Eph 4:17 ...that you no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind, (18) Being darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance which is in them, because of the hardness of their heart;
The nations are also "alienated from the life of God". This life is the uncreated, eternal life of God, which man did not receive at the time of creation. After being created, man with the created human life was placed before the tree of life (Gen. 2:8-9) to receive the uncreated divine life. But man fell into the vanity of his mind and became darkened in his understanding. In such a fallen condition, man is not able to touch the life of God until he has his mind turned to God, until he repents and believes in the Lord Jesus to receive God's eternal life. God's intention in His creation of man was that man would partake of the fruit of the tree of life and thereby receive the eternal life of God. But in the fall, Satan's evil nature was injected into man. As a result, man had to be barred from the tree of life. According to Genesis 3:24, the Lord "drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life." Thus, man was estranged from the life of God. The cherubim, the flame, and the sword signify God's glory, holiness, and righteousness. These three things kept sinful man from receiving eternal life. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He fulfilled all the requirements of God's glory, holiness, and righteousness. Therefore, through the redemption of the Lord Jesus, the way has been opened for us to contact the tree of life once more.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Ephesians, pp. 390-391. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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