We need to see a vision of the tree of life – a vision of God in Christ as our food – so that we may realise that the tree of life is the center of the universe and Christ is the fulfillment of the tree of life, for He as the embodiment of God is the vine tree and the life – Christ is the tree of life.
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see a vision of the tree of life. May we see what You see concerning the tree of life. We open to You, Lord. We just want to be open vessels to Your divine dispensing. Remove any veils. We don’t want to merely have knowledge of the tree of life but enter into the enjoyment of this tree. Oh Lord, may we see that God in Christ is our food, and we can take in Christ as life and live because of Him! Amen!
If we read the book of Job without having the glasses of God’s economy on, we will never see the tree of life; we will see only a lot of knowledge, debates, a suffering man, God dealing with Job, and eventually God restoring Job to a greater blessing and status than before.
But thank the Lord that He has granted us to see something concerning His economy, the eternal economy of God.
According to His economy, God has an eternal intention. Job did not realise what was God’s intention, for it is only in the New Testament that this was revealed to the holy apostles and prophets in spirit.
We are now in the New Testament age: we need to exercise our spirit and see God’s economy. We need to live according to God’s economy.
We need to read the Bible with the view of God’s economy. In everything we do and say, the governing and controlling vision should be the economy of God.
If we are governed and controlled by the vision of God’s economy when we read the book of Job, we will see Job and the two trees.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is no longer outside of man; it now had become one with man, even within man, being expressed through man.
This tree was so prevailing and strong that more than thirty chapters were written and composed based on knowledge, good, and evil. But praise the Lord, God came in.
When God spoke, Job repented in dust and ashes, for he no longer only heard about God but now his eyes saw Him and his ear heard Him.
We need to be brought into a touch with the Lord; before we touch the Lord, we may have a lot of knowledge, we may choose the good and reject the evil, and we may be moral and upright persons, but when we touch God, we touch the tree of life.
May we be those on the line of life who partake of the tree of life to live Christ as life today.
We need a Vision of the Tree of Life – a Vision of God in Christ as our Food
Every believer in Christ needs a vision of the tree of life, a vision of God in Christ as our food (Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:1-2, 14).
In the garden of Eden there were two trees; actually, there were many trees, all of them being good for food and pleasant to the sight, but the emphasis was on the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was also there.
There are two trees signifying two sources, two lines, two ways, and two outcomes or consummations.
We need to focus on and see a vision of the tree of life, the tree that is from Genesis to Revelation.
Whether we as human beings will have life or will die, will live eternally or will perish, all depends on how we deal with the tree of life (Gen. 2:16-17; 3:1-3, 22, 24; Ezek. 47:12; Rev. 22:2, 4, 19).
What is important about this tree is not that it has wood for building but that it is good for food. What God is concerned with is not our labour for Him or working to do things for Him; He is concerned with our eating.
Why? God knows that we are what we eat; what comes into us to be digested by us becomes part of us to even become us. Every living being has a metabolism, a process by which it takes food in and metabolises it to be nourished and live.
We need to see a vision of the tree of life and we need to eat the tree of life.
Thank the Lord that He came to us not to convince us to work for Him but to be our food! God in Christ came to us in the form of food; He wants us to partake of Him as life.
But unless we see a vision of the tree of life, unless we see that God in Christ is our food, we will not eat Him but rather, we will “snack” by taking in all kinds of other things, many of which are not good for our health. God is focused on life.
Without food, we cannot live. Food maintains our human life, food satisfies us, and food is vitally necessary. This is why God put the tree of life in the middle of the garden; you can’t miss this tree!
The tree of life is right in the middle of the garden. The earth is the center of the universe, the garden of Eden is the center of the earth, and the center of the garden is the tree of life; the tree of life is the center of the universe.
It is by means of the tree of life that we can partake of God as life, be filled with God as life, live Christ as our life, and fulfill God’s purpose in life. God wants to come to us to be our food.
He wants us not only to eat physical food but even more, partake of Him as our spiritual food so that we may be enlivened, live, and be one with Him to fulfill His purpose.
God created us in His own image and according to His likeness; He formed the body of man out of the dust of the ground, He breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Outwardly, we have a body with the needs of the body, which we all know. Inwardly, we have a spirit, with the life of the spirit, and this spirit is made to contact God, receive God, and contain God.
We need food not only for our body or for our soul but even more, for our spirit. The tree of life enables man to partake of God as life.
God was embodied in Christ to be our life, and now we can partake of Him as life. After we were regenerated, we have been brought back to God’s original purpose, for us to partake of God in Christ as the tree of life.
May we see a vision of the tree of life. May we have an extraordinary seeing of this tree so that we may realise that God really wants to be our life so that He may live in us and be expressed and represented through us for His purpose.
To have a vision, we need to first have an extraordinary seeing. Many times we are veiled; we do not see the tree of life. We may see this or that, but not the tree of life.
We need to have the removing of the veil so that we may see. For this, we need the Lord’s light; it is only when His light shines on us that we can see.
The tree of life is right in front of us – actually, this tree is in our spirit, but we need to be unveiled, we need to have God’s light, and we need to see, that is, we need to have our eyes opened.
Unless the Lord opens our eyes, shines on us, and shows us the tree of life, we can’t see it.
We need sight. We are so blind. We are blinded by the enemy, whose work is to blind us and cause us not to see the glory of God shining on the face of Jesus Christ.
May we come to the Lord and ask us to heal our sight (Rev. 3:8) to cause us to see a vision of the tree of life, a vision of God in Christ as our food!
May we take the initiative to turn our heart to the Lord, dealing with anything that He shines on, so that we may see the tree of life, eat Christ as life, and live because of Christ.
When we see a vision of the tree of life, we cannot be disobedient to this heavenly vision (Acts 26:19) but rather, we will take in God as life, enjoy Christ, and live because of Him!
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see a vision of the tree of life. Have mercy on us, Lord, and remove any veils from our eyes. Shine on us. Shine on the tree of life for us to see it. Grant us to have a proper spiritual sight so that we may see that God in Christ is our food. Heal our blindness. We need eyesalve to anoint our eyes so that we may see. Oh Lord Jesus, may we see that the tree of life is the center of the universe. May we realise that God is in Chris to be our food in the way of life. We exercise our spirit to call on Your name and pray over Your word. Amen, Lord, we turn our heart to You today. Give us to eat of the tree of life today! May we see the tree of life, eat the fruit of the tree of life, and live one spirit with You today! Amen, Lord, may there be a clear, controlling vision of the tree of life governing our life today. We come to You, dear Lord, to take You as our life. Thank You for coming as the embodiment of God to be life to us in the form of food! Hallelujah for the tree of life!
Christ is the Tree of Life, for the Tree of Life signifies the Triune God in Christ to Dispense Himself into us in the Form of Food
According to the entire divine revelation in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, the tree of life signifies the Triune God in Christ dispensing Himself into us, His chosen people, as life in the form of food (Gen. 2:9).
This is what God desires: He wants to dispense Himself into us as food to become our life. Amazing!
The tree of life is the center of the universe. The center of our being is our spirit, for our spirit is within our soul which is within our body; in the center of our being there is the tree of life, for God in Christ is in us as the tree of life. Hallelujah!
There is also the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us, in our flesh and in the self, but in the center of our being we have Christ, who is our life (Col. 1:27).
When Adam was created, he was very strong and very smart, much stronger and smarter than we are today.
He named all the animals and did many great things. But even though the created man was exceedingly smart and capable, he still had to partake of the tree of life.
Today there may be some good, upright, smart, and knowledgeable people, but they still need to partake of the tree of life, otherwise they can’t fulfill God’s purpose.
When the Lord Jesus came as a man, He came as the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life.
John 1:4 says that in Him was life, and the light was the light of men, and John 14:6 says that Christ is the way and the reality and the life. He is life. He came so that we may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10).
Also, He said that He is the vine, and the Father is the Husbandman. He is not only life but also a tree. Christ is the tree of life.
He was deeply rooted in God the Father, taking the Father as the source, eating the Father, and living because of the Father.
Now He calls us, His chosen people to take Him as life, eat Him, and live because of Him (John 6:57).
As the living Father sent Christ the Son and the Son lived because of the Father, so we who eat the Lord shall live because of Him.
It is not a smart man, an intelligent man, or even a capable or sinless man that can fulfill God’s purpose; what God wants is a God-man, a man who takes God as life.
Only a God-man can fulfill what God desires according to His purpose.
We should not pursue human goodness or bright virtues, we should not seek to have human perfection or uprightness, and we should not merely focus on fearing God and staying away from evil.
We should simply come to God in Christ as food to eat Him as life and live because of Him. Nothing is more central and crucial to both God and man than the tree of life. In the New Testament we see that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life.
He came to be our life. In Him was life. He is the vine tree, and we abide in Him.
The divine life is in Christ, and He is our life. He is life to us. He who has the Son, has the life, but he who does not have the Son of God, does not have the life (1 John 5:12).
This means that Christ is life, and if we have Him, we have life. Without Christ, we have no life.
The tree of life is Christ Himself. Where do we find the tree of life? How can we eat the tree of life? Christ is now the life-giving Spirit; we can exercise our spirit and partake of His riches in spirit.
We can simply open to Him so that He may dispense Himself into us to enjoy Him as life. God wants to dispense Himself in Christ as life to be our food for our satisfaction and pleasure.
When we eat Him, when we partake of Christ as the reality of the tree of life, we are satisfied, we are at rest, and God is also pleased.
Lord Jesus, thank You for coming as the reality of the tree of life. Hallelujah, God was embodied in Christ to be life to us in the form of food. We open to You. We exercise our spirit to partake of You as our spiritual food. Amen, Lord, we want to eat You as the tree of life. Thank You for coming to us through incarnation to bring God as life to us for us to partake of Him. Hallelujah, Christ embodied God, expressed God, lived God, and made God real to us. Amen, Lord, we come to You as the living food in Your word. We exercise our spirit to call on Your name and pray-read Your word so that we may eat You as food. Thank You for being small enough for us to eat. Thank You for being good for food. May we see a vision of the tree of life and realise that God is in Christ to be our life in the form of food! Amen, Lord, may we partake of You today and may we live because of You. We take You in as food. We want to give You the ground in our being so that You may work in us, dispense God into us, mingle us with God, and be expressed through us! Amen!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration for this article/sharing comes from the Word of God, the enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by the brothers on this topic, and portions from, Life-study of Genesis, msg. 11 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Noah, Daniel, and Job – Patterns of Living an Overcoming Life on the Line of Life to Fulfill the Economy of God (2026 International Chinese-Speaking Conference), week 4, Job and the Two Trees – day 4.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In Eden’s garden fair we see / That God before two trees placed man, / The trees of life, and knowledge too, / Which for the Lord and Satan stand. / The tree of life the center is / Of God’s eternal, perfect plan, / Denoting God in Christ as life / To be received as all by man. (Hymns #733 stanzas 1-2)
– The Lord Himself is food to me, / He is my life supply; / He will my pure enjoyment be, / None else can satisfy. / I freely eat this living tree, / For eating is the way / To put God’s life inside of me, / To live by Him today. (Hymns #1143 stanzas 3-4)
– In the garden God had planted / Every tree He made to grow, / Good for food, to sight most pleasing, / And the tree of life also! / Second, then, in God’s intention / Was that man should freely eat / Of the life-tree in the center / To obtain His life complete. (Hymns #1324 stanza 3)
