Scripture Reading: John 14:7-15
In this chapter we will continue to consider the fourth sign in John 14 through 17 — the sign of the Divine Trinity.
The Father is the source; He is the Originator, the Initiator, the Planner, and the Designer. According to John 7:29, the Lord Jesus said, “I know Him, because I am from Him, and He sent Me.” This brief word indicates that the Father is the source. As the source, the Father sent the Son. John 13:3 also indicates that the Father is the source: “Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all into His hands and that He had come forth from God and was going to God.” The Father is the Planner, and He sent the Son to carry out His plan. Because the Father is the Originator and the Initiator, the Son came forth from Him and received all from Him.
In the Godhead the Father is the One who has the will. In John 6:38 the Lord Jesus said, “I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.” In John 6:39-40 the Lord went on to speak of the will of Him who sent Him and the will of His Father. As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus never did His own will. Instead, He always did the Father’s will. He was sent by the Father not to carry out His own will but to carry out the will of the Father. The Son is one with the Father, and the Son’s will is the Father’s will. This means that the Father and the Son have just one will. We should not think that the Father has a will and the Son has another will. No, there is only one will, and this is the will of the Father. The Son came to accomplish the Father’s will.
The Father dwells in unapproachable light. Concerning this point, 1 Timothy 6:16 says, “Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see.” No one can approach the Father. Actually, this unapproachable light is a burning fire. It is impossible for anyone to approach such a light.
Many verses in the Gospel of John speak of the Father’s sending the Son. In 4:34 the Lord Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.” John 5:24 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.” According to 5:30, the Lord did not seek His own will but the will of Him who sent Him. Then in 5:36 the Lord said, “The works themselves which I do, testify concerning Me that the Father has sent Me.” Then the Lord went on to say, “The Father who sent Me, He has testified concerning Me” (v. 37). In 6:38 the Lord said that He came down from heaven to do the will of Him who sent Him, and in verse 57 He said that the living Father sent Him. In 7:16 the Lord said, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” In the same chapter the Lord said that the One who sent Him is true (vv. 28-29). John 13:20 says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, He who receives whomever I shall send receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” In 14:24 the Lord said, “The word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” According to 15:21, the disciples will be persecuted because their persecutors do not know Him who sent the Son. In 16:5 the Lord said, “Now I am going to Him who sent Me.” In His prayer to the Father in chapter 17, the Lord also referred to the Father’s sending Him into the world: “As You have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world” (v. 18). Elsewhere in this prayer the Lord indicated that the disciples believe that the Father sent the Son (v. 8). If we study these verses, plus others in the Gospel of John, we will learn why, how, and when the Father sent the Son.
In John 16:32 the Lord indicated that the Father came with the Son: “Behold, an hour is coming, and has come, that you will be scattered each to his own place and will leave Me alone; yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. ” The Father sent the Son, and the Father was with the Son; that is, the Father came with the Son. We may find this difficult to understand. If someone sends you to a certain place, that person will usually remain where he is, and you will go to the designated place. But in the divine economy the Father sends the Son, and when the Son comes, the Father comes with the Son. On the one hand, the Father sent the Son; on the other hand, He came with the Son.
Bible students may have difficulty explaining how the Father could both send the Son and come with the Son. The reason for this difficulty is that some try to separate the Father from the Son. However, the Father and the Son cannot be separated. Actually, when the Father sent the Son, He sent Himself in the Son. The Gospel of John reveals definitely that the Son was sent by the Father and that the Father came with Him. Furthermore, according to John’s Gospel, where the Son is, there the Father is also, and when the Son speaks, the Father also speaks in Him. John 10:30 says clearly, “I and the Father are one.” The Son is in the Father, and the Father is in the Son. When the Son speaks, therefore, the Father speaks His word.
We need to be impressed with the fact that it is beyond our ability to analyze how the Father and the Son are one. We are not even able to analyze ourselves thoroughly. For instance, we know that the mind, the emotion, and the will are distinct. However, we cannot separate them. We cannot separate the mind from the emotion or the emotion from the will and then analyze these parts of our being separately. We know that a human being is composed of three parts: spirit, soul, and body. But if we could separate these parts and analyze them, we would be killed. As soon as the three parts of a person are separated, the person dies. Although the spirit, soul, and body are distinct, they form a complete human being. Hence, where the body is, there the soul and the spirit are also.
We may use this picture as an illustration of the relationship between the Father and the Son. Where the Father is, there the Son is, and where the Son is, there the Father is. Furthermore, when the Son speaks, the Father speaks as well. Is this one speaking or two speakings? Perhaps we should say it is two-one speaking. Concerning the Father’s sending the Son and coming with the Son, we should not analyze but instead simply believe whatever the Bible says.
In John 14:10 and 11 the Lord Jesus said, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” Here we see the Father living and working in the Son.
In John 16:15 the Lord said, “All that the Father has is Mine.” This indicates that the Father has given all that He has to the Son. Thus, the Father is embodied in the Son. Regarding this, Paul says in Colossians 2:9, “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” The Father has given all that He has and is to the Son. The Father’s being and doing are altogether in the Son. Hence, the Son becomes the Father’s embodiment.
According to John 13:31, the Lord Jesus said, “Now has the Son of Man been glorified, and God has been glorified in Him.” When the Son was glorified, the Father was glorified in Him. Later, we will devote a full chapter to the matter of glorification.
The Father has also given the Son to us (3:16). The Son given to us by the Father is the embodiment of the Father. Therefore, when the Son is given, the Father also is given to us. For the Father to give us the Son means that the Father gives us Himself in the Son.
The Father dwells in us with the Son and by the Spirit. In John 14:23 the Lord Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him.” Here we have the Father dwelling in us with the Son. First John 3:24 says, “In this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave to us.” Here we see that the Father dwells in us not only with the Son but also by the Spirit. Concerning this matter, 1 John 4:13 says, “In this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, that He has given to us of His Spirit.”
Who is dwelling in us? We should answer this question by saying that the Father dwells in us with the Son by the Spirit. In other words, we have the Triune God dwelling in us. How marvelous!
Let us go on to consider a number of matters related to the Son.
The Son is the expression of the Father: “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18). The Father is the source, and the Son is His expression. As the expression of the Father, the Son is the Accomplisher. The Father is the Initiator, the Originator, the Planner, and the Designer, and the Son carries out what the Father has initiated, originated, planned, and designed. Hence, the Son, the expression of the Father, is the Accomplisher.
John 6:46 says, “Not that anyone has seen the Father, except Him who is from with (lit.) God, He has seen the Father.” John 8:29 says, “He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone.” These verses reveal that when the Son came, He did not come alone but came with the Father.
John 1:14 reveals that the Son tabernacled among us: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us.” John 16:4b also refers to this: “Now these things I have not said to you from the beginning, because I was with you.” The Son is God’s tabernacle. Actually, as God’s tabernacle, He is God embodied among us.
The Lord said in John 5:43, “I have come in the name of My Father.” The Son came not only with the Father but also in the Father’s name. This indicates that He came as the Father. Hence, He, as the Son given to us, is called the Father (Isa. 9:6).
The Son not only coexists with the Father but also coinheres with the Father. What is the difference between coexisting and coinhering? To coexist is to exist together at the same time. To coinhere is to exist in one another, to dwell in one another. To say that the Father and the Son coexist means that They exist together. But to say that the Father and the Son coinhere means that They dwell in one another. We have a word concerning this coinherence in John 14:10a: “Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?” Here we have the mutual indwelling of the Father and the Son. In John 14:11a the Lord went on to say, “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me.” The Bible not only says that the Son and the Father are with each other; the Bible also reveals that the Son and the Father coinhere; that is, the Father is in the Son, and the Son is in the Father. John 17:21 is another verse that reveals this coinherence: “That they all may be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us.”
It is easy to see the matter of coexistence, but it is much more difficult to realize the matter of coinherence. The coexistence of the Son and the Father means that They exist together. The coinherence of the Son and the Father means that the Son is in the Father and that the Father is in the Son. Because of this coinherence of the Father and the Son, we may say that They are two-one.
The Son and the Father are one. In John 10:30 the Lord Jesus declared, “I and the Father are one.” Because the Son and the Father are one, the Son is called the Father. According to Isaiah 9:6, the Son given to us is called Eternal Father. Thus, He is the Father.
A number of verses in the New Testament indicate that the Son and the Father are one. John 17:22 says, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, even as We are one.” In 1 John 2:25 the singular pronoun He is used to refer to both the Son and the Father: “This is the promise which He Himself promised us, the eternal life.” In this verse He refers to the Son and the Father spoken of in the preceding verse. This indicates that the Son and the Father are one. We see the same principle in 1 John 2:28: “Now, little children, abide in Him, so that if He is manifested, we may have boldness and not be put to shame from Him at His coming.” In this verse the pronoun He refers definitely to Christ the Son, who is coming. Along with the preceding clause, abide in Him, which is a repetition of the clause in 1 John 2:27 involving the Trinity, indicates that the Son is the embodiment of the Triune God, inseparable from the Father or the Spirit. In 1 John 2:29 the personal pronoun He denotes the Triune God: “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been begotten of Him.” He denotes the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — all-inclusively, because this pronoun refers to He and Him in the preceding verse, which denote the coming Son, and it also denotes Him in this verse, referring to the Father who has begotten us. This indicates strongly that the Son and the Father are one.
In John 6:57a the Lord Jesus said, “The living Father has sent Me and I live because of the Father.” Here we see that the Son lives because of the Father. The Father is the cause of the Son’s living. Without the Father, the Son has no way to live. This verse is also a further indication that the Son and the Father are one.
The Son works with the Father. John 14:10b says, “The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father who abides in Me does His works.” Here we see that the Son speaks, and the Father works. The Son’s speaking is the Father’s working. In John 5 the Lord also revealed that He works with the Father. “My Father is working until now, and I also am working” (v. 17). In verse 19 the Lord went on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you, The Son can do nothing from Himself except what He sees the Father doing, for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in like manner.”
The Son not only worked with the Father but also worked in the Father’s name (10:25). This indicates that He worked as the Father, because He and the Father are one (v. 30).
The Son and the Father have one will. The Son does the will of the Father. In John 5:30 the Lord said, “I can do nothing from Myself; as I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will but the will of Him who sent Me.” Then in John 6:38 the Lord testified that He came down from heaven to do the will of Him who sent Him.
The Son speaks the Father’s word. Whatever is spoken by the Son is the word of the Father, because the Son does not speak His own word but speaks the Father’s word. In John 14:24 the Lord said concerning this, “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.” In John 7:16 the Lord said regarding His teaching, “My teaching is not Mine, but His who sent Me.” The Son speaks the Father’s word because the Son does not speak from Himself: “I have not spoken from Myself; but the Father who sent Me, He Himself has given Me commandment, what to say and what to speak. And I know that His commandment is eternal life. The things therefore that I speak, even as the Father has said to Me, so I speak” (12:49-50).
The Son seeks the Father’s glory. John 7:18 says, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of Him who sent Him, this One is true, and unrighteousness is not in Him.” This verse proves that the Son does not seek His own glory but seeks the glory of the Father. The Son’s will is the Father’s will, the Son’s work is the Father’s work, the Son’s word is the Father’s word, and the Son’s glory is the Father’s glory. The Son has nothing of Himself. All that the Son has is from the Father. The Son and the Father truly are one.
The Son does not express Himself; instead, He expresses the Father. The Son’s expression is the Father’s expression. Hence, when we see the Son, we see the Father. This is proved by the exchange between the Lord Jesus and Philip. In John 14:7 the Lord pointed out to the disciples that if they had known Him, they would have known His Father also. Then He said, “Henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.” However, Philip replied, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us” (v. 8). To this, the Lord Jesus answered, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9). In the Son the Father is expressed and seen, for the Son is the expression of the Father.
The Gospel of John reveals that the Son sends the Spirit from with the Father. In John 15:26 the Lord spoke of the Comforter, whom He “will send to you from with the Father” (lit). Then in 16:7 He went on to say, “If I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” These verses indicate that the Son sent the Spirit from with the Father. Actually, this means that the Son sent Himself, because the Son is in the Father, and the Spirit comes from with the Father. Eventually, the One who is sent by the Son from the Father is actually the Son Himself.
The Son also gives the Spirit to us. According to John 3:34b, “He gives the Spirit not by measure.” The Spirit is from with the Father, and the Son is in the Father. Whatever the Son gives is the Son Himself. Therefore, the Spirit given by the Son is actually the Son Himself.
The Son became the Spirit through death and resurrection. According to 1 Corinthians 15:45b, Christ, the last Adam, became the life-giving Spirit. On the day of His resurrection, Christ breathed into His disciples and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). We may say that Christ already was the Spirit when He was in the flesh. The difference here is that His flesh was a covering comparable to a shell. Through death and resurrection the opaque shell of the flesh became transparent. Therefore, now we can see that the Lord is the Spirit. Through death and resurrection the last Adam in the opaque shell of the flesh became the life-giving Spirit. This is still the same Jesus, but now the shell is transparent. Hence, the One who was with the disciples is the same One who is now the life-giving Spirit.
After becoming the Spirit, the Lord abides in us as the Spirit with the Father (14:16-20; 17:23, 26). Do you know who abides in you? The Son abides in you as the Spirit with the Father. The Son sends the Spirit, and then the Son comes with the Spirit. Thus, when the Spirit comes, the Son comes. Furthermore, when the Son comes, the Father also comes. This means that when the Spirit comes, all three of the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — come. Therefore, now the Son abides in us as the Spirit with the Father. This is for the dispensing of the Triune God into our being.
