The Tree of Life and Dependence

By Arthur J Licursi, expanding upon some thoughts taken from Watchman Nee

Genesis 2:9 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 knowledge of good and evil.

Galatians 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.

Romans 3:20a Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight:

You may have met Christians who appear to be doing all the right “Christian” things and yet they are as dead, you sense nothing but deadness from their conversation or presence. After being with them, you walking away not being stirred, refreshed or watered by their presence, rather, you sense heaviness, darkness and sometimes may even feel condemnation. They look good outwardly but still deadness emanates from them. This is likely so because that person lives by their own self-life, the soul of self; they likely are one who is filled with head knowledge of the Scripture and/or tries to abide in the outer laws of God pertaining to good and evil. Their self-effort has thereby separated them from touching and enjoying the very the life and peace of Christ who dwells within their human spirit. They try to live by self-rule, to choose good rather than evil, thereby living independent from Christ as the saving life dwelling within them as Lord, thus making “Christ of no effect” (Gal 5:4) in their lives. Wrongly, they generally serve their outer understanding of the concept of WWJD, to be an imitation of Jesus of Nazareth’s doings, thereby missing out on the living Christ within, Him who desired to live through them as He is now – the LIFE. They miss out on the precious grace of the life of Christ who now indwells their spirit as their new life (Gal 2:20) – only Christ is the true “life” (Zoë, meaning “spirit life”).

Let’s now consider the root of the problem of deadness among Christians and the seeds of its source.

Reading Genesis 2:9 above, by itself, we will not be able to understand the meaning or significance of the tree of life. The Gospel of John helps us because it reveals Christ as “the life,” “light of life,” “water of life,” and the “bread of life;” all of these reveal the tree of life in a concrete way. John 1:4 says, "In Him was life," and John 15:5 tells us that the Lord Jesus is a “vine tree.” So, we see that Jesus Christ is the vine tree and the life. If we put these two verses together, we will realize that Jesus Christ is symbolized in the tree of life. We know by this that Jesus Christ, who is the embodiment of God, is The Tree of Life for “as many as receive him” (John 1:12). Therefore, the tree of life in Genesis 2 is a symbol or type of God as the source of real life.

Besides the tree of life as a source, in Genesis we see yet another tree, another source in the universe, which we may call the tree of death (Gen 2:17). However, this tree is not called the tree of death in Scripture; it is called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. These two trees (Life vs The Knowledge of Good and Evil) oppose one another, the tree of life denotes God as the source of life, and the tree of knowledge signifies Satan as the source of death. As God is the source of life, Satan is the source of death. Therefore, in Genesis 2 we find two sources signified by two trees.

Death for man began with the tree of knowledge of good and evil and ends with eternal death in the lake of fire. Genuine spirit life for man begins with Christ, signified in the tree of life and ends at eternal life. Before we were saved and regenerated, we were on the line of death. After we were regenerated, we were put on the line of life.

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Col. 3:4a When Christ, who is our life, shall appear…

Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

The principle of the tree of life is “dependence upon the living risen Christ as the Lord of our living.” Perhaps you are not clear about this principle of dependence. Allow me to use the illustration of graduation. Nearly everyone has graduated from some kind of school, elementary school, high school, college, or university. We may graduate from studying, but we should never graduate from eating and drinking as elements of daily living. Jesus said “he that eateth me, even he shall live by me” John 6:57b. For life, we must eat daily. This speaks of dependence. Furthermore, we cannot graduate from breathing air. I encourage you to study well and to graduate from school as soon as possible. However, I would never encourage you to graduate from breathing, for if you do that you will die.

What is the meaning of this? It means that knowledge by itself creates independence, yet life demands continual dependence. Obtaining a certain body of knowledge permits us to graduate and to act independently. For example after studying the art of cooking under an expert chef, I will eventually become knowledgeable, independent, and able to cook without the aid of my instructor. However, in the things pertaining to life we can never be independent. We are dependent upon life constantly. I have been breathing since the day I was born, and I continue to breathe twenty-four hours a day. I have never graduated from breathing. I should not say, "I have practiced enough breathing. Now I am an expert. I can teach you to breathe, but I don't need to breathe myself." Regardless how old we are, we remain dependent upon breathing because breathing is a matter of life.

We as Christians have received this life that is Christ Himself to dwell within us, yet, the most common issue for Christians is that once they have received the life of Christ as their new life, by regeneration as a new birth, they still attempt to live their Christian and secular life by depending upon their own natural life, their effort, their strength, their wisdom and their abilities. By this self-effort we make Christ in us of no effect (Gal 5:4). When Christians live by their own wits and self-ability they are eating from the tree of death. This is often rooted in our desire to control our circumstances. Such Christians have little or nothing to offer to the lost souls they may contact, whom the Father desires to be saved by His Son’s life.

Paul tells us, 2 Cor. 3:6 Who (God) also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. We should be vessels of life, bringing Christ “the life” wherever we go, thereby reconciling others to God. Intercession to bring another to reconciliation with God is not so much by our prayer as it is by our daily living in Christ. (Christ is the one who intercedes and mediates for us (Rom 8:27, 1Tim 2:5).

In accord with this understanding we are to be bearers of His life to carry out the ministry of reconciliation. This is the greatest commission, today given “to the church, which is His body.”

2 Cor. 5:18 … God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

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