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Scripture Reading: John 1:14, 17; 8:32, 36; 14:6; 17:17; 1 Tim. 2:4; 3:15; Titus 1:1
In the previous chapter we pointed out that according to John 3:16, when the divine love is in the Father, it is rich, but when it is in the Son, it becomes the fullness. The basis for saying this is found in this verse, which reads, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” In this verse God’s love progresses from the Father to the Son. This is based on the words so and that. When we read John 3:16, we must not neglect the words so and that.
Before creation the Triune God held a counsel. Then in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This shows that God loves man and chose man. God loves man more than anything else that He created. The Bible does not say that God loved the angels, but John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.” This verse shows God’s love toward man. However, love in the Father cannot produce any effect; man can neither receive it, nor can he be saved by it. Although the love in the Father is rich, this rich love in the Father cannot save man nor cause man to have life. Therefore, it would not be enough if God’s love toward man would remain only in the Father. This love had to be manifested in the Son. At a certain point in time the love in the Father was manifested in the Son. As a result, man could receive the life of God and be saved.
Most Christians have a natural understanding of the phrase God so loved the world. They know objectively that God loved the world, and He therefore gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes into Him would not perish but would have eternal life. They do not realize that God’s love can be manifested in the Son because it progressed from the Father to the Son. When the divine love is manifested, it causes man not to perish. As it continues to be manifested, man receives eternal life, the very life of God. In other words, the divine life enters into man and becomes man’s life.
The highest manifestation of the divine love in the Son is that we will be made exactly the same as He is; we become Him. The last two lines of hymn #130 in the Chinese hymnal say, “Thou become me, I become Thee; / This is Thy love to the utmost.” Someone accused me of being heretical because of this hymn. I do not care for their accusation; I care only for the truth, and I hold the truth. The highest manifestation of the love of God is that we become Him. The divine love is more than rich; it is full.
Previously, when I read John 1:14, I did not understand why John included so many points in this verse. The beginning of verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh.” These few words are difficult to understand. What is the Word? What does became mean? How did the Word become flesh? What does flesh mean? The answers to these questions are fathomless. Even if we were to hold a ten-day conference, we would not be able to adequately cover the expression the Word. We would need another conference for the word became and still another conference for the word flesh. Verse 14 continues, “And tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” We need special conferences to speak on tabernacled, among us, full of, grace, and reality. The middle of verse 14 says, “(and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father).”
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word that existed in the beginning is high and far away. Furthermore, verse 1 goes on to say, “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being.” This means that all things were created through Him. Creation can be compared to a ladder that God used to come down to earth. After speaking of creation in verse 3, in verse 4 John says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” However, when John comes to verse 14, his train of thought seems to jump, and instead of speaking about creation, life, or the light of life, he says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” What is the meaning of the word tabernacled? The tabernacle referred to in this verse is the dwelling place of God among men.
God has a dwelling place in the heavens, but His dwelling place on earth is called the tabernacle. John made a big jump when he wrote chapter 1. The Word that was in the beginning is high and far away; it was with God, and it even was God (v. 1). Then in verse 14 John jumps from the Word to the flesh: “The Word became flesh.” This is a jump down to the earth. “Tabernacled among us” is a jump up, and “full of grace and reality” is a higher jump.
What is grace, and what is reality? Grace is God in the Son as our enjoyment, and reality is God in the Son realized by us. Therefore, grace and reality are both God Himself. However, we are not speaking merely about the Father; we are referring to something that has progressed from the Father to the Son. In the Father, God is hidden, but in the Son, God is expressed. Expression indicates progression; it is the fullness, the overflowing of the riches. The riches in the Father are hidden, but in the Son the riches are expressed. This expression is the fullness. In the Father the riches are a matter of existence; in the Son the riches are a matter of expression. Existence becomes expression, the fullness, in the Son.
God is rich. His riches consist of His attributes and all that He is. This is a matter of His existence. When the riches progress to the Son, there is an expression, an overflow; this is the fullness. The riches as a matter of existence are in the Father, but the fullness is not related to the Father. The fullness is in the Son. When the Son is expressed, the riches become the fullness. Therefore, in the Son the riches of grace, truth, and love become the fullness of grace, truth, and love. In 3:16 John was moved by the Spirit to write, “God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son.” The words so and that show the overflow of the divine love, and the overflow causes those who believe into the Son not to perish but to have the eternal life of God.
We have become the children of God, possessing the divine life and nature. The fullness of the divine love fills us until we are filled to the brim. We enjoy the eternal God in the eternal life until He makes us exactly the same as He is. This is not only the riches of love but the fullness, the overflowing of love. The purpose of my explaining these truths is to demonstrate the proper principle of studying the Bible.
At the beginning of 1961 I was in Taiwan and wrote eighty-five hymns. One of these hymns says, “Christ is the one reality of all, / Of Godhead and of man and all things else; / No man without Him ever findeth God, / Without Him man and everything is false” (Hymns, #496). We cannot find a hymn with this kind of content in any hymnal in Christianity. Over the past two thousand years, thousands of teachers have expounded the Bible, but no one ever wrote a hymn on Christ being the reality of all. However, an old Chinese man who was born in a small town in Shantung and who has no degree in theology wrote such a hymn.
The title of the first conference we held in the United States was “The All-inclusive Christ.” In this conference I said that Christ is the food that we eat, He is the clothes that we wear, He is the house that we live in, and He is the chair that we sit on and the bed that we sleep in. Some of the people who attended the conference said that this was pantheism. Their criticism proved their ignorance of the Bible, because Colossians 2:16-17 says that eating, drinking, feasts, new moons, and Sabbaths are a shadow of Christ. Christ is our food, our drink, our feasts, our new moons, and our Sabbaths. Christ is the reality of all things. If what I said was pantheism, Paul was the first person to speak in this way.
The truth is the truth. We need to know our goods, to know the treasure we have. I hope that every saint will give his all for this treasure. Fifty years ago I made the decision to give my all for this treasure. After all these years I am delighted to see that I made the right decision. In the matter of knowing the truth, we have much to learn.
The title of this chapter is “The Truth Being Our Freedom.” Is the truth concerning Christ as our life deeper than that of the truth as our freedom? After speaking on these two matters for the past fifty years, I can say that neither topic is easy. In a previous chapter I spoke concerning Christ as our life, but I did not cover it thoroughly, because the matter of Christ being our life is too profound, mysterious, and marvelous.
When I spoke on the word reality many years ago in Taiwan, I did not give much stress to the matter of teachings. However, after further study, I feel that we need both teachings and reality. Merely having reality without teaching does not constitute the truth, nor does having teachings without reality constitute the truth. The truth must have both reality and teaching.
For example, even though Confucius taught benevolence and righteousness, this teaching does not contain the truth. Rather, this teaching is merely doctrine because he could not give the reality of benevolence or righteousness to people. Confucius did not say, “I am benevolence and righteousness”; neither did philosophers such as Socrates and Plato say this. Throughout human history there was only one person who said, “I am” (John 8:24, 28). When He spoke of life, He said, “I am the...life” (11:25), and when He spoke of truth, He said, “I am the...reality,” which is, “I am the...truth” (14:6).
The teachings of Confucius concerning the way of the highest learning, developing the bright virtue, loving people, and attaining supreme goodness are doctrines. In contrast, in the New Testament the Lord Jesus did not teach just doctrine; He also gave people reality. He did not say only that we should love other people as we love ourselves; He declared that we should abide in His love (15:9-10). In other words, He is the reality of our love. It seems as if the Lord was saying, “Receive My words and understand them, but if you want to obtain the reality in My words, you must gain Me.”
The Lord Jesus is the Word becoming flesh to tabernacle among us that we may be full of reality. Jesus did not merely speak doctrine; He was the reality of what He spoke. He spoke of love, and He is love. He spoke of truth, and He is truth. The disciples of Confucius could say only that they received the teachings of Confucius and that they improved their behavior according to his teachings. Confucius never said to his disciples, “If you do not have me, these teachings are empty. You need to open yourselves and let me enter into you, because I am the reality of these teachings.” Confucius did not have this teaching. He could not say this, because he was neither life nor the Spirit. Therefore, he could not enter into men. The Lord Jesus, however, is different. At the end of Revelation, the end of the entire Bible, He said, “Let him who is thirsty come; let him who wills take the water of life freely” (22:17). When we drink the Lord by drinking the water of life, we have the truth and also the reality. We have received the reality; the truth is the reality. Everything that is written in a recipe is theory. However, when someone prepares a delicious meal according to a recipe and puts it on the table for everyone to enjoy, the recipe becomes a reality. Thus, we need not only doctrine but also reality, the truth.
John 1:14 says that the Lord Jesus is “full of grace and reality [truth].” Verse 17 says, “The law was given through Moses; grace and reality [truth] came through Jesus Christ.” These verses do not contain teaching; they contain reality. In John 17:17, however, the Lord Jesus said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.” The word includes teachings, but in this verse the Lord says that the word of God is truth. This indicates that the word of God contains not only teachings but also reality. Let us look at another verse: “You shall be holy because I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16; cf. Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:7). This verse contains doctrine as well as reality, because God said that He is holy.
The doctrine of sanctification cannot sanctify us. Only the Lord, the reality of sanctification, can sanctify people. Seemingly, the word is composed of teachings, but within the word is reality. Therefore, the word of God can sanctify us. We do not only need to receive the word; we also need to gain the Lord Himself. The New Testament puts the word and the Lord together, as in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word,...and the Word was God.” The words in the Bible are not the same as the words of Confucius. The words of Confucius are merely words, but the words in the Bible are not merely words; they contain reality, and this reality is God Himself.
I would like to encourage the young brothers and sisters to pay attention to the crucial matter of taking Christ as life after our salvation. We have not believed in a religion or accepted a philosophy. We have received the life-giving Spirit who is real and living. The One who bore our sins and was crucified on the cross two thousand years ago wants to be our Savior. He has ascended to the throne in the heavens, and He is the Lord. This Jesus is our Savior and Lord. He is also the Spirit who is real and living. He lives in our spirit in order to be our life. Therefore, the most important matter after we are saved is to daily live by Him.
The first thing that we should do every morning when we wake up is to contact the Lord and call on His name. We should do this not only in the morning, but we should do this throughout the day, just as we breathe continually. We must take God as our life all day long. We should also read the Bible, the word of God, which is the truth, daily. The words in the Bible are different from philosophy and from the teachings of Confucius. Philosophy and the teachings of Confucius are beneficial to society, but they are merely doctrine. In contrast, the Bible as God’s word gives a thorough explanation of God, who is also hidden in the word as the reality. When we read the Bible every day, we contact God through His word. Eventually, we receive not only doctrine but the truth, the reality.
Ephesians 5:22-25 says that wives should be subject to their husbands and that husbands should love their wives. It is a pity that most Christians, including many pastors, misunderstand submission and love in this chapter. When my wife and I were married, the pastor who married us asked me, “Will you love her?” Then he asked my wife-to-be, “Will you be subject to him?” In this situation everyone must respond, “I will.” Everyone must follow the ritual because it is a ceremony. Although we nod our head in agreement, it does not work.
Ephesians 5 is based on chapter 3, which says, “That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God” (v. 19). Chapter 5 repeats this in verse 18: “Be filled in spirit.” To be filled in spirit is to be filled unto all the fullness of God. When we are filled unto the fullness of God, we can overflow with obedience, submission, and love. Husbands often resolve to control their temper, maintain a proper attitude, and love their wife as the weaker vessel. Wives also make resolutions to submit to their husband. Our resolutions often last for only three hours, and then they become ineffective. Every wife wants to be a submissive, dutiful wife and a loving mother who is gentle, obedient, and sweet. Eventually, the wife is often not soft; rather, she is hard, like a piece of marble. In such a situation we need to call, “O Lord Jesus!” After calling on the Lord, we will be filled within, and we will have submission and love. This is our experience.
Although the students in Taiwan are very busy with their school work, I encourage them to work hard, because once they are over twenty-five years old, it will be difficult for them to further their education. They should do their best to spend all their time to study before they turn twenty-two. Around 1976 I discovered that most of the young brothers in the United States had an erroneous concept. They thought that as long as they loved the Lord and were spiritual, it was sufficient to mow lawns and clean swimming pools for a living. I was strong to correct that kind of erroneous concept. I thank the Lord that after my speaking many young people had a change in attitude, and by 1980 many of them had obtained higher degrees as a result of that message. A sister testified to me that she became a certified nurse because of that encouraging word. There are numerous testimonies of this kind.
Therefore, I encourage you to be earnest in your studies and get the best grades. However, you should not study diligently and neglect the Lord and the truth. You must cultivate the habit of daily praying for at least five minutes in the morning and reading the Word for ten minutes. This is not difficult; everyone can do it. Young people should not love their bed. It is more profitable to rise ten minutes earlier than it is to rise ten minutes later. Sleeping an extra ten minutes does not necessarily make you stronger. Seven hours of sleep is sufficient.
In the matter of studying the truth, I would like to recommend the Recovery Version of the New Testament. The young people, especially the newly saved ones, should study the book of Romans. If you want to refer to the English edition, I encourage you to purchase the Recovery Version in English for reference and comparison.
When reading the Bible, it is best not to skip around according to our interest; neither should we read the Bible in a religious way. Rather, we should read the Bible sequentially. Every mother knows that a child who is selective in his eating will not be healthy and grow normally. Children should eat whatever their mother prepares for them. This is how mothers in the United States train their children so that they will not be picky in their eating. In order to eat healthy food, we must learn not to be picky. When we study the book of Romans, we should begin with chapter 1 verse 1 and then read verse 2. Even if we do not understand what we are reading, we should continue in this way. We should spend ten minutes every morning on half a verse or one verse. Drops of water eventually make a hole in a rock. You have many days ahead of you. Even if you gain very little in one day, in three hundred sixty-five days you will accumulate much. In this way you will complete the entire Recovery Version of the New Testament, including the footnotes. After many years there will be a result. I believe that after two years the truths will increase in you. If you have a burden to read the Life-study of Romans, you may do so. You do not necessarily need to read it in the morning; you can read it at other times. These are a few suggestions.
I hope that the young people will remember my words and begin to read the Bible. To read the Bible is to know, to contact, the truth. We need to be clear that doctrine is merely doctrine; it is not the truth. We do not merely have the words in the Bible; our Lord is one with the Bible. The Bible is the written word of God, and the Lord Jesus is the living word of God. He is God’s living word, and the Bible is God’s written word. These two must be linked as one. Therefore, we must read the Bible with a praying spirit. We should not merely understand with our mind; we must use our spirit to touch the words in the Bible. Our spirit must be exercised. It is possible for us to read the Bible on three levels: with our eyes, with our mind, and with our spirit. We need our eyes to see clearly, our mind to understand, and our spirit to receive. When we read the Bible, we should let the words become our prayer and then continue reading.
The Lord Jesus and the word of God are one. Furthermore, the Lord is the Spirit. The first line of Hymns, #815 says, “Christ is the Word and Spirit too.” Christ, the Word, and the Spirit are three, yet these three are one. The Lord is in the Word, and He is the Spirit. Therefore, when we read the Bible, on the one hand, we are contacting black and white letters, and on the other hand, we are touching the Lord Jesus with our spirit. Eventually, the Lord, His word, and the Spirit are mingled with us. By enjoying the Lord in this way every morning, we are daily eating healthy food.
I am physically healthy mainly because of the breakfast that I eat. I also urge you to change your physical breakfast habits. You should eat more for breakfast. It is a pity that most young people wake up late in the morning and consider that eating something quickly is breakfast. People who eat in this way will ultimately have a dull mind, because their food is not healthy. Likewise, if you are willing to spend five minutes to pray and ten minutes to study the Word every morning, you will be fed every day, and you will be spiritually healthy. I hope you will daily take Christ as your life, read His word, receive Him, and be mingled with His Spirit.
