I.　We need a vision to see that the Bible presents to us a picture of God in Christ as the tree of life to be our food; this is why the tree of life is mentioned both at the beginning and the end of the Bible—Gen. 2:9; Rev. 22:2, 14, 19:

A.　God's purpose in the creation of man in His image and according to His likeness was that man would receive Him as life and express Him in all His attributes—Gen. 1:26-27; 2:9.

B.　The tree of life signifies the crucified and resurrected Christ, who imparts life to man and pleases and satisfies man in an edible form—v. 9.

C.　The tree of life is the center of God's economy; the carrying out of God's economy depends on the tree of life, for it is the way to fulfill God's economy—1 Tim. 1:4; Eph. 3:9.

D.　The tree of life is the center of the universe:

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.

2.　Nothing is more central and crucial to both God and man than the tree of life—Gen. 3:22; Rev. 22:14.

E.　The New Testament reveals that Christ is the fulfillment of the figure of the tree of life:

1.　John 1:4, speaking of Christ, says, "In Him was life"; this refers to the life signified by the tree of life in Genesis 2.

2.　The life displayed in Genesis 2 was the life incarnated in Christ—1 John 5:11-12. Gen 2 (be omitted)

3.　If we put together John 1:4 and 15:5, we will realize that Christ, who Himself is life and also a vine tree, is the tree of life.

F.　The enjoyment of the tree of life will be the eternal portion of all God's redeemed—Rev. 22:1-2:

1.　The tree of life fulfills for eternity what God intended for man from the beginning—Gen. 1:26; 2:9.

2.　The fact that the tree of life bears twelve fruits means that the fruit of the tree of life is rich and sufficient for the carrying out of God's eternal administration.

II.　The Lord wants to recover the church back to the beginning—to the eating of the tree of life—Rev. 2:7:

A.　In general, Christians have neglected the eating of the tree of life and have lost sight of the fact that they have the right to eat the Lord—22:14.

B.　God's placing man in front of the tree of life indicates that God wanted man to receive Him as life by eating Him organically and assimilating Him metabolically so that God might become the constituent of man's being—Gen. 2:9, 16-17:

1.　God not only desires that man be His vessel to contain Him; He also wants man to eat, digest, and assimilate Him—Rom. 9:21, 23; John 6:57.

2.　God wants to be digested and assimilated by us so that He can become the constitution of our inward being and that we will be one with Him and the same as He is in life and in nature—1 John 5:11-12; 2 Pet. 1:4.

C.　The essence of the tree of life is in the water of life; if we would enjoy Christ as the tree of life, as the element of life, we must drink Him as the water of life, the essence of life—Isa. 12:3-4; John 4:14; Rev. 22:1-2.

D.　Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life—2:7; John 6:57.

III.　Through the redemption of Christ, the way by which man could touch the tree of life, which is God Himself in Christ as life to man, has been opened again—Heb. 10:19-20; Rev. 22:14:

A.　As a fallen man, Adam was separated from the life of God and was not permitted to contact God as the tree of life—Gen. 3:1-6, 11-13, 22-24:

1.　Satan's tempting man to take the tree of the knowledge of good and evil indicates that Satan wants to keep man from taking God as his life—vv. 1-6.

2.　The significance of man's fall is that man was estranged from the life of God—Eph. 4:17-18.

3.　God's prohibiting man by the cherubim and the flaming sword from taking the tree of life indicates that God's glory (signified by the cherubim), holiness (signified by the flame), and righteousness (signified by the sword) do not allow sinful man to abuse the life of God—Heb. 9:5; 12:29; Rom. 2:5.

B.　When Christ's flesh was crucified, the veil was rent (Heb. 10:20; Matt. 27:51), thus opening the way for us, those who were alienated from God, who is signified by the tree of life, to enter into the Holy of Holies to contact Him and take Him as the tree of life for our enjoyment.

C.　"Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life"—Rev. 22:14:

1.　Through Christ's redemption, which fulfilled all the requirements of God's glory, holiness, and righteousness, the way to the tree of life was opened again to the believers.

2.　Those who wash their robes in the redeeming blood of Christ have the right to enjoy the tree of life as their eternal portion in the holy city, the Paradise of God, in eternity—v. 14.

IV.　In God's economy we are not only the eaters of the tree of life, enjoying the continually fresh fruit, but we are also the branches of this tree, abiding in Christ, the tree of life, to enjoy the life-juice—v. 2; John 15:5:

A.　The Bible reveals that the relationship that God desires to have with man is that He and man become one—1 Cor. 6:17:

1.　In His desire to be one with man, God created man in His image and according to His likeness and with a spirit to contact, receive, and contain Him—Gen. 1:26; 2:7.

2.　God desires that the divine life and the human life be joined to become one life.

3.　This oneness is an organic union, a union in life—a grafted life—John 15:4-5:

a.　The grafted life is not an exchanged life—it is the mingling of the human life with the divine life.

b.　In order for us to be grafted into Christ, He had to pass through the processes of incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection to become the lifegiving Spirit—1:14; 1 Cor. 2:2; 15:45.

c.　As regenerated ones who have been grafted into Christ, we should live a grafted life, a life in which two parties are joined to grow together organically: (1) Since we have been grafted into Christ, we should allow the pneumatic Christ to live in us—Gal. 2:20. (2) We should live a grafted life by the mingled spirit—the divine Spirit mingled with the regenerated human spirit—1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 8:4.

d.　In the grafted life, the human life is not eliminated but is strengthened, uplifted, and enriched by the divine life; the branch retains its essential characteristics, but its life is uplifted and transformed by being grafted into a higher life—Gal. 2:20; 4:19; Eph. 3:16-17a.

B.　Christ as the tree of life is the embodiment of God as life to us (Col. 2:9), and we are united with Him organically; we not only eat Christ as the tree of life—we are united with Him, we are one with Him, and we are part of Him—John 15:1, 4-5; 1 Cor. 6:17.