In the previous chapter we pointed out that according to John 3:16, when the divine love is in the Father, it is rich, but when it is in the Son, it becomes the fullness. The basis for saying this is found in the verse, which reads, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes into Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” In this verse God’s love progresses from the Father to the Son. This is based on the words so and that. When we read John 3:16, we must not neglect the words so and that.
Before creation the Triune God held a counsel. Then in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” This shows that God loves man and chose man. God loves man more than anything else that He created. The Bible does not say that God loved the angels, but John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world.” This verse shows God’s love toward man. However, love in the Father cannot produce any effect; man can neither receive it, nor can he be saved by it. Although the love in the Father is rich, this rich love in the Father cannot save man nor cause man to have life. Therefore, it would not be enough if God’s love toward man would remain only in the Father. This love had to be manifested in the Son. At a certain point in time the love in the Father was manifested in the Son. As a result, man could receive the life of God and be saved.
Most Christians have a natural understanding of the phrase God so loved the world. They know objectively that God loved the world, and He therefore gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes into Him would not perish but would have eternal life. They do not realize that God’s love can be manifested in the Son because it progressed from the Father to the Son. When the divine love is manifested, it causes man not to perish. As it continues to be manifested, man receives eternal life, the very life of God. In other words, the divine life enters into man and becomes man’s life.
The highest manifestation of the divine love in the Son is that we will be made exactly the same as He is; we become Him. The last two lines of Hymns, #152 in Chinese say, “Thou become me, I become Thee; / This is Thy love to the utmost.” Someone accused me of being heretical because of this hymn. I do not care for their accusation; I care only for the truth, and I hold the truth. The highest manifestation of the love of God is that we become Him. The divine love is more than rich; it is full.
Previously, when I read John 1:14, I did not understand why John included so many points in this verse. The beginning of verse 14 says, “The Word became flesh.” These few words are difficult to understand. What is the Word? What does became mean? How did the Word become flesh? What does flesh mean? The answers to these questions are fathomless. Even if we were to hold a ten-day conference, we would not be able to adequately cover the expression the Word. We would need another conference for the word became and still another conference for the word flesh. Verse 14 continues, “And tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” We need special conferences to speak on tabernacled, among us, full of, grace, and reality. The middle of verse 14 says, “(and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father).”
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word that existed in the beginning is high and far away. Furthermore, verse 1 goes on to say, “The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Verse 3 says, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him not one thing came into being which has come into being.” This means that all things were created through Him. Creation can be compared to a ladder that God used to come down to earth. After speaking of creation in verse 3, in verse 4 John says, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” However, when John comes to verse 14, his train of thought seems to jump, and instead of speaking about creation, life, or the light of life, he says, “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” What is the meaning of the word tabernacled? The tabernacle referred to in this verse is the dwelling place of God among men.
God has a dwelling place in the heavens, but His dwelling place on earth is called the tabernacle. John made a big jump when he wrote chapter 1. The Word that was in the beginning is high and far away; it was with God, and it even was God (v. 1). Then in verse 14 John jumps from the Word to the flesh: “The Word became flesh.” This is a jump down to the earth. “Tabernacled among us” is a jump up, and “full of grace and reality” is a higher jump.