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Scripture Reading: John 1:1-2; 14:16-20; 1 Cor. 15:45b
In the previous chapter we saw that we are the vessels of God, the containers of God. Now we have to know what God is. As the content to us, the containers, He is the Spirit. It is only as the Spirit that there is the possibility for Him to come into us.
The Gospel of John shows that the Lord Jesus is the very God who is the Spirit. It starts in this way: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (1:1). Then John 4:24 says, “God is Spirit.” In the beginning was the Word, the Word was God, and God is Spirit. Who is God? We have to say that Jesus is God. John 4:24 is a continuation of verse 14 of the same chapter. In verse 14 Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He is the living water. The living water is Jesus, who is God Himself as the Spirit. Jesus, the living water, God, and the Spirit refer to one entity. Jesus is the living water, the living water is the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of God is God Himself. God became Jesus in the flesh in order to be living water to us as the life-giving Spirit.
Some heretically say that Christ is merely a man and not God. There is a group of people in a so-called church in the Philippines who do not believe that Jesus is God. Some would even say that Jesus is just the Son of God, that He is neither the Father nor the Spirit. They teach this way because they want to systematize the Bible. But we cannot systematize the Bible. Isaiah 9:6 tells us that a child is born whose name is called Mighty God, and a Son is given whose name is called Eternal Father. This shows that Jesus is both the Son and the Father. If we could understand this thoroughly and explain it to the uttermost, He would no longer be wonderful. Isaiah 9:6 says that His name will be called “Wonderful.” Because He is Wonderful, we cannot fully explain Him. If you asked me, “Brother Lee, is Jesus the Son or the Father?” I would say He is Wonderful. His first title is Wonderful. Is He the child or the mighty God? I would say, “Wonderful.”
A little child is the mighty God. Is this not wonderful? Those in Judaism do not believe that the little child born in the manger at Bethlehem is the mighty God. But Isaiah 9:6 tells us this. We cannot explain this because He is Wonderful. If you can explain it to me, then He is no longer Wonderful. Hallelujah, He is Wonderful!
In John 14 Jesus spoke with His disciples in a wonderful way. He said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and henceforth you know Him and have seen Him.” Then Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us.” The Lord responded, “Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (vv. 7-9). The Lord Jesus is Wonderful! He is not only the Son but also the Father. He is not only the Son and the Father but also the Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; 2 Cor. 3:17). Christ is all. He is the child; He is the mighty God. He is a human being; He is also the Divine Being. People try to systematize the Divine Trinity, but it is impossible to do this. Our Lord Jesus is all in all! He is Wonderful! He is God, man, the Son, the Father, and the Spirit.
The Lord Jesus told the disciples that they had already seen the Father because He had been with them and they had seen Him for three and a half years. This meant that they had seen the Father. The Lord went on to say, “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” (John 14:10). While the Lord was speaking, the Father was working.
Philip’s asking the Lord to show him the Father was like someone saying to me, “Brother Lee, please show us Witness Lee.” I would say, “Don’t you believe that Brother Lee is in Witness Lee and Witness Lee is in Brother Lee? If you have seen Brother Lee, surely you have seen Witness Lee. Now Brother Lee speaks, but Witness Lee does the work.” Jesus is really Wonderful. He is both the Son and the Father. Do not think that outside of Him, there is the Father. The Father is in Him. As you have seen Him, you have seen the Father.
After making it clear to His disciples that He is both the Son and the Father, He told them something more. He said, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever, even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you. Yet a little while and the world beholds Me no longer, but you behold Me; because I live, you also shall live. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (vv. 16-20). It was as if the Lord said, “Now I am among you, but My intention is to get into you. As the Son, I can be here among you, but I cannot be within you. So I need to become the Spirit of reality. I will come as the Spirit to abide with you and be in you because you are My container and I am your content. The only way that I can be in you is by being the Spirit.” The very “He” who is the Spirit of reality in verse 17 becomes the very “I” who is the Lord Himself in verse 18. The Lord said, “He...shall be in you...and I in you” (vv. 17, 20). This means the Lord said that He is I, and I am He. He is the Son, He is the Father, and He is also the Spirit.
What is your Jesus? Is He only the Son? Is He only the Savior? Is He only the Redeemer? Is He only the Lord? You have to say, “Hallelujah! He is everything!” He is all in all. He is the Father, the Son, the Spirit, the Redeemer, the Savior, the Lord, God, and man. He is Wonderful. We should never try to systematize the Bible. John 1:1 cannot be systematized. This verse says that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. It seems that the Word and God are two distinct entities because One is with the Other. But then it goes on to say, “The Word was God.” Are the Word and God one or two? All we can say in a “foolish” way is “Wonderful!” Is Jesus the Son or the Father? “Wonderful!” Is Jesus the Son or the Spirit? “Wonderful!”
First Corinthians 15:45b says, “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” The last Adam was God incarnated to be a man. Christ is not only the second man (v. 47) but also the last Adam. After this last Adam, there is no more Adam. The last Adam was composed of divinity plus humanity. Man was created as the first Adam, and this first Adam became fallen. Then God promised that the seed of the woman would come to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). The seed of the woman is the last Adam, and this last Adam was a child, born of a virgin. This child was the seed of the woman, yet He was begotten of the divine Spirit (Matt. 1:18, 20). With this child there was humanity plus divinity. The last Adam was not just a man, nor just God Himself. The last Adam was God mingled with man. He was something divine mingled with something human.
This last Adam lived on the earth physically, spiritually, and psychologically for thirty-three and a half years. He was crucified by being nailed on the cross. He died there for our sins. Then He was buried and was resurrected. He was like a grain of wheat sown into the earth, dying, and coming up in resurrection (John 12:24). In Christ’s resurrection He was transfigured in His form to become the life-giving Spirit. This, in brief, is the history, the all-inclusive story, of the last Adam.
Thus, the last Adam includes God incarnated, the seed of the woman, and the child begotten of the Holy Spirit and born of a human virgin. The last Adam also includes the human life of Jesus on earth for thirty-three and a half years, His burial, and His resurrection. The last Adam includes redemption and the impartation of the divine life into human beings. This all-inclusive last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Today the very Jesus who was the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit. Why is He the Spirit? Because He has to come into our spirit. Only the Spirit can come into our spirit. Nothing is capable of getting into our spirit except the life-giving Spirit. Jesus today is such a life-giving Spirit.
Some of you may wonder why I talk about this so frequently. It seems that I cannot stay away from 1 Corinthians 15:45b — “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” We need to realize that for eternity we cannot stay away from this one verse. In the New Jerusalem there is a throne out of which proceeds a living river (Rev. 22:1). That river is the life-giving Spirit. The life-giving Spirit will be the ever-flowing river of life. This river is Jesus, our God and our Redeemer. In eternity you will see the last Adam in the form of the life-giving Spirit.
We are vessels, containers, who should desire to be filled up by Jesus. And what is Jesus? Jesus is the life-giving Spirit. We have been taught that Jesus is the Savior, the Redeemer, and the Lord. This is absolutely right, but we all have to realize that this very Jesus who is our Redeemer, Savior, and Lord is the life-giving Spirit.
The Bible also says, “The Lord is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:17). He is the Spirit for the purpose of filling us up with Himself. He is the life-giving Spirit, and we are the containers. He is the “Coca-Cola,” and we are the Coke bottles. There is no need for us to do anything except to be filled up with Him. Perhaps you want to know how to preach the gospel. The best way to preach the gospel is to contain Christ and convey Him to others. Do not try to preach by doctrine. You have to be filled up with Christ. You have to contain Christ and convey Christ to others.
Some may say that we need to be humble and kind. The best way to be humble and kind is to contain Christ. To contain Christ is the all-inclusive way. The wives should not try to love their husbands. Instead, they should do their best to be filled up with Christ. When you come to the meetings, do not try to get more help from the messages. Instead, open yourself up to be filled up with Jesus again. When we come to the meetings, we are coming to the heavenly gas station to be filled up with Jesus. I hope that whenever we come together, we have the sense that we are going to be filled up again. We are the containers of Jesus. We need to be filled up afresh and anew all the time.
The Lord’s children today have the concept that they need more teachings. We are like Nicodemus in John 3. He told the Lord, “You have come from God as a teacher” (v. 2). This indicates that he may have thought that he needed better teachings so that he could improve himself. But the Lord told him that he needed to be regenerated, which means that he needed to receive the Lord as the life-giving Spirit. I hope that we can have a change in our concept. We do not need teachings for self-improvement. We need to be filled up with Christ. We are vessels, containers. As containers, we do not care for knowledge or doctrinal teachings. We just care for being filled up with Jesus. In order to fill us up, Jesus needs to be the life-giving Spirit.
In one sense, I encourage you to confess all your failures. But in another sense, do not try to deal with your wrongdoings and mistakes. You should forget about everything and come to Jesus to be filled up. Sometimes the churches have practiced “burnings” to give the saints an opportunity to clear up their lives from sinful and worldly things (Acts 19:18-19). But if you just burn something, that means nothing. You burn things to take away all the wrong “fillings.” But if you take away all these things and do not have the filling up of Jesus, this means nothing. The Christian life is a life of being filled up with Jesus.
We need to be emptied in our inward being to give more space, more room, to Jesus. Why do you have to repent and confess? Because you have to be emptied. You have to get all the wrong “fillings” out of you. The main purpose of repenting, confessing, and getting rid of all the evil things is to get yourself emptied so that you may be filled again and again, all the time, with the living Spirit, who is Jesus Himself.
God is the Father, the Father is the Son, and the Son is the Spirit. In order for God to be the Spirit so that we may receive Him into us, He had to pass through a process. He had to pass through incarnation, human living, death on the cross, burial in the tomb, and resurrection. In resurrection He became the all-inclusive Spirit. The Christian life, all-inclusively speaking, is a matter of being filled with Him. If you are filled with Him, you are saved, redeemed, regenerated, and brought back to God Himself. We should forget about everything else and say, “O Lord, I am Your container. I need to be filled up with You.”
Christ is the treasure, and He is the hope of glory (2 Cor. 4:7; Col. 1:27). All the time you have to treasure Him. Whenever you think about Him, mention Him, or call on Him, you have a sweet sense within you. This inner sweetness makes us “crazy” with Him. Regardless of whether you are young or old, if you have never been crazy with Jesus, you are not that qualified to be a good Christian. The best qualification for you to be a Christian is to be crazy with Jesus. Some in the older generation may say that this is good only for the young ones. But we older ones also need to be crazy. I hope that the church meetings will be carried away by the shouting and praising of the older generation. We all should declare, “Hallelujah! Amen! Jesus is Lord! Praise the Lord! Christ is Victor!” This kind of praising should be a part of our living. We are not actors and actresses. We have to live this way. We have to be crazy with Jesus in our daily life. If you have no human being to speak to about Jesus, you can speak to your dog. You can say, “Little dog, I am much better than you. I have a spirit that you don’t have. I am the container of Jesus, and Jesus is within me.” I am not joking. We are too religious. If we Christians would be so crazy with Jesus, many people would be brought to the Lord. When we are crazy with Jesus, we are being filled up with Jesus.
When I was young, I was taught how to be holy. After reading some books on how to be holy, I tried to be holy. I was told that in order to be holy I had to be slow in doing things. I did my best to try to be slow, but I was a failure. Later I read some more spiritual books which told me that two thousand years ago I was crucified with Christ on the cross, resurrected, and seated in the third heaven with Him. Then I was told that I have to believe what the holy Word says. It says that I have been crucified, so I have to believe that I have been crucified. It says that I have been raised up and have been seated in the third heaven with Christ, so I have to believe this. But this did not work for me. I tried all kinds of practices taught by Christianity. Eventually, I found out that the Christian life is not a matter of being taught or a matter of certain practices. It is a matter of being filled with the Lord Jesus.
If you are crazy with Jesus in your daily life, you will really be in the third heaven. If you are crazy in your home with Jesus, you will find that you are really resurrected. To be crazy means to be filled up with Jesus. The last time the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem while He was on this earth, the people around Him were crazy. They spread their garments on the street. Luke 19:37 says, “All the multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice.” Some of the Pharisees, the “reasonable” ones, the “logical” ones, the “uncrazy” ones, came to Jesus and told Him to rebuke His disciples (v. 39). Jesus said, “If these shall be silent, the stones will cry out” (v. 40). Matthew 21 tells us that when the children were crying out and praising the Lord, the chief priests and scribes were indignant. Then Jesus said to them, “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings You have perfected praise’?” (vv. 15-16). We are the containers of Christ. We have to be crazy to praise Him because He is the hope of glory and the heavenly treasure as our content. He is worthy to be praised.
