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The Gospel of John occupies a special place in God’s revelation. It is a book much loved by Christians. I myself have been studying it since 1925. In this chapter I would like us to consider some of the key verses in order that we might realize the particular characteristic of this book.
Notice the simple words with which it opens: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Even a young child can read these words, yet who can understand them? What was the beginning? Why does it say that the Word, rather than God, was in the beginning?
John opens with the Word. Then at the end of the book there is the breath: “When He had said this, He breathed into them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit” (20:22). Between the opening verse on the Word and the final item of the breath, many matters are covered.
God is here, for “the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Life is also here, for “In Him was life” (v. 4). Flesh is here, for “the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (v. 14). Flesh here means man. In fact, as Genesis 6:3 indicates, flesh means fallen man.
There are two great events that transpired in the history of the universe. The first was creation. Before creation there was nothing but God Himself. When the time came, God brought all things into existence. But God was apart from all the things that He created. He was not in the sun or moon, nor was He in the trees or animals. He created them, but He was outside of them.
With the second great event, however, the story is different. This was the incarnation, when God became flesh. The incarnation was not to bring the universe into existence out of nothing; rather, it was to bring God into the existing man.
There was a man by the name of Jesus with whom was God. From the time that this One lived on earth, God was no longer outside His creatures. He had entered into man. Jesus is both God and man. He is a God-man.
Another matter covered in John is fullness. “Of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace” (1:16). Fullness means everything that God is. It includes all the divine attributes, all the human virtues, and all the supplies for life. God is rich and full. Out of this fullness we have all received. Have you received something of God? It is one thing to learn something of God, but another to receive something of Him. How much have you received? Grace upon grace. Your receiving has not ended yet. Day by day you continue to receive out of His fullness.
In John 4 there is the water that springs up. If you drink this water, it will spring up into eternal life. The water pertains to the Spirit. The drinking in verse 14 is the worshipping in verse 24. You drink by worshipping. The water in verse 14 is the Spirit in verse 24. To drink the water is to take in the Spirit.
In chapter 6 there is the bread of life. With the bread there is the eating (vv. 35, 50, 57). There is the water for drinking and the bread for eating. The bread of life is in the Spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (v. 63). Here is the life-giving Spirit and also the words that are spirit.
In John 7:37-39 the matter of drinking is mentioned again. Instead of just a fountain springing up, there are rivers. When the water flowing from the spring becomes a river, the riches of the water can be seen. When many rivers converge, there is a flood. As you enjoy the Lord, you will flow rivers of water. There will be a river of love, another of humility, another of light, and another of kindness. When you first begin coming to the church meetings, you flow just a small river, but in time the rivers will become a flood. When you open your mouth, the whole meeting will be flooded by you. Eventually, the church meetings will become an ocean as we all express the riches of Christ: “I have come that they may have life and may have it abundantly” (10:10).
John 14:17 says, “The Spirit of reality...abides with you and shall be in you.” Verse 20 goes on to say, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.” This means that the Triune God has dispensed Himself into us and that now we are in Him. Verse 23 says further, “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.” These profound words say that the Father and the Lord Jesus will not simply come to visit us but will actually come to live in us and settle down. The text implies not only that we will become the abode of the Triune God but also that He will be our abode. The word abode here is mutual. We will be His abiding place, and He will be ours.
Here is the divine dispensation, in a different realm entirely from religion, ethics, or morality. It is not only salvation, according to our poor understanding, but the Triune God working Himself into our being, making us His abode, and making Himself our abode.
When the Lord Jesus in the next chapter told His disciples, “Abide in Me...I am the vine; you are the branches” (15:4-5), He was simply continuing the thought of the mutual abiding from the previous chapter. This One abiding in us is Jesus Christ, whose very name is Wonderful (Isa. 9:6). He is the very God and the very man. Could you imagine that it is possible to abide in God? Herein is the best enjoyment. I can testify this to you after fifty-four years of experience. Is it not marvelous that even now we are abiding in God? How poor is the thought that someday we are going to heaven! Right now God is abiding in us.
If you think it is too mysterious that God abides in you, notice John 15:7: “You abide in Me and My words abide in you.” This you can understand. The word of the Bible abides in you. This is solid and tangible.
Then we come to the last point that we mentioned, that of the Lord’s breathing into His disciples. By breathing the Spirit into the disciples, the Lord imparted Himself as life into them.
If we consider these various items covered in John, we realize how vital they are for our existence. Without drinking, eating, and breathing we could not live.
These three means for our physical existence were all used by the Lord Jesus to illustrate how we may take Him. He is our water, more refreshing than the best earthly drink. We must drink Him.
He is our bread. We must eat Him. Bread is not merely to be looked at. Its purpose is to be eaten. This living bread must be eaten. Do not think that to say this is uncultured and wild. He said Himself that we must eat Him.
He is our breath, imparting Himself as life to us. We must breathe Him.
This enjoyment of Jesus is God’s economy. It is this that He would recover among His people. Jesus is the living water, the living bread, and the living breath. We must drink Him, eat Him, and breathe Him.
There are two ways by which we may drink, eat, and breathe Jesus. These are the Word and the Spirit. “It is the Spirit who gives life;...the words which I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (6:63). This verse mentions both words and Spirit. The very Word revealed in John 1:1 eventually became the Spirit. It is this Spirit who is the water, the bread, and the breath.
John 20:22 can read, “Receive the Holy Pneuma.” The Greek word pneuma may be translated either as “spirit” or as “breath.” It is equally correct to say, “Receive the Holy Spirit” or “Receive the Holy Breath.” The Spirit today is our breath. This breath is Jesus, the incarnate Word who went to the cross, entered into resurrection, and ascended to the heavens. He then returned to us as the life-giving Spirit.
We have the Word outside us and the Spirit inside us. Day by day we must come to the Word not only with our mind but also with our heart and spirit. As we open the Bible, we must open our whole being. We must read not only with our understanding but also with prayer. The Bible is not an ordinary book. In this holy Word there is life, the Spirit, God, and Jesus Christ. These are all contained in the Word and are conveyed to us as we open ourselves and pray. This prayerful reading of the Word is the eating, drinking, and breathing in of the Lord.
How would you answer if someone asked you where God is? Do not say that God is in the heavens. Heaven is too far away. How could one get there to find Him? God, you must tell him, is in the Bible. Where is Christ? He also is in the Word. Where is the Spirit? Where is life? The answer to these two questions is also “in the Word.”
If you plant a little stone or a piece of rock in the soil, nothing will come up, even if you wait for twenty years. On the other hand, if you sow a tiny seed into the soil, in just a matter of days it will sprout. This sprouting proves that the seed contains life.
Where is life to be found? It is found in a seed. Did you know that the word of God in the Bible is a seed? “Having been regenerated not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, through the living and abiding word of God” (1 Pet. 1:23). The word in the Bible is a seed, conveying life. What, then, is the soil? Our heart is the soil. We must open our heart to receive the word just as the soil must be opened to receive the seed. What is the water? The Spirit is the water. When we come to the Bible and open ourselves, the very seed of the word gets into us. The more we pray, breathing the air, the more the Spirit as the water is added to us. The air of prayer mingled with the water of the Spirit produces the dew. Much dew becomes a river.
This is the Christian life. There is a seed planted in the soil of our heart and watered by the Spirit. It sprouts and grows until the blossom appears and the fruit comes. Christ can be the water, the bread of life, and the breath because He is the life-giving Spirit. He is the Spirit compounded with divinity, humanity, human living, the death of the cross, resurrection, and ascension. All these are wrapped up in this life-giving Spirit, and you can find Him in the Bible.
Spend time with this book. Besides your ten minutes in the morning, take a few more minutes at noon and a few more in the evening. As you open this book, open yourself also. Read, understand, and pray. As you pray, you are drinking the water, eating the food, and breathing the air. You will grow. The more you take Christ into you in this way, the more Christ you will have growing in you. You will become another person. Do not expect quick results; growth takes time. It does not come about from a few concentrated days of praying and fasting and then having something fall upon you from the heavens. Take time to water the little seed of life sown into the soil of your heart. Not only will you grow; the church will also grow and be built up in this way. In the church meetings Christ will come forth in the teaching, the preaching, and the testifying. Such riches in the church life will convince and attract new ones.
Do not be concerned about how much you understand of what you read. What matters is that you faithfully open the Word, open yourself, and read and pray. This is not a once-for-all procedure. It is not like being born but like breathing. Growth, like breathing, is continual, day by day and even minute by minute. You will grow by coming regularly to the Word. Carry a pocket version of the Word with you. Wherever you are, when you have a few minutes, open it and read a chapter or so; then pray over what you have read. There is little need for you to pray about your grades at school or for your business to be successful or for guidance when you go shopping. Simply pray the Word. In this way you will receive and enjoy God Himself.
What do you think makes you healthy and strong? It is by eating, drinking, and breathing. When it gets close to mealtime, you probably feel weak; you need to eat to regain your energy. The same is true spiritually. You are weak if you have not been eating, drinking, and breathing Christ in the Word. In fact, it is a mercy that you are still here. Do not try to run the race without food, drink, and air any longer. Come to the Word. Open to the Lord. Speak to Him the words you read. “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. Lord, thank You, You are the Word. You became flesh. Thank You that You tabernacled among us. Among us! Amen. Full of grace. Hallelujah, grace! Grace and reality. Amen, grace and reality! Of His fullness we have all received. We have all received. We have received, Lord, and we are receiving even now. Praise the Lord!” Does praying the Word in this way seem like foolishness to you? I tell you, it is the way to eat, drink, and breathe Christ. This is how we can live Christ rather than living morality or ethics. Read and pray the Word.
