Section 13
life. Thus, before He came to be life He created the heavens, the earth, and man with a spirit to receive Him. Zechariah 12:1 says that the Lord "stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him." Thus, the heavens are for the earth, the earth is for man, and man was made with a spirit to receive God. Now the Word can come as life to be received by the man whom He created. Creation produced the receptacle for life.
Life is in the Word. Life can only be found in the expression of God. The Word, which is the expression and explanation of God, contains God as our life. When we receive the Word, we receive the life within it. Both the Word and the life are God Himself. The Word is the expression of God, and the life is the very content of God. When we hear the Word, we realize that God is expressed and explained; when we receive the Word, we receive God's very content as life and are thereby born of God and become the chil dren of God. The life in the Word is the very content of God.
Since verse 2 refers to the creation in Gene sis 1, the mention of life in verse 4 should refer to the life indicated by the tree of life in Genesis 2.