To the Son as the expression of the Father has been delivered all that the Father has. Therefore, the Son has all that the Father has. In Matthew 11:27a the Lord Jesus says, “All was delivered to Me by My Father.” Here the word “all” refers to the remnant whom the Father has given the Son (John 3:27; 6:37, 44, 65; 18:9).
In John 16:15a the Lord says, “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 (Col. 2:9). 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.
We need to be impressed with the fact that according to John 16:15 whatever the Father has is the Son’s. The Son did not come in His own name; He came in the Father’s name (John 5:43). The Son did not seek His own will but the Father’s will (John 5:30). The Son did not speak His own word; He spoke the Father’s word (John 14:24). The Son did not do His own work but the Father’s work (John 4:34). Who, then, is this One? He is the Son with the Father. The Father was with the Son and gave everything to Him. Therefore, the Son is the expression of the Father.
In the Godhead Christ is the One whom no one knows except the Father. In some aspects or in certain senses we may know Him. But in other aspects and senses we are not able to know Him. He is known only by the Father.
In Matthew 11:27b the Lord Jesus says, “No one knows the Son except the Father.” The Greek word translated “knows” here means full knowledge, not mere objective acquaintance. Concerning the Son, only the Father has such knowledge. Therefore, to know the Son requires the Father’s revelation (Matt. 16:17).
First John 1:1 says, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we beheld, and our hands handled concerning the Word of life.” In the Godhead Christ is the Word of life. This is the Word mentioned in John 1:1-4 and 14, who was with God and was God in eternity before creation, who became flesh in time, and in whom is life.
This Word conveys the eternal life and is the divine person of Christ as an account, a definition, and an expression of all that God is. In Him is life, and He is life (John 1:4; 11:25; 14:6). The phrase “the Word of life” in Greek indicates that the Word is life. In His person Christ is the divine life, the eternal life, which we can touch.
If we could ask the Apostle John about the Word in 1 John 1:1, he would probably refer us to his Gospel. John 1:1 and 4 say that in the beginning was the Word, that the Word was with God and was God, that in this Word was life, and that the life was the light of men. Furthermore, according to John 1:14, the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us, full of grace and truth and having the glory as of an only begotten from a father. In all these verses we have a definition of the Word. The Word is the very God. In this Word is life, and the life is the light we need. Then this wonderful One, God the Word, became flesh. This means that He became a man. As a man, He tabernacled among us. Actually, He was the tabernacle. Furthermore, this tabernacle becomes a mutual abode, in which both God and we may abide. Here in the tabernacle we enjoy grace, we receive the reality, and we see the glory. This is the Word of life spoken of in 1 John 1:1.
We have pointed out that the expression “the Word of life” actually indicates that the Word is life. This Word, who is the eternal life, became a man as a mutual dwelling place of God and us. In this dwelling place we enjoy Him as grace, we see Him as our reality, and we behold His glory. This glory, which is the glory of God, has become the glory of God’s only begotten Son. Again I say, this Word is life, and this life is the expression of God. This means that the Word of life is God’s expression.