends with eating and drinking, with enjoying God as the tree of life and with drinking Him as the water of life. This is the consummation of the line of life.
What should we do today? We should not do anything. We should simply stay on the line of the tree of life, enjoying God as our life and as our life supply. God will take care of everything. Out of the enjoyment of the Lord as our life supply, we will have our daily life, walk, work, and the building up of the churches. Then everything we have will be according to God’s divine element, not according to our own concepts. Now we see the way we must take. May the Lord have mercy on us that we all may continue on the line of life.
(Life-Study of Genesis, Chapter 15, by Witness Lee)
