THE THIRD PART: 24 CRUCIAL LINES IN THE BIBLE
The Divine and Eternal Life
Message Two—Life—the Way to Fulfill God’s Purpose
Scripture Reading: Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14; John 1:4; 10:10b; 14:6a; 7:38; 12:24
I. God’s original intention according to His economy was that man should eat of the tree of life—Gen. 2:9, 16; Rev. 2:7: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
A. The tree of life typifies Christ who imparts life to man and who pleases and satisfies man—Gen. 2:9; John 14:6a; 10:10b; cf. 15:1; Exo. 15:25. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
B. The symbolism in Genesis of the tree of life finds its explanation and fulfillment in the Gospel of John—14:6; 15:5; 6:35, 57, 63: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. The Gospel of John reveals Christ as the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life; Christ is the life, and He is a tree, a vine tree; hence, He is the tree of life—14:6; 15:5. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. The fact that Christ said in John 6 that He is the bread of life indicates that He has come to us as the tree of life in the form of food—vv. 35, 57, 63. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
C. Christ as the tree of life is the center of the universe and the focal point of the entire Bible—Gen. 2:7-9: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. According to the purpose of God, the earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the tree of life is the center of the garden of Eden; hence, the universe is centered on the tree of life—Zech. 12:1; Gen. 2:7-9. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. The Old Testament begins with the tree of life (Gen. 2:9), and the New Testament ends with the tree of life (Rev. 22:2, 14); thus, the thought of God being man’s life runs through the entire divine revelation. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
D. God’s desire for man to express Him in His image and rule in Him with His dominion can be realized only by God’s life; life is the way to fulfill God’s purpose—Gen. 2:7-12, 22: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. Life conforms the believers to the image of Christ as the firstborn Son of God and brings us into glory—Rom. 8:2, 6, 29; Col. 3:4. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. Resurrection life gives authority—Num. 17:8; Rev. 20:4. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
E. Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life—2:7. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
F. What the church needs today is the ministry of life; life is the only means, the only way, for the church to be built up—Rom. 8:10, 6, 11; 1 John 5:16a. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
II. The Lord’s recovery today is in the time of the mending ministry of John, mending the rents in the church by the ministry of life for God’s building in life—Matt. 4:21; John 1:4; 10:10b; 14:6a; 1:51; 2:19-22; 14:2-3, 23: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
A. The Gospel of John reveals life’s principle, life’s purpose, and life meeting the need of every man’s case, issuing in a house of feasting for God’s building: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. Life’s principle is to change death into life; the meaning of all the cases recorded in this Gospel corresponds with the principle that the tree of life results in life and the tree of knowledge results in death—2:1-11. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. Life’s purpose is to build the house of God—vv. 12-22. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
3. Life meets the need of every man’s case: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
a. The need of the moral is life’s regenerating—2:23—3:36. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
b. The need of the immoral is life’s satisfying—4:1-42. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
c. The need of the dying is life’s healing—vv. 43-54. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
d. The need of the impotent is life’s enlivening—5:1-47. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
e. The need of the hungry is life’s feeding—6:1-71. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
f. The need of the thirsty is life’s quenching—7:1-52. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
g. The need of those under the bondage of sin is life’s setting free—7:53—8:59. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
h. The need of the blind in religion is life’s sight and life’s shepherding—9:1—10:42. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
i. The need of the dead is life’s resurrecting—11:1-57. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
4. Life’s issue is the church life as a house of feasting for God’s building as the house of the Father, the universal vine tree of the Son, and the new man of the Spirit—12:1-11; 14:2-3, 23; 15:1-8, 16; 16:13-15, 21. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
B. The Gospel of John reveals that we can enjoy the Lord as our abundant life to be men of life—10:10b: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. We can breathe in Christ as the breath of life—20:22. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. We can drink Christ as the water of life—7:37-39; 4:10, 14. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
3. We can eat Christ as the bread of life—6:35, 57, 63, 68. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
4. We can walk in Christ as the light of life—8:12. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
5. We can abide in Christ as the vine tree, the tree of life—15:5; 14:6a. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
III. The Gospel of John reveals that we need to carry out the revelation of God’s eternal economy, not in the way of work but in the way of life—John 7:37-39; 4:10, 14: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
A. The Lord Jesus sowed Himself as a seed of life and fell into the ground as a grain of wheat so that the life within Him might be released to bring forth many grains; we need to serve Him and follow Him in this way—Matt. 13:3; John 12:23-26; 10:11; 1 John 3:16. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
B. The work that the Lord needs to produce and increase the church is the overflow and outflow of the inner life, not the endeavor of outward activity—John 7:37-39; 4:10, 14: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
1. The important thing regarding our work is not its quantity but its quality; gold, silver, and precious stones are always small in quantity but high in quality, whereas wood, grass, and stubble are always high in quantity but low in quality—1 Cor. 3:12-15: (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
a. Gold symbolizes God’s nature, silver symbolizes Christ’s redemptive work, and precious stones symbolize the Spirit’s transforming work. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
b. Wood signifies human nature, grass signifies man in the flesh, and stubble signifies lifelessness. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
2. We will be judged at the judgment seat of Christ not according to the quantity but according to the quality of our work, “of what sort it is”—v. 13. (2003 TGC, msg. 2)
3. “Because Watchman Nee was not interested in the outward work, the life-issue of his ministry has flowed throughout the whole earth…. In my whole life, he is the only person I have known who paid more attention to life than to work” (Watchman Nee—A Seer of the Divine Revelation in the Present Age, by Witness Lee, p. 87).