Will you please turn to Genesis Chapter 1? I think it is good, in the beginning of the year, to read from Genesis.
Genesis Chapter 1, beginning with Verse 26.
And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
And God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.—Genesis 1:26-28
Chapter 2, Verses 8 and 9.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed.
And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.—Genesis 2:8-9
Romans 5, Verses 19 through 21.
For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One shall the many be made righteous.
And the law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did abound more exceedingly:
That, as sin reigned in death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.—Romans 5:19-21
Let us pray.
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that, at the beginning of the year, Thou dost gather us together before Thee to learn of Thee and of Thy purpose concerning man. We do ask Thee, O Lord, that Thou wilt, by Thy Holy Spirit, quicken Thy Word to every heart, that Thy Word may truly be life and spirit to us. And to Thee be all the glory, in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
The first book of the Bible, Genesis, is a book of biographies.
You know, sometimes we think of the Bible as a book of doctrines, a book of teachings, a book of truth. That is true. But when you open the Bible, you find that the first book of the Bible is a book of biography.
It is true that there are teachings there, doctrines there, and truths there. But it is not written as a book of teaching, a book of doctrine, or even a book of truth. It is written as a book of biography.
Now, why is it? It shows that God’s interest is primarily not in teaching. God’s interest is in man. God is interested in man. The purpose of God is toward man, and the work of God is in man. God does His work in man until man comes to what God originally designed for him.
Now, in this book of Genesis, mainly you find the biographies of eight persons. Even though there are a number of people mentioned in that book, actually you will find that the emphasis is mainly upon these eight people.
In these eight persons, God did some work in their lives. In each person, you can see a special feature, a characteristic, a symbol, a trademark, as it were, revealing to us what God has done in that life.
When you put all these eight persons together, you get a man after God’s own heart.
In a sense, you will find that all these eight persons are types of Christ. In each of them, you see a little bit of Christ. When you put them together, you find Christ, the Man after God’s own heart.
Then you can enlarge it and say that God’s purpose concerning man is not an individual man. God’s purpose concerning man is a corporate man. Therefore, you will find that whatever God has done in these eight persons, which are just expressions of what that man is, the same work God will do in each of us.
Together, as the body of Christ, we will reveal the same trademarks, to the glory of God. That is what this book is all about.
In every one of these eight persons, you can see a sign, a symbol, something that stands out. Now, for the purpose of our future consideration, God willing, I would just mention them first. Of course, this morning we cannot go into all these eight persons.
The first person is Adam, of course, and with Adam it is the tree: Adam’s tree.
The second person is Abel, and with Abel is Abel’s sacrifice.
The third person is Enoch, and with Enoch is Enoch’s heaven.
The fourth person is Noah, and with Noah is Noah’s ark.
The fifth person is Abraham, and with Abraham is the altar.
The sixth person is Isaac, and with Isaac is the well.
The seventh person is Jacob, and with Jacob is the pillar.
The last person, Joseph, is the throne.
So you find that the divine work of God is being manifested in these different symbols:
Through all these, you can see how God’s purpose is fully realized at the end of this book.
This morning we would like to concentrate on the first man, Adam: Adam’s tree.
God created man in His own image. By that, it does not refer to the outward appearance, because we know image means an inward quality—an inward moral and spiritual likeness. That is what image really means.
When God created man, He created man in His own image. That is to say, He created man with the same inward moral and spiritual likeness. Because of this, man has a capacity for God.
Man is able to contain, as it were, God in him and be united with God in life. That is the beauty of God’s creation.
You know, when God created man, even though He just used the red earth to form the outward body of man—the material is very cheap, just the red earth—yet Psalm 139 tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. That is true.
Even when you consider the body of man, which God formed from the material of the earth, if you analyze the earth and analyze your body, you will find that they contain the same chemicals. God made man from the red earth, and yet He made him fearfully and wonderfully. Our body is a marvel.
But that is just the smallest part of it. Man is not only a physical being, though that physical being is wonderful. Man is a moral and spiritual being too. In other words, because man is created in God’s image, man is different from all the other creation.
God used the red earth to form the body of man, and God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of that form. The Bible says that man became a living soul.
In other words, in the creation of man, there is the body, which is made of red earth. With that body, we are conscious of the physical world around us through our five senses.
Then, when the breath of God entered into that form, man became a living soul. In other words, man has a soul. A soul simply means that he becomes a living being. There is an animated life within him, a created life within him. He can think, he can express himself, he can feel, and he can decide on things.
There is a volition, there is a mind, and there is emotion. Through that soul, he is conscious of himself. How do you know that you are? Because you think, you feel, and you will. It gives you self-consciousness.
Then you find that the breath of life entering into you becomes your spirit—a human spirit. You have conscience, intuition, and communion with God. Because God is Spirit, and we are made with a human spirit, with our spirit we can worship God.
God is Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. Thank God, we have a spirit, and with that spirit we have God-consciousness.
This is the way man is marvelously made: a wonderful body, a marvelous soul, and a tremendous spirit.
So far as God’s creation of man is concerned, when man was created, he was created complete. But so far as God’s purpose in creating man is concerned, it was yet to be fulfilled and perfected.
Now, this is very important. So far as the act of creation is concerned, when man was created, he was perfect. There was nothing missing or lacking. Just like a baby: when a baby is born, he is perfect so far as all the members of the body are concerned.
And yet that baby needs to grow into maturity, into manhood or womanhood. That is the purpose concerning a birth, and that needs to be gradually developed.
So you will find that when man came out of the hand of God, he was created perfect and complete. But so far as God’s purpose in creating him is concerned, it had yet to be perfected and completed.
Now, how do we know that? Because when God created man, man was actually created as a vessel.
A vessel is not an end; a vessel is a means to an end. A vessel is for the sake of being filled with something. When a vessel is filled with the right thing, then the purpose of that vessel is fulfilled.
Suppose you made a cup, a drinking cup. After a cup is made, you may make a very beautiful cup; but if it is not filled with drink, with water, then so far as the cup is concerned, its purpose is never fulfilled.
But when that cup is filled with water, then we can say the purpose of the cup is fulfilled.
So remember, man is made as a vessel—a vessel for God, not for any other purpose. Man is made to be a vessel for God. Only after man is filled with God is the purpose of the creation of man fulfilled.
That is the reason why, if a person is not filled with God, he is always empty. You may fill him with gold and silver, but he is still empty.
Just as Saint Augustine said, “O God, my soul will never find its rest until it rests in Thee, because it is made for Thee.”
It is for this reason that, after God had created man, God planted a garden: the garden of Eden. The word Eden means pleasure. God planted a garden of pleasure.
Why? Because in the garden God planted all kinds of trees with fruits. They were not only good to look at, but they were good for food. All the fruits were for the nourishment of the physical body of man. God prepared all the trees in the garden of Eden.
In the midst of the garden, in the center of the garden, God planted the tree of life. By the side of that tree of life was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
God put man in the garden and said to him:
Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:
For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.—Genesis 2:16-17
Now, why was it that after God had created man, God should put man in a garden? Well, we may say that God wanted man to enjoy what God had created. That is true.
But why was it that, in the center of the garden, God planted the tree of life? Did not man have life already? Man was a living soul. Man had an animated life in him. Man could walk, talk, think, and do many things. Man had life.
Now, why does the Bible specify that in the midst of the garden God planted the tree of life? Because the tree of life is symbolic of the divine life of God.
In other words, God, as it were, put His own life in the form of a tree. Why did God put His life in the form of a tree? Because that made His life available to man.
Man could take the fruit of the tree and eat it, and then receive the divine life into him. God made His life available to man.
God was not satisfied merely by creating man and giving him a created life. God’s purpose was to give His own uncreated, divine, eternal life to man, so that He and man would be united in one. That is God’s purpose.
So in the center of the garden there was the tree of life. It shows us what the purpose of God for creating man really is. God created man in order that man might receive God into him and be united with God in life, in love, and in purpose. That is God’s purpose.
You find this also in Romans 8: those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son.
God wants us to receive His life and be conformed to the image of His only begotten Son—to be like Him. That is God’s purpose for man.
But by the side of the tree of life, God put another tree. It is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now, that is a very peculiar tree.
It is not a common tree. It is not an apple tree, a pear tree, or a peach tree. All these trees are good for food; that is, they can supply the needs of our physical body. At that time man did not eat meat. The food of man was fruit.
So God provided man with a body, and God provided all the good food to support that body. All the trees in the garden were for fruit, for our physical bodies, with all the different tastes so that we would not become monotonous or feel that they were tasteless. God really loves people, you know.
Then you find the tree of life. It is a different kind of fruit, because it gives us divine life. It gives us life for our spirit, that in our spirit we may have God’s life in us.
But then you find the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is a different kind of tree. It is the tree of knowledge. What kind of knowledge? The knowledge of good and evil.
Now, sometimes people think that in the garden of Eden there was one bad tree, and that was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Do you think God would plant any bad tree in that garden of Eden? All the trees were good.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is not a bad tree. As a matter of fact, it is a better tree than all the rest of the trees, except the One which is best: the tree of life.
The tree of life is the food for our spirit. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is food for our soul. The other trees are food for our bodies.
Knowledge is for our soul.
Of all the knowledge in the world, there is no knowledge higher than the knowledge of good and evil.
Today we boast that we are in the age of technology. We boast of all the science and scientific inventions that we have. We think so much of science, as if science is everything.
But remember: of all the knowledge in the world, the highest knowledge is not science. It is not the knowledge of physical things. The highest knowledge is the knowledge of good and evil.
It is the knowledge of discerning what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong. It is moral knowledge. It is ethics. It is logic. It is philosophy. It is rationalism. It is rational knowledge. There is nothing higher than rational knowledge.
We call ourselves rational beings. Why? Because we are so rational, so logical. We can know what is good and what is evil. That is the highest knowledge.
As a matter of fact, in China, in all our Chinese culture, literature, and learning, the highest knowledge that we consider is rational knowledge.
It is not a bad tree. But it means death when it is taken apart from life.
Now, why was it that God put man in the garden of Eden, with the tree of life in the midst of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil by its side? God said, “You shall not eat” of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat of it, you shall surely die. Why was it so?
It is because God created man in His own image. God has free will. In other words, God is free. He has a will. He can do whatever He chooses.
When God created man, God created man with a free will. God gave us a will. Because we have a free will, we are free. We are free to choose what we want to choose.
God respects our free will. So God gave man the opportunity to exercise his free will and to make his own choice.
God did not just plant the tree of life in the garden of Eden and tell man, “Now eat it.” There would be no choice; you would have to eat it. God does not do that.
He put another tree by the side of it. On the one hand, God said, “All the trees you can eat.” Of course, if you are told that you can eat all the trees, the tree in the center of the garden will attract your attention. The hint is, “That is the tree.”
Then God said, “Do not eat the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” By saying that, in a sense God was trying to tell man, “Why not eat the tree of life?” Unfortunately, man did not get that hint.
There is another reason why God put man under a command: “You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because in the day that you eat thereof, you shall surely die.”
Not only because God loved man and did not want man to die, but also because man is above all creatures yet under the Creator. Sometimes we forget. We think that we are above everything, even above God.
So God put man under a command to show that it is true that man is above all things, but there is One above him, to Whom he should obey. Man must know his place in the universe.
But anyway, God did not force man to do His will. God put His will before man and let man freely choose.
If man wanted to choose the tree of life, he could do it. If man wanted to choose the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he also could do it. God gave man that liberty to choose because man was created with a free will. What would that free will be if there were no choice, or if you could not choose?
Here you find how God respects the man whom He created.
So here you find man standing before two trees. Here is the tree of life, and there is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God put man before these two trees and let man choose his own destiny.
He could choose the tree of life, receiving the life of God into him and becoming one with God, thus fulfilling God’s purpose in creating him.
Or he could choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That is to say, he does not want the life of God. He wants to develop his own soul, increase his own knowledge, and make himself a god, independent of God. He declares independence from God: “I do not need God. I will make myself god.” He could do that too.
Knowledge is not bad. The knowledge of good and evil is certainly good knowledge.
What is disastrous is this: to have the knowledge of good and evil and yet not have the power to do the good and refrain from the evil. That produces death.
There is nothing wrong with knowledge. There is nothing wrong with the knowledge of good and evil. It is good knowledge; you should have it. But unfortunately, apart from the life of God, knowledge only brings death and not life.
You have the knowledge, but you do not have the power to do what you know is good and not do what you know is bad.
You remember Romans 7, where man cries out, “O wretched man that I am!” Why am I so wretched? Because I know what is good, but I cannot do it. I know what is wrong, but I do it. I cannot help doing it, and therefore I am condemned.
It brings in death.
With the life of God there is knowledge, but that knowledge brings life. You remember John 17: to know Him and to know the One Who sent Him—this is eternal life.
What is eternal life? Eternal life is knowledge too, but it is living knowledge. In other words, you not only know, but you have the power to do it or not to do it. That is the difference.
God so loved man that He wanted man to have His life. With His life, man would have knowledge; but with the knowledge there would be the power to do what he should do.
But man can choose whether he wants the life of God or the knowledge of good and evil. What is the difference?
The tree of life speaks of the divine life of God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil speaks of rational knowledge developed in man apart from God.
With the tree of life, if we take the tree of life, then the life of God becomes the life of our spirit, because the life of God dwells in our spirit.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil dwells in our brain, in our mind, in our soul.
The life of God in us is a life of faith. The life of rational knowledge is a life of reason.
The tree of life in us is a life of obedience. But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us is a life of independence.
The tree of life in us is a life of union with God, depending upon God, walking with God, and following God. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a life of standing apart from God, trying to develop oneself to be a god.
One brings us to eternal life; the other brings us to death. That is the difference between these two trees.
Adam had to make a choice. Unfortunately, our forefather made the wrong choice. Instead of accepting the tree of life, man declared independence from God.
Man was tempted to develop himself and try to make himself a god. The result was that he made himself not a god, but a devil. Instead of being conformed to the image of God’s Son, he was deformed into the image of the devil.
Man was cast out of the garden of Eden, and the way to the tree of life was guarded by cherubim with a flaming sword. In other words, the way to the tree of life was completely blocked to man. That was the tragedy of human history.
By the disobedience of one man, all were constituted sinners. We were born sinners.
We were born with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us. In Adam, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a life principle. People live according to the principle of the knowledge of good and evil, and that is the best they can live.
Because of that, we are all under the sentence of death.
But thank God: God sent into this world a second Man, Christ.
This second Man Who came into this world is life. He is the tree of life, and He came to offer life to mankind. God gave us a second chance.
Here you find, on Calvary, Christ was crucified on the cross. Now, what is the cross?
Today we think of the cross as something beautiful, something glorious. People use gold to make a cross and hang it around their necks. But when Christ was crucified on the cross, that cross was not smooth and beautiful.
As a matter of fact, 1 Peter 2:24 says:
Who His own self bare our sins in His body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness.
—1 Peter 2:24
It was a tree cut down. When you want to crucify a criminal, you do not cut a tree and smooth it, making it very smooth and beautiful before putting that criminal on it. No. It is just a tree cut down—rough, rugged—and you crucify that person on that tree.
Our Lord Jesus was crucified on a tree.
Now, that tree, in the first place, is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Because we have eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Christ tasted death for us on the tree. He died to sin.
That tree, in the first place, represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You and I should have been crucified there. We ate that fruit, and we should have been crucified on that tree. But instead, you find that our Lord Jesus tasted death for every man. He was crucified on that tree in our stead.
But thank God, after He was crucified there, that tree turned into another tree: the tree of life.
Out of His side came blood and water. Blood for the atoning and remission of our sins, and water to give us life, that we may receive a new life.
Through His death and resurrection, He released His divine life, His own life, to us. He is the tree of life. He makes life available to us by the cross.
Without the cross, His life is only in Himself. When the Greeks came wanting to see Him, what did the Lord Jesus say? The Lord said, “The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.”
Then He said:
Except a grain of wheat fall into the earth and die, it abideth by itself alone; but if it die, it beareth much fruit.
—John 12:24
Without the cross, the divine life of God is in Christ, but it is only in Him. Oh, what a beautiful life He lived! He lived according to the divine life of God. What a life He lived! But it was only in Him.
It is through death, through the cross, that that life is made available to all who believe in Him. Through the cross, His life is released, so that we who believe in Him may receive His life in us.
Dear brothers and sisters, here you find the work of His redemption. On the one hand, He has to get rid of the effect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in us.
He has to take our sins away. He has to taste death for us, that we may pass out of judgment, out of death, into life. He has to do the negative work of clearing the ground, and then He does the positive work of giving His life to us.
Dear brothers and sisters, through the cross of Calvary, mankind is given a second chance. You may choose.
Do not blame Adam and say that he made the wrong choice for us. God gives you another opportunity to choose for yourself.
Now, whom will you choose? Will you choose the tree of life, or do you still want to remain with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? What do you want?
In Adam is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Christ is the tree of life.
By the disobedience of one man, many were constituted sinners; but by the obedience of One, many are made righteous.
Dear brothers and sisters, that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is that He came to take away the effect of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is death in our lives. He came to offer His own life to us.
That whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
Thank God, today you have made the choice. You have chosen Christ. You have chosen life. You have received His life in you. His life in you is today your principle of living.
So here we come to two different principles of life. There are two different ways of life, two different laws of life.
One principle of life is that you live by the divine life. The other principle is that you live by the knowledge of good and evil.
Now, brothers and sisters, before we believed in the Lord Jesus, we lived by the knowledge of good and evil. That was the best we could live.
What we considered evil, we said, “Well, do not do it.” What we considered good, we said, “Well, that is something you should do.” You just think it through and reason it out. According to what you reason out, you think that is what you should do and that is what you should not do.
Not to say that your reasoning is probably irrational. But do you think you are very rational? Even if your reason is rational and it is right, what do you find? You find that what you think is right, you do not do; what you think is wrong, you do.
That is what your life was. That is the reason why you were condemned.
But, dear brothers and sisters, after we have received the life of Christ in us, after we have eaten the tree of life, do you not see that from now on the principle by which we live should not be the knowledge of good and evil anymore? It should be the divine life.
Now, it does not mean that a Christian should make light of what is right or wrong, what is good or evil. Certainly not.
Some people become so super-spiritual, as if they are above any moral standards. In other words, they think they can do bad things and still say that it is right. No, certainly not.
You are not pseudo-spiritual to the extent that you can neglect right and wrong, or good and evil. Of course not.
But as Christians, you should live higher than merely good or bad, right or wrong. In other words, good is not good enough for you.
You have to live by a higher principle, and it is the principle of the divine life of God. That is the principle by which we live.
How unfortunate that we find many Christians today asking this question: “Is it wrong?”
A young Christian may come to you and say, “Brother, I am going to do such-and-such. Do you think it is wrong? Do you think it is right? Do you think it is good? Do you think this is evil? Do you think it is sin?”
What does he mean? He means that if it is not sin, if it is not bad, if it is not wrong, if it is good, then he can do it. He is still governed by the knowledge of good and evil.
In your dealings with people, is that still your criterion?
Do you think you have done something good, and people misunderstand you? Do you think you have the right to fight because you have done something good?
Now, if you have done something bad, you know that you are bad. All right, you accept it. But if you are good, how do you react?
Do you react according to the divine life of God in you, or do you still act or react by the standard of good and evil?
Remember: to us Christians, the governing principle of life is the divine life of God.
In other words, our question is not whether it is right or wrong. Our question is, “Is it of life, or is it not of life?”
It is not a matter of, “What about me?” It is a matter of, “What does God think?”
We are living on a higher ground. Why? Because in Christ is the tree of life. This is the principle by which we live.
How unfortunate that we often find ourselves falling to the level of the knowledge of good and evil. We are still arguing, “I am right; you are wrong. You are wrong; I am right. This is good. This is evil,” as if that settles the question.
No. It has to be higher than that. Sometimes something may be good, but it may not be God’s will.
We have to ask, “Is it of life? Is it of life?”
Sometimes you may suffer a little bit, but you feel full of life with it.
At other times, you may argue very strongly that you are right. The more you argue that you are right, the more dead you feel with it. Now, that is Christian experience.
Christians live according to a different rule, different rules.
So, dear brothers and sisters, it is more than just a matter of receiving life. After we have received the life of Christ in us, then it behooves us to live by that life.
Do not be governed merely by the knowledge of good and evil. It has to be higher than that. We have to be governed by the divine life of God in us.
If we do, then you will find that the divine life in us will begin to take shape. We will be gradually transformed and conformed to the image of God’s Son.
What is the image of God’s Son? It is the moral and spiritual character.
God wants us not only to receive His life, but for His life to be followed and lived. As that life is lived, that life will grow into maturity.
We will grow into a full-grown man, into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is God’s purpose.
So in Adam’s tree, you can see God’s purpose in man. Even though Adam failed before that tree, in Christ God has offered us the tree of life.
As a matter of fact, the flaming sword fell upon our Lord. He was slain on our behalf. Yet the way to the tree of life is again opened, and we are invited to eat.
After we have taken of the tree of life, may we walk in that life. So may the Lord help us. Shall we pray?
Our heavenly Father, how we praise and thank Thee that, even though our forefather failed to receive the life which Thou didst offer to him, and instead received the knowledge of good and evil, which is death, we do thank Thee that in Christ Jesus Thou hast offered to us again this tree of life.
Thou hast made a way for us into life. We praise and thank Thee that it is Thy grace that has opened our eyes and even given us faith to believe in Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
But, Father, we do pray that we may not just be a people who receive Thy life, but that we may be a people characterized by Thy life; that we may really walk on this earth according to the divine life of God.
May we not fall back into living under the lower standard of good and evil. Lord, we pray that we may always ask, “Is it of Thee, or of ourselves? Is it life, or is it just good or evil?”
Help us, O Lord. Bring us into the fullness of Thy purpose concerning man. In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.