After the unveiling of the mysterious mingling of the Divine Trinity with the believers (John 14:8-11, 16-20), the Lord as the God-Savior charged His disciples to bear fruit for His increase that His mystical Body, which is signified by the true vine composed of Him and His believers as His branches, may be completed as His fullness, His expression, as the New Jerusalem in eternity (John 15:16a; 3:30; 15:1-8; Rev. 21:1— 22:5).
In John 14 Christ unveiled the mysterious mingling of the Triune God with the believers. In this portion of the Word, the Lord Jesus told us that He came in the flesh to be with us, among us, but He was unable to get into us. Thus, He needed to be another Comforter, the Spirit of reality (vv. 16-20). The first Comforter was Jesus in the flesh, but the other Comforter would be the Spirit of reality. When the Spirit of reality would come on the day of resurrection, He would be not only with us but also in us. So the Lord said, “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you” (v. 20). There are three in s. The Son is in the Father, we are in the Son, and the Son is in us. These three in s indicate a mingling. The believers are mingled with the Triune God.
After He unveiled this mingling, the Lord as the God-Savior charged us to bear fruit. In the four Gospels, the Lord is revealed as the King-Savior, the Slave-Savior, the Man-Savior, and the God-Savior respectively. In the Gospel of John, we see the mingling of the Triune God with the believers to produce the Body of Christ. We are the members of Christ just as we are the branches of the vine tree to bear fruit for the building up of the Body of Christ, which is Christ’s increase. The Body of Christ will consummate in the New Jerusalem for God’s eternal enlargement and expression. When we preach the gospel, we must remember that we are going to bear fruit for Christ’s increase so that the Body of Christ can be completed and become the New Jerusalem.
Acts 1 shows that the disciples were not clear about the difference between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Israel. Even though the Lord Jesus taught them about the kingdom of God while He was with them for three and a half years, at that time they did not fully understand it. So even after the Lord’s resurrection, they asked the Lord if this was the time for Him to restore the kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6). The Lord revealed to them that the Father is going to establish His kingdom, the kingdom of God (v. 3).
After the Lord trained the disciples to know the kingdom of God, which, according to God’s New Testament economy, is different from the kingdom of Israel, and when He was ready to return to the heavens triumphantly in the presence of the disciples (Acts 1:2-9), the Lord as the Victor over Satan, sin, and death, the One who was to be made by God in the heavens both the Lord and Christ, such a One, charged His disciples to be His witnesses, especially of His resurrection and His ascension (2:32-36; 5:30-32), from Jerusalem unto the uttermost part of the earth, by the power of the Spirit (1:8), that is, to announce the gospel of the kingdom of God (8:12) for the establishment of the kingdom of God on the earth (1:3; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31; Rom. 14:17; Eph. 2:19; 5:5). In the book of Acts, the early disciples were witnesses who testified of the Lord’s resurrection and ascension. In Acts the gospel was preached to set up the kingdom of God, so the kingdom is mentioned in both the first and last chapters. Acts 28 says that Paul spoke to people about the kingdom of God (vv. 23, 31). Thus, we go out to preach the gospel to extend the kingdom of God, to gain people so that the kingdom of God may be established on earth.
In Matthew to preach the gospel is to set up the kingdom of the heavens by putting people into the Triune God, making them the citizens of the kingdom of the heavens. In Mark to preach the gospel is to get people out of the old creation into the new creation. In Luke it is to redeem fallen people back to God’s original blessing. In John it is to bear fruit for the increase of Christ that His Body can be completed, consummating in the New Jerusalem. Then in Acts it is to set up the kingdom of God. We need to remember these different points.