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Scripture Reading: John 1:1-4; 3:1-16
Genesis 1 speaks of life. It begins by saying, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (v. 1). This refers to God’s original creation. After this creation was judged by God because of Satan’s rebellion, God worked for six days to restore the heavens and the earth in order to have a further creation. On the first day of His work, “God said, Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness...And there was evening and there was morning, one day” (vv. 3-5). On the first day God caused light to shine. At this point life had not yet been generated; there was only light shining into the darkness and separating the darkness from the light. On the second day God “separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse...And there was evening and there was morning, a second day” (vv. 7-8). On the second day God did a further work of separation. On the first day He separated light from darkness, and on the second day He separated the waters under the expanse from the waters above. On the first day light was used for separation, and on the second day the expanse was used for separation. However, life had not yet come forth.
On the third day “God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas; and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth sprout grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kind with their seed in them...And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day” (vv. 9-13). On the third day the dry land was separated from the water. Hence, God’s work of separation was in three steps: the separation of light from darkness, the separation of what was under the expanse from what was above it, and the separation of the dry land from the water. By means of these three steps of separation it was possible for life to be generated.
First, there was the plant life with the sprouting of grass, herbs, and trees. Both herbs and trees bring forth seeds, which possess life. Since the life of most plants is contained in the seed, the story of life begins with the bringing forth of grass, herbs, and trees. We must remember that it was not until the third day, after the three steps of separation, that life came forth. The first life that came forth was the lowest form of life, the plant life. Although grass and trees have life, they have no consciousness. Thus, they are the lowest form of life.
Verse 16 says, “God made the two great light-bearers, the greater light-bearer to rule the day and the lesser light-bearer to rule the night, and the stars.” There were two great light-bearers in the sky — the sun for the day and the moon for the night. In addition, there were innumerable stars. This is the story of light. On the first day God called forth light, and on the fourth day of His work He brought forth stronger lights. On the first day there was light in the waste and emptiness, but there was not the solid shining of light. There was light in the first day, but the light was not solid. It was not until the fourth day that the light became solid and had a definite form. Not only were there great lights, great bodies; there were also small lights, small bodies. As a result, people can see the sun in the day and the moon and many stars at night. There is light during the day as well as at night; there is light no matter what time it is. This is what God accomplished on the fourth day. On this day light became more definite in form and more solid. This light was for the further generating of life. Without light, there is no life.
On the first day light separated darkness from light, and on the second and third days there were the separation of the water under the expanse from the water above and the separation of dry land from water. Then the plant life was generated on the third day. However, since the first-day light was not sufficiently strong, only a lower form of life was generated. In order to have higher forms of life, there was the need of solid light. Therefore, the solid light on the fourth day was for the generating of higher forms of life. On the fifth day “God created the great sea creatures and every living animal that moves, with which the waters swarmed...and every winged bird according to its kind” (v. 21). What was created on the fifth day was a higher form of life than that of the plant life. If you walk up to a bird standing on the ground, it will fly away. This proves that birds have consciousness. The same is true with the fish in the sea. When fish sense that people are approaching, they swim away. Some fish are even able to eat bait on a fishhook without being caught. These examples show that the life created on the fifth day is higher than the plant life.
God created many things in the universe. It is wonderful that according to the record of Genesis 1, God did not focus on the various items that He had created. Instead, His attention was entirely on light and life. If we read chapter 1 carefully, we will see that the record in this chapter does not stress God’s mighty power or His wonderful works. Genesis 1 stresses the generating of life through the shining of light. This is the meaning of the record in this chapter.
On the first day light was brought in, and subsequently, there were three steps of separation to generate the lowest forms of life. Then on the fourth day the strong light came in to generate higher forms of life. Not only so, God worked on the sixth day to bring forth still higher forms of life. There were two steps in the work of God on the sixth day. First, the living animals were created: “cattle and creeping things and animals of the earth according to their kind” (v. 24). Cattle refers to cows and sheep, and animals of the earth refer to other creatures, such as lions, tigers, and elephants. There are also various kinds of creeping things. The most prominent among them are probably snakes. These living creatures have a higher form of life than that of the fish in the sea and the birds in the air. Most of the fish in the sea and the birds in the air are oviparous, not viviparous. However, the animals that came forth on the sixth day, such as cows, sheep, lions, and tigers, are viviparous animals. These animals possess consciousness and feelings that are much higher than the consciousness and feelings of fish and birds. Hence, the creatures created by God on the sixth day have a much higher form of life.
In the second part of His work on the sixth day, God created man. Verse 26 says that God created man in His own image and according to His own likeness. From this verse we see that man has the highest form of life, because man’s life is similar to God’s life. The plant life is not similar to God’s life nor is the animal life. Oviparous life is not similar to God’s life and neither is the viviparous life. The last creature created by God was man. Man’s life is similar to God’s life because man was created in God’s image and according to God’s likeness; that is, man has God’s image as well as God’s likeness. Hence, man’s life is the highest of all the created life. Man not only has feelings and consciousness, but he also can express God and exercise God’s dominion. Therefore, God gave all that He had created in the sea, on the land, and in the air to man for man to exercise authority over them. Man has the highest form of created life.
In Genesis there is a clear picture explaining God’s work of restoration and further creation in six days. This work can be divided into two parts: the first three days, which are related to light, and the second three days, also related to light. In chapter 1 the light came on the first day and again on the fourth day. In chapter 2 we see the tree of life (v. 9), signifying that God came to be man’s life in the form of food. During the first three days there was light, but the light was not solid. Consequently, the light generated only a lower form of life. The light on the fourth day was solid and thus generated higher forms of life. The forms of life progressed upward in three levels: from the plant life to the animal life, from oviparous life to viviparous life, and from viviparous life to human life, which is the highest form of created life. However, in the universe the progression of life does not stop with human life. There is a life that is higher than human life. This life is God’s life. Therefore, in chapter 2 God came to be life by manifesting Himself as the tree of life. The God who came as light is also life (1 John 1:5; John 1:4). He came as food to be received by man (6:51). He came to be eaten by man so that man can receive Him. God is the tree of life as well as the bread of life to be eaten by man. Man needs to receive Him as life.
In the first two chapters of Genesis there are several levels of life. The lowest form of life is the plant life, which is a life without consciousness. The next level of life is the animal life, the fish and the birds. This life is higher than the plant life and possesses consciousness, but it is an oviparous life and is very low. The third level of life is the viviparous animal life, which is the middle level of life with consciousness. Above this is the created life with the highest consciousness, that is, human life. Therefore, there are at least four levels of life. First is the life without consciousness, which is level one. Then there is the life with consciousness, which has three levels: low, middle, and high. However, in the universe, in addition to these forms of life, which are all created, there is still another life, the uncreated life. This life is the highest form of life. This life, which not only has consciousness but also has the highest form of consciousness, is the divine life. It is God Himself — God’s life. This is the life that is signified by the life of the tree of life in chapter 2.
Genesis 1 speaks of the created life, and chapter 2 speaks of the uncreated life, God’s life, God Himself. Five levels of life exist with three levels of light. The first level of light is the first-day light. The second level is the fourth-day light, which is solid. The third level of light is in Genesis 2, where God Himself came to be light to shine Himself into man. God desires to enter into man to be man’s life so that man can obtain Him as the highest life.
Let us now consider how God created Adam. Genesis 2:7 says, “Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.” This verse shows that Adam was created with only the human life; he did not have God’s life. According to the record in the Bible, the life that Adam had when he was created was good. We know this because God considered His work of creation in the first five days to be good (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), but on the sixth day “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed, it was very good” (v. 31). This indicates that what God created on the sixth day was very good. Since what God did was very good, we must believe that Adam’s life was good. Nevertheless, even if Adam could love others and show humility and gentleness, and even if he was not proud, did not hate others, and did not steal, he had only the human life; he did not have God’s life.
The Bible speaks concerning regeneration. What is regeneration? According to its literal meaning, the prefix re means “to do something again”; hence, regeneration means “to generate again.” Regeneration is a great truth in the Bible. It is also necessary in order for man to satisfy God’s intention in His creation of human life. In John 3:7 the Lord Jesus said, “You must be born anew.” No matter what the state of our original life is, we must be born again to satisfy God’s intention. Regeneration is for us to obtain God’s eternal life in addition to our human life. In chapter 3, after speaking at length about being born anew, the Lord pointed out that the life we obtain from regeneration is the eternal life (v. 36). This eternal life is God Himself; it is also the life of God, the life signified by the tree of life. As a created being, Adam had a created life; he did not have the uncreated life. He had human life but not God’s life. Although his life was good, his life was not God’s life; it was merely human life. God placed Adam in front of the tree of life, indicating that God’s intention was for Adam to obtain the life of God, in addition to his human life. A person is regenerated when he obtains the uncreated life of God in addition to his created life.
In Genesis 2 God’s intention was for Adam to eat the tree of life; however, according to the record in chapter 2, Adam did not eat of the tree of life. The record concerning Adam’s eating is in chapter 3. Adam did not eat the tree of life. He ate the wrong tree; he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Therefore, at the end of chapter 3 God guarded the way to the tree of life (v. 24). Since Adam ate of the wrong tree, he was not allowed to eat of the right tree. If Adam had eaten the fruit from the tree of life, he would have received God’s life into him; he would have been regenerated.
Today in the New Testament age a person needs to believe into the Lord Jesus in order to be regenerated. Concerning regeneration, the Gospel of John says, “In Him was life” (1:4). The Lord Himself told His disciples that He is a tree (15:1) and that He is “the bread of life” (6:35). These three points show that the Lord Jesus is the tree of life and that He is God coming to be our life. He said, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (v. 57), and “He who believes into the Son has eternal life” (3:36). In these verses eating is the same as believing. Believing into the Lord Jesus is equivalent to eating Him. We usually say that we receive the Lord Jesus. However, the word receive is not specific, because there are many kinds of receiving. For instance, when I give a person a hymnal, he receives it. That kind of receiving is outward. If I give him a glass of water to drink and he drinks it, that is also receiving, but this kind of receiving is inward. Our receiving of the Lord Jesus is not an outward receiving. Our receiving of the Lord Jesus is to take Him into us by eating Him.
Not only so, what a person eats becomes part of him. Hence, if Adam had eaten the tree of life, it would have been equivalent to Adam’s receiving the Lord of life into himself to be his life. Adam was a created man with only the human life. He received the breath of life from God, which became his spirit, but he did not obtain the element of God. He had only the created life, not God’s uncreated life. He still needed to be born again.
We should never think that only fallen men need to be born again, or that a person who is not fallen would not need to be born again. Even if man were not fallen, he would still need to be regenerated. Even the best man is only human; he does not possess the element of God. He has only man’s life, not God’s life. God ordained that His element and His life would enter into man so that God would be mingled with man. Therefore, whether a person is good or bad, he needs to be born again. Man needs God to enter into him to be his life. Besides the created life in him, man needs to obtain another life, the uncreated life.
Regeneration means that in addition to our life, we obtain another life, God’s life, which is a second life, the eternal life, the highest life. How can a person obtain this life? After God created man, God placed man in front of the tree of life so that man would receive God as life. If man had received Him, God would have entered into man to be man’s life. In other words, the life of the tree of life would have entered into man; the tree of life would have been planted into man. Thus, God would be in man, and man would have obtained the highest life.
I hope that this picture will be deeply etched into us: human beings need to have God’s life. It is not that we are fallen and thus we need God’s life. Even if man had not fallen, he would still have needed God’s life. God’s intention is to work Himself into us as our life. We should not have a religious concept and think that God wants us to worship Him and do things for Him. This is not God’s intention. God has only one intention: He desires that we receive Him into us as our life.
In John 3 Nicodemus went to see the Lord Jesus. Nicodemus was a religionist who was full of religious concepts. He addressed the Lord as “Rabbi,” because he thought that the Lord Jesus had “come from God as a teacher” (v. 2). A teacher teaches others. Nicodemus considered the Lord Jesus to be a teacher, who came for the sole purpose of teaching people in order to improve them and make them better persons. For example, if a brother loses his temper often, someone may come to teach him, and say, “Do not lose your temper. You should speak with patience and have a good attitude, because God does not like people to get angry. Our anger does not fulfill God’s righteousness. Blessed are those who are meek.” To give this kind of advice is to teach. Let us use another example. Suppose a brother is narrow-hearted and often jealous of others. When the sisters are praised, he becomes angry. Someone may come to him and say, “You should not be bothered when the sisters are praised, because brothers are different from sisters. The sisters have their heads covered, and the brothers have the headship. Hence, you should enlarge your heart.” This is teaching. It is an attempt to improve the brother, to make him better.
A person with dirty clothes and messy hair can be given clean clothes and a comb, but this would improve only his outward appearance. This can be likened to the work done in a mortuary. People who work in a mortuary dress up dead people and make them look nice. The dead people in a mortuary may be dressed up and look nice, but they still have the appearance of death. They do not have a desirable appearance.
Those who are teachers can be likened to a mortician in a mortuary. If a person attempts to teach you in this way, you should say, “Do not teach me in this way. Do not do the work of a mortician on me. Yes, I am dead, but the work of a mortician cannot help me. You may change my clothes, but I am still dead; you may put makeup on my face and wash me, but I am still dead. What I need is life. I do not need outward improvement.” This is what the Lord Jesus revealed to Nicodemus. Nicodemus seemed to be saying, “Lord, since You have come from God as a teacher, I have come to You to let You do the work of a mortician on me in order to change me, teach me, and improve me.” However, the Lord Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (v. 3). The Lord told Nicodemus that teaching and improvement availed nothing; Nicodemus needed to obtain another life. Without this other life, Nicodemus was in a different sphere, a different realm, and a different kingdom. God’s kingdom is God’s sphere, God’s realm. Without obtaining God’s life, Nicodemus could not understand the things in God’s sphere, God’s kingdom. He needed to obtain God as his life.
Similarly, we need to have God’s life, not only our human life. Do not think that we are asking you to join a religion. Please remember that all the work in religion is the same as the work done in a mortuary. If anyone attempts to teach us, telling us to be patient and meek and to have good behavior, we should tell him not to do the work of a mortician on us. We do not need any dead work. We need to have God’s life within. We need to eat the tree of life and receive its fruit into us. This is regeneration. Only when a man receives Christ as his life can he live out the highest living.
