Genesis 1 and 2 are undoubtedly a record of God's creation. But as we have seen, these two chapters do not only convey the thought of God's creation. After receiving the light, we can see that something much more is conveyed in this part of the Word. The crucial matter conveyed in Genesis 1 and 2 is the divine economy. It is easy to understand how God created the heavens and the earth, but it is not so easy to understand why God created man in His own image, why God created man with a human spirit, and why after creating man He put him in front of the tree of life. These are three crucial points: the image of God, the spirit of man, and the tree of life. To understand Genesis 1 and 2 we must understand these marvelous, crucial, and vital points.
When we see the divine economy, we will realize that God created man in His image so that He can dispense Himself into man. God also created man with a spirit so that He could dispense Himself into man. Finally, God put man in front of the tree of life in order that man could receive Him into his being as life. Within the first twenty years of my study of the Bible, I did not see this. Genesis 1 and 2 were merely a story of creation to me. I was unable to understand the significance of the image of God, the spirit of man, and the tree of life. About forty years ago, I began to see the tree of life, the image of God, and the spirit of man. After seeing all these matters in Genesis 1 and 2, I was somewhat beside myself. We have to realize that we bear the image of God. We look like God. We also have a spirit to receive God as our life. This is all for God's economy to dispense Himself into us. This is the main thought of the record in Genesis 1 and 2.
Genesis 2:8 furthermore tells us that God planted a garden. The garden that God planted was in Eden, which means delight or pleasure. God put man in an environment of pleasure and delight, full of enjoyment. God put man into this garden and placed him in front of the tree of life. This indicated that God wanted man to receive Him into his being to be man's life. The pleasant God wanted to enter into man to be man's pleasant life.
In addition to the tree of life, the picture in Genesis 2 shows us that there is also a river which went out of Eden to water the garden (v. 10). An environment where there are trees with a river is an environment pleasant with life. Life is in the tree, and life is flowing in the water. God put man in front of the tree of life, and along with this tree a river is flowing. Thus far, we have seen a man made in the image of God with a human spirit that is able to receive God. Now this man is in front of the tree of life by the side of a river. This tree was "pleasant to the sight, and good for food" (2:9). We need to see the picture in Genesis 2 of a man bearing God's image, having a human spirit to receive God, placed in front of a tree which is flourishing, green, and full of life, and beside a river of flowing water.
Wherever there is the eternal life, there is always the flow of the living water. John 6 shows us that Jesus is the bread of life (v. 35) with the riches of life for us to eat (v. 57). Then John 7 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus and receives His life will have rivers of living water flowing out of his innermost being (v. 38). In John 6 is the bread of life with the riches of life, and in John 7 are the rivers flowing with living water. These two chapters show us that when we receive the divine life, this life flows in our being as a river of living water. This is the significance of the tree of life and the river in Genesis 2.