The Bible presents us two trees which are two sources issuing in two ways, two principles, and two consummations; we can either choose the way of life or the way of death, and we will arrive either in the New Jerusalem or in the lake of fire.
There is a choice before us: will we choose the tree of life, that is, choose to take God in Christ as life and life supply, or will we choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thus taking in death?
Even though the two trees are not mentioned in the book of Job, the principle of the two trees is clearly seen in this book.
In the first chapter of Job, we see God, man, and Satan, and we see the tree of life (represented by God Himself) and the tree of knowledge of good and evil (which was constituted into Job and produced him as a good man).
In Job we see two thousand years of development of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; sometimes this tree produces good people (such as Job) and most times it produces evil people.
We need to experience a transfer out of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and onto the tree of life; we need to realize that we need to be transferred from living in the principle of the tree of knowledge to the principle of the tree of life.
We need to be transferred from the way of death to the way of life, from the wrong tree to the life tree.
This is what the book of Job shows us, in a very real sense – it shows how a man who was so much on the line of the tree of knowledge of good and evil has experienced a transfer to the line of the tree of life.
Such a transfer has to be radical, for the tree of knowledge of good and evil has been constituted into our being for many years and even decades; what we see in us is a constitution of more than six thousand years of development of the tree of knowledge, and we need to be transferred from this to the tree of life!
A person doesn’t get easily out of six thousand years of culture and religion and suddenly becomes a person of life on the line of life; no, it takes time, and this transfer is radical.
This is why God allows sufferings and difficulties to come our way; just as a parent doesn’t like to inflict suffering on his children but considers it necessary for them so that they learn the proper lesson, so God allows suffering to show us how much we still live in the way of death, with the intention of transferring us on the way of life.
From Job’s point of view and in the eyes of his friends, it seemed that what Job was experiencing was a giant suffering, and there was seemingly no reason or cause for it.
And in a sense, it is true, for our human life is a giant suffering. Sometimes we may feel that even our Christian life and church life is a giant suffering.
But if we know God’s economy, if we see a vision of God’s eternal economy, we will realize that all the sufferings have a very positive purpose: they are here to help us be on the line of life, on the line of the tree of life.
We Choose the Way of Life to Seek God and Enjoy God until we become the New Jerusalem, and we reject the Way of Death!
The tree of life and the tree of knowledge each issue in a line, a way, and a principle of living, which consummate in a particular destination.
The first way, the way of the tree of life, is the constricted way (Matt. 7:17), and it is the way that leads to life and consummates in the New Jerusalem.
The way of life is the Way (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:22), the straight way (2 Pet. 2:15), the way of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:21), the way of salvation (Acts 16:17), the way of God (Matt. 22:16; Acts 18:26), and the way of the Lord (Acts 18:25).
The way of life, which is the way of the tree of life, is for us to seek God, to gain God, and to enjoy God in His eternal life as the supply and unto His eternal life as the goal!
The way of life is the way of being born of God in His life and nature (John 1:12-13), be transformed and conformed into the glorious image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18; Rom. 8:29), and glorified in Him as glory (Rom. 8:30; 1 Pet. 5:10; Heb. 2:10).
The way of life is the way for us to gain Christ and participate in Him to the fullest extent, and it consummates with the city of life, the holy city, the New Jerusalem.
In this way of life, we see many people in both the Old and the New Testament, such as Abel, Seth, Enosh, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Samuel, all the Old Testament prophets, and all the New Testament believers (see Heb. 11:39-40).
This is the way that God wants us to take; He wants us to be transferred from the way of death and onto the way of life, and for this He allows sufferings and difficulties to arise and remain, so that we may give up and renounce the way of good and evil and take the way of life to gain God to the fullest extent.
We choose the way of life – we want to stay on the line of life!
The second way, the way of death, issues from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and it is the broad way (Matt. 7:13) that leads to destruction.
The way of death is for men to follow Satan to be his children (1 John 3:10) unto death and to be his companions in his eternal perdition (Matt. 25:41).
It consummates in the lake of fire, where Satan and his followers will end up; the lake of fire was not meant for men, but those who take the way of death will end up there together with Satan.
In this way of death and of good and evil are people such as Cain, Lamech, Jabal, Tubal, Tubal-Cain (Jude 1:11; Gen. 4:16-24), Ham, Cush, Nimrod (Gen. 10:6-12), Korah, Balaam (2 Pet. 2:15; Jude 1:11), Saul, Absalom, Antichrist and his followers (Rev. 19:19-21), and all unbelievers (Rev. 20:15). Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we be saved from remaining on the way of death, the way of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and may we be fully transferred to and remain on the line of life!
These two ways each have a consummation, an end; the God-ordained end of the way of life is the New Jerusalem as the corporate expression of God in man, and the God-ordained end of the way of death is the lake of fire as the final destination of Satan and all his followers.
May we see the two sources – the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – and the two ways of life – the way of life and the way of death – and may we choose to live and be on the line of life together with the saints, following the Lord Jesus, taking the constricted way, and seeking God to enjoy God and live Christ until we become the New Jerusalem!
Lord Jesus, we choose the way of life, the constricted way, which is the way of salvation, the way of God, and the way of the Lord! We choose to seek You, enjoy You, and gain You. Thank You for regenerating us with Your divine life to make us children of God. Keep us in the process of being renewed, transformed, and conformed to the glorious image of Christ until we are glorified to be part of the New Jerusalem! Amen, Lord Jesus, grant us to experience a transfer from the way of death, the way of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and be fully on the way of life that leads to the New Jerusalem! We don’t want to follow Satan to be his children unto death; we refuse to be Satan’s companions in his eternal perdition. Lord, we choose You. We choose life. We choose the tree of life, and we come to You to take You in as life!
Living in the Principle of Life by Depending on God and Refusing the Principle of Death and of Good and Evil, the Principle of Independence from God
The Bible speaks not only of the sons of God, those who are born of God to receive His life and nature by believing into the Lord Jesus, those who are in the process of being transformed and conformed to the image of Christ.
The Bible also speaks also of the children of the devil. To become a child of God we need to take in the tree of life; to become a child of the devil, we take in the tree of knowledge.
1 John 3:10 tells us that the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest.
And when the Lord Jesus came, sinners came to Him and remained with Him, yet He never called them “sons of the devil” or “brood of vipers”; however, He called the religious people such terms.
This is hard to grasp; everybody understands evil and, to a certain extent, stay away from evil, but when someone is good, how can that person be a brood of viper, a child of the devil?
This is why the tree of knowledge of good and evil is so complicated, for evil can be clearly seen, but good is quite deceptive; it’s a better counterfeit.
The way of life issues in the principle of life according to which we can live; all men in the way of life keep their contact with God, they seek God, gain God, possess God, and enjoy God, little by little and day by day, until they reach the fullest extent.
The way of death issues in the principle of death and of good and evil, in which all men in the way of death follow Satan (either consciously or unconsciously) and through which they reject God and His way of life to be Satan’s companions unto death and eternal perdition.
If we take the way of life, we will live in the principle of life; this principle is of dependence on God; if we take the way of death, we will live in the principle of death and of good and evil, which is the principle of independence from God (Gen. 4:3-4; Jer. 17:5-8; John 15:5).
God created us to be dependent beings; we depend on breathing, eating, drinking, and we need so many things for our human existence.
Though we are made in the image and likeness of God as wonderful human beings, we are dependent beings, and we cannot be independent.
We will always be dependent, and we’re made to be dependent on God by taking the way of life and living in the principle of life.
When we take the way of life, we eat the tree of life, we live in the principle of life, and we depend on the life of God, always contacting the Lord and depending on Him in all things.
However, if we do not depend on God, if we take the way of death, we choose to be independent of God, but we depend on the devil, we share in his death and evil, and we will end up in the lake of fire. Oh, Lord!
Job was a person on the line of death, but God cared for him, so He dealt severely with him to adjust his logic concerning his relationship with God from the principle of good and evil according to ethics to the principle of life according to God.
What God wants is not a good man (versus an evil man) according to ethics and morality; He wants a God-man, one who gains God and is gained by God to participate in God for the fulfilment of His economy.
Such a one cannot be independent of God, for he realizes that any independence from God has its source in the devil.
The consummation of all those who take the way of life and live in the principle of life is the New Jerusalem, which is a dynamic incentive for us to seek God until we gain Him to the fullest extent according to His love and grace (Rev. 21:2, 9-11; 22:1-2).
The consummation of all those who take the way of death and live in the principle of death and of good and evil is the lake of fire, the worst and most miserable end of Satan’s way of death (Rev. 19:20; 20:10, 14-15).
This should be a warning to the men who follow Satan in his way against God’s economy, to turn from his way of death to God’s way of life that they may escape Satan’s eternal judgment and eternal perdition, according to God’s righteousness and justice.
Lord Jesus, we want to take the way of life and live in the principle of life by depending on You in everything. We give ourselves to You to gain Christ, enjoy Christ, and be transformed and conformed to the image of Christ. May our relationship with God be in the principle of life, in the principle of gaining God and participating in God for the fulfilment of God’s eternal economy. Save us from taking the way of death and living in the principle of being independent of God. May we realize that we can never be independent of God; may we remain in the organic union with Christ and enjoy all that God in Christ as the Spirit is dispensing into us. Turn us, Lord, from the principle of good and evil according to ethics, to the principle of life according to God!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Job (pp. 201-203), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 4, Man and the Two Trees.
- Hymns on this topic:
– There are two lines to live by in our living today— / One the life line to bring us into Christ all the way. / But the other is knowledge which will make us die; / We must be very careful on which line we abide. / Oh, we’ll stay on God’s life line, never turning aside. / We don’t care for vain knowledge, which will cause us to die. / Lord, we’ll touch You by calling on Your name each day; / Living in Your appearing, in Your presence we’ll stay. (Hymns #1194)
– The tree of knowledge standing there, / Bespeaks a sure and warning voice: / Outside of God there is a source / Of death to all who make this choice. / If man would eat the tree of life, / Then God as life he will receive, / And be transformed to precious stones, / God’s will and Purpose to achieve. (Hymns #733)
– Jesus ne’er designed e’er to feed our mind; / All good knowledge only puffeth up. / But He came, He said, as a feast instead, / Not to analyze, but only sup. / Take Him, take Him, / Wholly satisfying, glorious. / Take Him, take Him, / Jesus is the tree of life to us. (Hymns #1144)
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