GROWING IN LIFE ANDRECEIVING AND KEEPING THE LORD’S WORD
Scripture Reading: John 5:24; 6:57, 63; 14:15-16, 20-21, 23; 15:3, 7-8, 10; 17:8, 14, 17
THE TRIUNE GOD’S ENTERING INTO US AS A PERSONAND LIVING OUT OF US
The Gospel of John is a book that is very mysterious, rich, spiritual, and full of life. Its mysteriousness and richness are related to the revelation of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. In the Gospel of John there is hardly any teaching. This book shows how the Word, the Son, who was in the beginning with God, is God (1:1). As the Word, God became flesh and manifested grace and reality on the earth in the Son (v. 14). Eventually, the Son, who was both God and man, died on the cross, releasing the divine life, and as the last Adam in resurrection, He became the life-giving Spirit to enter into us (20:22). The Triune God enters into us as a person. We have received more than just God’s life, nature, power, and attributes, such as holiness and love. We have received the Triune God Himself—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit—into us as a person. The Father is in the Son, the Son became the Spirit, and the Spirit has entered into us. The Triune God as a person has entered into us.
God has come into us to be our life and nature and also to be our person. We live because of Him, and we also live Him. We should live out not only His love, His holiness, and His attributes but also His very person. We should live out the Lord, because He is in us as a person. Hallelujah!
TWO MEANS OF ENJOYING GOD—THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT
If we can only speak about Christ being our person, this will be merely a doctrine. The Gospel of John, however, shows that we can enjoy Him as a person and touch Him through the Word and the [510] Spirit. John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word.” Word in Greek signifies the full definition, explanation, and expression of God; hence, it is God defined, explained, and expressed. Thus, verse 1 continues, saying, “And the Word was God.” Then in 4:24 the Lord said, “God is Spirit.” God is the Word, and God is the Spirit. Hence, the Word and the Spirit are two means for us to experience the mysterious and rich Triune God.
TWO LINES IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN—THE WORD AND THE SPIRIT
We can identify two lines in the Gospel of John. The first is the line of the word, and the second is the line of the Spirit. Let us begin, however, by considering the line of the Spirit. John 3:6 says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” and 4:24 says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.” Chapter 6 speaks of “the bread of life” (vv. 35, 48), and it also speaks of “the Spirit who gives life” (v. 63). In 7:37-39 the Lord said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me...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.” Chapters 14 through 16 are also focused on the Spirit. On the evening when the Lord was about to be crucified, He said to His disciples, “I am going to the Father...And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality...because He abides with you and shall be in you...I am coming to you” (14:12, 16-18). According to these verses, when the Spirit comes, the Lord also comes. The Lord said that the Spirit of reality would enter into the disciples and be with them forever, that He would guide them into all the reality, and that He would declare to them the things that were coming, for He would declare to the disciples what He received from the Lord (16:13-14). Following His death, the Lord ascended to the Father on the morning of His resurrection and came again to the disciples on the evening of His resurrection (20:17, 19-20). When He came to the disciples, He came as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45), and He breathed the Spirit into the disciples so that the disciples would receive Him as the holy breath, the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). This is the line of the Spirit.
Now we need to consider the line of the word. [511] Verse 24 of chapter 5 says, “He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.” This shows that the Lord’s word is available and that we must touch His word and listen to His word. Verse 57 of chapter 6 says, “He who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.” We eat the Lord through His words, because as verse 63 continues, “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The Lord’s words are the bread of life, and the Spirit embodied in His words gives life. Later, in 14:21 the Lord said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, he is the one who loves Me.” Commandments are words. When we keep His commandments, we are keeping His words, and He will manifest Himself to us (v. 21); not only so, both He and the Father will come to make an abode with us (v. 23). When we have a normal experience of His words, we will have His manifestation, and He and the Father will come to make an abode with us.
John 15:1-3 speaks of our being branches in the vine and of our need to bear fruit. In order to bear fruit, we need to be cleansed, and it is the Lord’s word that cleanses us. If we allow the Lord’s word to operate in us, His word will cleanse us, and if we abide in Him, His words will abide in us (v. 7). This is wonderful. First, we abide in Him, and He abides in us (v. 4). Then we abide in Him, and His words abide in us (v. 7). As a result of this abiding, we will bear much fruit in which the Father is glorified (v. 8). If the Lord’s words can gain ground in us, we will enjoy His rich life, which will bear fruit. Finally, verse 10 says, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.” The Lord’s commandments are surely the Lord’s words.
In chapter 17 there are at least three verses that speak of the word. In His prayer to the Father, the Lord said, “The words which You gave Me I have given to them, and they received them” (v. 8). He also said, “I have given them Your word” (v. 14), and “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (v. 17). These verses are part of the line of the word in the Gospel of John. Hence, the Gospel of John has two lines—the line of the word and the line of the Spirit. The word and the Spirit are the two means through which we experience the Triune God.
GROWING IN LIFE AND RECEIVING THE LORD’S WORD
The initiation of life begins with the Spirit, but the word is needed for the growth, spread, and expansion of life. Although the [512] initiation of life is through the Spirit, the growth of life is through the word. We know that the Lord is the Spirit in our spirit, and we can enjoy Him by calling on His name. As we call, we are breathing; that is, we are receiving Him as air. As we breathe more, our breathing becomes our drinking. Sister M. E. Barber wrote a hymn that says, “Just to breathe the Name of Jesus, / Is to drink of Life indeed” (Hymns, #73). As our breathing increases, it becomes our drinking. However, in addition to breathing and drinking, we must eat. Our physical body needs both air and water. However, in order to receive a rich supply of nutrients for our growth, we need food. Hence, we should not only breathe and drink but also eat in order to receive the necessary nutrients. We must have the Lord’s Word in order to eat. Thus, eating is related to pray-reading the Scriptures.
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