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A flowing river and a tree, Eden’s outstanding features are, Man to supply with food and drink That he may live fore’er. |
God is in Christ to be my supply, God as the Spirit nourisheth me; If upon Christ in spirit I feed, Filled with His life I’ll be. |
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The tree the glorious Christ does show As living food to man supplied, That he God’s riches may enjoy, Thus to be satisfied. |
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The river does the Spirit show, Coming man’s spirit to supply, That with God’s riches he be filled, Holy to be thereby. |
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The Christ of glory is my life, He as the Spirit lives in mine, That I with God be fully blent And in His image shine. |
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I would exalt this glorious Christ, Ever the Spirit I’d obey, Making His glory fully known, Filled with His grace for aye. |
Copyright Living Stream Ministry. Used by permission.
The content of the Gospel of John can be considered as an amplified explanation of Genesis 2:8-10. In these verses God put man in the garden of Eden. In the middle of the garden there were the tree of life and the river of water of life for man to enjoy. The tree of life denotes Christ, and the river denotes the Spirit. The Gospel of John also speaks of God as a tree and as a river in order to be man's life and enjoyment. The Lord is a vine tree (15:1), and the Spirit is a river (7:38-39). Therefore, the Gospel of John is concerning God in Christ as the Spirit to be our life and life supply. The chorus of Hymns, #509 says, "God is in Christ to be my supply, / God as the Spirit nourisheth me; / If upon Christ in spirit I feed, / Filled with His life I'll be."
I hope that we can distinguish between behavior and the Christian life. Religion tells people to improve and cultivate their character. Christianity tells people that Jesus can change them. The proper Christian faith teaches people that Jesus Christ is their life, their food, and their living water. Hence, they need to receive Him by eating, drinking, and enjoying Him so that He will fill them, and they will live out His divine life. The chorus of Hymns, #509 says, "God is in Christ to be my supply, / God as the Spirit nourisheth me; / If upon Christ in spirit I feed, / Filled with His life I'll be." When God lives in us, fills us, and occupies us, He will be expressed through us. This is glorious. The proper Christian faith involves eating and drinking Christ. This is the Christian life. It is a life of enjoying Christ.
The Bible repeatedly speaks of the wonderful tree of life and the river of water of life. The tree signifies the Lord Jesus, and the river signifies the Spirit. Everything related to our experiencing and enjoying God is included in this tree and this river. There is a hymn that says, "The tree the glorious Christ does show... / The river does the Spirit show" (Hymns, #509). The tree supplies man with food, and the river quenches man's thirst so that he may fully enjoy God. This is the story of God being enjoyed by man.
Whatever we eat, digest, and assimilate is mingled with us and even becomes us. This is why dieticians say that we are what we eat. A little boy becomes big and strong by being mingled with what he eats. What we eat is assimilated into us and eventually becomes our very fiber and tissue. In John 6:57 the Lord said that he who eats Him would live because of Him. God in Christ is good for food. His being food is for the dispensing of Himself into our being.
The dispensing of the Son is also seen in Ephesians 3:8, which reveals that the unsearchable riches of Christ [the Son] are for the New Testament ministry in the divine dispensing. Many people claim that they have a ministry, which is a service, but what is the content of their service? Do we minister Christ as the food supply to His believers? If we do not, we do not have a real, genuine, adequate ministry. The real, genuine, adequate ministry in the New Testament is the divine stewardship which ministers the Triune God in Christ to people as their life and life supply. In all the messages I have given throughout the years, my unique burden has been to minister Christ to God's people as their life and life supply. This truth is expressed in Hymns, #509, the chorus of which says:
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Stanza 3 of Hymns, #509 says, "The river does the Spirit show, / Coming man's spirit to supply, / That with God's riches he be filled, / Holy to be thereby." The enjoyment of God's riches makes us holy. After we eat food, we assimilate it, and whatever we assimilate saturates us and changes us. Likewise, when we take God as food into us, we assimilate Him as our nourishment, and His substance and element become our "ingredients." It is in this way that we are made holy, that is, sanctified by God and with God as holiness. The way to be sanctified is by taking the Lord as our nourishment. When we feed on Him and drink of Him, we assimilate Him and are sanctified.
Piano Hymns
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London, United Kingdom
God is in Christ to be my supply,
God as the Spirit nourisheth me;
If upon Christ in spirit I feed,
Filled with His life I’ll be.
Filled with His life l will be
Amen
Kottayam, Kerala, India
I would exalt this glorious Christ,
Ever the Spirit I’d obey,
Making His glory fully known,
Filled with His grace for aye.
Fremont, California, United States
Praise the Lord! God is in Christ to be our supply, God as the Spirit nourisheth us!
Hallelujah, the Triune God flows out in Christ as the Spirit into us to quench our thirst, fill our inner being, and flow out of us into many others!
Oh Lord Jesus we love you!!!
Church In Worcester, Massachusetts, United States
He is our everlasting, Eternal supply, all things rest in Him..
He sustains us through our cross bearing trials of this life in order to fully conform and perfect us. This Merciful One clears the way for overcoming saints to be one with Him for eternity. He provides for us in every conceivable way!
Anaheim, CA, United States
I. drew that tree on the wall of Satan's house dec. 1993, little knowing , I was on my way to The Recovwry. , this tree was LIFE.
death lost.. Satan ypu. lost.. Satan u lost.
The vessel was released.
Christ was there.
The Good News, eternity is our Tree of Life
The River is is our Life.
Lord You are the Way the Truth and our Life.
Auckland, New Zealand
Praise the Lord, God is in Christ to be my supply!
Auckland, New Zealand
The tree, the glorious Christ does show
As living food to man supplied!
Christ is our food and our life.
Auckland, New Zealand
How wonderful the Bible begins with a flowing river and a tree and it ends with a flowing river and a tree
I appreciate that the Lord is portrayed as a fruit tree as a tree that is good for food. To me the shows Gods intention and desire to enter into man for his enjoyment, satisfaction and supply.
Auckland, New Zealand
If upon Christ in spirit I feed, filled with His life I'll be! He is the real food, the real supply, praise the Lord!
New Zealand
God is in Christ to be my supply.
And soon I can be filled with this Christ to be my life!