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I. The intrinsic, central line of the five historical events in the introduction to the Gospel of John as the “trunk” is that:
А. In the Word, who is Christ as the definition, explanation, and expression of God, is life — 1:4a.
B. The life in the Word is the light that speaks to the world by shining forth, as His coming to the world, what God is — vv. 4b-11.
C. Whoever receives the shining light, which is Christ Himself, can have the divine life, carried forth by the light, that they may be born of God to be His children as the constituents of the house of God, Bethel — vv. 12-13.
D. This ultimately consummates the New Jerusalem organically for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy revealed to us by the same writer, John — Rev. 21:2.
II. The Word, God, and the Spirit cooperating and coordinating together in the speaking for God:
А. God has the Word to speak for Him, and He also has the Spirit to bring forth the Word. This is seen in the creation when Christ as the Word of God was creating by speaking (thus, the universe has been framed by the word of God — Heb. 11:3), and the Spirit of God was brooding (Gen. 1:2).
B. In addition to the speaking of Christ as the Word in the five great historical events, Christ as the Word of God spoke for God by the prophets through His Spirit (1 Pet. 1:10-11). When a particular point concerning Christ was conceived in a God-seeking person as a prophet, the Spirit of Christ brought forth the speaking of it through the prophet as the instrument. This was the way of the prophecy concerning Christ by the prophets in the Old Testament (Luke 24:44). It was Christ as the Word of God, God Himself, and the speaking Spirit of God cooperating and coordinating in the speaking for God in the prophecies concerning Christ. This can be illustrated by Isaiah 7:14 concerning Christ being born of a virgin, Micah 5:2 concerning the birthplace of Christ, Daniel 9:26 concerning the time of the death of Christ, Malachi 4:2 concerning Christ’s second appearing as the Sun of righteousness, etc.
C. In the New Testament Christ as the Word of God was incarnated to be a man (John 1:14) to express God, that is, to speak God. Hence, Hebrews 1:2 says that at the last of these days God has spoken to us in the Son. The sonship in God’s New Testament economy is not only individual but also corporate. In the New Testament God speaks in Christ as His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), indicating that all the brothers of His firstborn Son as His many sons have to be the word of God speaking for God. They are not only the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, etc. (Eph. 4:11), but, even more, the sons of God, who are the members of His firstborn Son. They are much higher than the Old Testament prophets.
D. Christ as the Word of God in three forms:
1. In the form of a person — Christ Himself.
2. When He is prophesied by the prophets of the Old Testament and spoken by Christ with all His brothers as His members, it is the spoken word.
3. When the spoken word is written down, that which can constitute the Bible is the written word.
E. When the word remains in us, it is the speaking of God. When it is spoken by us and received by others, it becomes spirit and life (John 6:63). When it remains in them, it is again the word, but when it is spoken forth by them through the Spirit (1 Cor. 7:40), it becomes spirit and life. In this way Christ being the Word of God implies Himself as the Word in the form of a person, the spoken word, and the written word — the Bible. All of these define, explain, and express God as the revelation of God.
The intrinsic, central line of the five historical events in the introduction to the Gospel of John is like the trunk of a big tree. The trunk grows or produces the branches. The “trunk” of John 1 is the creation, the incarnation, the Lamb, the Spirit, and the ladder. The word ladder is not in John 1 but in Genesis 28, which records Jacob’s dream (vv. 11-19). In Genesis 28 Jacob saw a ladder set up on the earth and reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. In John 1:51 the Lord Jesus told Nathanael that he would see the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. This shows that Christ, as the Son of Man with His humanity, is the ladder set up on the earth and leading to heaven, keeping heaven open to earth and joining earth to heaven for the house of God, Bethel.
John 1:1 says that in the beginning, in eternity past, was the Word. Then verse 51, the last verse of John 1, says that the Son of Man will be the ladder, which Jacob saw in his dream. This refers to eternity future. This introduction of John 1 implies a wide span from eternity past to eternity future. This span, as we have seen, is with the five greatest events in the history of the universe, which are the trunk of John 1. On this great trunk there is only one branch. This branch is in verse 4, which says that in Christ as the Word, through whom the creation was carried out, was life. This is a branch altogether organic, a branch of life. In the Word, who is Christ as the definition, explanation, and expression of God, is life (v. 4a). This is the intrinsic, central line of the five great historical events.
In Him, in this trunk, was life, and this life was the light of men, shining over men. This shining was His coming to visit people. Wherever He went, the light was shining over the people around Him, and that shining was God’s speaking. The shining spoke for God. Most of the Jewish people rejected this shining (vv. 10-11), but a certain number received it. As many as received this light, this shining, the trunk (that is, the Word, Christ) would give them life to be the authority to become the children of God (vv. 12-13). This is not a small thing. Many today speak of human rights, but the real right is the authority that Christ as the trunk gives us. On the day of our regeneration we received the divine life as our authority to become the children of God. This is to become “Godkind,” God’s species.
We were of Adam, having nothing to do with God inwardly. We were only created by God in His image and according to His likeness, but we had not received God’s life into us. About four thousand years after His creation of man, Christ as the Word became flesh. In this wonderful Word, through whom the creation was carried out and through whom incarnation was accomplished, is life. This life is the light, and the light shines. If we receive His shining, He gives us the life authority to become Godkind. We are now both mankind and Godkind, God’s species, the children of God. These children are the sons of God, and these sons of God are the brothers of God’s firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29). Actually, the trunk is the firstborn Son, and we are the many brothers of this firstborn Son. He and we are the sons of God. He is Godkind, and we are the same. He is of God’s species, and so are we.
Through these sons, God has a family, and this family is the house of God, which is the church. First Timothy 3:15 says that the church is the house, or the family, the household, of the living God. This house is the Body of Christ. To God it is a family, and to Christ it is His Body, an organism. This Body of Christ will consummate the New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem will be the consummation of the Body of Christ. In John there is such a line of life, implying light, to produce the many children of God, who are the many sons to be God’s family and the many brothers to be Christ’s members, to be His Body, which consummates in the New Jerusalem as the eternal expression and increase of the processed Triune God, with Christ as the ladder that brings heaven to earth and joins earth to heaven, making heaven and earth one.
The intrinsic, central line of the five historical events in the introduction to the Gospel of John as the “trunk” is that, first, in the Word, who is Christ as the definition, explanation, and expression of God, is life (1:4a). Then the life in the Word is the light that speaks to the world by shining forth, as His coming to the world, what God is (vv. 4b-11). We have the definite, assured, affirmed revelation of what God is. We see God. The life as light is shining forth to reveal, to speak, to tell us, what God is.
Whoever receives the shining light, which is Christ Himself, can have the divine life, carried forth by the light, that they may be born of God to be His children as the constituents of the house of God, Bethel (vv. 12-13).
This trunk produces a branch. In this branch is life, and this life is the light shining over people. Whoever receives this light will have the authority to be the children of God. This ultimately consummates the New Jerusalem organically for the fulfillment of God’s eternal economy revealed to us by the same writer, John (Rev. 21:2). The book of Revelation, written by John, is the consummation of his Gospel. What is revealed in his Gospel is the initiation of the New Jerusalem.
The Word, God, and the Spirit cooperate and coordinate together in the speaking for God. Three-in-one speak together by cooperating and coordinating.
God has the Word to speak for Him, and this Word is Christ. God has the only begotten Son as His speaking, the Word, to speak for Him, and He also has the Spirit to bring forth the Word. When we speak the Word, the living Spirit goes along with our speaking. The Spirit accompanies the Word to bring the Word into people.
The coordination of the Word, God, and the Spirit is seen in the creation when Christ as the Word of God was creating by speaking (thus, the universe has been framed by the word of God — Heb. 11:3), and the Spirit of God was brooding (Gen. 1:2). Christ was speaking, “Let there be light.” Then there was light. When Christ spoke, the Spirit was brooding.
In addition to the speaking of Christ as the Word in the five great historical events, Christ as the Word of God spoke for God by the prophets through His Spirit (1 Pet. 1:10-11). Christ as the Word of God speaks through the prophethood. When a particular point concerning Christ was conceived in a God-seeking person as a prophet, the Spirit of Christ brought forth the speaking of it through the prophet as the instrument. This was the way of the prophecy concerning Christ by the prophets in the Old Testament. In Luke 24:44 the Lord said, “All the things written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled.” The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms are the three sections of the Old Testament. The Lord’s word here indicates that the entire Old Testament is a revelation of Him and that He is its center and content.
In the Old Testament it was Christ as the Word of God, God Himself, and the speaking Spirit of God cooperating and coordinating in the speaking for God in the prophecies concerning Christ. This can be illustrated by Isaiah 7:14 concerning Christ being born of a virgin, Micah 5:2 concerning the birthplace of Christ, Daniel 9:26 concerning the time of the death of Christ, Malachi 4:2 concerning Christ’s second appearing as the Sun of righteousness, etc. All these prophecies in the Old Testament are speaking Christ, and Christ is the totality of the Word of God. When the prophets speak Him, that means He speaks God.
In the New Testament Christ as the Word of God was incarnated to be a man (John 1:14) to express God, that is, to speak God. Hence, Hebrews 1:2 says that at the last of these days God has spoken to us in the Son. God speaks in both the prophethood and the sonship. The sonship in God’s New Testament economy is not only individual but also corporate. God does not have only one son. He did have one Son, the only Begotten, before the incarnation, but after resurrection God has many sons. The only Begotten became the firstborn Son of God, and in the same delivery in resurrection, we all were born, regenerated, to be sons of God (Rom. 8:29; 1 Pet. 1:3). Our big Brother is Christ. We are His followers, His members, His brothers. God’s having many sons means that there should be “many speakings.” A son of God should speak for God everywhere. When there are no people around, we can speak to the creation (see Mark 16:15). We can say, even to the animals, “My God is my Father, and my big Brother is Christ. He speaks for God. I am His brother, and I do the same thing.”
John 15 reveals that Christ is the vine tree and that we are His branches. The branches of the vine tree bear fruit. Today our gospel preaching should be our fruit-bearing. We should not try to gain a big crowd in our labor in the gospel. That is the way of Christianity. A big gospel campaign may attract many people, but eventually, most of these people are not cared for and become lost. That kind of preaching is like bringing the water out of the well and pouring it on the earth in vain. Instead, we need to be a fruit-bearing branch in the way of bearing fruit one by one through the vital groups. God created only one man, but today on the whole earth there are billions of men. This happened by the way of human birth, in a one-by-one way. This is the way to preach the gospel according to the God-ordained way. Christianity dropped God’s way and took the way of a big speaker attracting large crowds. The issue of such work is vanity.
As the sons of God, we all need to be those who speak forth Christ. We need to speak to people in a new way with a new language. We may say, “Good morning, sir. I am a son of God, and I would like to speak to you about my God, who is my Father. John 1:12 says that as many as receive Christ, God will give them the authority to become the children of God.” This is the right way to preach the gospel. Although the one to whom you are speaking may be too busy to talk at that time, you can make an appointment with him for a later time. All the sons in the divine sonship should speak Christ, and Christ speaks for God.
In the New Testament God speaks in Christ as His firstborn Son (Rom. 8:29), indicating that all the brothers of His firstborn Son as His many sons have to be the word of God speaking for God. They are not only the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, etc. (Eph. 4:11), but, even more, they are the sons of God, who are the members of His firstborn Son. They are much higher than the Old Testament prophets.
Today we New Testament believers are God’s sons and His prophets. First Corinthians 14:1 says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Verse 31 says, “You can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged.” As long as you are a son of God, you are also a prophet. As a son, you should speak, and as a prophet, you should prophesy. You can all prophesy. We need to be prophets to our relatives, colleagues, and classmates. We should prophesy every day and be bubbling over with Christ all the time. Instead of talking to people about the political situation, we should speak something mystical to them. When we speak to someone, perhaps he will say that we are a mental case. But we can tell him, “I’m not a mental case; I’m a case of the son of God.” We must learn to be “crazy” to speak for the Lord in this way.
Christ is a person. This person is the Word, and we are His brothers. We must also be the word to those around us.
When He is prophesied by the prophets of the Old Testament and spoken by Christ with all His brothers as His members, the sons of God, it is the spoken word.
When the spoken word is written down, that which can constitute the Bible is the written word.
When the word remains in us, it is the speaking of God. When it is spoken by us and received by others, it becomes spirit and life (John 6:63). When it remains in them, it is again the word, but when it is spoken forth by them through the Spirit (1 Cor. 7:40), it becomes spirit and life. In this way Christ being the Word of God implies Himself as the Word in the form of a person, the spoken word, and the written word — the Bible. All of these define, explain, and express God as the revelation of God.
Christ as the Word speaks for God through the creation, the incarnation, the Lamb, the Spirit, the ladder, and the prophethood plus the sonship. We have a double status. We are prophets and sons of God. Both statuses qualify us to speak for God. When we speak, that is Christ speaking. Satan wants to prevent the believers from speaking for God. In the meetings of the church, all the saints should be the speakers. Our praising in the Lord’s table meeting is also the Lord’s speaking. Recently in the church in Anaheim, we had a Lord’s table meeting that was full of high speaking. We praised the Lord in this way: “Lord, when we touch the loaf, we touch Your mystical Body organically. When we touch the cup, we touch Your redeeming blood judicially. We praise You that Your judicial redemption and organic salvation constitute us into Your Body, and this Body will consummate in the New Jerusalem.” I have attended the Lord’s table for over sixty years, but I never attended one as high as that one. We need to come out of our oldness and the traditions of Christianity. We need to drop our old concepts and our old, doctrinal language. We must learn the new language with the new vocabulary of the new culture of the Lord’s present recovery. Then we will become living and refreshing, and others will be refreshed by us when we speak to them.
