Search
Scripture Reading: John 6:54-57; Col. 3:4
In this chapter we will consider life.
God’s children do not have a thorough and accurate view concerning the divine life. Although many children of God love Him, fear Him, and are pious, not many know that God is their life. The fact that every believer has the life of God seems to be a doctrine, because few believers practically experience God as life every day. Many believers are proper and good, but few genuinely live in God and take Him as their life.
We must learn the difference between persons who are proper and good and persons who live in God and take Him as their life. Do not think that a well-behaved person lives in God or that a God-fearing person lives by God. To be well-behaved or God-fearing is different from living in and by God.
As believers, we should know the purpose of salvation and know the meaning of Christianity. There are many groups in Christianity, but the majority of them teach only a kind of religious piety. They neither see nor express the divine life. Strictly speaking, Christianity is not a religion. The Christian faith is not a matter of behavior but a matter of life. Christians are not followers of a religion. Christians have received Christ as their life because Christ entered into them when they believed in Him. However, most of God’s children do not know this. The new believers among us must know this matter.
I knew that I was saved nearly thirty-five years ago. I will never forget the way that I was saved. Even though I had never heard that the Lord can meet man, on that day I had to admit that the Lord met me. I was a young person who loved the world, loved my future, and had likes and dislikes. However, the Lord met me and saved me. I was not saved out of a fear of going to hell or a desire to go to heaven. Rather, I was saved because I saw that without God, my life would have no meaning. Even if I gained the whole world, I would still be empty without God in my life.
One day I heard the gospel of how mankind is under bondage and slavery in the world, of how this world usurps man and keeps him from turning to God, and of how empty and vain life is when man puts God aside. The Lord opened my eyes, and before the message was finished, I said, “O God, if this is the case, I do not want the world any longer. I want only You.” I did not know whether this was a prayer or a vow. I only knew that after I said this, my inner condition changed. When I left the meeting place, I felt light, as if I were flying in the air. On my way home I prayed, “I do not want the world anymore. I want only God.”
This is the way that I was saved. At the time of my salvation I did not confess my sins, nor did I know that I was a sinner. I only felt that I was a person following the world. I wanted the world, education, future fame, and a position; I wanted a good future. After I was saved, I discovered that I was corrupt and had numerous sins. Later, I read in the Bible that the Lord bore all my sins on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24) and that my sins were forgiven (Col. 1:14).
I loved the Lord after I was saved. I enjoyed praying, and I enjoyed reading the Bible. As far as I was concerned, the Bible was a sweet book. Not only did I spend time reading it every day, but I also read it before going to bed every night. When I woke up in the morning, I would pick up the Bible and read a few lines before getting up. Furthermore, while getting dressed, I would meditate on what I read. This is the extent to which I loved the Bible.
I also enjoyed praying. I often had the urge to go to the mountain or to the seashore in order to pray. I dared not sing of the Lord Jesus’ name, because as soon I sang, I would burst into tears. The sweetness and loveliness of the Lord became an indescribable power that caused temptations, sins, lustful things, and the world to drop off of me.
Nevertheless, even though I was so close to the Lord, I did not know that He was my life, nor did anyone tell me this. I often went to a group of people who were capable of expounding the Bible and giving the best messages. They gave five messages per week, and I never missed a message, even when there was two feet of snow outside. For seven and a half years I listened to about two thousand messages.
I thought the messages were enjoyable. The speakers had a thorough knowledge of the Bible and were able to connect the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation. One of the persons there was called a living concordance because he was able to give the book and chapter of any verse that was quoted from the Bible. These believers were able to speak in detail concerning the signs, numbers, types, and prophecies in the Bible.
However, I never heard them say that the Lord Jesus came to be life to man. They said that those who believe in the Lord Jesus would receive everlasting life. But they never said that this everlasting life is the eternal life of God. I had heard the term everlasting life innumerable times, but I had no idea what it meant. No one told me that everlasting life is eternal life, which is God and also the Lord Jesus. The God who came into me is the Lord Jesus, and He is also eternal life; He came into me to be my life. No one told me this.
One day the Lord had mercy on me and showed me the way of life. Then I began to consider, “What is the purpose of expounding the signs, numbers, types, and prophecies in the Bible? These messages are not life, but people need life.” As a result, I stopped going there to listen to the messages.
From that time onward, I had a great turn. The Bible in my hand changed completely. I was familiar with the Bible and could recite many portions accurately because I had spent seven years studying the Bible. When I realized that the Lord was life to me, the Bible became a new and living book to me. Whatever I read in it became a matter of life. Ever since that day God has led me to see life. In particular, for the past ten years I have not been able to give a message that is not concerning God being our life. If I did not speak of God being our life, the message was empty. God has not given me any other burden. God in the Son and through the Spirit has entered into me to be my life. The Triune God is in us to be our life.
God’s unique thought is to be our life. If you ask me what God wants to do with us, I would answer, with full assurance, that He has no desire to do anything other than to be our life. Perhaps you think that God wants us to do many things, but these things are not central or important. The central thought of God is that He wants to enter into us to be our life.
Man’s thoughts concerning God are about how to worship, fear, and please Him. When a person enjoys the world and does evil things, he puts God aside and does not care about God. When he receives mercy and turns to God, he begins to think about God and care for God and immediately desires to worship God, do things for God in order to please Him, and do His will. Man cannot escape from such thoughts.
Even the messages that are preached among Christians are according to the concept of worshipping God and doing things to please Him. Preachers tell people how to worship God, how to obey His will, how to please Him, and how to do things for Him. These concepts and teachings are natural; they are man’s natural, religious concepts and are not according to God’s intention.
I once visited the second largest mosque in the world and saw many Muslims worshipping. Their worship involved prostrating their whole body. Although they displayed indescribable solemnity and devoutness, it was truly pitiful. They expended a substantial amount of energy in order to worship God, but they did not know that God does not care for that kind of worship.
What does God want? Religionists and Jewish rabbis might say that God wants people to worship Him. Muslim imams might say that people should wash themselves and bow down to God reverently five times a day. Catholic priests might say that it is best to attend mass every day. Even Christian pastors and preachers might say that we should learn to pray quietly and worship God. These are all religious answers. They are man’s natural concept. They are not what God wants.
The Bible does not teach us to do something for God. In the beginning of the Bible there is a blueprint, and at the end of the Bible there is a building. If we compare the building with the blueprint, we will know what God wants to do in the universe and in man.
In the beginning of the Bible there is the tree of life, and at the end there is also the tree of life. In the beginning of the Bible the tree of life is outside of Adam (Gen. 2:8-9), but at the end, in the book of Revelation, the tree of life is inside the holy city, New Jerusalem (22:1-2). The New Jerusalem is a corporate man and includes the New Testament saints who are represented by the twelve apostles and the Old Testament saints who are represented by the twelve tribes of Israel (21:12, 14). In the New Jerusalem man will no longer be facing the tree of life; instead, the tree of life will be in man.
Although the tree of life was outside man in the beginning of Genesis, God’s intention was for the tree of life to enter into man. The tree of life is a fruit tree, and the fruit was to be man’s food. Hence, when God placed man before the tree of life, His intention was for man to eat of the tree of life. At the end of Revelation the tree of life has entered into man.
In the blueprint presented in Genesis 2 there is a flowing river producing gold, bdellium, and precious stones (vv. 10-12). At the consummation of the Bible, in Revelation, there is a river of water of life flowing throughout the city (22:1), and the city is constituted with gold, pearl, and precious stones (21:18-21). These two pictures are a reflection of one another.
This shows that God’s intention is not for man to worship Him or serve Him outwardly, nor is it for man to do anything for Him. God is pleased to be man’s life. He placed Himself before man as the tree of life so that man would take Him in.
Genesis 2 does not show that God was sitting on a glorious brightly shining throne surrounded by cherubim and angels and commanding Adam to worship Him. On the contrary, God was manifested before Adam in the form of a tree. He did not display His power or splendor, nor did He require Adam to do something. He only asked that Adam would receive Him as food.
John 1:4 says, “In Him was life.” Later, the Lord said, “I am the true vine” (15:1). These verses show that the Lord is the tree of life mentioned in Genesis 2. He has no intention for man to worship Him, serve Him, or do anything for Him. His desire is for man to receive Him, not to receive something from man outwardly but for man to receive Him as food inwardly.
In the Gospel of Matthew a Canaanite woman cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!” (15:22). She wanted the Lord to do something for her, but the Lord Jesus answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs” (v. 26). The Lord was bread given by God to His children, and hence, He should not be given to dogs. The Canaanite woman had wisdom from the Holy Spirit, and she said, “Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (v. 27). She seemed to be saying, “Yes, Lord. You are the bread, yet today You are not on the table; You were thrown off the table to the ground. You have been debased by God’s children in the land of Israel, and You are in the Gentile land. The land of Israel is the table, and the Gentile land is under the table. You are the bread given by God to the people of Israel, but they were naughty and improper and threw You, the bread, off the table. Hence, a little dog such as I can eat the crumbs which fell from the table.” The Lord Jesus praised this woman and said, “O woman, great is your faith!” (v. 28). This shows that the Lord Jesus considered Himself to be the bread of life which came down out of heaven (John 6:35, 51), and as such, He desired to enter into man. He wanted man to eat Him and receive Him so that He might be man’s life.
God’s purpose is not to teach doctrine or to correct our behavior. His purpose is life. God knows that we cannot do His will or do anything for Him out of ourselves. However, if we receive Him as food daily, taking Him as our life, we will do His will. Even though we may not think of pleasing Him, everything we are will be pleasing to Him, and we will spontaneously worship and serve Him. All the situations in our living will have His flavor, and He will be expressed through us.
A brother once said that some people smell like cows because they drink much milk and eat much butter and beef. They eat the produce of cows every day, so eventually they smell like cows. We smell like what we eat. The things in the physical realm are symbols of things in the spiritual realm. The Lord Jesus said, “As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me” (v. 57). A person who receives the Lord as food will live and grow by the Lord, and he will also “smell” of the Lord.
May the eyes of the young saints be opened to see that God does not want us to worship Him, to serve Him, or to do something for Him. He is still standing before us as the tree of life. He is in His Word and the Spirit, waiting for us to use our spirit to receive Him. We should take Him as life, and let Him live in us (Col. 3:4). This is a glorious matter. As long as we can lay hold of this matter, we will have many glorious experiences of expressing Him. This is the story of life.
