創世記結晶讀經(37): 生命樹與知識樹_3
創二 16~17『耶和華神吩咐那人說，園中各樣樹上的果子，你可以隨意吃，只是善惡知識樹上的果子，你不可吃，因為你吃的日子必定死。』
弗二 1『而你們原是死在過犯並罪之中。』
神給人的第一個命令是關乎人的吃，而不是關乎人的行為。吃對人非常重要，是生死攸關的事。人在神面前的結局和定命，完全根據於他所吃的。人若吃生命樹，就接受神作生命而完成神的定旨；人若吃知識樹，就接受撒但為死亡，而被撒但篡奪，達到他的目的。
神給人禁令作警告，指明 1. 神的偉大：他造人，賦與人自由意志，使人自願而不是被迫揀選神；2. 神對人的愛；以及 3. 神渴望人吃生命樹，接受神到他裡面作生命（聖經恢復本，創二 17 注 1）。
創世記二章十七節告訴我們，神對人發出一個警告，並給人一個禁令。神要人只接觸他，來接受生命，不要接觸神之外的事物，以致接受死。神似乎告訴亞當和夏娃說，『不要接觸知識樹，只要接觸生命樹。你若吃生命樹，你就接受我，而有我的生命。你若吃知識樹，你就接受撒但，而有他的死。』這不只是一個命令，也是一個警告。我們必須看見，在整個宇宙中只有兩個源頭：一是生命的源頭，另一是死亡的源頭。要小心你是接觸那一個源頭。你若接觸神，你就有生命的源頭，而接受了生命。你若接觸撒但，你就有死亡的源頭，而接受了死亡（創世記生命讀經，二二○頁）。
創世記告訴我們，神創造人之後，就把人放在生命樹跟前。神沒有給人一張誡命的單子。那是在人墮落之後摩西的工作，而不是神照着他永遠心意的工作。律是在出埃及二十章，不是在創世記二章。創世記二章給我們看見，神對待他所造之人的第一幅圖畫。在聖經里有一個頭一次題到的基本原則。每當一件事頭一次提到，就立下一個原則。第一次提到神對待人，乃是神將亞當擺在生命樹跟前，吩咐他要在吃的事上留意（創二 16~17）。神在人身上的心意，不是要人作甚麼的問題，乃是吃的問題。如果人吃得好、吃得對，他就沒有問題。
這生命樹乃是神在基督里作為那靈，成為我們的生命。這生命樹就是三一神，父在子裡面，子成為那靈。在我們接受主之前，我們可能從來沒有想到神。但是當我們得救或得復興之後，我們可能立刻決定要事奉主，要盡力行善，討他喜悅，並且『上教堂作禮拜』敬拜他。這些照着我們天然觀念的想法，都是錯誤的。神的心意不是要我們事奉他，行善討他喜悅，或以宗教、儀文的方式敬拜他。神的心意乃是要我們吃他。我們必須吃他。神與人之關係的頭一幅圖畫，不是一幅作甚麼的圖畫，乃是一幅吃的圖畫。
我們首先必須看見，主沒有意思要我們為他作甚麼。主的心意是要將他自己給我們作每日的食物。在約翰福音里，主第一給我們看見他是生命（一 4），是生命的糧（六 35），是生命的水（四 14），也是生命的氣息，生命的空氣（二十 22）。他是生命、食糧、飲水和空氣。這一切都不是為着使你成為一個作事的基督徒，乃是使你作一個享受的基督徒。你必須享受主作生命，作糧食，作飲水，作空氣。你必須吸入他，並且吃他、喝他，好叫你憑他活着，並活在他裡面（生命樹，四至五、七頁）。
參讀：創世記生命讀經，第十四篇；生命樹，第一章。
Gen. 2:16-17 "And Jehovah God
commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may eat freely, but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, of it you shall not eat; for in
the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Eph. 2:1 "And you, though dead in
your offenses and sins."
God's first commandment to man concerned man's eating, not man's
conduct. Eating is critical to
man, a matter of life or death. Man's
outcome and destiny before God depends altogether on what he eats. If man eats
the tree of life, he will receive God as life and fulfill God's purpose; if he
eats the tree of knowledge, he will receive Satan as death and be usurped by
him for his purpose.
God's forbidding commandment given as a warning to man indicates (1)
God's greatness in creating man with a free will that man may choose God
willingly and not under coercion; (2) God's love for man; and (3) God's desire
that man would eat the tree of life to receive God into him as life. (Gen.
2:17, footnote 1)
Genesis 2:17 tells us that God issued man a warning and gave him a
prohibition. God wanted man only to touch Him to receive life, but not to touch
the things apart from God to receive death. God seemed to tell Adam and Eve,
“Don't touch the tree of knowledge─only touch the tree of life. If you eat the
tree of life, you will receive Me and have My life. If you eat the tree of
knowledge, you will take in Satan and have his death.” This was not merely a
commandment; it was a warning. We must realize that in the whole universe there
are two sources: one is the source of life, and the other is the source of
death. Be careful which source you touch. If you touch God, you have the source
of life and receive life. If you touch Satan, you have the source of death and
receive death. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 179)
Genesis tells us that after God created man, He put man in front of the
tree of life. God did not give man a list of commandments. That was the work of
Moses after the fall, not the work of God according to His eternal intention.
The law is in Exodus 20, not in Genesis 2. In Genesis 2 is the first picture
regarding God's dealing with His created man. There is such a basic principle of
the first mentioning in the Bible. Whenever you have the first mentioning, a
principle is always laid. The first mentioning of God's dealing with man is
that God put Adam in front of the tree of life, charging him to be careful
about his eating (vv. 16-17). God's intention for man is not a matter of doing
but a matter of eating. If man eats well and eats rightly, then he will be
right.
This tree of life is God in Christ as the Spirit to be life to us. It is
the Triune God, the Father in the Son, and the Son as the Spirit. Before we
received the Lord, we may not have thought anything about God. But when we got
saved or revived, we might have immediately made up our mind to serve the Lord,
to do our best to do good deeds to please Him, and to “go to church” to worship
Him. These thoughts, which are according to our natural concept, are wrong.
God's intention is not that we serve Him, do good to please Him, or that we
worship Him in a religious, ritualistic way. But God's intention is that we eat
Him. We have to eat Him. The first picture of God's dealing with man is not a
picture of doing but a picture of eating.
We all have to first realize that the Lord has no intention that we do
something for Him. The Lord's intention is to present Himself as food to us day
by day. In the Gospel of John the Lord is first seen as life (1:4), as the
bread of life (6:35), as the water of life (4:14), and as the breath of life,
the air (20:22). He is life, food, drink, and air. All this is not for you to
be a doing Christian but to be an enjoying Christian. You have to enjoy the
Lord as life, as food, as water, and as air. You have to breathe Him in, to
drink of Him, and to feed on Him in order to live by Him and in Him. (CWWL,
1965, vol. 2, “The Tree of Life,” pp. 83, 85)
Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 14; CWWL, 1965, vol. 2,
“The Tree of Life,” ch. 1
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