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In the previous message we have seen that the tree of knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan, who has the power of death, the contents of which are all things apart from God and the nature and result of which are both death. Now we have to see what is the principle of this tree.
If we know the principle of the tree of life, we will also know the principle of the tree of knowledge, for it is opposite the principle of the tree of life. The principle of the tree of life is dependence; the principle of the tree of knowledge is independence. Anything we do in dependence upon the Lord is in the principle of the tree of life. Anything we do independently of the Lord is in the principle of the tree of knowledge.
Everyone wants to be independent. However, we should never be independent of the Lord. Spiritual independence means death. If we are independent, we kill ourselves.
To be independent of the Lord means to have an insulation separating us from the Lord, an insulation which cuts off the flow of divine electricity. Although we may have an electrical power plant with tremendous resources and all the necessary equipment properly installed, all is useless if there is insulation at the switch. That insulation severs the flow of electricity. Only a slight amount of insulation, perhaps a paper - thin layer, will cut off the flow. Indepen-dence is a spiritual insulation, disconnecting us from the life of God. Do not think of yourself as an expert in spiritual matters. Regardless of how long electricity has been applied, it still needs application without insulation. It is the same in the spiritual realm. Never say, "I have much experience in Christ. I have been exercising my spirit for years and I don't need to do it any more." We should never adopt this attitude. We need to depend on the Lord continually. Never be independent of the living Lord. One second of independence means death.
The principle of the tree of life and the principle of the tree of knowledge of good and evil are realized throughout the whole Bible. All the negative things in the Bible are on the line of the tree of knowledge, and all the positive things are on the line of the tree of life. I call the first line the line of knowledge and the second line, the line of life. If we follow these two lines, they carry us through the entire Scripture.
Firstly, man was induced to eat of the tree of knowledge. As a result, man fell. The descendants of fallen man did not depend upon God at all. They relied upon their knowledge. According to Gen. 4, the first human culture was invented, and this culture developed until it became the corrupted world of Noah. During the time of Noah, God judged the earth by the flood. Noah's descendants became another race, but this race still did not depend upon God. Eventually, the second human culture came forth, the culture which erected the tower and city of Babel. Then God called Abraham out of that fallen race. By this we can see the development of the two lines. Strictly speaking, the line of life began with Adam, who was fallen and redeemed, and continued through Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so many Israelites. On this line of life we have the tent of Noah, the tent of Abraham, the tabernacle, and the temple. The line of knowledge began with Cain and continued through all the ungodly people. On the line of knowledge we have the city of Enoch, Babel, Sodom, the treasure cities of Pharaoh, and Babylon, which captured the things on the line of life.
We find the same two lines in the New Testament. Although the Old Testament and the law were originally on the line of life, the Jewish religionists treated them as mere knowledge and put them on the line of knowledge. The Pharisees used the Old Testament in the way of knowledge. When the Lord Jesus came, the religious leaders were altogether on the line of knowledge. Only the Lord Jesus Himself was on the line of life. Then He brought His disciples to the line of life. On the day of Pentecost, His disciples put many other people on the line of life. Thus, at that time, there was the Jewish religion on the line of knowledge and the church on the line of life. However, not long afterward, the church was degraded, falling from the living Christ to dead scriptural knowledge, and became Christianity. The church was on the line of life, but Christianity was on the line of knowledge. Rev. 17 tells us that eventually Christianity will become the great, religious Babylon, and Rev. 18 says that the world system will result in the great political Babylon. The great Babylon will have two aspects — the religious aspect and the political aspect. Regardless of the aspect, the great Babylon is the culmination of the line of knowledge. The overcomers among the Christians through all the centuries never have shifted from the line of life to the line of knowledge. They will remain on the line of life until the end when it ultimately issues in the New Jerusalem. The great Babylon and all things apart from God will be swept away by the stream of fire (Dan. 7:10) into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10, 14-15; 21:8). All the positive things in the Bible throughout the ages will be carried on by the river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1) into the New Jerusalem. In opposition to the lake of fire will be a city of water, the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:10-27; 22:1-4). At the end of the Bible we see a lake and a city: the lake is the lake of the thirst-creating fire as the ultimate consummation of the line of knowledge; the city is the city of the thirst-quenching water as the ultimate consummation of the line of life. Thus, at the end of the book of Revelation we find the harvest of the seed of the tree of knowledge and of the tree of life.
Which line are you on — the line of life or the line of death? Remember that God is frank. Because life is God, life also is frank. Death, on the contrary, is subtle. Death does not appear manifestly as death; it appears as knowledge. Life is simply life: its contents, nature, and results are life. Death is knowledge. Everyone likes knowledge. Even the little children hunger for it. They weary us with question upon question. If you answer one question, they respond with several more because there is a craving for knowledge within man. Man covets knowledge. Even many Christians are greedy for it. Although the word "knowledge" itself may be a good term, at the back of knowledge and underneath knowledge is death. The letter kills because the letter is knowledge (2 Cor. 3:6). The letter of the Bible kills whenever the Bible is separated from the living God. Religion has separated the Bible from the living Christ. Thus the Bible can kill and spread death.
Death is concealed under so many good things, even lurking under our best intentions. Many dear Christians have been killed by the good intentions of other people. Although your intention may be excellent, Satan lurks beneath it, and Satan is death. Everyone knows that death hides behind evil things. For example, the gambling casinos in Las Vegas are manifestly evil and deadly. However, attending a cathedral seems to be good, much better than visiting a casino. Nevertheless, death is found in both places. The difference is in the appearance, not in the actuality, for death is present and prevailing in both good and evil things. Death is subtle.
Now we know on which line we should be. We must take the line of life.
I still have the burden to share further on the two trees from the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is a book of life. In this Gospel, many human cases are brought to the Lord, and almost every case is an issue of religion, teaching, or questions of right and wrong. As we shall see, the Lord Jesus did not give a yes or no answer to any of the cases.
The Samaritan woman asked the Lord concerning the proper place of worship, whether it was in the mountain of Samaria or in Jerusalem (John 4:20). The Lord answered that it was not a question of the right or wrong place, but a matter of the spirit. To be concerned about a yes or no answer is to be involved with the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The Lord said that God is Spirit and that we must worship Him, not in a certain correct place, but in our spirit. As God the Spirit is life and we contact and receive Him as the living water in our spirit, so this worship is in the principle of the tree of life.
One day the Lord saw a man who was blind from birth (John 9:1). The disciples, under the influence of a natural, religious concept, asked Him, "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?" (v. 2). Listen to the Lord's answer. "Neither has this man sinned nor his parents, but that the works of God might be manifested in him" (John 9:3). Here is the significance of the Lord's reply: people always appraise situations according to yes or no, right or wrong, which are the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the Lord Jesus always brings people back to the tree of life, which is God Himself.
When Nicodemus approached the Lord in the way of religious teachings, the Lord answered that he needed a rebirth with the divine life. It was not a matter of teaching, of knowledge added to the mind, but of regeneration, of divine life entering the spirit.
If we read the whole book of John, we will see that the Lord Jesus never gave yes or no answers. When people proposed that He act, He refused. When the supply of wine was depleted at the wedding feast in Cana, and when the mother of Jesus wanted Him to deal with the situation, He declined. However, when she ceased asking, He changed water into wine (John 2:3-9). At the time of the feast of tabernacles, the Lord's brothers challenged Him to go into Judea. The Lord told them to go, saying that He Himself was not going. However, after His brothers went to the feast, He also went (John 7:1-10). Likewise, when the Lord was informed that His friend Lazarus was ill, He did not go to see him (John 11:1-6). He stayed where He was for two more days. Afterward, the Lord decided to go into Judea again, and His disciples were opposed to this (John 11:7-8). Why does the Gospel of John present the Lord Jesus as acting in such a way? Because the Gospel of John is a book of life. The Lord wanted to train His disciples to free themselves from right and wrong, yes and no — that is, to forsake the tree of knowledge of good and evil — and to come fully into life. Life is God Himself.
Another case is found in chapter eight where a sinful woman was brought to the Lord (John 8:1-11). This woman had been caught in the act of adultery. The Pharisees said to the Lord that Moses commanded that such a one should be stoned. Then they asked the Lord, "What then do you say?" Although they charged the Lord to give a yes or no answer, He did not reply in this way. He said, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." What does this mean? It means that the Lord was pointing them to God, for in the whole universe God is the only One who is not sinful. The Pharisees were silenced by the Lord's answer. Then the Lord told the woman, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." This case reveals that it is not a matter of law or of knowledge; it is absolutely a matter of touching the living God.
As I have pointed out previously, when God called Abraham, He did not tell him where to go. If God had done so, Abraham would have had knowledge. However, God purposely refrained from giving Abraham any information in order to keep Abraham constantly in direct contact with Himself. The living presence of God was his map, his direction.
In many of the Christian books we are given ways and methods of doing things. By reading the books, we can learn the proper way. For example, regarding the matter of being crucified with Christ we are told by the books to reckon ourselves dead. If we make this merely a way or a method, it belongs to the tree of knowledge. What is knowledge? What is religion? Knowledge or religion means to be good and to do good, to worship God or to work for God without having the living presence of God. Anything good done for God without His presence is religion. A certain thing may be both life and knowledge to us. If we experience the presence of the living God while doing it, it is life. However, if we do it without God's presence, it is simply dead knowledge. No way or method can help us. We need the living God.
What is life? Life is God Himself. What is the principle of life? The principle of life is to be dependent on God for everything. If you depend on God, everything is life.
When Adam stood in front of the two trees, he was standing before God and Satan. This formed a triangular situation between man, God, and Satan in the universe. The struggle between God and Satan was upon man. Whether man will choose God or follow Satan depends completely upon man's choice. This triangular situation is now within us. Once Satan was in the garden outside of Adam; now he is in our flesh. Once God also was in the garden outside of man; now He is in our spirit.
In message ten we pointed out that man is tripartite: he has a spirit, soul, and body. The spirit is our innermost part, the body is our outermost part, and the soul, the main part of our being, stands between them. As a result of the fall, Satan as the tree of knowledge came into man's flesh. As a result of our believing in Christ, God as the tree of life came into our spirit. Therefore, the two trees that were once in the garden outside of man are now within us, one in our flesh and the other in our spirit. If we read Romans 7 carefully, we will see that Paul said in his flesh nothing good dwells, only sin. Sin is actually the evil nature of Satan. To say that sin dwells in our flesh means that Satan, the evil one, is in our flesh. Romans 8:16, a verse which proves that God is in us, says that the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit. Thus, every genuine Christian is a miniature garden of Eden. The mind of your soul represents your self, sin in your flesh represents Satan, and the Spirit in your spirit represents God. As in the garden of Eden, the three parties form a triangular situation within us.
The seed of this triangular situation was sown in Gen. 2, and the growth of the seed is found in Rom. 8, where we see the outcrop of the two trees. Romans 8:6 says that the mind set on the flesh is death and that the mind set on the spirit is life and peace. In Genesis 2 the two trees were objective; in Romans 8 they are subjective. We should never say that these two trees are no longer with us. Even as you read this message, they are within you. In the past I expected to uproot the tree of knowledge in my flesh, but the more I dealt with it, the more it remained within me. Eventually I discovered Romans 8. I saw that there is another tree abiding in my spirit. Thus, in Romans 8 we find a present - day garden of Eden. Romans 8:2 mentions the law of the Spirit of life, which sets us free from the law of sin and death. Therefore, in Romans 8 we have two laws — the law of life and the law of death. These two laws are the two principles of the two trees in our subjective experience.
I want to say a word especially to the young people reading this message. I hope that you will learn early in your Christian life to enjoy the Lord as your tree of life. After hearing the testimony of a more experienced brother in the Lord, do not try to imitate him. If you do this, you will be turning to the tree of knowledge. You simply need to contact the Lord continually, and the Lord will be your tree of life. As a result, you will spontaneously love the Lord and His Word. Your love will be the outflow of touching the Lord as your living source, as your tree of life. When I was loving the Lord and seeking after Him as a young person, I had no one who could render such help to me. In the church life today you are surrounded by brothers and sisters who encourage you to enjoy the Lord as your tree of life.
God charged man to till the garden that life may grow for the fulfillment of the first aspect of God's purpose, that is, to express God in His image. Tilling the ground was for the growth of the tree of life. What does it mean to till the ground? This matter of tilling the ground was sown as a seed in Genesis 2 and developed in Matt. 13. In Matthew 13 the Lord Jesus says that the ground is the human heart. Furthermore, in Matthew 13 the tree of life is the Lord Jesus Himself as the seed which He sows into our heart. To till the ground means to loosen and break our hard heart, to open our heart to the heavens that rain may descend for the growth of life within us. When God charged man to till the ground, it meant that man had to be open, broken, and prepared for the tree of life to come into him.
Along with this charge, God gave man an order: man must not only till the ground, but also guard it. God warned man to protect the garden from the enemy that the second aspect of His purpose might be fulfilled, that is, to deal with Satan by His authority. The tree of life requires the tilling of the ground, and the tree of knowledge necessitates the guarding of the ground. We need to till the ground that God might be able to enter into us. However, since Satan also wants to invade us, we need to guard the ground, leaving no opening for the tree of knowledge. To till the ground is to open ourselves to the tree of life; to guard the ground is to close ourselves to the tree of knowledge.
Gen. 2:17 tells us that God issued man a warning and gave him a prohibition. God wanted man only to touch Him to receive life, but not to touch the things apart from God to receive death. God seemed to tell Adam and Eve, "Don't touch the tree of knowledge — only touch the tree of life. If you eat the tree of life, you will receive Me and have My life. If you eat the tree of knowledge, you will take in Satan and have his death." This was not merely a commandment; it was a warning. We must realize that in the whole universe there are two sources: one is the source of life, and the other is the source of death. Be careful which source you touch. If you touch God, you have the source of life and receive life. If you touch Satan, you have the source of death and receive death.
