The significance of man's fall is that man was estranged from the life of God (Eph. 4:17-19), signified by the tree of life. When the tree of life is mentioned in Genesis 2, the emphasis is on the tree itself, not on its fruit. Verse 9 says, "...good for food; the tree of life." It does not mention the fruit of the tree of life; it simply points to the tree of life. Man's need was to eat the tree of life. Since the tree of life signifies God Himself, by eating the tree of life, man would have received God Himself as life. But by choosing the tree of knowledge, man became estranged from the life of God. Man's fall separated him from God as life, but Christ's redemption brings man back to God as life.
The term the life of God is used only in Ephesians 4:18. To say that we as believers have the life of God is not very accurate. Actually, what we have is not the life of God, but God as life. We have God Himself as our life. We do not take something of God; we take God Himself. We must learn to take God Himself, the entire person, as our life.
In the Old Testament times, the redemption of Christ was not yet accomplished. It was typified by the propitiation accomplished through the animal sacrifices. Under this propitiation, God was legally free to contact man, and man was repositioned to enjoy the right to take God as life. Psalm 36:8-9 is a unique portion in the Old Testament. I treasure this portion. Through these verses we can realize that the Old Testament saints entered into God through the type of propitiation. Propitiation as a type enabled them to enter into God. Psalm 36:8-9 says, "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light." In the Old Testament, the temple of God, the house of God, signified that God Himself was enterable. Through the type of redemption, God's people could enter into Him and enjoy Him. Today, through the reality of the redemption of Christ, we can enter into God to enjoy the fatness of His house, the flow of His life, and the light of life.
These verses mention four main points concerning our enjoyment of God as life: fatness, a river of pleasures, the fountain of life, and light. God's dwelling place, His house, has the fatness. This indicates that God's house is a matter of life. There is also a river of pleasures, a river of joy. We must learn to drink of the river of God's pleasures. There is also the fountain of life and the light. All of these four items point to one thing: God is for us to enjoy. But in order to enjoy Him, we must take Him as life and live by Him. He is the fountain of life, but we must take Him as our life. When we take Him as our life, He becomes the fatness, the river of satisfaction, and the light of life.