We need to know the significance of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and turn absolutely from this tree to the tree of life; we need to discern things according to life or death not according to right or wrong, good or evil.
As believers in Christ, we are children of God regenerated with the divine life, and we have Christ living in us.
We have a new life, the divine life, in our spirit; this life is nothing else but the Triune God in Christ as the Spirit flows into us. God is life – He is the unique life, for He is life itself.
When we speak of living the Christian life and the church life we don’t speak of adhering to and keeping certain rules; rather, it is living by the divine life.
When we live by the divine life, when we live in and by the mingled spirit, we live Christ, and we become persons of life choosing the way of life.
What God desires to gain is not many powerful men, great and mighty spiritual warriors, but persons of life, that is, persons who experience and enjoy Christ as life, live Christ, and express Christ.
God’s purpose in creating man is to have us in His image and according to His likeness so that we would receive Him as life to become men of life, God-men, expressing Him in His attributes.
The first man, Adam, failed God, but the second man, Christ, chose the tree of life, and He lived by the divine life.
There is a contrast, however, between those who choose the way of life and those who are merely powerful and do great works for God.
It is possible to do great works for God and yet have no life, that is, to have no experience of Christ as life.
This was the case with many of the judges such as Samson, Gideon, and others. But praise the Lord, with Ruth and Boaz and Naomi we don’t see great works but we see life!
With them we see how they chose God, the people of God, and the way of God; therefore, they became persons of life, persons on the line of the tree of life, those who were part of the lineage who brought forth Christ.
Today the Lord is looking for overcomers, those who choose life and walk on the way of life.
These choose God as life and eat Him as the tree of life.
They reject things related to knowledge, good, and evil, for they consider these things as being death; so they choose life, focus on life, minister life, and live by the divine life.
We are here not merely as men – we are here as God-men, those who are learning to live by another life to express Christ in our daily living.
Turning Absolutely from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to the Tree of Life
The underlying thought in the book of Judges was that the people of Israel did not have a king; rather, each was doing what was right in their own eyes.
They rejected the Lord as their King, Head, Lord, and Husband, and they did what they thought was good. This is to live according to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong.
We need to know the significance of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and turn absolutely from this tree to the tree of life.
We need to have a turn.
We may be in a certain situation and we may have certain thoughts about it, our feelings may be stirred up concerning it, and we may feel strongly that we are correct in this or that way to do this and not to do that.
But what will we do? We need to turn absolutely to the tree of life.
The tree of life signifies the Triune God in Christ to dispense Himself into His chosen people as life in the form of food (Gen. 2:9).
In the New Testament, we see that Christ is the fulfilment of the figure of the tree of life (John 1:1, 4, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5).
He came as the embodiment of life, and He is the vine tree; in Him was life, He came that we may have life, and He is life itself – even the reality of the tree of life.
Speaking of Christ, John 1:4 says that in Him was life, referring to the life signified by the tree of life. The life portrayed in Gen. 2 is the life incarnated in Christ (1 John 5:11-12; John 1:1, 4, 14).
God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son; he who has the Son has the life! If we put together John 1:4 (He is life) and 15:5 (He is the vine tree) we will realize that Christ, who Himself is life and also a vine tree, is the tree of life.
The tree of life is a person – Christ Himself. We who were regenerated, born of God in our spirit, have received Christ, the tree of life, into us; the tree of life is right now Christ as a person dwelling in us! Hallelujah!
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies Satan as the source of death to man (Heb. 2:14).
When we take the way of good versus evil, right versus wrong, we are taking the satanic way; this is the way of doing what is right in our own eyes.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil also signifies all things apart from God.
Anything that is not God Himself – including good things, even scriptural and religious things, can be utilized by Satan, the subtle one, to bring death into the church (Matt. 16:18; Prov. 16:25; 18:21).
In Matt. 4 the devil tempted the Lord by quoting the Scripture and by using words of the Bible to carry out his evil intention.
When we separate certain religious and even spiritual things from God Himself as life, we are in danger because the enemy in his subtlety will bring in death. Oh, Lord!
We may have fellowship with someone and, even though we may want to listen to them and minister life to them, we may actually receive death from someone who speaks to us.
We need a moment of sobriety; we need to realize that we should completely abandon the way of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and choose the way of the tree of life.
May we be simple, pure, and faithful to the Lord, those who serve Him in the way of life by being channels of life on the line of life. May we ask the Lord concerning this and tell Him,
Dear Lord Jesus, expose the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and fully bring us on the line of the tree of life. Save us from being in death by doing things according to what is right in our own eyes. Oh Lord, we choose life. We choose to partake of the tree of life! We choose to be channels of life and stay away from anything of death. Save us from anything apart from You as life. We want to remain open to Your divine dispensing; dispense Yourself as life into us for the building up of the church. Amen, Lord, we turn absolutely from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to the tree of life!
Discerning Things according to Life or Death and Remaining in the Enjoyment of Christ as Life
For us to remain on the line of life we need to choose the tree of life and stay away from any kind of death.
What is to be in death or to remain in death? Whenever we are separated from the enjoyment of God as life, we are in death.
We may remain in knowledge, we may have much biblical knowledge and understand a lot of doctrines, but unless we enjoy Christ as life, we remain in death.
If we do not have the enjoyment of God as life, we are in death; if we are separated from the enjoyment of God, we shall die.
When our mind is set on the flesh, we are in death; when our mind is set on the spirit, where Christ is, we have life and peace (Rom. 8:6).
In John 4, 8, 9, and 11 are four cases that illustrate the principle of life versus good and evil; people come to the Lord with questions requiring a yes or no, right or wrong, good or evil answer, but He always responds to them as the tree of life.
We shouldn’t care for good and evil but for life; we want to gain more of Christ as life, enjoy more of God as life, and live by the divine life (John 4:10-14, 20-21, 23-24; 8:3-9; 9:1-3; 11:20-27).
Is this what we care all throughout the day? Is this what we focus every week on?
The enemy is actively working to spread death in the church life and to bring saints in death, and one way he does it is by corrupting our thoughts from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).
May we remain in the first love for the Lord, setting our mind on our spirit, and focusing just on life!
Satan’s goal is to separate the believers from the tree of life by separating them from the enjoyment of God as life.
If we look at church history we will see how the subtle serpent has been using even good teachings from the Bible to keep God’s chosen people from enjoying Him as their life.
Many of these teachings relate to knowledge, good, and evil, and they are not wrong; however, they result in separation from the enjoyment of God.
The best way for us to discern things is not whether they are right or wrong, good or evil, but whether we receive life or death when we touch those things.
We need to ask ourselves, Does this help me to enjoy the Lord more, bringing me into life, or does this impart the poison of death into me?
Does this teaching help me contact the Lord and receive Him as life, or does it give me even more questionings and imparts death into me?
We may find out that, the more we accept a certain kind of teaching, the more our enjoyment of Christ stops; the more we listen to a certain kind of speaking or preaching, the more we are brought into death.
We need to learn to discern and differentiate matters by life and death.
May we have the secret of real discernment, which is not merely to discern things according to right or wrong, good or evil, but according to life or death.
If we hear someone and we are brought into death, if we listen to a certain teaching and we are cut off from the enjoyment of Christ, we need to realize that this is of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and we need to turn right away.
We may receive a message or an email, and as we read it we may get a clear sense of death; we may have to delete that email or text, and simply remain in life.
May we choose the way of life and eat the tree of life.
The genuine ministry of the Lord always strengthens us in the enjoyment of Christ as our life supply, and everything that cuts us off from the enjoyment of the Lord is of the serpent.
May we remain on the line of the tree of life and reject anything of death, anything of the line of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Lord Jesus, we love You! We want to remain on the line of life by enjoying You as the tree of life in our spirit! Amen, Lord, keep us in the enjoyment of God as life! May we reject anything that is of death and learn to minister life to the saints. Save us from having our thoughts corrupted from the simplicity and the purity toward Christ. Amen, Lord, we choose to set our mind on our spirit to enjoy life and peace! We choose to live in the mingled spirit, rejecting anything of mere knowledge, good, or evil, and partaking of You as the tree of life! Grant us to have a clear discernment, Lord, concerning life!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Life-Study of 2 Corinthians, pp. 465-470, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth (2021 summer training), week 12, Taking the Way of Life in the Lord’s Recovery.
- Hymns on this topic:
– ’Tis by this Spirit that we walk and act, / We have our being, think, and see all things; / We’re now within this Spirit! What a fact! / This Spirit to us all God’s fullness brings! / So now we have to set our mind on Him; / Each day, each hour, our mind on Him must be; / That by this Spirit we’d be saved within / By life and reign in life eternally. (Hymns #1195)
– 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. (Hymns #1194)
– Just to touch the Word for knowledge / Is to take the very way / By which Eve was lured by Satan / And by knowledge led astray; / But as life to take the Scripture / Is the tree of life to eat; / Thus the Word we must be taking / In the spirit as our meat. (Hymns #816)
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