At the beginning of the Scriptures, two matters are mentioned in relation to man—the image of God and the life of God. In the first chapter of Genesis, we are told that man was created according to the image of God (vv. 26-27). Then in the second chapter we are told that after man was created by God, he was put before the tree of life (vv. 8-9). In the Scriptures, the tree of life is a symbol of God as life to man. This is a clear picture revealing to us that although man was made according to the image of God, at that time he did not have the life of God. Man had the image of God by creation, but he did not yet possess the life of God. He was placed in front of the life of God, but the life of God was outside of him. We should be very clear about this picture. Although the life of God is before man, it is nevertheless outside of man.
What is the image of God according to the Scriptures? Colossians 1:15 tells us that Christ, the Son of God, is the image of the invisible God. That man was made according to the image of God means that man was made according to Christ. Romans 5:14 says that the man Adam was a figure of Christ. Man was made according to the image of God, and the very image of God is Christ Himself. Man as a figure of Christ may be compared to a photograph. A photograph of a person is made according to that person; it is a picture of that person. Because man was created according to Christ, he became a figure of Christ. In today’s language, man is a photograph of Christ. With a picture there is the image of the person but not the life of that person. This is exactly the same with Adam. When Adam was created, he was created according to Christ, so he became a picture of Christ. Although he had the image of Christ, he did not have the life of Christ. No photographer today has the intention to put life into a photograph, but God put man before the tree of life with the intention that man would partake of the tree of life and receive the life of God.
God created man according to His own image, which is Christ, with the intention of putting Christ into him as life. What then is the life of God? The life of God is Christ Himself. Christ is both the image of God and the life of God. The Gospel of John tells us that Christ is the life (11:25). John’s first Epistle tells us that he who has the Son, Christ, has the life, and he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (1 John 5:12). God’s eternal intention, His divine purpose, was to create man according to Christ, as a picture of Christ, so that man would take Christ as his life.
However, man was a failure in this matter. Instead of partaking of the tree of life, man took in the tree of knowledge. We all know this sad story. We praise the Lord that one day the Lord came into this world, died on the cross for our redemption, and released Himself as the Spirit to be life to us. Now, whoever believes in Him receives Him and possesses Him as life. As Christians, we have Christ as our life (Col. 3:4). Now we are no longer merely photos of Christ; we also have the life of Christ within us. Therefore, we are the living expression of Christ.
Today not only unbelievers but even Christians have a wrong concept about the relationship between us and God. When we think about God, our concept is that we need to do many good things to please Him. This is absolutely wrong. According to the revelation in the Scriptures, we were made according to the image of Christ to be photos of Christ, and the one thing we must do is to receive Christ as our life. Once we receive Him as our life, Christ lives within us to make us a living expression of Himself.
Although we have the image of Christ, by creation we are just empty vessels (Rom. 9:21). We were made as vessels for the purpose of receiving Christ. Man can be compared to a glove. A glove is made according to the image of a hand because it is a vessel made to contain the hand. Without the hand the glove is empty. This is the reason that those who are without Christ always feel that human life is empty, a vanity of vanities. Just as a glove is a container and the hand is the content, so man is a vessel, a container for Christ. Without Christ as our content and our fullness, we are empty persons, empty vessels.
As Christians, we have Christ in us. Now the “hand” and the “glove” are one. The glove is the container, and the hand is the content. The glove expresses the hand, and the hand fills the glove. Moreover, the glove is satisfied with the hand in it. We have to realize that we are a container of Christ, a vessel for Christ (2 Cor. 4:7). We should not try to do anything to please God. God’s intention is not for us to do something good to please Him but that we would receive Christ as our life. If my glove does not receive my hand but merely tries to do things for my hand, I would say, “Don’t do all these things. I only wish to put my hand into you.”
There are many teachings today in Christianity that tell people to do good. When I was young, I was a genuine, regenerated Christian, but I was taught in a wrong way. I was taught to be humble and patient, and I paid the price to be patient. I was taught not only to do good but to be good. However, the more I tried to be patient, the more I was impatient. The more I tried to be humble, the more I was proud. The more I tried to be good and do good, the more I found myself empty and dissatisfied. The more I tried to do something to please God, the more I felt that God was very far from me. Later on, the Lord opened my eyes and caused me to see that this was the wrong way. The right way is neither to be good nor to do good, neither to be humble nor to be patient. The right way is to take Christ as life. The right way is to take Christ and receive Him as life. After receiving Him as our life, we must learn to take Him as our daily food. We must learn how to feed on Him, how to drink Him, and how to keep ourselves in contact with Him. We must learn how to take Him day by day and moment by moment as our life supply. We can forget about being humble, being patient, being good, and doing good and simply contact Christ as life day by day and moment by moment.
We all must see this very clear and simple picture that we were made as vessels to contain Christ. There is nothing for us to do but to take Christ as our life, to take Him as our daily food, and to take Him as our life supply moment by moment. This is the one thing we must learn. I have met thousands of Christians in many places throughout the world. I have realized in talking with them that all of them know many things. They know something in Genesis and something in Revelation. They know some matters in John and in Luke. They are acquainted with some things in the Old Testament and some things in the New Testament. They can talk with you about many things in Christianity. However, I tried to minister in many places the matter of Christ as life to us, but many believers did not care for this. They knew the Lord’s words in John 6:35 and 57. In verse 35 the Lord said that He is the bread of life, and in verse 57 He said that he who eats Him shall live because of Him. I asked them to tell me how the Lord can be bread to us and how we can eat Him. If Christ Himself said that we can eat Him and live because of Him, how then can we eat Him? Although I tried to speak this in many places, not one person could tell me the exact meaning, the real meaning, of eating Christ, and not one could tell me from their experience how to take Christ as their daily food. Although Christ said that he who eats Him shall live because of Him, how can we really eat Christ? Is it merely by reading the Bible? Many people read the Bible thoroughly, yet they do not know the way to take Christ as their food.