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Scripture Reading: John 1:1-4, 29; 3:36; 5:21, 39-40; 10:10b; 11:25a; 14:6a; Col. 3:4a; Heb. 7:16; Acts 5:20; 1 Pet. 1:23; 1 Cor. 4:15; 8:1; 2 Tim. 4:3; 2 Cor. 3:6
In the previous chapters we have seen the matter of life in the Old Testament with the tree as the food and the river as the drink. Eventually, we saw that the food and the drink are one. When we are thirsty and come to the waters, we get the food. The matters of eating and drinking span the entire Old Testament. The verses we have covered on eating and drinking start in Genesis 1—2 and end in Zechariah 14. In this chapter we want to turn our attention to the matter of life in the New Testament and see how life is versus knowledge. To see the central matter of life in the Bible, we must get into the concept and the spirit of the Bible.
Genesis tells us that in the beginning God created, and then He presented Himself as life to man. Because man fell, God had to redeem fallen man in order that life might still be made available to him. Genesis 3:21 tells us that God made coats of skin of the sacrifice for Adam and Eve and clothed them. In order to make coats of the skin of the lambs, God probably killed the lambs in the presence of Adam and Eve. Thus, the blood of the lambs was shed, for without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb. 9:22). Adam experienced the anticipated redemption of God.
The first chapter of John’s Gospel in the New Testament has the same spiritual points and concept as the first three chapters of Genesis in the Old Testament. John 1 tells us that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God (v. 1). Creation came into being through God as the Word, and in Him was the life presented to man (vv. 3-4). Because of the problem of the fall of the human race, there is the need of redemption. Thus, John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” We should not think that the New Testament has a different thought or concept from the Old Testament. The Old and New Testaments are one book. The Old Testament is a book of pictures, while the New Testament gives us the definition of these pictures. The thought, the concept, and the spirit of the Old and New Testaments are exactly the same.
Nearly every chapter of the Gospel of John tells us something about life. In the Scripture reading of this chapter we have selected some important verses concerning life. John 3:36 says, “He who believes into the Son has eternal life; but he who disobeys the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.” According to John 1, the Son in whom we believe is the One in the beginning, the Word, God, the Creator, the One with life in Him, and the Lamb who takes away our sin. We have to believe in this One so that we may have life. If we do not believe in this One, we cannot have life or see life.
John 5:21 says, “Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wills.” The Son’s intention is to give life, and His coming is to give life. We have to remember the phrase the Son gives life. Thus, the Lord says in John 10:10b, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” In John 11:25a the Lord told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In John 14:6 He declared that He was the life. These verses show that Christ Himself is the tree of life. Following man’s redemption, the tree of life is again presented to man in the New Testament. Colossians 3:4a tells us that Christ is our life.
In the New Testament we can see not only the reality of the tree of life but also the reality of the tree of knowledge. Just as in the Old Testament, we can see the tree of knowledge next to the tree of life in the New Testament. Hebrews 7:16 tells us that Christ has been constituted the High Priest “not according to the law of a fleshy commandment but according to the power of an indestructible life.” In this verse there are two sources: the law and the life. The law is on the side of the tree of knowledge, and the life is on the side of the tree of life. In this verse are the two trees, the tree of knowledge alongside the tree of life. Genesis 2:9 indicates that these two trees are very close to one another. They are not far away from one another, but they are standing alongside one another. If we are careless, we may touch the tree of knowledge instead of the tree of life; we may think that we are touching the tree of life because the tree of knowledge is so close to the tree of life.
The law is good (Rom. 7:12, 16), and anything that is good is very close to life. Everything related to life is good. With the indestructible and endless life, nothing is bad and everything is good. The commandments of the law are also good, so they are very close to life. According to our fallen, natural mentality and discernment, we think that anything good is life. But our minds need to be renewed and transformed to realize that something good may not be life. To consider anything good as life is absolutely wrong. This is a concept of the fallen mentality. In Hebrews 7:16 the law is related to the tree of knowledge, and the life is related to the tree of life.
In Acts 5:20 the angel charged Peter and the apostles, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” Peter and the apostles were not charged to go and speak merely the word. They were charged to speak the words of this life. The law is close to life, and the word is even closer. Many may claim that they are preaching and teaching the word, but are they speaking the words of this life? In this verse words is not the Greek word logos but rhema. Logos is the constant word, and rhema is the instant word. The constant word could be the tree of knowledge, but the instant words that the Lord speaks are spirit and life (John 6:63). Because the tree of knowledge and the tree of life are so close to one another, one could take the tree of knowledge and think that he is taking the tree of life. It is hard to discern life from knowledge because life and knowledge are so close to one another.
First Peter 1:23 says, “Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God.” A seed is a container of life. The word of God is the incorruptible seed that contains God’s life. Through this word, this seed, we have been regenerated. Peter used the adjective living to describe the word of God. Word here in Greek is logos, but Peter pointed out that we were regenerated through the living logos. We may have the word and not have the living word. When I was a child, I received the word in Sunday school. Although I went to Sunday school, I was never regenerated or born again there. One day, however, I received the living word, and at that time I was born again. The word by itself is the tree of knowledge, but the living word is the tree of life.
First Corinthians 4:15 says, “Though you have ten thousand guides in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” Guides, teachers, or instructors are good, but these guides are related to the tree of knowledge. The guides are a matter of knowledge, but the fathers are a matter of life. Fathers impart life to their children whom they beget, and the apostle was such a father who imparted the divine life into the Corinthians so that they became children of God and members of Christ. Again, we can see how hard it is to discern life from knowledge.
In 1 Corinthians 8:1 Paul tells us, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” The outward, objective knowledge that puffs up comes from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the source of death. The spiritual (not fleshly) love, which is an expression of life as described in 1 Corinthians 13, builds up. It comes from the tree of life, the source of life. Knowledge is something of the tree of knowledge, and love is of the tree of life.
Second Timothy 4:3 says, “The time will come when they will not tolerate the healthy teaching; but according to their own lusts they will heap up to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” Teaching is something of knowledge, but healthy implies the matter of life. Anything that is healthy refers to the health of life. What we need is not merely the teaching but the healthy teaching. A person’s teaching might be quite sound but still dead. We need the healthy teaching, the teaching with life.
Second Timothy 4:3 tells us that the ones who will not tolerate the healthy teaching “according to their own lusts...heap up to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” These ones cannot bear with the healthy teaching, but they heap up teachers because they have itching ears, ears that seek pleasing speaking for their own pleasure.
In 1964 I was invited to San Diego, and the responsible one in this certain Christian group put up a sign that told people to hear Witness Lee. When I saw this sign, I told the one responsible to take it down; otherwise, I would not be able to speak. Some Christians attend conference after conference, and there is no change in their life. These ones are addicted to listening to good speakers. They have itching ears, and these good speakers become a drug to them. Many teachings have been heard, but their daily life remains the same. They have only heaped up to themselves teachers who tickle their itching ears.
Second Corinthians 3:6 tells us that the apostles were “ministers of a new covenant, ministers not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” Genesis 2 shows us that the tree of knowledge is a tree of death. God warned Adam that if he ate of the tree of knowledge, he would surely die (v. 17). The New Testament says that the letter kills. When Paul talked about the letter, he was not referring to the letter of a newspaper but to the letter of the Bible. In a sense, the Bible kills. In 2 Corinthians 3:6 the letter is versus the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus told the Jewish religionists, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify concerning Me. Yet you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). Since the Scriptures testify concerning the Lord, they should not be separated from the Lord. We may contact the Scriptures and yet not contact the Lord. Only the Lord can give life. If we have the Scriptures without the Lord, we cannot receive life. Without Christ, even the Scriptures are merely knowledge. Instead of finding life in the Bible, we could get killed by the Bible. Without Christ, the Bible is a book of the letter, and the letter kills.
The verses we have looked at thus far show us that knowledge is very close to life. Satan is so subtle. He causes people to focus on items such as law, work, word, guides, knowledge, teaching, and the letter of the Bible. There is nothing bad about these items. Some may ask, “What is wrong with the law, the divine logos, guides, knowledge, teaching, and the letter of the Bible?” May the Lord be merciful to us that we may discern the difference between knowledge and life. The tree of knowledge is not only related to evil but also to good. It is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I believe that the tree of life and the tree of knowledge were very much the same in appearance (Gen. 2:9 cf. 3:6). In his subtlety Satan always turns us to the tree of knowledge and away from the tree of life. The Bible says that we were regenerated through the living word, but we may not see the word living. The Bible says that we need fathers, but we may be looking for guides or instructors. The Bible uses the term healthy teaching, but we may drop the word healthy when we talk about teaching.
We need to see the difference between knowledge and life in the verses we have pointed out. We must see the contrast between law and life, between the constant word and the instant words of life, between the logos and the living logos, between the guides and the fathers, between knowledge and life, between teaching and healthy teaching, between letter and Spirit, and between the Scriptures in themselves and the living Lord. All the verses we have discussed show us that the tree of knowledge is still with us today. The local church is something of life, but the teaching concerning the local church may only be knowledge. We want the local churches but not the mere doctrinal teaching concerning the local churches. If we only take the teaching regarding certain items, this teaching becomes the knowledge that kills.
We need to be impressed that in both the Old and New Testaments, there are the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, and these two trees are still with us today. We need to pray, “O Lord, be merciful to me. I do not want to care for knowledge, because knowledge brings in death. Keep me focused on the tree of life.” Many times we may have been deceived unconsciously. The subtle one, Satan, may creep in to distract us from the tree of life with the best knowledge. Regardless of how good the knowledge is, it is still the knowledge that kills.
We need to thank and praise the Lord that He is life to us. We should not care for what is good or evil, right or wrong, according to the tree of knowledge, but we need to focus our entire being on the flow of life. What good is it to be right in our doctrine and be dead? May the Lord open our eyes to see what He is after today. Today the Lord desires a group of people to enjoy Him as life. He presented Himself as life that we might have life and might have it more abundantly. By His mercy, our eyes need to be opened to see what kind of damage the tree of knowledge has brought in. We should not care for knowledge but for life.
In the beginning was the Word, who was God. In Him was life, and He became the Lamb of God to take away our sins. The Lamb became the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b) to impart Himself as life into our being. Day by day and moment by moment, we need to contact Him. When we contact the Bible, we need to contact Him not merely by exercising our mind but by exercising our spirit. When we exercise our spirit to touch the Word, we touch the tree of life. The tree of life and the tree of knowledge are still with us today. These two trees are very close to one another. We have to be aware so that we take in only life and not the deadening knowledge. We have to be on the alert so that we will not be deceived.
