Regarding the believers’ present, we have seen God’s calling, the Spirit’s separation, and our repentance. Repentance is followed by believing, and believing is followed by baptism. In this message and in the message following we shall seek to give a thorough definition of what it means for a Christian to believe in Christ.
First, we have received Him who is the Word, the very God, and the true light; that is, we have believed into His name, which denotes His person. All this is revealed clearly in chapter one of the Gospel of John. Verse 1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 9 tells us that this One is also the true light, “which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.” The Word is God Himself defined, explained, and expressed. The word “enlightens” refers to the inward enlightening which brings life to the ones who receive the Word. Verse 12 goes on to say, “As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” This verse indicates that to believe is to receive. To believe into the Lord Jesus is to receive Him as the One who is the Word, God, and the true light.
The believers have believed into the Son of God, who has the eternal life, and into the Son of Man, who was lifted up as the brass serpent on the cross, to have an organic union with Him. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” This verse speaks of believing in the Son of God. The Greek preposition for “in” here actually means “into” and signifies union with Christ by believing into Him.
First John 5:11 tells us that eternal life is in the Son of God. The testimony of God is not only that Jesus is His Son but also that He gives us the eternal life which is in the Son. The Son of God is the means for God to give us His eternal life. Because the life is in the Son (John 1:4) and the Son is the life (John 11:25; 14:6; Col. 3:4), the Son and the life are one. If we have the Son of God, we have eternal life, because eternal life is in the Son. Actually, eternal life is the Son, and the Son is the embodiment of the Triune God. Therefore, when we receive the Son of God by believing into Him, we have the eternal life that is in Him.
John 3:14 and 15 say, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.” These verses speak of having eternal life, the divine life, the uncreated life of God, by believing into the Son of Man. Here the Lord Jesus applies to Himself the type of the brass serpent (Num. 21:4-9), showing that when He was in the flesh, He was in “the likeness of the flesh of sin” (Rom. 8:3), which likeness was the form of the brass serpent. It had the form of the serpent but not the poison. Christ was made in the likeness of the flesh of sin, but He had no participation in the sin of the flesh (2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15). When in the flesh He, the Son of Man, was lifted up on the cross, He dealt with Satan, the old serpent (John 12:31-33; Heb. 2:14). Now we may have eternal life by believing into Him. The Greek word rendered “that” at the beginning of John 3:15 is better translated “so that” or “in order that.” This indicates the goal of the lifting up of the Son of Man. The Son of Man was lifted up in order that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life.
The issue of our believing into Christ as the Son of God and the Son of Man is that we have an organic union with Him. When we believe in the Lord Jesus, we believe into Him. By believing into Him we enter into Him to be one with Him organically, to partake of Him, and to participate in all that He has accomplished for us. This means that by believing into Him we are identified with Him in all that He is and in all that He has passed through, accomplished, obtained, and attained. Therefore, by believing into Christ we have an organic union with Him and thereby become one spirit with Him (1 Cor. 6:17). This is the meaning of the expression “organic union.” By faith in the Son of God and the Son of Man we have been brought into an organic union with Him.