Morning Nourishment - The Tree of Life
← Back to Home | View Outline
Day 6
Verses: Rev. 5:9-10 And they sing a new song, saying: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, for You were slain and have purchased for God by Your blood men out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made them a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign on the earth. In Revelation 5:9-10 we see the elders singing a new song of praise to the Lamb—The song here is new because the Lamb whom it praises had just been slain. This new song praises the worthiness of the Lamb—In the whole universe no one is worthy to open the mystery of God's economy but Christ, the overcoming Lion and the redeeming Lamb. As the overcoming Lion, He has defeated Satan for God, and as the redeeming Lamb, He has put away sin for us. He is the only One qualifiied to unveil and carry out the mystery of God's economy. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 224)
Our Savior is the Lamb as well as the Lion. This One is worthy to open the scroll. Apart from Him, no one in the universe is worthy to open the secret, the mystery, of God's economy. But the Lion-Lamb is worthy because He has accomplished redemption and has won the victory over Satan. As the One who has brought God's authority to the earth, He is the victorious, overcoming Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb who has accomplished a full redemption for God's chosen people. Therefore, He is completely qualifiied and positioned to open the mystery of God's economy—Most Christians fail to realize that He is worthy to open the seals of the secret of God's economy. This aspect of the Lord's worthiness is universal and immeasurable.
Of course, Christ is worthy of our praises; He is worthy even of our lives. Nevertheless, we must realize that, according to Revelation 5, Christ's worthiness is a matter of His being qualifiied to open the secret of God's economy. The universe is a mystery which the scientists cannot unravel. They simply do not know the meaning or the purpose of the universe because it is a secret kept from them. But Christ is worthy to open this secret, for He is worthy to open the seals of God's economy. A scroll is a roll of parchment paper or other material. Because a scroll is rolled up, it is difficult to determine just how long it is. The scroll in Revelation 5 is eternally long. Only Christ is worthy to open this eternally-long scroll—We will need eternity to see all that is included in it.
When we are in the New Jerusalem, we will still be reading the contents of the scroll. For eternity we will say, "Now I see something more."—When we are in eternity, we may say, "The Lord's surprise (cid:527)of the opening of the scroll(cid:528) is eternal. Although we are now in eternity, we still cannot see the end." Christ has received from God the authority to administrate the entire universe (vv. 1, 6-7). Christ is the real Administrator of the heavens and all the nations on earth. In Matthew 28:18 the Lord told the disciples that all authority had been given to Him in heaven and on earth. In Revelation 5 Christ as the Lamb of God was standing in the midst of the four living creatures and the elders. The One who was sitting on the throne was holding a scroll sealed with seven seals.
God was sitting on the throne holding this scroll, the schedule of His administration in the entire universe. This scroll is like a timetable of what will take place from the ascension of Christ to the New Jerusalem. The seven seals with which the scroll is sealed are actually its contents. These seven seals are the seven secrets of the universe, which are the mystery of God's economy. Christ as the Lion-Lamb is qualifiied to open the scroll, that is, to open the mystery of God's economy and to carry it out. This indicates that Christ is the One who has received the authority to administrate the entire universe. We all must worship Christ as the Administrator, as the One in the heavens administering all things for the fulfillment of God's economy. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4252-4253)
Day 1
Verses: Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Col. 3:4 When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory. . The Old Testament speaks of creation, and the New Testament speaks of redemption. Both in creation and redemption God’s purpose and center is life…Although God created many things of such diversity and variety, His purpose and fiinal goal are simply life. If we read the first two chapters of Genesis and meditate quietly before God on His creation, we will see that God’s creation involves life and produces life. Life is the center and goal of God's creation. In the beginning God created all things out of nothing. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, "Knowing Life and the Church," p. 113)
In the orderly process of His creation, God first created inanimate objects, and then He created organic things. Furthermore, the creation of living beings started at the lowest level of life and advanced step by step to higher levels of life. Ultimately, the highest level of life created by God was man. Man is the highest life in God’s creation, because the Bible says that God created man in His own image and according to His own likeness (Gen. 1:26-27)—Furthermore, God also gave man the authority to have dominion over all things (vv. 26, 28). Thus, among all created things, man is like God because he has God’s image; he also represents God because he has God’s authority.
God saw everything that He had made, and it was very good (v. 31). In this vast universe, among all the myriads of created things, God obtained a man with His image and authority, who could express His glory and represent His authority. This satisfied God(cid:488) God rested on the seventh day after He fiinished His work of creation (2:2). Many people think that God was at rest and satisfied because everything was fiinished at this point. However, even at this point God had not reached the purpose of His creation. If we continue reading, we will see that there were still many considerations. After God created man, He put him in the garden of Eden (v. 8).
In the center of the garden was the tree of life (v. 9). The tree of life is very special. The first time life is spoken of in the Bible is in relation to the tree of life. This shows that God was still not satisfied, because He had not yet reached His goal, even though He had created everything and even though man had been prepared to express and represent God. What is God's goal? God’s goal is life. God brought the man that He created to the tree of life and put him in front of life. He guided and directed man to the tree of life, hoping that man would contact the tree so that life could be imparted into him. God did these things in order to show that life is the goal and purpose of His creation.
If man does not come to life and life does not come into man, God’s creation of man would have no meaning, purpose, or result. The entire Bible shows the goal of life—As Christians, we have Christ as our life (Col. 3:4). He is in us to save us and be our life. This life is Christ Himself, who is God Himself. This life will lead us into eternity, which means that even in eternity everything will be related to life. Revelation shows that in eternity we will contact the river of water of life and the tree of life. The river of water of life proceeds out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and on this side and on that side of the river is the tree of life (22:1-2).
In eternity we will contact and see life…All the believers are connected to God in life; thus, the believers and God are one in His life. In other words, just as life is in God, life is also in us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, "Knowing Life and the Church," pp. 113-114, 116)
Day 2
Verses: Rev. 2:7 …To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. 1 Pet. 2:24 Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness… John 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes into Me, even if he should die, shall live. . For the proper church life and the recovery of the church life, that is, for the proper growth in the Christian life, what we need is not merely the mental apprehension of teachings but the eating of the Lord as the bread of life in our spirit (John 6:57). Even the words of the Scripture should not be considered merely as doctrines to teach our mind but as food to nourish our spirit (Matt. 4:4; Heb. 5:12-14). Here in Revelation the Lord promised to give the overcomer to eat of the tree of life. This points back to Genesis 2:8-9 and 16, which concerns the matter of eating ordained by God. In the epistle to the church in Pergamos, the Lord promised the overcomer that he would eat of the hidden manna (Rev. 2:17), which refers to the eating of manna by the children of Israel in the wilderness (Exo. 16:14-16, 31). And in the epistle to the church in Laodicea, the Lord promised to dine with the one who opens the door to Him (Rev. 3:20)— This indicates that the Lord desires to recover the eating of the proper food by God's people, the food ordained by God and typifiied by the tree of life, the manna, and the produce of the good land, all of which are types of the various aspects of Christ as food to us. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 117-118)
In Greek the word for tree (cid:527)in Revelation 2:7(cid:528), as in 1 Peter 2:24, means "wood"; it is not the word usually used for tree. In the Bible the tree of life always signifies Christ as the embodiment of all the riches of God (Col. 2:9) for our food (Gen. 2:9; 3:22, 24; Rev. 22:2, 14, 19). In Revelation 2:7 it signifies the crucifiied (implied in the tree as a piece of wood—1 Pet. 2:24) and resurrected (implied in the life of God—John 11:25) Christ, who today is in the church, the consummation of which will be the New Jerusalem, in which the crucifiied and resurrected Christ will be the tree of life for the nourishment of all of God’s redeemed people for eternity (Rev. 22:2, 14).
The promise to the overcomers in the church in Ephesus was to eat of the tree of life. The tree of life is in the Paradise of God—"The Paradise of God" in Revelation 2:7 is the New Jerusalem—, of which the church is a foretaste today—We are enjoying the crucifiied and resurrected Christ as the tree of life—as a foretaste today in the church. This enjoyment of the foretaste will usher us into the full taste—in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
The promise of eating the tree of life given to the overcomers in Ephesus indicates that they will eat Christ in the church life today and eat Him as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem for eternity. Our experience confiirms this. The enjoyment of Christ as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth will be the common portion of all of God’s redeemed people, whereas the particular enjoyment of Him as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the coming millennial kingdom is a reward given only to the overcoming believers. If we overcome all the distractions in the church's degradation to enjoy Christ as the tree of life in the church today, we will be thus rewarded.
Otherwise, we will miss this particular enjoyment in the coming kingdom, though we will still enjoy Christ as the tree of life in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and the new earth for eternity. The tree of life always brings us back to the beginning where there is nothing but God Himself. There is no work, labor, endurance, or anything else—only God Himself. In the church life, again and again we need to be brought back to the beginning, forgetting all other things and enjoying God Himself as the tree of life. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 118-121)
Day 3
Verses: Gal. 1:15-16 But when it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me… RZRP (cid:44) (cid:68)(cid:80) (cid:70)(cid:85)(cid:88)(cid:70)(cid:76)(cid:191)(cid:72)(cid:71) (cid:90)(cid:76)(cid:87)(cid:75) (cid:38)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:30) (cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71) (cid:76)(cid:87) (cid:76)(cid:86) (cid:81)(cid:82) (cid:79)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:72)(cid:85) (cid:44) (cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:82) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)L (cid:69)(cid:88)(cid:87) (cid:76)(cid:87) (cid:76)(cid:86) (cid:38)(cid:75)(cid:85)(cid:76)(cid:86)(cid:87) (cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:82) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:86) (cid:76)(cid:81) (cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:30) (cid:68)(cid:81)(cid:71) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:73)(cid:72) (cid:90)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:70)(cid:75) (cid:44) (cid:81)(cid:82)(cid:90) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72) (cid:76)(cid:81) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72) (cid:192)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:75) (cid:44) (cid:79)(cid:76)(cid:89)(cid:72) in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. The first problem that God's life encounters in us is that we do not realize the darkness of our human concepts—Most Christians think that they should be zealous and forsake the world once they become Christians. From man’s view, this sounds very logical. But without God’s life, this is not practical. The day we were saved, we received a living Christ, who became our life in us. Being a Christian means not taking anything other than Christ as our aim. Many people have diffiiculty in their spiritual life after they are saved because they do not know the pathway of life, and they do not take Christ as their life. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, "Knowing Life and the Church," pp. 133, 135)
The second problem that life encounters in us is hypocrisy…A person’s spirituality is not determined by outward appearance but by how he takes care of Christ. The expression of life involves the rejection of our natural disposition and preference and simply allowing Christ to operate in us and break us. Then our actions through the inner operation of Christ will be of life. If we always do things according to our disposition and natural being, the outcome will always be hypocrisy. The third problem that life encounters in us is rebellion. Christ operates and moves in us in order to make us clear about His will and requirements for us and about His leading and dealing with us.
However, if we do not obey but go against the feeling within, not accepting His leading or paying the price, this unwillingness and opposition are rebellion. Our unwillingness to do things according to His will is clearly rebellion. Many of us commit this sin every day. The sin that we commit the most frequently and most severely is not an outward and visible sin; rather, it is the sin of disobeying the sense of Christ in us. Christ is living in us, and He is constantly giving us an inward sense of life. We should obey Him, but we often disobey Him. The fourth problem that life encounters in us is our natural capability.
Our natural being, disposition, and self are all problems that prevent God’s life from coming out of us. However, the problem of our natural capability and ability is even more serious, and it is a strong obstacle that prevents God’s life from filowing out of us. Many brothers and sisters truly love the Lord, are zealous for the Lord, and are very godly. Nevertheless, their greatest problem is the strength and greatness of their capabilities and abilities. Consequently, Christ has no ground or way in them. There are many brothers and sisters like this among us. They are capable and talented, but they do not consider these things as sin or fiilthiness.
They even think that these are good and useful things to the church. They think that they need such capabilities and talent in order to serve God. They do not despise their natural capabilities; instead, they treasure them. If these capabilities remain unbroken in them, they will become a problem to Christ's life. There is one solution to all these obstacles in us—we must pass through the cross and let the cross break us. If we want Christ's life to be unhindered in us, we must experience the breaking of the cross and allow these obstacles to be dealt with and removed. This will allow Christ's life to be lived out from us. (CWWL, 1953, vol. 1, "Knowing Life and the Church," pp. 135-136, 138-140)
Day 4
Verses: Col. 1:18 And He is the Head of the Body, the church; He is the beginning, the Firstborn from the dead, that He Himself might have the (cid:191)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:87) (cid:83)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:70)(cid:72) (cid:76)(cid:81) (cid:68)(cid:79)(cid:79) (cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:86)N God's original intention was that man should eat of the tree of life (Gen. 2:9, 16). Because of the fall the way to the tree of life was closed to man (3:22- 24). 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, was opened again (Heb. 10:19-20). But in the church's degradation, religion crept in with its knowledge to distract the believers in Christ from eating Him as the tree of life. Hence, the Lord promised to grant the overcomers to eat of Himself as the tree of life in the Paradise of God, as a reward. This is an incentive for them to leave religion with its knowledge and return to the enjoyment of Himself. This promise of the Lord restores the church to God’s original intention according to His economy. What the Lord wants the overcomers to do is what the whole church should do in God’s economy. Because of the church’s degradation, the Lord came to call the overcomers to replace the church in the accomplishing of God's economy. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, p. 4171)
The eating of the tree of life not only was God’s original intention concerning man but also will be the eternal issue of God’s redemption. All God's redeemed people will enjoy the tree of life, which is Christ with all the divine riches as the redeemed's eternal portion for eternity (Rev. 22:2, 14, 19)—The Lord in His wisdom made the enjoyment of Himself in the coming kingdom a reward in order to encourage His believers to overcome religion’s distracting knowledge in teachings and return to the enjoyment of Himself as the life supply in the church life today for the accomplishing of God’s economy.
Eating the tree of life, that is, enjoying Christ as our life supply, should be the primary matter in the church life. The content of the church life depends on the enjoyment of Christ—But to enjoy Christ requires us to love Him with the first love. The first love will bring us to the tree of life—When we give our first love to the Lord Jesus, He will give us to eat of the tree of life—To love Him with the first love, the best love, is to give the Lord the first place in all things. In order to give Him the preeminence, we must be willing to be adjusted, to be broken, and to be made nothing so that the Lord can have a way in us, through us, and among us for the building up of His organic Body.
We should pray, "O Lord Jesus, I love You first, and I love You best. My first love belongs to you. O Lord Jesus, I give the priority of my love to You." If we leave our first love toward the Lord, we will miss the enjoyment of Christ and lose the testimony of Jesus; consequently, the lampstand will be removed from us. These three things—loving the Lord, enjoying the Lord, and being the testimony of the Lord—go together. When we overcome to return to Christ as our first love by giving Him the preeminence in every way and in everything, we will enjoy Him as life and will shine forth the divine light as the lampstand to keep the testimony of Jesus (1:9; 12:17) in our locality.
We will testify of Christ's person as God and man as well as Christ's human living, crucifiixion, resurrection, ascension, descension, and second appearing. The shining of the light is a testimony. In every aspect of our daily life we should be shining forth Christ. This shining is the shining of the lampstand. We need love, life, light, and the lampstand. Then we will be rewarded by the Lord with what we live and are in Him. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 4171-4172)
Day 5
Verses: Eph. 2:10 For we are His masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we would walk in them. 2 Cor. 4:5 …We do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. (cid:527)In Ephesians 2:10(cid:528) "good works" are just Christ. The goal of God's work is Christ, and we should walk in this work—We often work because of our interest, not because of Christ. Many times men run to and fro to work for a name for themselves. They have worked, but they have not served God. God’s work from eternity to eternity has always been with the view that His Son would have the first place in all things. Therefore, our work should also be for Christ. If God does not purify our intent and motive, we cannot receive God's blessing. We work not for sinners but for Christ. How successful our work is depends on how much Christ is in it—Our work should not be for our own increase, our own group, or our own message; rather, we should work for Christ. As long as God gains something, we should rejoice. When we see God gaining something, even if it is not through our hands, we should be happy for it. (CWWN, vol. 11, pp. 750-751)
Christ should also have the first place in our messages. We "preach— Christ Jesus as Lord" (2 Cor. 4:5). "For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucifiied" (1 Cor. 2:2). Christ is the center of God’s plan and the center of God’s goal. The cross is the center of God’s work. The work of the cross is to accomplish God’s goal. The cross works to eliminate all that issues from the filesh in order that Christ may have the first place.
Our central message should not be the dispensations, the prophecies, the types, the kingdom, baptism, forsaking denominations, speaking in tongues, keeping the Sabbath, or holiness, etc. Our central message should be Christ. The centrality of God is Christ. After a person is saved, we should help him to consecrate himself to be a slave of Christ, so that he receives Christ as his Lord in all things. All the truths in the Bible are related like a wheel with spokes and a hub, having Christ as the center.
We are not neglecting the truths outside the center; rather, we need to link these truths with the center. Concerning any truth we should know two things: (1) we should know about this truth, and (2) we should know how this truth relates to the center. We should pay attention to the center. Of course, this does not mean we do not speak of other truths. Paul said, "I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucifiied" (1 Cor. 2:2). Later he also said, "But we do speak wisdom among those who are full-grown" (v. 6).
It is only after a person has consecrated himself and received Christ as his Lord that we can speak to him the truths concerning his building up. In our work we should continually draw people back to the center and let them see that "Christ is Lord." We cannot do this work in an objective way. We ourselves must be the first to be broken by God and allow Christ to have the first place in us, before we can lead others to receive Christ as Lord and allow Christ to have the first place in them.
We must live out a life of giving Christ the first place before we can spread this message. Our message is just our person. We should allow Christ to have the first place in the small things in our daily life before we can preach the message of the centrality of Christ. I only wish that every one of us would give the Lord Jesus His place on the throne(cid:488)—The Lord's "well done" surpasses all the praises of the world. The smiling face of heaven surpasses all the angry faces of the earth. The comfort of heaven surpasses the tears of the earth. The hidden manna is enjoyed in eternity. (CWWN, vol. 11, pp. 752-753)