Through transformation we are being constituted with the all-inclusive Christ as the life element. We are also being supplied with the element of the all-inclusive Christ. We have seen that the all-inclusive Christ, the Triune God embodied in humanity as the source of life, is signified by the tree of life (Gen. 2:9; Rev. 2:7; 22:2). After God created the heavens, the earth, and man, God put man before a tree called the tree of life. Man was created by God in God's image and after God's likeness (Gen. 1:26), but this man did not have God's life. Thus, we see a tree signifying God as life and a man who did not have God's life.
God said that every tree in the garden was pleasant to the sight and good for food, including the tree of life (2:9). God's desire is to mingle Himself with man, and the way for man to be mingled with Him is by eating. In God's wisdom, He made Himself eatable (John 6:57). Many Christians have never heard that God is eatable. How could Adam be mingled with that life tree? How could that life tree get into Adam? The only way was by Adam's eating. It is interesting to note that God created man with a stomach. If we did not have a stomach, we would never feel hungry; we would never sense that we need to eat. In certain senses, our stomach can be troublesome to us. Many sicknesses and diseases come from the wrong kind of eating. But the tree of life is something that is altogether and purely good. If we eat this tree, we will get life and be healthy. By eating the tree of life (Rev. 2:7b), we can be mingled with God, and this mingling is the constitution.
Our physical body is being constituted with the life supply every day. When food is added into our stomach, the constituting work is going on. Then we are growing up in life. In this constituting process, there is a kind of transformation. In the morning we eat breakfast, and during the day what we have eaten is being digested and assimilated into our being. The life element is constituting our being. The food we eat does a constituting work within us. This is a picture of our Christian life. We need to eat Christ as the living bread from heaven embodied in His words of eternal life (John 6:57b-58a, 51, 68), as the tree of life (Rev. 2:7b), and as the hidden manna (v. 17b). By eating Christ we can be constituted and supplied with Him as our life element so that we can grow in life and be transformed in life.