John 7:37-39 speaks of the Spirit.
Jesus became the Spirit through His glorification. Regarding this, verse 39b says, “The Spirit was not yet, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.” John’s word indicates an expectation—expectation that although the Spirit was “not yet,” the time was coming when the Spirit would be there. The Spirit of God was there from the beginning (Gen. 1:1-2), but at the time the Lord Jesus cried out at the feast, the Spirit as the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9), the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19), was not yet because Jesus had not yet been glorified. Jesus was glorified when He was resurrected (Luke 24:26). After Jesus’ resurrection the Spirit of God became the Spirit of the incarnated, crucified, and resurrected Jesus Christ, who was breathed into the disciples by Christ in the evening of the day on which He was resurrected (John 20:22). The Spirit is now the “another Comforter,” the Spirit of reality promised by Christ before His death (14:16-17). When the Spirit was the Spirit of God, He had only the divine element. After He became the Spirit of Jesus Christ through Christ’s incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, the Spirit had both the divine element and the human element, with all the essence and reality of the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ. Hence, through resurrection the Spirit who was “not yet” became the Spirit who now is; such a Spirit is now the all-inclusive Spirit of Jesus Christ as the living water for us to receive.
Everyone who thirsts and comes to Christ and believes in (drinks) Him receives Him as the Spirit for his satisfaction, and out of his inner being shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37 says, “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” The last day here signifies that all the enjoyment of any success in human life will end. There is a “last day” to every kind of material thing of the physical life. If anyone thirsts and comes to the Lord Jesus and drinks, believing into Him, “out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (v. 38). The Lord Jesus does not speak of just one flow but of rivers. The unique river of living water is the Spirit. Out of this unique river, many rivers will flow out. These “rivers of living water” are the many flows of the different aspects of life (cf. Rom. 15:30; 1 Thes. 1:6; 2 Thes. 2:13; Gal. 5:22-23) of the one unique “river of water of life” (Rev. 22:1), which is God’s “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2). One river is the river of peace, and other rivers are joy, comfort, righteousness, life, holiness, love, patience, and humility. We do not know how many rivers there are. These rivers of living water flow out from the depths of our being. This is the experience and enjoyment of Christ as the Spirit.
In John 8 Christ is presented as the light of the world, the I Am, and the freeing Son.
In verse 12 the Lord Jesus says, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall by no means walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” The light of life (1:4) shines within us by the inner sense of life to deliver us from sin. When we received the Lord Jesus, He came into us as our life. This indwelling life now shines within us as light. This is the light of life. Spontaneously this shining of the indwelling light sets us free from sin. Then we do not walk in darkness but have the light of life.
In chapter eight Christ is further unveiled as the I Am (vv. 24, 28, 58, 51-52).
As the I Am, Christ is Jehovah, the eternal and everlasting One, who was, is, and will be the Triune God (Exo. 3:14-15; Rev. 1:4). “I Am” is the meaning of the name Jehovah, and Jehovah is the name of God (Gen. 2:7), the One who is and who was and who is coming, the self-existing and ever-existing One. This name is used in speaking of God in His relationship with man. Hence, it indicates that the Lord Jesus is the ever-existing God who has a relationship with man.
The Lord Jesus as the great I Am is the everlasting One who exists from eternity to eternity. He is without beginning or end of time. As the I Am, He is the self-existing One who exists from eternity to eternity. He is not only Jesus, a man from Nazareth; He is the great I Am. For Him to be the I Am in our experience and enjoyment of Him today means that He is whatever we need. To have Him as the I Am is like having a blank check on which we may fill in the amount that we need. The Lord Jesus, the great I Am, is everything we need.