Gen. 2:9 And out of the ground Jehovah God caused to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, as well as the tree of life in the middle of the garden… John 1:16-17 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace…Grace and reality came through Jesus Christ
In the Bible there is a very important principle related to the first mention of a matter that sets an eternal governing principle for that matter throughout the rest of the Bible. The way a matter is spoken of the first time determines the meaning of similar matters that are mentioned subsequently. In the first reference to God’s relationship with man in the Bible, God presents Himself to man as food. This shows that God wants man to enjoy Him. After God created man, He placed him in front of the tree of life so that man would enjoy the fruit of that tree. The tree of life signifies God Himself. This shows that God wants to be man’s enjoyment. God’s first thought after creating man was for man to eat and drink, and the object of this eating and drinking was God Himself. (CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, “How to Enjoy God and How to Practice the Enjoyment of God,” p. 375)
Today’s Reading
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He repeatedly revealed that He was food for man to eat and enjoy. The Lord performed a miracle, [feeding] five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and there was much left over. When people saw this, they thought that He was the greatest prophet, who would perform miracles among them and take care of them…This concept was absolutely wrong; hence, the Lord spoke a word to change their concept. He pointed out that they were seeking for food that perishes, food that is of no eternal value. He did not come to give man corruptible food, but He came to give man incorruptible food from heaven…The Lord explained that He is the food; He wanted to give Himself to them as their food for their enjoyment. It was as if He were saying, “It is not enough to know Me as the sovereign Lord who performs miracles…I am much more than these things. I will not only perform outward things…You need to know Me as the Creator who has come to be your food
I have given My flesh to you for food and My blood to you for drink so that I can enter into you. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, because this eternal life is just Me. If you eat Me and drink Me, I will enter into you, and spontaneously you will have eternal life.” According to the Bible, after creating Adam, God did not say, “You must worship Me in this way,” or “You must serve Me in that way.” On the contrary, after creating Adam, God placed him in front of the tree of life. God seemed to be saying, “Adam, come here. Just enjoy. I am the tree of life, and I am here for you to enjoy Me…I have no desire for you to serve or worship Me in this or that way. I only want to present Myself to you as food. My only desire is for you to enjoy Me.” One day the tree of life came as the Word who became flesh, who tabernacled among us, full of grace and reality (John 1:14). Again He was placed in front of man as the tree of life so that man could “pick” the fruit from this tree. No one, however, knew that they could pick from this tree. In the four Gospels those who came to Him asked what they should do and which was the great commandment in the law (Matt. 19:16; 22:36). This was all they asked
But His answer was always the same: “I am the bread that came down from heaven…I want you to receive Me, to enjoy Me. I am the tree of life. Life is in Me. I am life, and I have come that men may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). I am like the tree of life that was in the garden of Eden…I want to dispense Myself into you. I want to be your food to enter into you and be your very life. My thought is simply that you would enjoy Me.” (CWWL, 1958, vol. 1, pp. 375-377)