We have already seen that God’s goal in creation and redemption is life. God created man so that man would obtain life. Furthermore, the story of the entire universe is related to life in living creatures, with God’s life being the highest life. The source of all life in the universe is God. Hence, the story of the universe comes from God’s life. If we want to know and understand God’s salvation, we must see that God’s only goal is life; life is God’s only purpose, and everything that happens in the universe is because of life and originates from life.
Now we need to see two crucial points: what does the life that we speak of refer to, and how do we contact and touch this life? The Bible shows that the source of life is God; God is the origin of life. Psalm 36:9 says, “For with You is the fountain of life.” In other words, life is in God. In verses 7 through 9, there are some related points that we must consider. Verse 7 speaks of God’s lovingkindness and says that His precious lovingkindness enables the sons of men to take refuge in the shadow of His wings. Verse 8 speaks of the fatness of God’s house and of the river of His pleasures for man’s enjoyment. Verse 9 has two special points: “for with You is the fountain of life” and “in Your light we see light.” Let us examine these four points: First, man can take refuge in God’s loving-kindness; second, man enjoys God’s fatness and the river of His pleasures when he takes refuge in God’s lovingkindness; third, man enjoys God’s fatness and the river of His pleasures in God’s life; and fourth, man can touch God’s life in His light.
In the New Testament we can see more clearly that life is the incarnated Christ (John 1:1, 4, 14). In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the way and the reality and the life.” He Himself said that He is life. God’s being life means that life is not simply something that comes from God, but life is God Himself. John 1:4 says that life and light are one. John 8:12 connects life and light and speaks of the light of life. In 10:10 the Lord Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly.” In 6:63 He said, “It is the Spirit who gives life...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” Verse 63 begins by saying that the Spirit gives life, and it ends by saying that the words the Lord spoke to us are spirit and life. Romans 8:2 refers to life, Spirit, and law when it speaks of “the law of the Spirit of life.”
In Psalm 36 God’s lovingkindness, the fatness of His house, and the river of His pleasures all refer to God’s riches; all the riches of God are in His life. When man touches God’s life, he touches God’s riches. We can enjoy, taste, and touch God’s love, sweetness, and riches in His life. From this psalm, we can see that the riches in God’s nature can be touched by us in His life. Life is God’s nature, God’s substance. All the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Christ bodily (Col. 2:9). Christ is life, that is, the divine life. He came to the earth so that man could obtain God and obtain His life (John 10:10). This proves that life is God Himself. Revelation 22:1-2 shows that the river of water of life and the tree of life proceed and grow out of God. Life originates with God because life is God. Therefore, when God flows out and is enjoyed by man, it is called life.
Steamed rice and raw rice are a good illustration. Steamed rice comes from raw rice; the two are essentially the same. If raw grains of rice are placed in front of us, they cannot be enjoyed or eaten by us, and they cannot satisfy our hunger. In order for raw grains of rice to be eaten and enjoyed by us and to satisfy our hunger, they need to be steamed. When God is alone in heaven, He has no relationship with us and cannot be enjoyed by us. In such a condition, He can only be called God. But when He dispenses Himself into us for us to eat and enjoy, then He can be called life. Life comes out of God, and life is God. If we understand these words, we will know why the Lord said to the Jews, “I am the living bread which came down out of heaven” (John 6:51). He is the bread of life. He is the God who existed from the beginning, and He stepped into time to be obtained and enjoyed by man on the earth and to fill up man’s hunger for satisfaction.
The Lord is the bread of life, and He is life. When we eat steamed rice, we are not eating rice grains that have been taken directly from a rice bag or a rice bin. Steamed rice is rice grains that have been cooked, prepared, and placed on a table for us to eat. The One in heaven is actually the God in eternity. One day He stepped out of eternity, like rice grains being poured out from a rice bag. Then He entered into time and came to the earth to become “steamed rice” on a table to be enjoyed by man. At this point, He is called life, and He is the bread of life.
The Gospel of Matthew records that a Canaanite woman came to the Lord and cried out, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David!” but the Lord did not say a word to answer her. She tried again and said, “Lord, help me!” The Lord answered, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” Although this Canaanite woman was a Gentile, she was quite blessed and knew God, so she replied immediately, “Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table” (15:22-27). The bread on the table is for the children, but even little dogs eat crumbs that fall from the table. This means that the Lord came down out of heaven as the bread of life for man to eat. The Jewish land can be compared to the dining table, and the Jews were God’s children, but they wasted their bread and threw it under the table. They drove the Lord away from the land of the Jews toward the land of the Gentiles. The Canaanite woman’s word indicates that even though she was a dog, the Lord Jesus was not on the table but under the table so that she could eat and enjoy Him as bread. She admitted that she was a dog, but a dog also has its portion. The bread under the table was her portion. Because of this, the Lord praised her: “O woman, great is your faith!” (v. 28). Our God is not only the God of heaven; He is also the bread of life. Furthermore, He is not only the bread of life; He is also the crumbs that fall from the Jewish land so that He can inwardly satisfy us, the Gentiles. Hence, life is God Himself.
If God does not have a relationship with man, He would remain high in the heavens where man could not touch Him or contact Him. God would be God, and man would be man. However, God came down from heaven and came to the door of man’s heart. Now our God is the bread of life. When we open our heart to Him, He becomes our life as soon as He comes into us. This is the reason Paul says that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4). Life is God Himself.