Man was created by God as an entity with a frame, the outer part, and a spirit, the inmost organ. Hence, man was created as a complete person. But what is God's purpose in making such a man? God created the heavens, the earth, and myriads of living things: the herbs, the trees, the fish in the water, the birds in the air, and the beasts, the cattle, and all kinds of creeping things on the earth (Gen. 1:11-25). In addition to all these things, God made man in a very particular way—like God. Man was not made according to the "kind" of the herbs or the kind of the trees. Neither was man made according to the kind of the animals, the beasts, or the cattle. Man was made according to God's kind.
Man cannot be God in His Godhead, but he can be God in His life and nature. We are what we are born of. Anything born of a dog is a dog. Likewise, if we were born of a monkey, we would surely be a monkey. God created man not according to a monkey's kind or a dog's kind, but according to His kind, in His image and according to His likeness. Furthermore, the Bible tells us that the believers in Christ are God's children (John 1:12-13; 1 John 3:1-2). The children of a man are also men. Because we are children of God, we are God in nature and in life, but not in the Godhead, that is, not in God's position or rank.
Although the man created by God was complete, having God's image and likeness and God's breath of life, man was still short of God Himself. Apparently, the created man was perfect; actually, he was not perfect because, although he was like God, he did not have God Himself. Thus, after the creation of man, God did not tell man what to do. He did not regulate man or give him many commandments. He simply brought man into a garden and put him in front of a strange, peculiar, and particular tree called the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9). Since the tree of knowledge of good and evil was next to the tree of life, God warned man not to eat of it, lest he die (vv. 16-17). If he ate of that tree, he would receive death. On the other hand, if he ate of the tree of life, he would receive life. God's warning to Adam indicates that God wanted man to take of the tree of life.
The Bible is God's revelation, consisting of sixty-six books with hundreds of chapters. The Bible ends as it begins. It has a beginning and it also has an ending. The end is exactly the same as the beginning. The Bible begins with God, man, and the tree of life in Genesis 1 and 2, and it ends with God, man, and the tree of life in Revelation 22.
The tree of life is revealed gradually throughout the entire Bible. Psalm 36:9 says, "For with You [God] is the fountain of life." God Himself is the fountain of life. The first chapter of the Gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word...and the Word was God...In Him was life" (vv. 1, 4). Later in this same Gospel, the Lord Jesus told us that He is the life and that He is the true vine (14:6; 15:1). He is not a pine tree, shooting upward, but a vine tree, spreading forward to reach men. Eventually, at the end of the New Testament, the tree of life as a vine tree is there (Rev. 22:2). In the New Jerusalem the river of water of life flows through the city to water the entire city in every part, and the tree of life grows along the two sides of the river. Such a tree could not be a tall tree like a pine; it must be a vine. Because it is a vine, its fruit is accessible to everyone. This is very meaningful.
The tree of life at the beginning and end of the Bible is a figure of God Himself as life. God is abstract and mysterious. There is no word that can fully define Him. Hence, in His wisdom He presented us a figure of Himself—a tree that grows, spreads, and produces fruit good for food. The tree of life is a figure signifying God as life to man. This tree of life is the embodiment of God as life. God presented Himself to man in this way. After He created man, God had no intention to charge man to do anything. His intention was just to work Himself into man.
God created man with a body as an outward frame and with a spirit inside this body. But how could God enter into man? The way for God to enter into man was to bring man into a garden and put him before the tree of life. The tree of life is God Himself embodied in the form of a tree. In form and style, it is a tree, but actually it is the very embodiment of the divine life. Eventually, this embodiment is Jesus Christ. When the Son of God came to this earth, He came as the embodiment of the Triune God (Col. 2:9; 1:19). The Triune God is life, and this life is embodied in the tree of life, which is a figure of Christ. Thus, when Christ came, He told us that He is life (John 14:6) and that He is the vine tree (15:1), of which we can be a part (v. 5). If we put these two things together—life and the tree—we have the tree of life. Christ Himself is the tree of life.
After He completed His creation of man, God offered Himself to man in the form of a tree. Eating is the way for man to take this tree. This tree is not good for material or for making anything. This tree is good only for producing fruit for man to eat. As the tree of life, God cherishes and nourishes man. This tree of life is the Christ in whom we have believed. God presented this tree to all mankind through the preaching of the gospel, and we accepted it. Daily we are eating Him (John 6:57) as our tree of life. Our vine tree is Christ, and Christ is the embodiment of God as life (1 John 5:11-12). Thus, the Bible says that Christ is our life (Col. 3:4a). We live by Him, we live for Him, we express Him, and we magnify Him. This is what a Christian should be.