Scripture Reading: John 16:16-24
In this chapter we will consider the sign of the newborn child (John 16:16-24).
For many years I was bothered by this portion of the Gospel of John, especially by the Lord’s word in verse 21 concerning a man who is born into the world. I asked, “Who is this man? The Lord Jesus was to be put to death. How can a man be born?” I could not understand these verses. Furthermore, I thought that when the Lord told His disciples that they would see Him (vv. 16-17, 19, 22), He was referring to His second advent. I was also puzzled by the words a little while in verses 16 through 19. If this refers to the period of time between the Lord’s death and His coming back, it seemed to me that this length of time, which has lasted more than nineteen centuries, is not a “little while.” By this you can see that in the past I had a number of problems with this portion of the Word. Because I was eager to understand the Bible, especially the Gospel of John, these questions kept bothering me.
In 1958 the Lord enlightened me regarding certain matters in chapters 14 through 17 of the Gospel of John. In my study I was seeking to understand what the Lord meant by the Father’s house and what is signified by His going and coming. I was not satisfied with the interpretation that the Lord’s going was His going to the heavens and that His coming denoted His second advent. It seemed to me that there was something wrong with this interpretation of the Lord’s word concerning His coming in these chapters. I realized, of course, that the vine in chapter 15 is not something for the future; the vine and the branches are present now. Today we need to abide in Christ, and today He abides in us. Chapter 15 describes something that is in the present. This caused me to question even more the common interpretation of the Father’s house and the Lord’s going and coming.
In my study of the Gospel of John I saw that the expression My Father’s house is used twice in this book (2:16; 14:2). In 2:16 the Father’s house refers to the temple on earth; it has nothing whatever to do with the heavens. In this chapter the Lord indicated that He Himself in resurrection eventually will be the temple (vv. 19-21). I realized that, according to a basic principle in interpreting the Bible, the phrase My Father’s house should not have a meaning in 14:2 that is different from the meaning of the same phrase in 2:16. Therefore, since the Father’s house in 2:16 refers not to the heavens but to the temple on earth, then the Father’s house in 14:2 should also refer to His house on earth. In other words, in both 2:16 and 14:2 the Father’s house refers to the temple.
With this understanding of the Father’s house as the basis, I reconsidered how to interpret the Lord’s going and coming in chapter 14. Then I saw that the Lord’s going clearly refers to His death and that His coming was His coming back to His disciples in resurrection. I began to understand that through this process of death and resurrection the Lord prepared the way for us to enter into God, and that this is the way for us to be in the Father’s house. Furthermore, I began to see that the abode in 14:23 denotes one of the many abodes in the Father’s house spoken of in verse 2. Certainly, the abode in verse 23 is a believer. Likewise, the abodes in verse 2 are not rooms in a heavenly mansion but believers. I was happy to have received the proper understanding of John 14.
Most Christians think that the Father’s house in John 14 refers to a heavenly mansion. At a funeral a minister will often comfort those who have lost a loved one by saying something like this: “Your departed loved one has gone to be in a heavenly mansion. Because he is in a better place, there is no need for you to weep. One day all Christians will go to such a heavenly mansion, to a place with gates of pearl and streets of gold.” When I saw the proper understanding of the Father’s house, I realized that the common teaching concerning a heavenly mansion is superstitious and even deceptive. We should not preach any kind of falsehood; instead, we should only preach the truth. The common teaching concerning a heavenly mansion has no basis in the Bible and especially no basis in the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John speaks of divine things. For example, John 1:1 says that in the beginning was the Word and that the Word was God. This is divine. In John 14:6 the Lord Jesus said, “I am the way and the reality and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” In this verse there is nothing physical; everything is divine. In keeping with this principle, although the Father’s house in John 14 refers to a temple, His dwelling place on earth, it is nevertheless a divine, spiritual matter. The Father’s house is not a physical mansion in the heavens. The Lord’s building is not such a mansion. The Lord’s building today is the church. In the New Testament the church is called the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). This living house of the living God is the Father’s house. Therefore, we may have the assurance to say that what is revealed in chapter 14 of John is not a heavenly mansion. The Father’s house is not a physical entity. The Father’s house is God’s church, the Body of Christ. Moreover, this house is the vine described in chapter 15, and the vine is an organism, not an organization. Hence, the Father’s house in John 14 is the vine, the living organism, in chapter 15.
After I was enlightened by the Lord concerning the Father’s house in John 14, I began to understand John 16:16-24. I was further enlightened to see the meaning of the Lord’s word here concerning the man born into the world. I began to see that, according to Acts 13:33, the Lord Jesus was begotten in resurrection to be the Son of God with respect to His humanity. The Lord’s resurrection, therefore, was a birth. This means that when Christ was resurrected, He was born.
In the past I had wondered why it was necessary for Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, to be born, begotten, in resurrection as the Son of God. I wondered why Christ, who was already the only begotten Son, had to be born to be God’s Son in resurrection. In eternity He was the only begotten Son of God. Then in the incarnation He was born of Mary, and in resurrection He had another birth. I was enlightened to see that when Christ was born of Mary, He was born as a man, and His humanity had nothing to do with God’s sonship. In other words, strictly speaking, the human part of Jesus was not the Son of God but was the Son of Man. Therefore, it was necessary for the human part of the Lord Jesus to be born into the divine sonship through resurrection. How glad I was to see that although Jesus Christ was born of Mary as a man, as a man it was necessary for Him to be born into the divine sonship through resurrection. Hence, Christ’s resurrection was a new birth for Him. He was already the only begotten Son of God before His incarnation. Then through incarnation He was born to be a man. Now in resurrection He was born to be the firstborn Son of God. Furthermore, Christ’s being the firstborn Son of God implies that He has many brothers (Rom. 8:29). I also began to realize that the birth that took place through Christ’s resurrection involved the birth not only of an individual but of a group, a group that includes the firstborn Son and the many sons of God. This means that through one birth, one delivery, many sons were brought forth.
We should not think that Christ as the firstborn Son was born in His resurrection and that all His brothers, the many sons of God, have been born gradually during the centuries following His resurrection. We should not think that Peter was born at one time, Paul at another time, and each of us at a much later time. No, we were all born to be sons of God in the resurrection of Christ. This is the reason 1 Peter 1:3 says that we have been regenerated through the resurrection of Christ. Praise the Lord that when Christ was resurrected we were regenerated! All the believers, including the early apostles and those who will be the last to believe in the Lord, were regenerated together. We all were brought forth by means of a single universal delivery. In Christ’s resurrection millions of God’s sons were born. Therefore, the Lord’s word in John 16:21 concerning the man born includes Himself as the firstborn Son and all the believers as the many sons.
In John 16:16 the Lord said to His disciples, “A little while and you no longer behold Me, and again a little while and you will see Me.” The following verse indicates that the disciples did not understand what the Lord was saying: “Some of His disciples then said to one another, What is this that He says to us, A little while and you do not behold Me, and again a little while and you will see Me; and, Because I am going to the Father?” Then the disciples went on to say, “What is this that He says, A little while? We do not know what He is talking about” (v. 18). Realizing that they wanted to question Him further, the Lord went on to say, “Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. A woman, when she gives birth, has sorrow because her hour has come; but when she brings forth the little child, she no longer remembers the affliction because of the joy that a man has been born into the world” (vv. 20-21).
By the Lord’s mercy, now we know who this child, this man, is. This man is the very new man spoken of in Ephesians 2:15: “Abolishing in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, so making peace.” This new man includes Christ as the Head and all the believers as the Body. The Head is the firstborn Son of God, and the Body is a composition of all the many sons of God, the many brothers of the Lord. This new man, this child, was born through Christ’s death and resurrection.
Before the Lord’s resurrection, there was only one man — Adam, including all his descendants as the components of this one man. But now, since the resurrection of Christ, there are two men in the sight of God — Adam and Christ. Adam is the first man, and Christ, including the church, is the second man. We should rejoice over the birth of the new man in resurrection much more than we do over the incarnation of Christ.
Adam, the man created by God, became sinful. As a result, he was a failure and became useless to God. Because of the fall, all the components of the first man are under God’s judgment and headed for the lake of fire. This means that, in the sight of God, the first man is finished.
God surely desires to have a second man. Through the death and resurrection of Christ, the second man was born. This was the reason the Lord could say to the disciples that they would rejoice when they saw Him again: “Therefore you also now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and no one takes your joy away from you” (John 16:22). We also need to rejoice at the birth of the new man.
The man in John 16 is a wonderful sign. The sign of the new man indicates that the old man, the first Adam, has been terminated. The first Adam was terminated by the death of Christ. But in resurrection the crucified Jesus and God’s chosen people were born to be the new man.
We need to have God’s view concerning this matter. According to our view, we were not born when Christ was resurrected, but we were to be born centuries later. However, according to God’s view, the divine view, all His chosen people were born together with Christ in His resurrection. This resurrection was the birth of a corporate child. Therefore, when Christ came back in resurrection, in the sight of God He was a new man, a newborn child.
In John 16 the Lord told His disciples that they would rejoice when they saw Him again. This word was fulfilled in John 20. Verse 19 says, “When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and while the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be to you.” The disciples were disheartened, but suddenly the Lord as the newborn child was in their midst saying, “Peace be to you.” Here the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying, “Don’t be troubled or sorrowful. The newborn child is here. Did I not tell you that this child would be born? Now we all should rejoice at the birth of the new man.” Thus, verse 20 says, “The disciples therefore rejoiced at seeing the Lord.”
We also should rejoice that on earth today there is another man, the new man, that includes all the believers. This new man, who was born through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is now spreading and growing throughout the earth. Praise the Lord that we are part of this new man!
In chapter 14 we have the Father’s house, in chapter 15 we have the vine, and in chapter 16 we have the new man. The Father’s house, the vine, and the new man all refer to one thing. As the vine is the explanation of the Father’s house, so the new man is the explanation of the vine. In other words, as chapter 15 defines chapter 14, so chapter 16 defines chapter 15. These three chapters are sections of one long message. The first section is on the Father’s house, the second is on the vine, and the third is on the new man. The new man is the definition of the vine, and the vine is the definition of the Father’s house. If we see this, we will understand that the Father’s house is an organic entity, that it is the organism of the Triune God, the vine that is growing and spreading. According to chapter 16, this vine, this organism, is a man. Certainly the Father’s house is not a heavenly mansion. The Father’s house is a growing, spreading vine, and this vine is the vast, universal corporate new man.
Once again I say that we should celebrate the birth of this corporate new man with rejoicing. Oh, another man, the new man, has been born on earth through Christ’s death and resurrection! This is the second man, the Triune God mingled with His redeemed ones.
This new man was born not through the incarnation of Christ but through the death and resurrection of Christ. Therefore, we should rejoice over Christ’s resurrection even more than over His incarnation. What a wonderful sign is this sign of the new man! It is a great matter that this man, the newborn child, has been born into the world. The Lord told His disciples that they would rejoice, and they did rejoice. We also should rejoice over the birth of the corporate new man.
