Scripture Reading: John 3:5-6, 8, 14-16, 29-30, 31-36
In the previous chapters we pointed out that the writings of John are concerned with the divine mysteries. These mysteries include the mystery of the divine person, the mystery of the divine life, and the mystery of the divine birth. Actually, anything that is divine is a mystery to the human mind.
If we neglect the mysteries in the writings of John, we may take what is revealed in the Bible and use it to form a religion. According to the Bible, Christians teach that there is a God and that this God is triune — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. They also teach that the human race has become fallen and sinful in the sight of God. According to God’s righteous law, we all should be judged and perish. Christians teach from the Bible that God loves fallen mankind, that He sent His Son into the world as a man, and that this One died on the cross for our sins. But since He is the Son of God, He could not be held by death. Therefore, He was resurrected, and He has ascended to the heavens, where as the Lord of all, He is now sitting at the right hand of God. One day He will come back to set up His kingdom on earth and will reign on earth for a thousand years, a period of time known in Christian teaching as the millennium. Anyone who believes the gospel will receive the forgiveness of sins and will have eternal life. This kind of Bible teaching has been spread throughout the world.
Furthermore, Christians are taught to worship God, to do everything for the glory of God, and to bring souls to Christ. They are also taught to gather together to worship God according to certain rituals, forms or ordinances. In none of these teachings can we see the depths of the mysterious things.
Christians often talk about eternal life. However, eternal life is usually understood to signify some kind of everlasting blessing. To many Christians the words eternal life do not convey the thought of a mysterious, divine life. It is common for Christians to speak of everlasting life, according to the King James Version, rather than eternal life. In the concept of many, the term everlasting life denotes a blessing that lasts forever. Such teachings do not touch the mysteries in the Gospel of John.
What is revealed in the depths of the Bible is mysterious, such as the divine life and the divine Spirit. Christians speak mainly of four matters related to Christ: Christ in eternity, Christ in the flesh dying to accomplish redemption, Christ in ascension at the right hand of God, and Christ in His coming back. But they miss the crucial matter of the indwelling Christ.
The indwelling of Christ involves two mysteries: the mystery of the divine life and the mystery of the divine Spirit. Life and the Spirit are two of the most mysterious matters revealed in the Bible. Today the resurrected Christ is both the divine life and the divine Spirit. Christ in resurrection is the divine life, the life that in the Bible is called eternal life. He is also the divine Spirit, whom the Bible calls the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45). Eternal life and the life-giving Spirit are very mysterious matters. No other mysteries in the Word can compare with these.
Many Christians have a superficial realization of at least four matters in John 3: regeneration (vv. 3, 5), the Spirit (vv. 5, 34), eternal life (vv. 15-16, 36), and God so loving the world (v. 16). Among today’s Christians regeneration is a common term. Christians often declare that they have been regenerated of the Spirit, or born again. However, because the majority of believers do not live in their regenerated being, regeneration is not a reality to them in their daily living. How much do you live in your regenerated being? Is it not true that you still live quite much in your natural being? This means that you have regeneration positionally, but you do not have regeneration experientially in your daily living. Day by day how much do you live in your regenerated being and how much in your natural being, your old being? Actually, it is difficult to answer this question, for we are not able to say how much we live in our regenerated being. But we may be certain that we live in our old being too much of the time.
Many Christians also have a superficial and inadequate understanding of the Spirit. When speaking about the Holy Spirit, few Christians have a deep realization concerning the Spirit. For some, the term the Spirit has been spoiled by the talk about the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues.
John 3:15-16 and 36 speak of eternal life. In the Lord’s recovery we often use the term eternal life. For Christians to follow the King James Version to speak of everlasting life instead of eternal life may be an indication that their realization of eternal life is superficial and low.
John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son and that everyone who believes into Him will have eternal life. This verse is very well known by Christians. When I was young, I was told that this is a golden verse. However, the understanding that many Christians have concerning God’s love for the world is quite superficial.
There are a number of matters in John 3 concerning which the majority of Christians have very little realization. The first of these matters is the serpentine flesh, which signifies the being of fallen man. Have you ever heard that we, fallen human beings, have a serpentine nature? Christians are short of the realization that sinners have a serpentine nature.
Another matter concerning which Christians are very short in their realization is the bronze serpent, which signifies Christ in the form of the flesh of sin. We may have read chapter 3 of John again and again without paying attention to the bronze serpent in verse 14. The bronze serpent typifies Christ in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). In 2 Corinthians 5:21 Paul says that Christ was made sin for us. Christ had the likeness of the flesh of sin but not the sinful nature of the flesh of sin. But many Christians do not have any realization of what it means for Christ to be in the form of the flesh of sin.
Christ was a complete Substitute for us. Because we, as fallen people, are serpentine, it was necessary for Christ to have the form of a serpent but not its nature.
In a previous chapter we pointed out that John 1:29 says that Christ is the Lamb of God. This expression was used by John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus. In John 3:14 the Lord Himself indicates that He was typified by the bronze serpent lifted up by Moses. The Lamb of God fulfills God’s requirements. All the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory were fulfilled by Christ as the Lamb of God without blemish. Nevertheless, in order to be our Substitute it was not sufficient for Christ to be only the Lamb of God; it was also necessary for Him to be the bronze serpent.
There are two aspects concerning Christ as the sin offering. The first is that the sin offering must fulfill all the requirements of God, the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. This aspect of the sin offering is fulfilled by Christ as the Lamb of God. The second aspect of the sin offering is that this offering must also be our substitute. We are sinners and also serpents, the offspring of vipers. For this reason, it was necessary for Christ our Substitute to have the likeness of the flesh of sin typified by the form, the likeness, of a serpent. This aspect of the sin offering is fulfilled by Christ as typified by the bronze serpent.
Christ did not have the sinful nature. If He had had the sinful nature, then He also would have needed a substitute, for He would not have been qualified to be our Substitute. But although Christ had the likeness of the flesh of sin, He did not have the sinful nature. He was in the form of a sinner, but He did not have sin in His human nature. If Christ did not have the likeness of the flesh of sin, the form of a sinner, He could not have been our Substitute.
Regarding the sin offering, we have the aspect of the Lamb of God and also the aspect of the bronze serpent. On the one hand, Christ fulfilled the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory and thereby accomplished redemption for us. On the other hand, as typified by the bronze serpent, He died on the cross as our Substitute. He is both the Lamb of God and the bronze serpent. However, not many of today’s Christians have the proper realization concerning this matter.
John 3:6b says, “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Here we have another matter concerning which many Christians have very little realization. This matter is the spirit. Often I have heard people say that before they came in contact with the Lord’s recovery, they did not know that they had a human spirit. Many Christians do not know that human beings have a spirit. Christians may talk about regeneration, but in their talk some may not apply John 3:6. This indicates that they do not know in what part of their being regeneration takes place. The realization that regeneration takes place in the human spirit is very much lacking among today’s believers. In fact, many hold to the concept that spirit and soul are synonymous terms. But the Scriptures reveal clearly that our spirit is different from our soul. If someone does not have the proper realization regarding the human spirit as our spiritual human being, it is difficult for him to understand the matter of regeneration.
With few exceptions, most Christians have read John 3. However, how many pay adequate attention to the word bride in verse 29? In this verse John the Baptist said, “He who has the bride is the bridegroom.” When I was a young Christian, I heard messages on Christ as our Bridegroom. I was told that the Lord Jesus would come back as our Bridegroom. But how poor it would be to have the Bridegroom without the bride! In the Bible we have a universal couple — the Bridegroom and the bride. The bride is the aggregate of regenerated persons, and the Bridegroom is Christ with whom all regenerated persons should be one.
John 3:30 speaks of Christ’s increase. This increase is the multiplication and reproduction of Christ. It is important for us to know that the regenerated part of our being is the reproduction, the multiplication, of Christ. This increase of Christ is His bride.
Speaking in a general way, we may say that those who believe into Christ and who have been regenerated are the increase of Christ. However, we need to study this matter thoroughly and ask what it is that makes us a part of Christ’s increase. Our natural life and living are not part of the increase of Christ. For example, if you speak in a natural, joking manner, you are not living as part of Christ’s increase. On the contrary, that way of speaking is part of the serpentine being, and the serpentine being cannot be part of Christ’s bride, His increase. Only the regenerated part of our being, our regenerated spirit, is Christ’s increase.
John 3:6 says that that which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Often we live and speak in a natural way according to the flesh. But there is another part of our being, the regenerated being, the spiritual being. This regenerated part of our being is a part of Christ’s increase.
In 3:31-36 we see the unlimited Christ, the Christ who is all in all. The expression the unlimited Christ may be new to you. We will define this in the next chapter.
In 3:34 we have the immeasurable Spirit. The immeasurable Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. This Spirit is immeasurable in sphere and all-inclusive in nature.
We have listed eight matters in chapter 3 of John concerning which Christians have very little realization: the serpentine flesh, the bronze serpent, the spirit, the bride, the Bridegroom, Christ’s increase, the unlimited Christ, and the immeasurable Spirit. Although John 3 is often used by Christians for teaching and preaching, most believers do not give adequate attention to these eight matters. Therefore, we need to pay our attention to them and have an adequate realization concerning them.
