Second, God formed man with the clay of the ground. Clay is of little value, but God used clay to form a man to be His vessel. I do not know whether or not you have ever thought about the fact that we humans are actually vessels and that we daily fill ourselves with many things. Whenever we eat and drink, we put things into us. Even this morning, as we are listening to the message, we are putting things into ourselves. We fill our mouths with food and water, our ears with sound, our eyes with scenery, and our noses with odors. Every day we fill ourselves with all kinds of things. We truly are vessels.
However, we must remember that we humans are able to take in more than food, water, sound, scenery, and odors. Within us is another part that can take in the mystical, spiritual God. When God created us, He created us not only with a stomach, ears, eyes, and a nose but also with a spirit. When He created us, He breathed the breath of life into us. When this breath of life came into us, it became something mysterious; it became the spirit within us. This spirit is a receiving organ, enabling us to receive the pneumatic God. Man is a vessel made of clay, but within man, this vessel of clay, there is a mechanism. Man may be likened to a radio. A radio may appear to be merely a wooden box, but it is different from other boxes because within it there is a mechanism that receives sound by receiving the invisible electromagnetic waves in the air. In the same manner, within this earthen vessel of ours is a very precious mechanism. As long as we set this mechanism properly and correctly, God, like the electrical waves, will come in. Oh, within man there is a spirit! This is a very special point in the record in Genesis. Why is there a spirit in man, who is made of clay? It is to enable man to receive God who is Spirit so that God as the Spirit can be put into man.
Third, God put man, who was made of clay on the outside and who had a spirit inside, in front of the tree of life. If we read the Bible to the end, we will realize that this tree of life is God Himself, because God Himself is life. The Bible says that when the Lord Jesus came to the earth, “in Him was life” (John 1:4). The Bible also tells us that He is the bread of life to be taken in and eaten by man as life (6:48, 51). This is what we have been saying all along—God wants men to receive Him as food into them to be their life. It is not difficult to understand that the food we eat every day enters into us and becomes our nourishment and our constituents. Likewise, God comes into us to be our life so that He would become our constituents and would mingle Himself and unite Himself with us to become one with us.
Fourth, in the garden of Eden there was a river flowing and watering. This is a symbolic picture, and we must understand the meaning hidden in it. Before this the Bible says that there was a tree of life in the middle of the garden and that man was put in front of the tree in order that he would eat its fruit. Following this it says that there was a river flowing and watering therein. What is the meaning of this? This indicates that if you receive this life into you, this life will not only nourish you as food, enabling you to live, but it will also flow in you and water you as living water.
In today’s universe, all the material things are symbols of spiritual things. If we merely eat dry food without drinking any water, then the food will not turn or move easily in the stomach and will surely cause us to feel uncomfortable. Thus, whenever we eat, we should not only take in dry food but also drink water, milk, soup, or other liquids. In this way the stomach will receive the nourishment, and the food can flow and be digested. We must remember that Genesis chapter two is a picture. In this picture there is not only the tree of life as food but also a river flowing and watering. Therefore, in the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus not only said that He was the bread from heaven for people to eat and not be hungry; He also said that if anyone was thirsty, he should come to Him to drink and that he who drank the water that He gave would never thirst again, but this water would become a fountain of living water in him gushing up into eternal life (4:14). He is not only the bread of life but also the water of life. The bread of life is for our nourishment, and the water of life is for us to be watered.