CHAPTER TWO
GOD DESIRING MAN TO ENJOY HIM
Scripture Reading: 1 John 4:13, 16; John 15:5
GOD’S DESIRE BEING FOR MAN TO ENJOY HIM
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.
How can we prove this? When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He repeatedly revealed that He was food for man to eat and enjoy. Regrettably, when the Lord contacted man, no one had the concept that God could be man’s enjoyment. Man’s concept was that God should be worshipped and served. If we read the four Gospels carefully, we will see that the people who came to the Lord had many different opinions concerning Him. Some asked what they should do to inherit eternal life. Others asked which of the commandments was the greatest. Those who came to the Lord had different concepts, but no one had the correct view that man should come to God with the thought of enjoying Him.
One day the Lord performed a miracle. He fed 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. They had hoped for such a prophet who would perform miracles among them and take care of all their needs. 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. When they heard this, they did not understand what type of food the Lord wanted to give them. 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. It is not enough to expect miracles and works of wonder from Me. I am much more than these things. I will not only perform outward things, but I will also be your food and enter into you to be your enjoyment. It is not enough to know Me as a great Prophet or even as the Creator. 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.” Those who heard this word thought that it was a hard word and could not receive it. Here was a wonderful person who told others that He was the bread who came down from heaven, that His flesh and blood could be their food and drink, and that He would enter into them so that they would receive eternal life. When they heard this word, they were baffled (John 6).
MAN’S CONCEPT MISJUDGING GOD’S DESIRE
Although we should understand the Lord’s words when we read the Word, I would dare say that even today many Christians do not have the right concept concerning God. For example, we may have been saved for many years, but we might not have given much consideration to the matter of enjoying God. We might not have the concept that God has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. Perhaps, while we were contacting God and praying this morning, we still held the common religious concept that we should worship Him in a pious way. We may have considered what we should do today, and what we should not do today. Based on these dos and don’ts, we may have prayed, “God, be merciful to me so that I can please You by doing this and that.” This kind of prayer is absolutely the result of our religious concepts. God does not want us to pray this way. Whenever we draw near to God, He presents Himself to us as the fatness, the food for our satisfaction. He does not bargain with us whenever He fellowships and communes with us; rather, He presents Himself for our enjoyment. Fallen man, however, is incapable of recognizing this.
All of God’s children should focus on this matter. 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 intention for you to do this or that for 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.”
In the four Gospels we see the same story. 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 do not intend that you do this or that for Me or that you serve and worship Me in this or that way. 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 have been placed before you as the tree of life so that you can stretch forth your hand in faith to receive Me. 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.”
Man’s natural concept has dominated Christianity for two thousand years, and we are still not set free from its influence today. Even many servants of the Lord are unable to change their concept. We often think of how we should worship and serve God and of how we should do this or that for God, and it never occurs to us that the Lord Jesus does not care about this. The Lord simply wants man to enjoy Him. He was incarnated to put Himself in front of us as the tree of life. He said that He is life and that He came that we might have life. He did not come to ask us to do anything. He came with the intention that we would open to Him and receive Him. He wants us to receive Him every day and not just on the day of our salvation. Daily we should learn to abide in Him, and we should give Him room to abide in us. God has no intention for us to do anything for Him, and He has no desire for us to accomplish anything for Him. Rather, He desires to abide in us. The Lord desires all of us to open up to Him, to allow Him to abide in us, and to not turn Him away. If He can remain and abide in us, His riches and elements will become our enjoyment and blessing. When we enjoy Him and allow Him to become our blessed portion, all His riches become our supply and inwardly fill us. His riches even flow through us and bear rich fruit.