The Tree of Life – Its Fruit, Rivers of Living Water

Rivers of Living Water

Wednesday, September 27, 2017, 6pm.

And Jehovah God made coats of skin for Adam and for his wife and clothed them. (Gen 3:21)

And Abel also brought an offering, from the firstlings of his flock, that is, from their fat portions. And Jehovah had regard for Abel and for his offering. (Gen 4:4)

Speak to all the assembly of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month each man shall take a lamb according to his fathers’ house, a lamb for a household… And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. (Exo. 12:3,7)

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)
Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst…For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. (John 6:35,55)

We’ve seen how Christ is the tree of life to be food to us.
As the Lamb of God, what is Christ to you?

Some More Items of Christ in the Gospel of John for our enjoyment:

the Word who is God (John 1:1), life as the light of men (v.4), received by us to make us children of God (v.12), incarnated as a man full of grace and reality (v.14), the heavenly ladder joining us to God (v.51), the temple (vv. 2:19,21), the wine as life for our enjoyment (v. 10), the bronze serpent, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, yet without the poison of sin (3:14), the living water and fountain (v. 14)

Can you remember some other items of Christ for our enjoyment? Continue reading the Bible and see how many more items of Christ you can find!

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. But this He said concerning the Spirit, whom those who believed into Him were about to receive; for the Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

You are preparing to help your friend to enjoy the Lord. Speak the verses above in your own words.

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 5, published by Living Stream Ministry

The Tree of Life – A day in Your courts is better than a thousand

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-Thousand-Cropped

Wednesday, September 20, 2017, 6pm.

A-Day-In-Your-Courts-is-Better-than-a-ThousandJesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst. (John 6:35)

As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. (John 6:57)

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 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:9)

Use these verses (above) to describe God’s intention for man.

They are saturated with the fatness of Your house, / And You cause them to drink of the river of Your pleasures. (Psa. 36:8)

With You is the fountain of life; / In Your light we see light. (Psa. 36:9)

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Again therefore Jesus spoke to them, saying, I am the light of the world; he who follows me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. (John 8:12)

In My Father’s house are many abodes; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. (John 14:2)

What does the “house” in the verses above refer to? How do these verses relate to each other?

One thing I have asked from Jehovah; / That do I seek: / To dwell in the house of Jehovah / All the days of my life, / To behold the beauty of Jehovah, / And to inquire in His temple. (Psa. 27:4)

A day in Your courts is better than a thousand; / I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God / Than dwell in the tents of the wicked. (Psa. 84:10)

Is there something in these two verses that touches you?

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 4, published by Living Stream Ministry

The Tree of Life – God’s Purpose in His Creation of Man

Gods-Purpose-In-His-Creation-of-Man

Wednesday, August 30, 2017, 6pm.

And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. (Gen 1:26)

How do we see God’s purpose in His creation of man?

Jehovah God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. And Jehovah God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there He put the man whom He had formed. 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 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen. 2:7-9)

Describe the scene in Genesis chapter 2.

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall by no means hunger, and he who believes into Me shall by no means ever thirst… As the living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me. (John 6:35,57)

But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall by no means thirst forever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life… God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truthfulness. (John 4:14, 24)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. (John 6:63)

How can you tie these verses in John with the verses in chapter 2 of Genesis?

Further reading: The Tree of Life, chapter 1, published by Living Stream Ministry