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Scripture Reading: John 1:1, 14, 18; 14:16-20; Acts 9:4; Rom. 8:9-11; 1 Cor. 6:17; 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17; 4:7; 13:5; Gal. 1:16; 2:20; 4:19; 6:18; Eph. 3:16-17; Phil. 1:19; Col. 1:27; 3:4, 11; Rev. 2:1, 7-8, 11; 5:6; 22:1-2
We need to have a full view of the Lord Jesus as the Word and as the Spirit. The four Gospels are a full record, picture, and revelation of the Lord Jesus as the expression of God, the Word of God for us to “read,” see, and understand (John 1:1, 14, 18). In order to know who and what the Lord Jesus is, we have to spend time to study the four Gospels. In these four books the Lord Jesus is revealed to us in many aspects. In reading the four Gospels, we should pay attention not mainly to what He did but to go further to see what He is. By His doing, His being is revealed. Mainly, we need to learn what He is and who He is.
The four Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — give us a full picture of this wonderful Christ as the Word, the expression and revelation of God. After the Gospels is the second part of the New Testament — the Acts and the Epistles. In this part the Lord Jesus is revealed not only as the Word but as the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). As the Word, Christ is in the stage of revelation, expression, and explanation, and as the Spirit, He is in the stage of enjoyment and experience. Therefore, after we know Christ as the Word, we have to enjoy Him as the Spirit.
We need to be able to show people how Christ is revealed in the Gospels as the Word, not the Spirit, and how He is revealed in the Epistles not mainly as the Word but as the Spirit. To adequately study the New Testament with this in view may require one or two years. Too many Christians today have a weak point in that they know spiritual things only in a superficial way, merely repeating what others say but not knowing how to demonstrate what they say from the Scriptures. This is not right. Scientists today study things from their fundamentals. They become experts and can answer questions in detail. In the same way, and especially since we are taking the way of the Lord’s recovery, we cannot simply repeat what others say. We have to thoroughly know the truth concerning Christ as the Word and the Spirit and be able to give adequate answers concerning it. The light, confirmation, and adequate, proper, and strong proofs of this truth should flow out of us like a waterfall.
In the Epistles no one asks who the Lord is. In the four Gospels, however, the Lord asked the disciples, “Who do men say that the Son of Man is?” (Matt. 16:13). The disciples answered, “Some, John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets,” to which the Lord asked, “But you, who do you say that I am?” (vv. 14-15). This passage is a strong proof that in the four Gospels the Lord is the Word, the revelation of God, for people to know Him. At other times in the Gospels the disciples would ask, “What kind of man is this?” (8:27). In the Epistles, however, we cannot find this kind of question. Rather, there is another category of expressions concerning Christ, because in the Epistles Christ is revealed as the Spirit.
Today most Christians are in the stage of the four Gospels. Many know Christ as the Word in the four Gospels, but they do not know Christ in the stage of the Epistles. Because of this, many hold only the doctrine and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus. They can say, “Christ is God, and He is man” merely with their knowledge, but they have few experiences of Christ. On the other hand, some who have a certain experience of Christ do not have an adequate understanding. They claim that they have the experience of Christ by the “help of the Holy Spirit.” It is as if they are saying, “I am here on this earth, and Christ is there in the heavens. We are too far apart. It is the Holy Spirit that helps me to contact Christ.” In their understanding, Christ and the Holy Spirit are separate, the Holy Spirit being only a help and means. This is a wrong concept and understanding. Most Christians today do not see that Christ is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:17 cf. 4:5). In order to experience Christ, we have to experience the Spirit, because Christ is the Spirit.
The Gospel of Matthew begins with the genealogy of Christ. A genealogy is an explanation of a person, telling us who he is. Therefore, on the first page of the New Testament is an explanation, a revelation, of the person of Christ, telling us who He is. According to the principle of first mention, this establishes that the subject of the Gospels is the person of Christ. Immediately after this is the record of the birth of this person. The first two things we need to know about a person are his genealogy and birth. When we fill out papers about our status, we have to tell people about our parents, nationality, and date and place of birth. This kind of example shows that the Gospels tell us who Christ is and what kind of person He is.
After His genealogy and birth, the Gospels present the recommendation of Christ by His forerunner, John the Baptist. A recommendation is a revelation, a certain kind of explanation telling us who a person is. In today’s business and society we always need a reference. The Gospels give us a reference to prove and to recommend who Christ is. Following this is a test, a temptation, to prove what kind of person Christ is. In this way each page of the Gospels proves one thing: what kind of person this One is.
Although His testing proved who Christ is, we still need some practical illustrations and explanations, such as the accounts in Matthew 8, 15, and eventually 17, where Christ was suddenly transfigured on the mountain. We do not have this kind of record in the Epistles. When we come to the Epistles, the picture changes. The Gospels and the Epistles present two different kinds of pictures of Christ.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are all of one category. In these three Gospels, Christ is revealed as a man. In the first Gospel, He as a man is the King committed with all authority. In the second book, as a man He is a slave serving not only God but also us, with power, love, and even His own life. In the third book, as a perfect man He is the Savior, who went into death to redeem us. The last book of the Gospels is in another category. The Gospel of John tells us, “In the beginning was the Word” (1:1). This Gospel tells us that Christ was the Word, and the Word was God. Here Christ is revealed as God incarnate who came to impart life to us. In this way, the four Gospels present a picture and a record of all the aspects of Christ as the Word, showing us who this person is and what kind of person He is. All the records in chapter after chapter have only this one purpose. To read these four Gospels is simply to read an explanation and a definition of a person.
However, in the Gospels Christ is not yet the Spirit. He was among people to be seen, understood, and apprehended, but He could not come into people for them to enjoy. People could appreciate Him, admire Him, and praise Him, but they could not share of Him and partake of Him. People could understand Him as the Word, but until the Word became the Spirit, He could not come into them.
For this reason, we cannot find a verse or passage in the four Gospels that tells us that Christ is the Spirit or that Christ is in the disciples, until we come to John 14 and 15. However, John 14 and 15 speak of Christ related not merely to the stage of the four Gospels. What these chapters refer to does not happen in the Gospels. They predict something about Christ in the stage of the Epistles. Similarly, John 20 takes place in the Gospels, but this chapter may be considered as the end of the stage of the Gospels and the beginning of the stage of the Epistles.
It was through His death and resurrection that Christ as the Word became the Spirit. That is why John 14 tells us that He had to go through death and be resurrected. It is from this chapter that the Spirit is first mentioned so clearly. Verses 16 and 17 say, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” Christ was the first Comforter, but He would send another Comforter, the Paraclete, the Spirit of reality.
Verse 17 says that this Spirit was abiding with the disciples and would be in them. To be in them indicates a further step. The Word was among them already, because the Word became flesh and tabernacled among them (1:14). However, the disciples needed the Lord’s second step so that He could become the Spirit to be not only among them but in them. Verse 17 of chapter fourteen says concerning the Spirit, “He abides with you and shall be in you,” but right away verse 18 says, “I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” He in verse 17 changes into I in verse 18. Christ’s going in death and resurrection was His coming as the Spirit to be in the disciples.
Verses 19 and 20 continue, “Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” At that time He could only be among the disciples; He could not be in them. In “that day,” however, He would be in them. These are the two steps of Christ — to be incarnated in the flesh to be among the disciples and to be transfigured into the Spirit to be in the disciples.
As the turning point in these two steps, John 14 is the most significant chapter in the entire Bible. It is in this portion of the Word that we have the Spirit of reality, the Spirit as the reality of Christ, and it is in this portion of the Word that we have the phrase in you. In the entire Bible before this chapter the phrase in you was never used in this way. Then in the following chapter the Lord said, “Abide in me and I in you” (15:4). If Christ were only the Word, how could He abide in us? To abide in us He must be the Spirit. It is at this turning point that the Word became the Spirit through crucifixion and resurrection. Therefore, after His resurrection He is no longer only the Word; rather, He is mainly the Spirit. As the Spirit He can be in us, and He truly is in us.
Apparently there is no verse in the Acts which tells us that Christ was in Peter, John, James, or Stephen. However, in Acts there is the fact to prove that Christ was not only in the disciples but even one with them. When Christ revealed Himself to Saul of Tarsus, He said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (9:4). It is as if the Lord was saying, “When you persecute Stephen and My other disciples, you persecute Me, because I am one with them. I suffer your persecution within them.” Here is the fact that Christ was one with all His disciples, because Christ as the living Spirit was in all His disciples.
In the Epistles, Romans 8:9 to 11 tells us that Christ is in us. This passage speaks of the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ Himself interchangeably. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ is Christ Himself. This passage makes it very clear that Christ now is the Spirit. Therefore, whatever Romans 8 says about the Spirit, it is speaking about Christ as the Spirit. The Spirit mentioned in Romans 8 is nothing less or different than Christ Himself. Christ as the Spirit is living in every saved person.
Following this, 1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” This is a strong proof that the Lord is the Spirit. If He were not the Spirit, how could we be one spirit with Him? This is also a strong proof that we have a human spirit and that Christ as the Spirit is in our spirit so that we can be one spirit with Him. First Corinthians also uses the phrase in Christ a number of times (1:2, 4, 30; 4:15, 17; 15:22; 16:24). Finally, 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.”
Several passages in 2 Corinthians show us that Christ is in us. Verse 17 of chapter three says, “The Lord is the Spirit,” and 4:7 says that Christ is the treasure in us, the earthen vessels. At the end of the book, 13:5 says, “Test yourselves whether you are in the faith; prove yourselves. Or do you not realize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless you are disapproved?”
Galatians 1:16, 2:20, and 4:19 tell us that Christ is in us, and the last verse, 6:18, says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers.” Next, Ephesians 3:16 and 17 is a prayer that our inner man would be strengthened and that Christ would make His home in our hearts. Philippians 1:19 speaks of the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, who was in the apostle Paul. Colossians 1:27 says, “Christ in you, the hope of glory,” 3:4 speaks of “Christ our life,” and verse 11 says, “Christ is all and in all.” In the same way, we can also find verses like these throughout the remainder of the Epistles. These are just a few of the verses which show us that Christ as the Spirit lives in us. There is no need to glean this kind of passage; there is a full harvest of these passages in the New Testament.
Each of the seven epistles in Revelation 2 and 3 begins with, “These things says,” referring to the Lord Himself in His various qualifications (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14), but the end of every epistle says, “...hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). Revelation 2:1, for example, says, “To the messenger of the church in Ephesus write: These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, He who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands.” Says He means “Christ says.” However, the end of the epistle says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (v. 7). By this we can see that “He” is “the Spirit,” and “the Spirit” is “He.”
Likewise, verse 8 says, “To the messenger of the church in Smyrna write: These things says the First and the Last, who became dead and lived again.” The one speaking here is Christ. However, verse 11 begins, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” The beginning of every epistle says that the Lord speaks, but the end of each epistle says that the Spirit speaks. The Spirit is the Lord, and the Lord is the Spirit.
Revelation 5:6 says, “I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing as having just been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” The Lord as the Lamb has seven eyes, and the seven eyes are the seven Spirits. This indicates that Christ comes to us as the seven eyes, that is, as the Spirit, for us to experience. Moreover, the Lamb is on the throne, from the throne flows the river of water of life, and in the water of life grows the tree of life (22:1-2). This is a picture of the redeeming Christ, who has become the life-giving Spirit constantly flowing with the life supply.
By all this, we can see that Christ is no longer only the Word but the life-giving Spirit, not only for us to know and understand but for us to enjoy, take, and experience. We cannot enjoy Christ only by knowing Him as the Word. We have to enjoy Christ by realizing Him as the Spirit. Therefore, we must not exercise only our mind to understand Him; we have to exercise our spirit to contact Him in our spirit, as revealed in the Epistles.
