In this series of messages we want to see the believers’ living of a mutual abiding with the Lord in spirit. Many people, including Christians, have an ingrained religious concept regarding the Bible. They think that the Bible is a book of religious teachings. Since every religion has its book of religious teachings, it seems Christianity also has its book, which is the Bible. It may seem so, but actually it is not. In reality the Bible is entirely a book on life, and this life which is referred to in the Bible is the Triune God as our life.
I have been speaking for the Lord for over fifty years. At the time I was saved I did not pay much attention to this life, so I began by spending about seven years to diligently study the Bible and other spiritual publications. This certainly influenced me very much inwardly and caused me to be constituted with many doctrines. Thus, when I rose to speak for the Lord after those seven or eight years, the emphasis of most of my speaking was on doctrines. However, gradually the desire for mere doctrines began to diminish, because after much speaking I no longer liked or was willing to speak them, and I even lost the taste for doctrines. From then on, my speaking began to shift toward life. After I turned to life, the more I spoke, the richer and more living my speaking became; the more I spoke, the more I enjoyed speaking and the more my speaking became inexhaustible. The result was that I then saw that all of the speaking in the Bible is life. Finally, I saw that at the beginning of the Bible and at the end of the Bible there is a tree of life. In the first two chapters of the Bible, in the book of Genesis, we see that God created the heavens and the earth, and He created man. Then He put the man in front of the tree of life. This indicates that God’s goal for man was that he be able to gain the life of this tree.
The life of the tree of life in the Bible is truly a mystery. What actually is the tree of life? Today there are some so-called Bible scholars who say that the tree of life is too ancient and has ceased to exist. This is not scriptural. The Bible shows us that not only in the beginning of time was there the tree of life, but even in eternity future there will still be the tree of life. In the book of Revelation, the tree of life is mentioned at least two or three times. In 2:7 the Lord said, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” Chapter twenty-two says that in the middle of the street in the city of the New Jerusalem is a river of water of life and on either side of the river is the tree of life (vv. 1-2). This shows us that the tree of life is not very tall, but it does span both banks of the river. It is not a huge cedar but a vine that continues to spread out, and it is for man’s supply, not something to be used as material. This tree of life grows alongside the river of life, and with the watering of the flow of the river it supplies life to people. This is truly an eternal blessing. At the end of Revelation 22, it says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have right to the tree of life” (v. 14). It is evident that the tree of life has not passed away but continues to exist and will continue unto eternity.
Not only so, the tree of life is here today. Revelation 2:7 says, “To him who overcomes, to him I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.” This does not point only to the future but refers to today. Whoever overcomes today, to him is the enjoyment of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God. What does this mean? If you have a bird’s-eye view of the entire Bible, you will see that this tree of life is a figure that signifies, symbolizes, God Himself as our life. The Gospel of John says that the Lord Jesus is life and that He is also a tree, the true vine (14:6; 15:1). We know that a vine is not like a pine tree or a cedar tree for the producing of building materials. No one would use a grapevine to construct houses or furniture. The Lord Jesus said that He is life. He also said that He is the vinetree. When you put these two sentences together, you can see that He is the tree of life. Furthermore, according to its natural function, the vine is for the supply of life.
What the Bible tells us is that this Triune God has become our tree of life and that He is the source of the supply of life. Not only so, according to the revelation in the Bible, God ordained that everyone must have two births: to be born once of the mother’s womb and once of God. In John 3, the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (vv. 5-6). This tells us that God requires us to be born twice: once of the flesh and once of the Spirit. The first time is from the mother’s womb; the second time is not to re-enter the mother’s womb and come out again, but it is to be born of the Spirit. That which is born of our parents is of the flesh, just as the Lord said that that which is born of the flesh is flesh. We were all born of the flesh so that we can exist in this world. If you know the Bible and see God’s arrangement, then you will see that God wants to have Himself born in us. Today God is the Spirit. God being born in us is the Spirit being born in us. We all have been born of the Spirit; this is to be born not of blood but of the Spirit.